Chariots of Fire producer reveals how Greenpeace activists brought him back to filmmaking.
When David Puttnam stepped back from filmmaking in his mid-50s, he cited the examples of some of the legendary filmmakers he had met while boss of Columbia Pictures – directors like Stanley Kramer, John Huston, Fred Zinnemann and George Stevens who felt embittered at their loss of influence late in their careers.
“What I realised…is what angry men they were. When I made the decision to be out [of the film business] at 55, it was because I realised that the last 15 years of their lives, they were not happy guys,” the Chariots Of Fire producer said in a 2008 interview.
Now, aged 74, Lord Puttnam is taking the plunge back into production.
Two weeks ago, at Cannes,he announced his plans to make a feature film version of Don’t Trust Don’t Fear Don’t Beg The Extraordinary Story of the Arctic 30, the book by Ben Stewart (head of media at Greenpeace) about the experiences of Greenpeace activists protesting against oil drilling in the Arctic.