Lord Puttnam of Queensgate, CBE, film producer and politician in conversation with Dr Dylan Evans, Lecturer in Behavioural Science, University College Cork
The creative brain: leaning into the light
Lord Puttnam and Dr Evans will be discussing issues of personal and collective responsibility in relation to the media, education and the huge challenges of climate change. The event will be chaired by Sîan Ede of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Film producer and politician
David Puttnam spent thirty years as an independent film producer. His many award-winning films include The Mission, The Killing Fields, Local Hero, Chariots of Fire, Midnight Express and Bugsy Malone.
He retired from film production in 1998 and now devotes his time to education and the environment. He is Chancellor of the Open University, founder and Chair of Trustees of the National Teaching Awards, and was the first Chair of the General Teaching Council (2000-2002). He was founding Chair of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), and for ten years chaired the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, as well as serving as a Trustee of both the Tate Gallery and the Science Museum. He was Vice President and Chair of Trustees at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) from 1994 to 2004, and was awarded a BAFTA Fellowship in 2006.
He was appointed President of UNICEF UK in July 2002, and has played a key role in promoting UNICEF’s advocacy, awareness and fundraising objectives. In February 2006, he became Deputy Chairman of Channel Four, and in April 2006 Chairman of Futurelab. In 2007 he was appointed Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Climate Change Bill Scrutiny Committee. He was awarded a CBE in 1982, a Knighthood in 1995 and appointed to the House of Lords in 1997. In France he has been honoured as a Chevalier (1985), Officer (1992) and Commander of Arts and Letters (2006).
Dr Evans is Lecturer in Behavioural Science at University College Cork, Ireland and a contributor to The Moral Maze and Material World on BBC Radio 4.