Stewart Richards (born 1956) is an English film producer, television executive, publisher and writer. He is notable for producing award-winning British arthouse films in the 1980s and 1990s, including the 1991

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-nominated and

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

-nominated '' Dear Rosie,'' the 1988 ''Palme d'Or''-nominated ''Out of Town,'' and the 1990 ''

Un Certain Regard (; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films with unusua ...

-''selected ''

1871 Events January–March * January 3 – Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Bapaume – Prussians win a strategic victory. * January 18 – Proclamation of the German Empire: The member states of the North German Confederation and the sout ...

''.

Early life and education

Stewart was born in Ripley,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, in 1956. Aged 17, he joined the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and charity in London, created with the aim of developing young people's artistic skills via theatrical productions and other creative endeavours. Founded in 1956 as the world ...

and won an

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

trainee director fellowship, working at the

Nottingham Playhouse Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in 1948 when it operated from a former cinema in Goldsmith Street. Directors during this period included Val May and F ...

, the Theatre Royal Lincoln and

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...

. He later studied for three years at the

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. In ...

Film career

In the 1980s, Stewart produced a number of British art films, including: * ''Out of Town'', a

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

by Norman Hull and starring

David Morrissey David Mark Joseph Morrissey (born 21 June 1964) is an English actor and filmmaker. He had numerous small roles in films and television series throughout the 1990s before achieving wider recognition for playing Gordon Brown in '' The Deal'' (2003 ...

, which was in competition for the Palme d'Or at the

1988 Cannes Film Festival The 41st Cannes Film Festival took place from 11 to 23 May 1988. Italian filmmaker Ettore Scola served as jury president for the main competition. Danish filmmaker Bille August won the ''Palme d'Or'', the festival's top prize, for his drama film ...

and was screened at the 1988

São Paulo International Film Festival The São Paulo International Film Festival (), also known internationally as Mostra, is an annual film festival held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South Ame ...

; * ''

'', a feature film by Ken McMullen and starring

Roshan Seth Roshan Seth (born 2 April 1942) is a British-Indian actor, writer and theatre director who has worked in the United Kingdom, United States and India. He began his acting career in the early 1960s in the UK, but left acting the following deca ...

and

Timothy Spall Timothy Leonard Spall ( ; born 27 February 1957) is an English actor. He gained recognition for his character actor roles on stage and screen. In 2000, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II. S ...

that was selected for ''Un Certain Regard'' at the

1990 Cannes Film Festival The 43rd Cannes Film Festival took place from 10 to 21 May 1990. Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci served as jury president for the main competition. American filmmaker David Lynch won the ''Palme d'Or'', for the drama film '' Wild at Heart' ...

and which was screened at the 1991

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

Los Angeles International Film Festival; and * '' Dear Rosie'', a short film by

Peter Cattaneo Peter Joseph Cattaneo Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 1 July 1964) is a British filmmaker. He is most known for directing the comedy film ''The Full Monty'', for which he won the MTV Movie Award for Best New F ...

, co-written by

Peter Morgan Peter Julian Robin Morgan (born 10 April 1963) is a British screenwriter and playwright. He has written for theatre, films and television, often writing about historical events or figures such as Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II, whom he has ...

, that was nominated for the 1991

Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under numerous names, since 1957. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, ''Best Short Subject, On ...

and the

BAFTA Award for Best Short Film The BAFTA Award for Best British Short Film is a film award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) at the annual British Academy Film Awards. BAFTA is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, ...

, and which won a gold plaque for best short film at the

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

Television career

In the 1990s, Stewart joined Channel 4 Films and Film on Four and then joined the team that launched

Carlton Television Carlton Television (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Tele ...

in 1993, where he line-produced '' Frontiers'', co-written by

Stephen Poliakoff Stephen Poliakoff (born 1 December 1952) is a British playwright, Film director, director and screenwriter. In 2006 Gerard Gilbert of ''The Independent'' described him as the UK's "pre-eminent TV dramatist" and that he had "inherited Dennis Po ...

Publishing and writing

Stewart founded the

publishing house Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

Mr Punch, which produces

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...

and

audiobooks An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

, including the 1995 three-part play ''The Mutiny on the Bounty'', with

Oliver Reed Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor, known for his upper-middle class, macho image and his heavy-drinking, "hellraiser" lifestyle. His screen career spanned over 40 years, between 1955 and 1999. At the ...

Linus Roache Linus William Roache (born 1 February 1964) is a British actor. He played Executive ADA List of Law & Order characters#Michael Cutter, Michael Cutter in the NBC dramas ''Law & Order'' (2008–2010) and ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2011 ...

and

Roger Daltrey Sir Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Who, known for his powerful voice and charismatic stage presence. His stage persona ear ...

, for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. He has written two books: ''The Great Train Robbery: The definitive account'', about the 1963 Great Train Robbery, which he co-produced as a documentary for

ITV Studios ITV Studios Limited is a British multinational television media company owned by British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadcasters, and is ba ...

; and ''Curtain Down at Her Majesty’s'', about

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

's final days, which he produced as a five-part drama for BBC Radio 4 and which was selected for '' Pick of the Week''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Stewart English film producers 1956 births Living people People from Ripley, Derbyshire Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art