Quick Facts
Biography
David A. Goldsmith lives in Italy and Britain. His career in television spans the vast technological changes: from film to videotape; from black & white to colour; from terrestrial to satellite; from the UK’s three national networks to the plethora of channels today; from analogue to digital; from 405 to High Definition. He moved through the ranks: from a Programme Assistant in educational television to a presenter of Ready Steady Go!; from film Location Manager at the newly formed Yorkshire TV to a Programme Director; from drama to current affairs; from making documentaries in ITV to directing at ITN where he won a BAFTA award covering the 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege.
Other experiences include: teaching at the then London College of Printing, TV production for the Metropolitan Police, directing the pan-European satellite experiment, setting up the BBC’s school of TV Journalism in Bucharest, starting the RGB news production Partnership, and as a Vice President at ScanSat Broadcasting launching its news department.
In 1993 he acted as an advisor to a startup television company in Hungary. His documentaries mainly in the field of human rights range: from the 1964 Freedom Summer murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner to Amnesty International’s concern about the state of human rights in Mexico; from following the Six-Day War in Jerusalem to the role of policewomen under the Equal Opportunities Act; from World War I Old Contemptibles in Flanders to Hells Angels in Britain. His enthusiasm for the documentary led to his book The Documentary Makers published by RotoVision.