Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time

Frank Cottrell-Boyce (né Francis G. Boyce; born 23 September 1959) is a British screenwriter, novelist and occasional actor, known for his children's fiction and for his collaborations with film director Michael Winterbottom. He has achieved fame as the writer for the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony and for sequels to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car, a children's classic by Ian Fleming. Cottrell-Boyce has won two major British awards for children's books: the 2004 Carnegie Medal for Millions, which originated as a film script, and the 2012 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for The Unforgotten Coat, which was commissioned by a charity. In July 2024, he was appointed as Children's Laureate, for a two-year period, succeeding Joseph Coelho.