Paul Saltzman (born 1943) is a Canadian film and television producer and director. A two-time Emmy Award-recipient, he has been credited on more than 300 films, both dramas and documentaries. The 2008 documentary feature, '' Prom Night in Mississippi'', featuring actor Morgan Freeman, premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. His feature documentary, ''The Last White Knight—Is Reconciliation Possible?'' premiered at TIFF (

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

) in 2012. It features Morgan Freeman,

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...

, Delay de la Beckwith (son of Byron De La Beckwith) as well as Saltzman himself. His most recent film is the feature documentary 'Meeting the Beatles in India' filmed in India, Canada, USA and England is his most personal film tracing his life-changing journey to India, learning meditation and spending a week with the Beatles at an ashram in Rishikesh. He is also founder, CEO and president of the

charitable The practice of charity is the voluntary giving of help to those in need, as a humanitarian act, unmotivated by self-interest. There are a number of philosophies about charity, often associated with religion. Etymology The word ''charity'' or ...

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organization Moving Beyond Prejudice, which works with police forces, students, educators, youth-at-risk and community groups.

Early life

He was born in 1943 the son of

Percy Saltzman Percy Philip Saltzman, (March 15, 1915 – January 15, 2007) was a meteorologist and television personality best remembered for being the first weatherman in English-speaking Canadian television history. As a pioneer in weather forecasting ...

, Canada's first English-speaking TV weatherman, and Rose Cohen. After briefly studying mathematics and science, he did congressional civil rights lobbying in Washington, D.C., and in the summer of 1965 he did voter registration work in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

as part of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which would later lead him to go back to the area to explore the concept of prejudice and racism with his first documentary feature film, ''Prom Night in Mississippi''. He lives in the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

area, and has one daughter, Devyani Saltzman, a writer and literary curator, with his ex-wife, director and screenwriter Deepa Mehta. His partner is Anne Peace, a writer and joyologist.

The Beatles

In 1968, at the age of 23, he traveled to India for the first time as sound engineer on the National Film Board of Canada's ''Juggernaut'' documentary. He studied

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

to recover after his girlfriend had broken up with him, by mail. He learned

at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram in the holy city of Rishikesh, India,

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

were coincidentally also visiting the ashram. He saw them sitting at a table and asked to join them. Paul McCartney drew up a chair. While there, he spent time with and photographed the Beatles, Donovan, Mia and Prudence Farrow and Mike Love. His photos have been judged "some of the best intimate shots" ever taken of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, and have been seen in galleries worldwide. A permanent exhibition of his The Beatles in India photographs can be seen above the retail units in the departure lounge of Liverpool John Lennon Airport. In 2000, Saltzman released a book of his photographs, ''The Beatles in Rishikesh'', with Penguin-Putnam; and in 2006 he self-published a deluxe limited edition box set, ''The Beatles in India''. In 2018, the 50th anniversary of the Beatles time at the ashram, Insight Editions published a hardcover trade edition of 'The Beatles in India'. One of the most memorable things Saltzman absorbed during his conversations and life-changing stay with The Beatles was George Harrison's words: "Like we're The Beatles, after all, aren't we? We have all the money you could ever dream of. We have all the fame you could ever wish for. But it isn't love. It isn't health. It isn't peace inside, is it?" Saltzman has been to India over 60 times. He led special tours of India in 2013 and 2014, and again in 2016 and 2018. Called "India with Paul Saltzman: A Fusion of Colour, Music & Soul", it shares his love of and favourite places in India. Included is how India impacted The Beatles, and led to the group's most creative musical period.

Film and TV career

Saltzman began his film and television career at the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

as a researcher, interviewer and on-air host, and then moved to the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

. He assisted in the launch of a new film format as second-unit director and production manager of the first IMAX film, produced for the Osaka

Expo '70 The or Expo 70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fair ...

. In 1972, he produced and directed his first film, a half-hour documentary on

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...

