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Ridley Scott Director, Producer "You come out of the film with whatever you brought to it going in." |
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Lights, Camera, Action
Biography by Aesira Savar
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Ridley Scott Director, Producer "You come out of the film with whatever you brought to it going in." |
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Having moments of great success and periods where his films have been
severely criticised, Ridley Scott is one of the most promising
directors of the late seventies.
This British director was born on the 30th November 1937, in South Shields, Northumberland. Scott began his first cinema studies in the West Harpool College of Art doing graphic design and painting. After that, he attended the London's Royal College of Art where he did his first short film. Right after finishing all his studies and graduating, he was awarded a traveling scholarship and went to the United States where he worked for Time Life, Inc. He spent one year there and then returned to England where he joined and started working for the British Broadcast Corporation (BBC) as production designer in the late sixties. His good reputation allowed him to become the director of some of the most popular series of the BBC. He created his own brand, Ridley Scott Associates, also known as RSA, which was seen in several countries of Europe. RSA soon became one of the most important and successful commercial production houses in Europe. During its first years, Scott produced and directed several short films with his own company. RSA produced over three thousand commercials and some of them made Scott won awards at the Vennice and Cannes Festivals. Furthermore, he was honoured by the New York Art Director's Club. Nowadays, RSA is extended over the world and has its offices not only in London, but also in New York and in Los Angeles. Ridley Scott Associates is known for being one of the most important advertising industries. It was not until the end of the seventies when Ridley Scott debuted on the main screen. The Duellists, a great and striking film about the Napoleonic Wars, appeared in 1977 and Scott was awarded the Jury Prize for Best First Feature at the Cannes Film Festival. It was not till 1979, with the film Alien, which won an Academy Award for Special Effects, when Scott achieved great success and became one of the most important directors of horror and science fiction films. After Alien, Scott's third film and the one that would give him more fame in the beginning of the eighties was Blade Runner, starring Harrison Ford. This film was finally done in 1982 but the production gave him several problems with the executive officers who made him change the end of the film. The first results were not very positive and the film wasn't well received, but in the early nineties, Scott released his cut and the film was shown again in cinemas. Blade Runner became considered one of the landmark science fiction films of all time. Scott's next works were Legend in 1986 and Black Rain three years later. In 1987 Ridley Scott founded Percy Main Productions, which allowed the director to develop and produce more important features. The first film that was done in that company was Thelma & Louise in 1991, and it was a great success. Thelma & Louise was nominated for six Academy Awards, which included Best Director for Ridley Scott. On the same year he was considered the Best Director of the Year by the London Film Critics Circle. His next feature wouldn't be as successful as the previous ones. 1492: Conquest of Paradise, which was released in 1992, was a complete failure and the film had disastrous reviews. On the following years, Scott stayed away from the main screen and worked in producing films, such as Monkey Trouble and The Browning Version, both in 1994. A year later, together with his brother Tony, the director created Scott Free Productions, a film and television production company. In 1996, Ridley Scott returned to the main screen with White Squall, which was another failure, and the same happened with his next film, G.I. Jane, in 1997. Again, the director decided to return producing and working in TV series, doing The Hungers and Enemy of the State. He produced a feature in 1998, Clay Pigeons, and, after that, he decided to return to the director's chair. His next feature was Gladiator in 2000, which earned a lot of money and gave fame to Ridley Scott once more, as well as five Academy Awards. Scott directed in 2001 Hannibal, the sequel to Silence of the Lambs, starring Juliane Moore and Anthony Hopkins. Ridley Scott was also the producer of the film. Works Cited and Consulted |