“The Industry Has Lost One of Its Best” Director Ringan Ledwidge Has Died

Ringan Ledwidge, one of the advertising industry’s most sought after and beloved directors, has died at the age of 50. The team at Little Black Book has been heartbroken and shocked to learn about the passing of a talented, warm and witty filmmaker and co-founder of Rattling Stick.

The news has sent a wave of grief throughout the UK and US production and advertising communities and began to emerge as much of the UK production industry, including people from Rattling Stick, were in attendance at Ciclope in Berlin. 

Rattling Stick comments: “It is with a very heavy heart we have to announce that our beloved Ringan passed away in his sleep. Cancer has taken him from us, and we already miss him dearly. No one will ever come close to the legend that he is.

"We could sit here and write up all the accolades he has won, or go into the magic he added to everything he touched, but that doesn’t feel right just now.

"Anyone that knew Ringan knew what a special, wonderful man he was. He will never be forgotten, and the industry has just lost one of its best.”

"As a director, Ringan was respected for his craft and ability to combine human warmth with a sense of the cinematic - and from choreography to comedy there was no genre he couldn’t turn his lens to. That humanity and observant eye was honed during years spent as a photojournalist in the Middle East, before Ringan moved into directing in 1999.

A prolific filmmaker, Ringan’s reel contains highlights like The Guardian’s Three Little Pigs, the epic 2014 WWI-inspired Sainsbury’s Christmas campaign, the harrowing Barnardo’s campaign ‘Life Story’, comedic Nike football fest ‘Winner Stays On’ and the absurdist Audi ‘Clowns’. In the world of music video, he was the brains behind memorable promos such as Elbow’s ‘One Day Like This’ and the entrancing Voodoo in My Blood for Massive Attack and Young Fathers, starring Rosamund Pike.

In 2006, Ringan set up Rattling Stick with fellow director Daniel Kleinman and producer Johnnie Frankel. Over the past 15 years the company has flourished, even expanding to the US where Ringan was based. Rattling Stick was named Campaign’s Best Production Company of the Year five years in a row.

However great and plentiful his professional successes, it’s the loss of a good friend and a considerate collaborator who was universally loved that many across the industry are feeling today.