David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE,
FRSAThe Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity . It was founded in 1754 and was granted a Royal Charter in 1847...
, (born 25 February 1941) is a film producer and politician. He sits on the Labour benches in the
House of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". Parliament comprises the Sovereign, the House of Commons , and the Lords...
.
He was educated at
Minchenden Grammar SchoolBroomfield School is a secondary school in Wilmer Way, near the North Circular Road, in Arnos Grove/Southgate in the London Borough of Enfield.-History:...
in London and had an early career in advertising (see
Collett Dickenson PearceCollett Dickenson Pearce & Partners emerged from the "Swinging London" cultural shifts of the 1960s as Britain's most glamorous and influential advertising agency, generally regarded as one of the finest advertising agencies in the world during the 1970s...
) and acting as agent for the photographer David Bailey.
He turned to film production in the late 1960s, working with Sanford Lieberson's production company
Goodtimes EnterprisesGoodtimes Enterprises was a British film production company, ran by David Puttnam and Sanford Lieberson. Their films include Performance, Melody, That'll Be The Day, Stardust, Mahler, Lisztomania and Bugsy Malone. The company was formed by Lieberson in 1968 with Performance, and Puttnam joined the...
.
David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE,
FRSAThe Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity . It was founded in 1754 and was granted a Royal Charter in 1847...
, (born 25 February 1941) is a film producer and politician. He sits on the Labour benches in the
House of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". Parliament comprises the Sovereign, the House of Commons , and the Lords...
.
Early life
He was educated at
Minchenden Grammar SchoolBroomfield School is a secondary school in Wilmer Way, near the North Circular Road, in Arnos Grove/Southgate in the London Borough of Enfield.-History:...
in London and had an early career in advertising (see
Collett Dickenson PearceCollett Dickenson Pearce & Partners emerged from the "Swinging London" cultural shifts of the 1960s as Britain's most glamorous and influential advertising agency, generally regarded as one of the finest advertising agencies in the world during the 1970s...
) and acting as agent for the photographer David Bailey.
Film career
He turned to film production in the late 1960s, working with Sanford Lieberson's production company
Goodtimes EnterprisesGoodtimes Enterprises was a British film production company, ran by David Puttnam and Sanford Lieberson. Their films include Performance, Melody, That'll Be The Day, Stardust, Mahler, Lisztomania and Bugsy Malone. The company was formed by Lieberson in 1968 with Performance, and Puttnam joined the...
. His successes as a producer include
Bugsy MaloneBugsy Malone is a 1976 musical film, very loosely based on events in Chicago, Illinois in the Prohibition era, specifically the exploits of gangsters like Al Capone, as dramatized in cinema...
,
Midnight ExpressMidnight Express is a film based on Billy Hayes' book of the same name adapted into screenplay by Oliver Stone. Hayes was a young American student sent to a Turkish prison for trying to smuggle hashish out of Turkey...
,
The DuellistsThe Duellists is a 1977 film, which was Ridley Scott's first feature film as a director. It won the Best Debut Film award at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival. The basis of the screen play is the Joseph Conrad short story The Duel The Duellists is a 1977 film, which was Ridley Scott's first feature...
(
Ridley ScottSir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer known for his stylish visuals and an obsession for detail. His films include Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Hannibal, Black Hawk Down, Matchstick Men, Kingdom of Heaven, American Gangster and Body of Lies...
's feature film debut),
Chariots of FireChariots of Fire is a 1981 British film loosely based on historical events surrounding the British athletic team before and during the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris...
(which won the
Academy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible...
),
Local HeroLocal Hero is a Scottish film starring Peter Riegert, Denis Lawson, Peter Capaldi and Burt Lancaster. It was directed by Bill Forsyth and produced by David Puttnam....
,
Memphis BelleMemphis Belle is a 1990 film directed by Michael Caton-Jones and written by Monte Merrick, starring Matthew Modine and Eric Stoltz and introducing Harry Connick Jr. in his screen debut...