. In 1967 and again in 1972, Saltzman interviewed Buckminster Fuller on film. On this second occasion, Fuller told Saltzman "You changed my idea of the 60's generation. Before I met you, I thought it was a lost generation." In 1973, Saltzman founded Sunrise Films Limited. He produced and directed documentaries for the next decade, including the award-winning series ''Spread Your Wings''. His work included producing, directing, writing, editing, cinematography and sound recording. In 1983, he turned to drama, producing and directing the premiere of ''

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

's Family Playhouse'' and a special for ''

American Playhouse ''American Playhouse'' is an American anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Overview It premiered on January 12, 1982, with ''The Shady Hill Kidnapping'', written and narrated by John Cheever an ...

''. That year, he co-created and produced the family action-adventure television series ''

Danger Bay ''Danger Bay'' is a Canadian television series, produced in Vancouver, with first-run episodes broadcast on CBC Television in Canada and The Disney Channel in the United States premiering October 8, 1984. Reruns of the show continued on The Disney ...

''; the hit CBC–

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

series ran for six years and 123 episodes. Since then he has produced television series such as ''

My Secret Identity ''My Secret Identity'' is a television series starring Jerry O'Connell and Derek McGrath. Originally broadcast from October 9, 1988 to May 25, 1991 on CTV in Canada, the series also aired in syndication in the United States. It was later shown ...

'', ''Matrix'' and ''Max Glick'', as well as miniseries and movies of the week. He co-produced the feature film ''

Map of the Human Heart ''Map of the Human Heart'' (also called ''Carte du Tendre'' and ''La Carte du Tendre''; released in the Philippines as ''War Dragon'') is a 1992 film by New Zealand director Vincent Ward. The script for ''Map of the Human Heart'' was written by ...

'', an international epic directed by Vincent Ward, starring

Jason Scott Lee Jason Scott Lee (; born November 19, 1966) is an American actor and martial artist. He played Mowgli in Disney's 1994 live-action adaptation of ''The Jungle Book'' and Bruce Lee in the 1993 martial arts film '' Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story''. He ...

Anne Parillaud Anne Parillaud (; born 6 May 1960) is a French actress who has been active since 1977. She is best known internationally for playing the title character in Luc Besson's film '' La Femme Nikita''. Biography Parillaud was born in Paris. While in ...

Patrick Bergin Patrick Connolly Bergin (born 4 February 1951) is an Irish actor and singer perhaps best known for his leading role opposite Julia Roberts in ''Sleeping with the Enemy'' (1991), the title character in Robin Hood (1991 film), terrorist Kevin O ...

John Cusack John Paul Cusack (; born June 28, 1966)(28 June 1996)Today's birthdays ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', ("Actors John Cusack is 30") is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and political activist. He is a son of filmmaker Dick Cusack, and his ol ...

and

Jeanne Moreau Jeanne Moreau (; 23 January 1928 – 31 July 2017) was a French actress, singer, screenwriter, director, and socialite. She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française. Mo ...

. He also executive produced ''Martha, Ruth & Edie'' as well as ''Sam & Me'', which received an Honorable Mention in competition for the

Camera d'Or A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with a ...

at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. In 2020, his feature documentary based on his experiences with the Beatles in India, 'Meeting the Beatles in India' was released. Saltzman is a member of the

Directors Guild of Canada The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) is a Canadian labour union representing more than 5,500 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. Founded in 1962, the DGC represents directors, editors, assistant ...

and the

Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is a Canadian non-profit organization created in 1979 to recognize the achievements of the over 4,000 Canadian film industry and television industry professionals, most notably through the Canadian Scre ...

References

External links

*
The Beatles in India book website

Sundance Film festival overview of "Prom Night In Mississippi"

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saltzman, Paul 1943 births Living people Canadian film producers Canadian people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Place of birth missing (living people) Canadian television producers Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee The Beatles and India Transcendental Meditation exponents Jewish Canadian filmmakers