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David Puttnam

Forename/s: 
David
Family name: 
Puttnam
Awards and Honours: 
CBE 1983
Knighted 1995
Life Peer 1997
Work area/craft/role: 
Producer
Industry: 
Film
Websites: 
David Puttnam Website
IMDb
Wikipedia
Interview Number: 
600
Interview Date(s): 
1 Jul 2010
Interviewer/s: 
Darrol Blake
Roy Lockett
Camera: 
Dan Thurley
Other crew: 
Martin Sheffield
Production Media: 
Video

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Interview
Transcript

No transcript is currently available, but Chapter Headings are as follows:-

Time Coded Chapter Headings
(History Project Interview No.600 - David Puttnam, filmed 1/7/2010 – in 3 Sections)

Film History – Interviewer, Darrol Blake (mono sound)
  0.00        Childhood and family
  3.35        Marriage and leaving school at 16
  4.17        1st jobs; messenger
  8.30        Move to accounts in Advertising Agency
  9.30        Night School
12.00        Pay rise at Colletts Agency
13.00        Promotion at Collets Agency
15.00        Photographer’s agency
15.38        Entering film industry
16.05        Luck of Americans leaving, and video making
18.13        Alan Parker; ‘Melody’
20.00        Documentary series; ‘Inside the 3rd Reich’
21.30        Ken Russell; ‘Mahler’ & ‘Lisztomania’ 
23.40        ‘Bugsy Malone’, skills of financing
28.00        Ridley Scott; ‘The Duellists’
30.40        C4, Jack Rosenthal; ‘P’tang, Yang, Kipperbang’
31.20        ‘Midnight Express’ in Malta
33.00        Adrian Lyne; ‘Foxes’
34.15        ‘Chariots of Fire’, Colin Welland, Hugh Hudson
39.25        TV, ‘1st Love’ C4
41.20        Became head of Columbia Pictures, (which he hated)
52.00        Awards and ambitions
55.00        Union & BFPA
58.00        BSkyB
59.00        Australian Film Commission
1.03.00    Formation of Skillset
1.05.40    ‘Local Hero’

Politics part one – Interviewer Roy Lockett (stereo sound)
 0.00        Politics starting in childhood
 2.00        ACTT & BFPA
 4.45        Labour Party
 5.40        Shirley Williams & Social Democrats
 7.00        David Owen
 7.30        National Film School & Neil Kinnock
 9.30         Union structure in USA (1982)
11.30        Joining ACTT as Producer
12.30        Alan Sapper
13.40        Change to a freelance industry, Roy Battersby & Trotskyites

Politics part two – Interviewer Roy Lockett (stereo sound)
 0.00        National Film & Television School
 2.30        Conflict with John Birt
 5.45        CPRE & Chancellor of Sunderland University
 8.20        School experience; Eleven Plus divisive
11.50        Labour Party, ’92 Election; change to politics

Lobbying for creative arts
15.15        ’97 Election; Chris Smith, David Blunkett
18.30        Becoming a Lord
19.30        Tony Blair – Education, Chris Woodhead
22.45        Joining Lords – grandmother charlady
24.00        Working cross-party in Lords
25.30        Communications bill 2002; victory of back-bench coalition
33.50        Energy bill
35.00        Future, “A Plan for Britain”
37.30        Climate Change
38.40        Oscar leading to responsibility

Biographical

David Puttnam was born on February 25, 1941 in London, England, UK. He is a producer and executive, known for The Mission (1986), Chariots of Fire (1981) and The Killing Fields (1984). He has been married to Patricia Mary Jones since 1961. They have two children.

He is the Chair of Atticus Education, an online education company founded in 2012 that delivers audio-visual seminars to students all over the world. In addition to this, he was a member of the House of Lords from October 1997 to October 2021 where he pursued an active role in a variety of areas, from educational and environmental issues to digital skills.

His current positions include:

  • Adjunct Professor, School of Media and Communication, College of Design and Social Context, RMIT University, AU;
  • Member of the Advisory Board of Accenture (Ireland);
  • Adjunct Professor in Film Studies & Digital Humanities, University College Cork;
  • Chairman, School Advisory Board, Nord Anglia International School, Dublin;
  • Life President, National Film and Television School, 2017; Patron, Dublin Bid World Summit on Media for Children 2020/2023;
  • Member, BFI/DCMS Young Audiences Content Fund Strategic Advisory Group; Member, Institute for Ethical AI in Education Advisory Council;
  • International Ambassador, WWF; Ambassador, Unicef UK;
  • Chair, Film London Executive Task Force; Board Member; Commonwealth of Learning.

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Movies

Lord Puttnam spent thirty years as an independent producer of award-winning films including The Mission, The Killing Fields, Chariots of Fire, Midnight Express, Bugsy Malone and Local Hero. Together these films have won ten Oscars, 13 Golden Globes, 31 Baftas, nine Emmys, four David di Donatellos and the Palme D’Or at Cannes. From 1986 to 1988, he was Chairman and CEO of Columbia Pictures. He returned to the UK to produce Memphis Belle, War of the Buttons and My Life So Far. From 1994 to 2004, he was Vice President and Chair of Trustees at the British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA) and was awarded a BAFTA Fellowship in 2006. He is also a Fellow of the British Film Institute.

His book on the history of the film industry, The Undeclared War – The Struggle for Control of the World’s Film Industry (published as Movies and Money in North America) was first published in 1997.