Minghella most recently filmed the two-hour pilot for The No 1. Ladies Detective Agency, a show based on a series of books by Alexander McCall Smith. Minghella won the Oscar for his direction of The English Patient. His other films include Cold Mountain and Breaking and Entering. He directed the acclaimed production of Madama Butterfly presented last season at the Metropolitan Opera, and was also a noted playwright, with works including Whale Music, Two Planks And A Passion, A Little Like Drowning, Made In Bangkok, and Cigarettes and Chocolate.