Stewart Richards

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, including 1988 Palme d'Or-nominated Out of Town, the 1990 Un Certain Regard-selected 1871, and the 1991 Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA-nominated Dear Rosie.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

Stewart was born in Ripley, Derbyshire, in 1956. Aged 17, he joined the National Youth Theatre and won an Arts Council trainee director fellowship, working at the Nottingham Playhouse, the Theatre Royal Lincoln and Birmingham Repertory Theatre. He later studied for three years at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.[4][5]

Film career

In the 1980s, Stewart produced a number of British art films, including:

• Out of Town, a short film by Norman Hull and starring David Morrissey, which was in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival and was screened at the 1988 São Paulo International Film Festival;
• 1871, a feature film by Ken McMullen and starring Roshan Seth and Timothy Spall that was selected for Un Certain Regard at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival and which was screened at the 1991 American Film Institute Los Angeles International Film Festival; and
• Dear Rosie, a short film by Peter Cattaneo, co-written by Peter Morgan, that was nominated for the 1991 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film and the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film, and which won a gold plaque for best short film at the Chicago International Film Festival.[6][7][2][1][8][9]

Television career

In the 1990s, Stewart joined Channel 4 Films and Film on Four and then joined the team that launched Carlton Television in 1993, where he line-produced Frontiers, co-written by Stephen Poliakoff.[5]

Publishing and writing

Stewart founded the publishing house Mr Punch, which produces radio drama and audiobooks, including the 1995 three-part play The Mutiny on the Bounty, with Oliver Reed, Linus Roache and Roger Daltrey, for BBC Radio 4.[10][11]

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; and Curtain Down at Her Majesty’s, about Queen Victoria's final days, which he produced as a five-part drama for BBC Radio 4 and which was selected for Pick of the Week.[12][13][14][15]

References

1. "1990". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
2. "Out of Town". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
3. Out of Town (1988) | MUBI, retrieved 2024-01-02
4. "Stewart Richards | Producer, Additional Crew, Location Management". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
5. "About". Mr Punch Audiobooks. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
6. "1991 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". www.oscars.org. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
7. "Film in 1991 | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
8. "47ª Mostra Internacional de Cinema em São Paulo". 47ª Mostra Internacional de Cinema em São Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-01-02.
9. Archives, Los Angeles Times (1991-04-13). "This weekend at AFI Festival". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
10. "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 1995-07-09. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
11. "The Guardian from London, Greater London, England". Newspapers.com. 1995-07-15. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
12. "ITV boards Great Train Robbery documentary". Broadcast. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
13. Richards, Stewart (2018). Curtain down at Her Majesty's: The death of Queen Victoria in the words of those who were there. London: History Press. ISBN 9780750990622.
14. Richards, Stewart (2013). The Great Train Robbery: Crime of the century: The definitive account. London: Orion. ISBN 9780297864400.
15. "BBC Radio 4 Extra - Curtain Down at Her Majesty's - A Play in Five Acts (Omnibus)". BBC. Retrieved 2024-01-02.