David Gritten

David Gritten has been known for 20 years as one of Britain's most influential and respected film writers through his work with a range of publications, including The Daily Delegraph, the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. 

In his career he has interviewed most of the leading figures in the film and entertainment business – including Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Cate Blanchett, Stephen Sondheim and Dolly Parton. He has also travelled the world, visiting and reporting from such festivals as Cannes, Venice and Sundance, and dozens of film sets – Schindler’s List in Poland, The Beach in Thailand, The Constant Gardener in Kenya.

Born in Birmingham, he spent five years in regional journalism before moving to Los Angeles as a freelance writer. He worked extensively for People magazine before being appointed L.A. bureau chief for Time Inc’s TV-Cable Week, and then became arts and entertainment editor for a local daily newspaper, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. Before leaving California, he co-authored a biography of Tom Jones.

He returned to Britain after 10 years, and since 1990, his writing on film, music and theatre has appeared consistently in The Daily Telegraph’s arts pages and its magazine. For 15 years he was also the London-based film and theatre correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. His book Fame: Stripping Celebrity Bare was published by Penguin in 2002. In 2004, he was appointed the first film critic for Saga magazine, with a brief to review films for mature audiences.

He was chairman of the London Film Critics' Circle from 2006 to 2008, and edited two editions of Halliwell's Film Guide between 2007 and 2008. He currently lives in London.