,
Meeting VenusMeeting Venus is a 1991 British-American-Japanese film directed by the Hungarian director István Szabó and starring Glenn Close, Marián Labuda, Victor Poletti, Jay O. Sanders, Maria de Medeiros and Johanna ter Steege...
and
The Killing FieldsThe Killing Fields is a 1984 British film drama about the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.It is based on the experiences of three journalists: Dith Pran, a Cambodian, Sydney Schanberg, an American, and Jon Swain, a journalist from the UK. The film, which won three Academy Awards, was directed by...
and
The MissionThe Mission is a 1986 British film about the experiences of a Jesuit missionary in 18th century South America. The film was written by Robert Bolt and directed by Roland Joffé. It stars Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally, Aidan Quinn, Cherie Lunghi and Liam Neeson. It won the Palme d'Or and...
with
Roland JofféRoland Joffé is a film director who began his career in television. His early television credits included episodes of Coronation Street and an adaptation of The Stars Look Down for Granada. He gained a reputation for hard-hitting political stories with the series Bill Brand and factual dramas for...
(which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986) mostly in association with
GoldcrestGoldcrest Films is a British film production company founded by Jake Eberts in January 1977. It enjoyed great success in the 1980s with films such as Local Hero , The Killing Fields and Hope and Glory mostly produced by David Puttnam on modest budgets. The company also benefited from the new...
.
He was Chair and Chief Executive Officer of
Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
from 1986 to 1988. During his time at Columbia he was criticised for what some saw as a condescending attitude toward the Hollywood film industry, and for not sufficiently exploiting the studio's few box office hits. This strategic failure contributed to the sale of the studio to
Sonyis a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest media conglomerates with revenue exceeding ¥ 7.730.0 trillion, or $78.88 billion U.S. . Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video, communications, video game...
.
In May 2006 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Politics
He was awarded a
CBECBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for Commander of the Order of the British Empire, a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:*Calgary Board of Education, public school board for the city of Calgary, Alberta...
in 1983, was knighted in 1995 and was created a
life peerIn the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles may not be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
in 1997, as Baron Puttnam of Queensgate in the
Royal Borough of Kensington and ChelseaThe Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is a London borough in the west side of central London....
. In 2002 he chaired the joint scrutiny committee on the Communications Bill, which recommended an amendment to prevent ownership of British terrestrial TV stations by companies with a significant share of the newspaper market. This was widely interpreted as being aimed at stopping
Rupert MurdochKeith Rupert Murdoch, AC , usually known as Rupert Murdoch, is an Australian-born American global media mogul. He owns media outlets and is a major shareholder, chairman and managing director of News Corporation ....
's
News CorporationNews Corporation is the world's second largest media conglomerate as of 2008 and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009...
from buying Five. When the government opposed the amendment, Puttnam brokered a compromise — the introduction of a "public interest" test to be applied by the new regulator
OfcomThe Office of Communications or, as it is more often known, Ofcom, is the independent regulator and competition authority for the communication industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established in the enabling device, the , but received its full authority from the Communications...
, but without explicit restrictions.
From 2004-2005 Puttnam chaired the
Hansard SocietyThe Hansard Society was formed in 1944 to promote parliamentary democracy. Founded and chaired by Commander Stephen King-Hall, the first subscribers were Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee. The Society's President is the Speaker of the House of Commons, currently John Bercow, and the...
Commission on the Communication of
ParliamentThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. It alone has parliamentary sovereignty, conferring upon it ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories...
ary Democracy, the final report of which urged all political parties to commit to a renewal of parliamentary life in an attempt to reinvigorate representative democracy. In 2007, he chaired the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Draft Climate Change Bill. Puttnam is currently a trustee of the
think tankA think tank is an organization, institute, corporation, or group that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economy, science or technology issues, industrial or business policies, or military advice...
the
Institute for Public Policy ResearchThe Institute for Public Policy Research is a left-wing UK think-tank with strong ties to the Labour party that claims to produce progressive ideas committed to upholding values of social justice, democratic reform and environmental sustainability. IPPR is based in London and also has a branch in...
.
