Charlie Lightening (born 5 December (?) 1977 in Manchester, England) is a British filmmaker. After making videos for various British artists, Lightening began a working relationship with Liam Gallagher, directing several music videos for him and a documentary film, Liam Gallagher: As It Was. In 2023, he directed All of Those Voices, a documentary about English singer Louis Tomlinson. His first non-documentary feature-length film directed was Standing on the Shoulders of Kitties in 2024.
Career
Lightening is a filmmaker. He first worked with English musician Ronnie Wood, then did work with Kylie Minogue. After being asked to record a party on a farm by band Kasabian, Lightening began working for the band. He first met English singers Noel and Liam Gallagher whilst Kasabian was an opener for their band Oasis on tour in the United States. As Lightening was making a film about Kasabian's second album, Noel and Liam came up to the studio to listen to it.[1]
Lightening has worked with Liam Gallagher since the release of Dig Out Your Soul, which was his former band Oasis' final album.[2] Shortly after the band's split in 2009, Lightening began to record Gallagher, filming material that would eventually be used in his 2019 documentary film Liam Gallagher: As It Was. Lightening had planned to make a feature-length documentary about Gallagher's transition into solo music, eventually directing As It Was.[1] He received the award for Best Music Film at the NME Awards 2020.[3]
In 2023, he directed All of Those Voices, a documentary about English singer Louis Tomlinson.[4] He met Tomlinson at the premiere for As It Was, after which Tomlinson got in touch with Lightening to direct music videos for him.[5] In 2024, he directed musical comedy film Standing on the Shoulders of Kitties, a spinoff of Trailer Park Boys.[6]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Liam Gallagher: As It Was | [1] |
| 2021 | Away from Home - The Global Streaming Event | |
| 2023 | All of Those Voices | [4] |
| 2024 | Standing on the Shoulders of Kitties | [6] |
Music videos
| Year | Title | Artist | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Bring the Light | Beady Eye | [7] |
| 2013 | Shine a Light | [8] | |
| Soul Love | [9] | ||
| 13 | Black Sabbath | ||
| 2014 | No Good in Goodbye | The Script | |
| 2017 | Chinatown | Liam Gallagher | [10] |
| Automaton | Jamiroquai | [11] | |
| Cloud 9 | [12] | ||
| Superfresh | [13] | ||
| Summer Girl | [14] | ||
| 2018 | Nights out in the Jungle | ||
| Back in Brazil | Paul McCartney | ||
| 2019 | Kill My Mind | Louis Tomlinson | [15] |
| We Made It | [16] | ||
| Don't Let It Break Your Heart | [17] | ||
| 2020 | Walls | [18] | |
| Once | Liam Gallagher | [3] | |
| From the Rivoli Ballroom | Katie Melua | ||
| 2021 | 1 Day 2 Nights | HRVY | |
| 2022 | Change | Louis Tomlinson | |
| 2025 | Rocket | Robbie Williams | [19] |
Awards and nominations
| Award | Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NME Awards | 2020 | Best Music Film | Liam Gallagher: As It Was | [3] | |
| National Film Awards UK | 2021 | Best Documentary | [20] |
References
- ^ Heaf, Jonathan (20 May 2019). "Liam Gallagher: 'It's been f**king biblical'". GQ. Archived 7 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ Bassett, Jordan (23 May 2019). ""The new album sounds mega": filmmaker Charlie Lightening on his Liam Gallagher documentary 'As It Was'". NME. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ Krol, Charlotte (14 February 2020). "Director Charlie Lightening explains how Eric Cantona and Liam Gallagher's music video collaboration came about". NME. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ Gomez, Dessi (19 September 2023). "Louis Tomlinson Documentary 'All of Those Voices' to Stream on Paramount+ (Video)". TheWrap. Archived 27 May 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ "What I learned about Louis Tomlinson from making his documentary". NME. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ Betancourt, Emiliana (15 October 2024). "'Trailer Park Boys' Movie 'Standing on the Shoulders of Kitties' Acquired by Blue Fox Entertainment (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived 29 April 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ "Director Charlie Lightening on working with Britain's most biblical frontman". Hunger. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ Breihan, Tom (22 July 2013). "Beady Eye – "Shine A Light" Video". Stereogum. Archived 26 September 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ Cooper, Leonie (18 November 2013). "Beady Eye unveil 'Soul Love' video – watch". NME. Archived 18 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ Reed, Ryan (5 July 2017). "Watch Liam Gallagher Wander Through London in 'Chinatown' Video". Rolling Stone. Archived 20 January 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ Kaufman, Gil (27 January 2017). "Louis Tomlinson References One Direction, Opens Mysterious Doors in 'Walls' Video: Watch". Billboard. Archived 1 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ "Jamiroquai – Reveal Cloud 9 Video (co-starring Monica Cruz) – WATCH". XS Noize. 22 February 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ "JAMIROQUAI – Shares Video for Brand New Single 'Superfresh' WATCH NOW". XS Noize. 29 June 2017. Archived 14 July 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ "JAMIROQUAI: Unveils Video for New Single 'SUMMER GIRL' – Watch Now!". XS Noize. 6 December 2017. Archived 29 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ Kaufman, Gil (13 September 2019). "Louis Tomlinson Rocks Out in Flashy 'Kill My Mind' Video: Watch". Billboard. Archived 5 February 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ Hosken, Patrick (24 October 2019). "Louis Tomlinson's 'We Made It' Goes Deeper Than Just 'The Same Four Chords'". MTV. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ Shaffer, Claire (2 December 2019). "Louis Tomlinson's 'Don't Let It Break Your Heart' Video Features a Romantic Heist". Rolling Stone. Archived 5 June 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ Peters, Mitchell (20 January 2020). "Louis Tomlinson References One Direction, Opens Mysterious Doors in 'Walls' Video: Watch". Billboard. Archived 1 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ^ "Robbie Williams - Rocket (Official video)". YouTube. 23 May 2025. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
- ^ "Rowan Atkinson , Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Ricky Gervais, Kate Beckinsale, Matthew Horne, are among the big winners at the 6th annual National Film Awards UK.". National Film Awards. Archived 11 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 16 May 2025.