David Puttnam

David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, HonFRSA, HonFRPS, MRIA (born 25 February 1941) is a British film producer, educator, environmentalist and former member of the House of Lords. His productions include Chariots of Fire, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, The Mission, The Killing Fields, Local Hero, Midnight Express and Memphis Belle. He sat on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, although he was not principally a politician. In 2019 he was appointed chair to the select committee on democracy and digital technologies. The committee published its findings in its Digital Technology & the Resurrection of Trust report in June 2020.

Puttnam was born in Southgate, London, England, the son of Marie Beatrix, a homemaker of Jewish origin, 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.