Neil Blair (born 21 September 1966) is an English literary agent, television producer, and film producer.
Early life Neil Blair studied law at Exeter College, Oxford.
Career In 1990, after graduating from college, Blair joined the litigation team at the global law firm Linklaters. He later joined Warner Bros. Entertainment, where he became Head of Business Affairs, Europe, worked on productions such as Band of Brothers and Eyes Wide Shut, and helped acquire the film rights for J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. In 2001 he left to join the Christopher Little Literary Agency. In 2011, Blair left Christopher Little Literary Agency to found The Blair Partnership. J.K. Rowling joined his client list after 15 years with the Christopher Little Literary Agency.Charlotte Williams, "Rowling leaves Christopher Little Agency" The Bookseller.com30.06.11 Shiv Malik, "Harry Potter author JK Rowling leaves her agent" The Guardian, Sunday 3 July 2011
Blair is the Chairman of the Board and a Director of Pottermore and Chairman of the production companies Brontë Film and Television, founded to develop and produce projects commissioned from J.K. Rowling’s novels, and Snowed-In Productions, founded to work on non J.K. Rowling projects.
Charitable work Blair is Chairman of J.K. Rowling’s children’s charity Lumos. He is a UK ambassador for The Abraham Initiatives and a board member of JW3. In 2017, he and his wife, Debra, supported the construction of archive space and a reading room on Exeter College’s Cohen Quadrangle to help preserve 30,000 rare books, including important Judaica such as the Soncino Bible, the earliest full text bible ever printed.
Personal life Blair has said that books and being Jewish "are very close to my heart". He is a fan of West Ham and Saracens.
Filmography Year Title Credited as Ref. Executive producer 2015 The Casual Vacancy 2016 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2017–present Strike 2018 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Mrs. Wilson 2027 Harry Potter
References