| Description | Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, HonFRSA, HonFRPS, MRIA (born 25 February 1941) is a British film producer and educator. His productions include Chariots of Fire, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, although he is not principally a politician. Puttnam was born in Southgate, London, England, the son of Marie Beatrix, and Leonard Arthur Puttnam, a photographer. Educated at Minchenden Grammar School in London, Puttnam had an early career in advertising, including five formative years at Collett Dickenson Pearce, and as agent acting for the photographers David Bailey and Brian Duffy. He turned to film production in the late 1960s, working with Sanford Lieberson's production company Goodtimes Enterprises, where he produced films such as the rock musicals That'll Be the Day (1973) and Stardust (1974), Ken Russell's Mahler (1974) and Lisztomania (1975), and Alan Parker's Bugsy Malone (1976). In 1978 he also produced Alan Parker's Midnight Express, but for the US company Casablanca Filmworks.
In 1976, he set up his own production company, Enigma Productions, through which he produced a string of films, such as The Duellists (Ridley Scott's feature film debut), Chariots of Fire (which won the Academy Award for Best Picture), Local Hero, Memphis Belle, Meeting Venus and The Killing Fields and The Mission with Roland Joffé (which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986). Many of the Enigma films made in the 1980s were done in association with the financial backer Goldcrest Films.
Puttnam was chairman and CEO of Columbia Pictures from June 1986 until September 1987.In 1998, he retired from film production to focus on his work in education and the environment. Puttnam was for 10 years chairman of the National Film and Television School and taught people such as Nick Park. He founded Skillset, which trains young people to become members of the film and television industries. From 2002-2009 he was UK president of UNICEF and remains an ambassador.
Puttnam was the first chancellor of the University of Sunderland 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.[19] 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 University in 2007. He was also the Chairman of NESTA (The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) from 1998 until 2003. He was also on the board of directors of learning technologies company Promethean.
Lord Puttnam is the patron of SCHOOLS NorthEast, an organisation set up in 2007 to represent all schools in the North East of England. He is also a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres.
In May 2014, Puttnam was appointed Chair of the Academic Board for Pearson College, part of Pearson PLC, the first FTSE 100 company to offer degrees in the UK.
In March 2015 he was made a freeman at the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in recognition of his service as chairman at the Sage Gateshead.
In January 2017, Puttnam officially launched London College of Communication's Screen School. Based at its Elephant and Castle site, the Screen School covers courses in film, television, games, animation, sound arts and design and live events.
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. He is also a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. In May 2006, he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. On 12 July 2007, he was given the freedom of the City of Sunderland. In 2008, David received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science from Nottingham Trent University in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to the cultural landscape of the UK, in both economic and creative terms, and for his notable support for the Nottingham City-based GameCity Festival.[29] He was elected to the Royal Irish Academy in 2015. He is the recipient of 45 honorary degrees from universities in the UK and around the world. |