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Ridley Scott
 Biography:
Ridley Scott was born on November 30, 1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England. Upon the outbreak of World War II, Scott’s father left his successful shipping business and took a job with the Army. Now a military family, the Scott’s found themselves frequently relocating over the next several years.
In school Scott struggled academically, but excelled in the arts. Hoping to nurture their son’s gift, Scott’s exceptionally supportive parents allowed him to transfer his studies over to the West Hartlepool College of Art. While at college he would spend the next four years immersed in drawing, painting, still photography, and graphic design.
At the age of twenty Scott graduated from West Hartlepool with honors and had earned a scholarship to continue his studies at the Royal College of Art. He would spend three years, and two additional postgraduate courses, at the RCA furthering his artistic abilities. It was also during this time that Scott would develop a fascination with the cinema.
Scott’s first experiment with filmmaking came in 1961 with a 16mm Bolex loaned to him by the RCA’s theater department. His short film, funded with £65 of his own money, was titled “Boy and Bicycle”. The film would finally be completed and copyrighted in 1965 with a £250 grant from the British Film Institute, but in the meantime Scott would graduate and head to New York City on a traveling scholarship.
In New York he gained experience in editing at Leacock/Pennebaker. A year later he would return to England where he would work as an art director for the BBC. His skill in designing sets for television eventually led to designing sets for commercials.
After becoming familiar with the format, he was soon start to direct his own TV ads. After participating in the BBC’s directors training course, he reached a realization that television work wasn’t for him. He then decided to focus almost entirely on his advertisements and in 1965 he opened his own commercial production company called Ridley Scott Associates.
RSA was a major success, but Scott had not forgotten his love for filmmaking. After a handful of failed attempts, Scott finally completed his first feature film in 1977. The Duellists, an adaptation of a Joseph Conrad short story, was a critical success but financial disappointment. T
his would not be the case with his second picture, Alien, which became the event film of 1979. Scott would be hit and miss over the next two decades as he directed films like Blade Runner, Legend, Thelma & Louise, and G.I. Jane. The new millennium would bring him unprecedented success with projects like Gladiator, Hannibal, and Black Hawk Down. In 2003 Ridley Scott was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to the British film industry.
Films:
The Duellists (1977)
Alien (1979)
Blade Runner (1982)
Legend (1985)
Someone to Watch Over Me (1987)
Black Rain (1989)
Thelma & Louise (1991)
1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
The Browning Version (1994)
White Squall (1996)
G.I. Jane (1997)
Clay Pigeons (1998)
Where the Money Is (2000)
Gladiator (2000)
Hannibal (2001)
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Matchstick Men (2003)
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Upcoming Projects:
Six Bullets from Now (2002)
Tristan & Isolde (2004) (executive producer)
Emma's War (2005)
Domino (2005)
In Her Shoes (2005)
A Good Year (2005)
Diamond Dead (2005)
All the Invisible Children (2006)
Mary Queen of Scots (2006)
Other Film Credits:
Monkey Trouble (1994) (executive producer)
Short Films:
Boy and Bicycle (1965) (writer, director, and producer)
The Hire: Hostage (2002) (executive producer)
The Hire: Beat the Devil (2002) (executive producer)
The Hire: Ticker (2002) (executive producer)
Music Video Projects:
none
Television Projects:
R3 (series 1964-1965) (production designer)
Reluctant Bandit (miniseries 1965) (production designer)
Out of the Unknown (series 1965-1971) (production designer)
Softly, Softly (series 1966-1976) (director)
Z Cars (series 1962-1978) (directed the episode “Error of Judgement”)
The Informer (series 1966-1967) (director)
Adam Adamant Lives! (series 1966-1967) (directed the episodes “The League of Uncharitable Ladies”, “Death Begins at Seventy”, and “The Resurrectionists”)
The Hunger (series 1997-2000) (executive producer)
RKO 281 (1999) (executive producer)
The Last Debate (2000) (executive producer)
AFP: American Fighter Pilot (series 2002) (executive producer)
The Gathering Storm (2002) (executive producer)
Numb3rs (series 2005-current) (executive producer)
The Andromeda Strain (miniseries 2005) (executive producer)
Non Film Projects:
Scott founded his advertising agency, called Ridley Scott Associates, in 1965. Today RSA has offices in both London and Los Angeles and is one of the leading film and television commercial production companies in the industry. Scott has directed over three thousand RSA advertisements himself.
Production and Other Companies:
Mill Film
Percy Main Productions
Scott Free Productions
Shepperton Studios
Ridley Scott Associates
Film Award Ratios (wins/nominations):
Academy Awards – 9/29 (31.0%)
Golden Globes – 3/12 (25.0%)
Sundance Film Festival – 0/0 (0.0%)
Cannes Film Festival – 1/3 (33.3%)
Writers Guild of America – 1/2 (50.0%)
Directors Guild of America – 0/3 (0.0%)
AFI Top One Hundred Films of All Time – 0
Quote:
“When they say, “What about my performance?” I say, “What about my fucking performance?” My performance is everything you will see when those curtains go up. I’m responsible for the way it looks, the way it sounds, the way it is cast, what the locations look like, what the script’s like, how the fucking shoes are tied and how your fucking hair’s done. So back off and have the good grace to give me a little bit of space to coordinate these things at which maybe I’m one of the best. I say it’s not just about you. Ultimately, it’s about me.” Playboy Interview, March 2001
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