Andrew Chater

Andrew graduated from Cambridge University in 1987 and began his professional career as a runner for Humphrey Barclay Productions.

In 1988 he joined the BBC as a graduate trainee, working on a variety of BBC shows from 'Blue Peter' to 'Omnibus'.  In 1990 he joined BBC Education, and for the next six years he directed a wide variety of programs for schools, including 'Shakespeare Shorts', which won him his first BAFTA award.  During this time he worked with Liz Cleaver on five series of 'History File', including the ground-breaking 'Roman Empire' series, winner of an RTS award for innovation.  On Liz’ departure to launch BBC4 in 1996, Andrew inherited 'History File', and from 1996 to 2008 he produced and directed a total of 27 history programs for teens, all commissioned and broadcast by the BBC, on subjects ranging from medieval history to the Cold War.  In 2005, Andrew moved from behind to in-front-of the camera, hosting 'Timelines', a five-part history of Britain filmed in castles, cathedrals and factories the length and breadth of the UK.

According to BBC research, in the early 2000s Andrew’s output was being used by 75% of British secondary schools.  Series like 'History File: Nazi Germany', 'American Voices' and 'Timelines' have become classroom standards, and Andrew has been described on teacher message boards as “the David Attenborough of educational history broadcasting”.

Andrew founded the independent production company Lodestar Productions in 1997, and all his work for the BBC from that time on was made under the Lodestar banner.  Since 2001, Andrew has made a variety of drama-docs for primetime audiences, either securing commissions for Lodestar, or working freelance for independent production companies (Wall to Wall, October Films, Change Productions, Nutopia). His work as a director includes two episodes of Nutopia’s ratings-busting series for History, 'America: The Story of US'.

In 2009, Andrew launched Timelines.tv, a site streaming educational video content along parallel historical timelines.  Founded with his long-time collaborator Paul Trainor, the site was designed to maximize the interactive potential of Andrew's work, whilst offering a portal for future commissions offered directly to the user without recourse to traditional broadcast funding models.  With the erosion of public service (BBC) support for educational broadcasting, Timelines.tv has sought corporate and philanthropic funding to offer teachers a continued supply of quality, free-to-view resources.  In 2010 The Welcome Trust funded Timelines.tv to make a series on the History of Medicine, streamed exclusively on the Timelines.tv site. The project won Andrew and Paul the BAFTA award for best learning resource, 2010.

In 2011, Andrew relocated to Los Angeles with his wife Louise, a Hollywood studio executive.  Since his relocation he has worked as a freelance TV director, for instance on the celebrity genealogy show 'Who Do You Think You Are?'.

Andrew is currently developing 'Bookpackers', a new travel concept for broadcast, digital and educational use.  Bookpackers has been warmly embraced by a host of partners including WGBH (Boston), the Library of Congress, and the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, Sciences.  See bookpackers.com for more detail. 

In 2016, Andrew joined the Faculty of English at the University of Southern California (USC), where he teaches courses on the 'bookpackers' model.