PETER BEALE

He was born in 1943 in London. Credited as one of the great revitalizers of the British film industry, his career began in 1961. He began his career in the film industry as a third assistant director in such films as ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (David Lean, 1962) or ‘Doctor Zhivago’ (David Lean, 1965). In 1970 he turned to film production with ‘The Adventures of Gerard’ (Jerzy Skolimowski, 1970), and between 1973 and 1978 he held the position of Managing Director at Twentieth Century Fox Productions UK in London. During this period he was instrumental in getting made in the UK films such as ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ (Jim Sharman, 1975), ‘The Omen’ (John Moore, 1976), ‘Star Wars’ (George Lucas, 1977), ‘Alien, the Eighth Passenger’ (Ridley Scott , 1979) and ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ (Irvin Kershner, 1980).

Following his stint at 20th Century Fox, he became the Managing Director of EMI, where he oversaw the production of films like ‘The Elephant Man’ (David Lynch, 1980) and ‘The Jazz Singer’ (Richard Fleischer, 1980). After moving to California in 1982, he was appointed President of Showscan, a revolutionary high-speed film process, first used in World Fairs and theme park ride simulators. He then became the President of Illusion Inc.

In the mid-eighties, he co-founded BAFTA/LA and was the first Chairperson of the institution, extending the international reach and influence of British film-making excellence. The UK government declared it the most important British cultural institution outside the UK. He has just shot the short film, ‘Campos Secretos’ and is working on the development of Green Screen, an environmentalist film festival in Carboneras (Almería) scheduled for September 2021.