Dave Puttnam

In June 2019, Lord Puttnam was appointed chair of the special House of Lords Democracy and Digital Technologies Committee, set up to investigate the impact of digital technologies on democracy.

Puttnam was for 10 years chairman of the National Film and Television School whose alumni included people such as Nick Park, and in 2017, he succeeded Lord Richard Attenborough as Life President. 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 returned to the field of film production in 2015 to oversee pre-production of Ben Stewart’s account of the Arctic 30 incident, Don’t Trust, Don’t Fear, Don’t Beg. He stepped away from the role in 2019 when he was appointed to chair the House of Lords Special Committee ‘Democracy and Digital Technology’.   He is the President of the Film Distributors’ Association; Chair of the TSL Advisory Board; Chair of Nord Anglia International School, Dublin; Life President, National Film & Television School, a UNICEF Ambassador, and Adjunct Professor of Film Studies and Digital Humanities at University College Cork. He is the chair of Atticus Education, an online education company based in Ireland. Atticus delivers interactive seminars on film and a variety of other subjects to educational institutions around the world.

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 August 2014, Puttnam was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.

From May 2014 -2018, Puttnam was Chair of the Academic Board for Pearson College, part of Pearson PLC, the first FTSE 100 company to offer degrees in the UK.

From 2012 to 2017, he has was the Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma).

From 2012 to 2017, Puttnam, who lives in Skibbereen, County Cork, was named Ireland's Digital Champion by Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte, TD.

In 2009, in partnership with Sir Michael Barber, Puttnam released We Are the People We've been Waiting For an education documentary featuring high-profile figures discussing their own experiences of education.

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. 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 2006–2017. 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 (now Shakespeare Schools Foundation), 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. He was elected to the Royal Irish Academy in 2017.

When Puttnam became the chairman of Profero, a London-based digital marketing agency in April 2007, 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."

On Sunday, 19 August 2007, Puttnam gave the oration at the annual Michael Collins commemoration in Béal na Bláth, County Cork.

Puttnam was deputy Chairman of Channel 4 Television from 2006–2012. He is president of the Film Distributors' Association (FDA) and chair of the TSL Advisory Board.

From 2004 to 2005, Puttnam chaired the Hansard Society Commission on Communication of Parliamentary 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.

He was awarded The Royal Photographic Society's President's Medal and Honorary Fellowship (HonFRPS) in recognition of a sustained, significant contribution to the art of photography in 2003.

He received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 2001, and from Trinity College Dublin in 2016.

Puttnam co-authored (with Neil Watson) Movies and Money, published in January 2000 by Vintage Books.

He executive produced The Josephine Baker Story (1991), Without Warning: The James Brady Story (1992), and The Burning Season (1994).

Puttnam returned to producing individual films with Memphis Belle (1990), Meeting Venus (1991), A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia (1992), Being Human (1994), War of the Buttons (1994), The Confessional (1994), and My Life So Far (1995).

Puttnam, who had produced Ian Charleson's star-making film Chariots of Fire, contributed a chapter to the 1990 book, For Ian Charleson: A Tribute.

Puttnam was chairman and CEO of Columbia Pictures from June 1986 until September 1987.

He continued to executive produce TV movies like The Frog Prince (1985), Mr. Love (1985), Defence of the Realm (1986), and Knights & Emeralds (1986). He produced The Mission (1986) directed by Joffe from a script by Robert Bolt which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986).

Puttnam continued to produce features. He had another success with Local Hero (1983), written and directed by Bill Forsyth. He also did the acclaimed Cal (1984), directed by Pat O'Connor and The Killing Fields (1984), directed by Roland Joffe.

In 1983, Puttnam was appointed as a Commander of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. In 1995 Puttnam was appointed as a Knight Bachelor. In 1997, Puttnam was created as a life peer and was granted Letters Patent to become Baron Puttnam, of Queensgate in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. In 1998, Puttnam was named in a list of financial donors to the British Labour Party. 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 Murdoch's News Corporation from buying channel 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 Ofcom, but without explicit restrictions.

Puttnam set up a TV company, Enigma TV, and made a series of TV movies in association with Goldcrest which carry Puttnam's name as executive producer. Six were made as a series called "First Love" for the fledgling Channel Four: P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang (1982), directed by Apted; Experience Preferred... But Not Essential (1982); Secrets (1983); Those Glory Glory Days (1983); Sharma and Beyond (1983); and Arthur's Hallowed Ground (1984). Other films produced for television were Forever Young (1983); Red Monarch (1983); and Winter Flight (1984).

In 1982, he received the BAFTA Michael Balcon Award for his outstanding contribution to the British Film Industry. In February 2006, he was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship. 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 filmmakers (specifically George Clooney) 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.

Puttnam's next film was his most successful yet. Chariots of Fire (1981), the first feature directed by Hugh Hudson, became a massive hit and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was produced in association with Goldcrest Pictures.

Puttnam made his first film in America, Foxes (1980), the directorial debut of Adrian Lyne. It was a box office flop.

Midnight Express (1978) which he produced with Marshall, and was directed by Parker from a script by Oliver Stone, was a notable box office success.

Puttnam produced Ridley Scott's debut as director, The Duellists (1977).

Puttnam had a box office success with Bugsy Malone (1976), a musical he executive produced, written and directed by Alan Parker and produced by Alan Marshall. It was the last film Puttnam would make under the Goodtimes Banner. He set up a new company, Enigma Films.

A second film with Russell, Lisztomania (1975), was a box office disaster and led to the end of the Puttnam-Lieberson partnership.

Puttnam and Lieberson executive produced the Ken Russell biopic Mahler (1974), and did a sequel to That'll Be The Day, Stardust (1974), directed by Michael Apted.

There were more documentaries: Radio Wonderful (1974), Brother Can You Spare a Dime (1975), James Dean: The First American Teenager (1975) and The Memory of Justice (1976).

They produced The Final Programme (1973), a science fiction film, and made some more documentaries, Double Headed Eagle: Hitler's Rise to Power 1918-1933 (1973), and Swastika (1974).

Puttnam and Lieberson's second film, The Pied Piper (1972), directed by Jacques Demy was not a success, but That'll Be the Day (1973) with David Essex was a hit.

The first feature he produced was Melody (1971) based on a script by Alan Parker, which was a minor hit.

He turned to film production in the late 1960s, working with Sanford Lieberson's production company Goodtimes Enterprises.

David 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.

He and Lieberson produced the documentaries Peacemaking 1919 (1971), Glastonbury Fayre (1972), and Bringing It All Back Home (1972).