Huw Chiswell was born in the Swansea Valley and grew up in the village of Godre’r Graig. After graduating from Swansea University, he moved to Cardiff, having taken up a post as Programme Researcher at ITV.
During his time at ITV he was appointed as Producer/ Director responsible for multiple series in both the Welsh and English languages. He also developed parallel careers as Author, Actor, Presenter and Singer/ Songwriter.
Many of the music programmes produced, written and directed by Huw won international critical acclaim, including a Gold at the New York Film And Television Awards. As Producer/ Director he was awarded a BAFTA Special Award for Contribution To Entertainment.
His interest in Drama was piqued during his time at ITV when he was cast in the Male Lead Role in cult film ibiza! Ibiza! He would later produce a series of Drama Features, co-writing one of the six films. This interest would later emerge in his role as a Drama Director.
At the age of 23, Huw won the coveted Cân I Gymru St David’s Day song writing competition for his ode to his home valley, while evoking the challenges facing all valleys and many communities in Wales. The success of his winning song - Y Cwm - led to an album deal sparking production of a total of six albums and multiple tours and tv appearances. Many of those early songs are known to this day and sung by choirs the length and breadth of the country.
During those early days, he was asked to pen the Welsh Band Aid song, in support of the response to the Ethiopian famine of that time. The Welsh Language song Dwylo Dros Y Môr contributed much to the campaign, becoming the first Welsh Language song to enter the UK Singles Charts.
Huw has published several collections of his musical works, arranged for piano, voice and choir. More recently he also published a form of autobiography, Shwma’i Yr Hen Ffrind, offering elements of his life story viewed through the lens provided by his songs.
Huw moved on from ITV to join London based independent TV production company Prospect Pictures and soon thereafter accepted a post at broadcaster S4C as Commissioning Editor for Music and Entertainment. The youth programming department was later added to his portfolio of responsibilities.
After his seven year term at S4C, Huw formed his own production company and has since concentrated on Drama content. His most recent series, Dal Y Mellt (Rough Cut), became the first acquisition of Welsh Language content by the American streaming giant, Netflix.
Despite a full and varied career in TV production, Huw’s true love is music and literature. This love, along with a great hiraeth for the vanished society of his upbringing has inspired his creative output. He maintains that his greatest honour was recently attending a performance of a musical based on his life and songs. It was performed by a cast of pupils of his alma mater Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera and staged at the school’s newly opened Theatr Chiswell, named in honour of himself and his late mother, Caryl.