Susanna White (born ) is a British television and film director.
She spent twelve years making documentaries for BBC2, but is best known for directing the BBC miniseries Jane Eyre, HBO miniseries Generation Kill, and Disney+ series Andor. She has won multiple awards, including one BAFTA Television Award, and received numerous nominations, including nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards and two BAFTA Awards.
Early life and education Susanna White was born in England in . She first became interested in films at eight years old and asked her parents to buy her a Super 8 film camera. One source reports that she said that the inspiration came from when she visited the set of the BBC children's TV show Crackerjack, but she wrote in 2010 that it was after her father took her to see Doctor Dolittle with Rex Harrison that she asked for the camera.
She studied English at Oxford University, and then won a Fulbright scholarship to study film at UCLA.
Career After graduation, White spent 12 years making documentaries for BBC2. In 1999, she failed to win a place on a BBC training scheme and was turned down for a BBC drama director trainee course. In 2001, she was supported by BBC2 controller Jane Root, who eased her into drama with a £200,000 budget drama for BBC2, Love Again, about Philip Larkin. She said in 2010 that it was seeing Jane Campion's 1993 film The Piano at a cinema on King's Road that inspired her to become a maker of feature films rather than documentaries.
White won a BAFTA award for best drama serial for her work on the 2005 version of Bleak House. She directed the BBC mini-series Jane Eyre, for which she was nominated for an Emmy award. She also directed four episodes of the HBO miniseries Generation Kill, and all five episodes of the 2012 series Parade's End.
In film, White has directed Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang and Our Kind of Traitor.
White directed three episodes of the Disney+ Star Wars series Andor, which were released in 2022.
She is directing the film version of Australian playwright Suzie Miller's award-winning play Prima Facie, in pre-production . The film stars Cynthia Erivo as Tessa, the only role in the stage version.
Personal life White and her husband, an Oxford academic and part-time dairy farmer, were living on a dairy farm in Sussex with their twin daughters in 2009.
Filmography
Film Year Title Notes1997Bicycle ThievesShort2010Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang2016Our Kind of Traitor2017Woman Walks Ahead2026Prima Facie
Television Year Title Notes1985Bleak HouseEpisode 7198840 MinutesEpisode: "The Gypsies Are Coming"1995–1996Modern Times2 episodes2001Holby City3 episodes2002Attachments4 episodes2002–2003Teachers5 episodes2003Love AgainTV film2004Lie with MeTV series2005Mr. Harvey Lights a CandleTV film2005Bleak House7 episodes2006Jane Eyre4 episodes2007The Diary of a NobodyTV film 2008Generation Kill4 episodes2011Boardwalk EmpireEpisode: "A Dangerous Maid"2012Parade's End5 episodes 2015Masters of SexEpisode: "Party of Four"2016BillionsEpisode: "Where the F*** is Donnie?"2018Trust2 episodes2018–2019The Deuce2 episodes2022Andor3 episodes2023The Buccaneers2 episodes
Awards and nominations +YearAwardCategoryTitleResultNotes2006 British Academy Television Awards Best Drama Serial Bleak House 2007 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Jane Eyre 2009 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Generation Kill 2010 British Academy Film Awards Best Children's Feature Film Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang 2013 British Academy Television Awards Best Mini Series Parade's End
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