Association with education
He was for 10 years chairman of the
National Film and Television SchoolThe National Film and Television School was established in 1971 and is based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, 25 miles west of London, and close to some of the UK's major film studios, such as Pinewood Studios.-History:...
and taught people such as
Nick ParkNicholas Wulstan "Nick" Park, CBE is a four-time Academy Award-winning English filmmaker of stop motion animation best known as the creator of Wallace and Gromit...
. He founded
SkillsetSkillset is the industry body which supports skills and training for people and businesses to ensure the UK creative media industries maintain their position. It was founded by David Puttnam, and is jointly funded by industry and government...
, which trains young people to become members of the film and television industries. In 2002 he was elected UK president of
UnicefThe United Nations Children's Fund was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II...
.
Lord Puttnam was the first chancellor of the
University of SunderlandThe University of Sunderland is located in Sunderland, North East England. The University has more than 10,000 students, including 7,000-plus international students from some 70 countries....
from 1997 until 13 July 2007. He was appointed an Honorary Doctor of Education during the School of Education and Lifelong Learning's Academic Awards Ceremonies in his final week as Chancellor and was granted the Freedom of the City of Sunderland upon his retirement. In 1998 he founded the National Teaching Awards and became its first chairman. He was the founding chairman of the General Teaching Council 2000-2002. He was appointed as chancellor of the
Open UniversityThe Open University is the distance learning university founded and funded by the UK Government. It is notable for having an open entry policy, i.e. students' previous academic achievements are not taken into account for entry to most undergraduate courses...
in 2006. He was also the Chairman of NESTA (The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) from 1998 until 2003. He is also chairman of Futurelab and on the board of directors of learning technologies company
PrometheanPromethean may refer to:*Prometheus, a character from Greek mythology, who was punished by the gods for stealing fire from the heavens to give to humans*Mary Shelley gave her novel Frankenstein the subtitle The Modern Prometheus...
.
BAFTA Award and Fellowship
In 1982 he received the
BAFTAThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation...
Michael BalconSir Michael Elias Balcon KBE was an English film producer, known for his work with Ealing Studios.-Background:...
Award for his outstanding contribution to the British Film Industry. In February 2006, he was awarded the
OrangeOrange is the brand used by France Télécom for its mobile network operator and Internet service provider subsidiaries. The brand was created in 1994 for Hutchison Telecom's UK mobile phone network, which was acquired by France Télécom in August 2000. In 2006, the company's ISP operations,...
BAFTA Fellowship of the Academy. He made the occasion notable by delivering a particularly moving homage to his late father who had died before he received his Oscar for
Chariots of Fire.. He also congratulated contemporary filmakers (specifically
George ClooneyGeorge Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Clooney has balanced his performances in big-budget blockbusters with work as a producer and director behind commercially riskier projects, as well as social and liberal political activism...
) for making films with integrity: the lack of such films being produced had been the reason for his retirement from the film industry in the late 1990s.
On 12 July 2007, he was given the freedom of the
City of SunderlandThe City of Sunderland is a local government district of Tyne and Wear, in North East England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough...
. He suffers from
MEChronic fatigue syndrome is the most common name given to a variably debilitating disorder or disorders characterized by persistent fatigue unrelated to exertion and not substantially relieved by rest...
, severely debilitating him on occasions.
Other Interests
In April 2007 he became the chairman of
ProferoProfero is an independent, privately owned digital marketing agency founded in London in March 1998. Specialising in advertising and marketing it numbers over 500 employees in fifteen cities: Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Milan, Mumbai, Munich, New York, Paris, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore,...
, a London based digital marketing agency. He explained the move saying: "My experience over the past forty odd (some very odd) years has encompassed marketing, entertainment and social issues, a fascinating mix that is integral to the daily lives of consumers and citizens. A business that can combine and magnify these dynamics can only create incredible value for their clients and, as a by-product, themselves. To me Profero is in just such a position, and it’s now my job to help them realise their potential."
He is patron of SCHOOLS NorthEast, an organisation set up in 2007 to promote education and forge relationships between schools in the North East of England.
External links