Arnold Schwartzman OBE

London-born Arnold Schwartzman OBE is an Oscar-winning filmmaker and noted graphic designer. An alumnus of Canterbury College of Art, he began his design career in British television, moving on to become an advertising art director. In 1968, he joined the Board of Conran Design Group, London, as Graphics Director.

An illustrator for many years for the London Sunday Times, he also designed two special supplements, EUREKA and THE FACTS OF LIFE, for that paper's magazine. In 1978, he became Design Director for Saul Bass and Associates, Los Angeles.

He was the producer, director and screenwriter of a number of films including his Academy Award winning documentary feature film GENOCIDE (1981); Building A Dream, The Story of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games, (1989); Echoes That Remain (1991) which received the 1992 Houston International Film Festival Gold Special Jury Award; and LIBERATION (1994) which received a royal premiere in London. In 1982 he was appointed Director of Design for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

He was the creator of a number of short videos for the Museum of Tolerance as well as a permanent eight-screen video exhibit and Time Line mural for the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles.

Arnold designed a number of key graphic elements for the Annual Academy Awards.

He is the author of a score of books including:

• AIRSHIPWRECK with Len Deighton (Jonathan Cape, 1978)
• DESIGNAGE: The Art of the Decorative Sign (Chronicle Books, 1998)
• Flicks: How The Movies Began (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 2001)
• DECO Landmarks: Art Deco Gems of Los Angeles (Chronicle Books, 2005)
• A PERSISTENCE OF VISION (Monograph) (Images Publishing, 2005)
• LONDON ART DECO (Aurum Press, 2007)

Arnold has won an Oscar and other film awards, as well as international design awards including three Designers and Art Directors Association of London Silver awards. He was elected to the Alliance Graphique Internationale in 1974.

He is a Governor and past Chairman of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts/Los Angeles (BAFTA/LA) and past Chairman of the Documentary Executive Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In 2002, he was appointed an OBE for services to the British film industry in the USA. In 2006 the distinction of Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) was conferred on him.