Franc was born in Norton, near Stockton on Tees and on leaving St John's School at Billingham he went to work at Smith's Dock in Middlesbrough but soon gained a scholarship to the London Film School. From there he moved into the film side of tv commercials and freelancing and his productions of The Fight, a BBC documentary about the preparation for the Bugner -Frazer fight. Television productions such as Auf Wiedersehen Pet brought more acclaim and Quadrophenia, his first feature film achieved cult status in Amereica. This success led 20th Century Fox to offer him a three picture deal that brought a four year stay in Beverley Hills. The mid 1980's saw completion of a 14 million dollar blockbuster The Bride loosely based on May Shelley's Frankenstein tale starring Sting and Jennifer Beals. Since then Franc has maintained his run of successes with both film and television productions.