Mel Stuart
Movie Maker Extraordinaire
Mel Stuart, the maker of the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory — the real one, the one with Gene Wilder — wants to help you make it in the business. Having directed and produced over 180 films, he really knows what he is talking about (for a full filmography, visit MelStuart.com) And he loves talking about it. Mel's interactive presentations with aspiring film and television students leave the audience full of information and wisdom. And everyone has a great time. In his professional life he has followed two dictums — "Work is good, no work is bad" and "never rationalize your emotional response to your own work."
Among the many acknowledgments of his work have been four Emmies, a Peabody Award, an Oscar Nomination and numerous awards from festivals around the world. For two years Stuart served as President of the International Documentary Association. In November 2002, St. Martin's Press published Pure Imagination: The Making of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Stuart's remembrance of the creation of the film. (ISBN: 0312287771)
His most recent directing efforts have been a series dealing with the lives of well-known American poets and a one hour special for PBS entitled The Hobart Shakespeareans which deals with an extraordinary teacher, Rafe Esquith, and his class of inner city school children.
Born in New York, during his college years Stuart aspired to become a composer. However, after graduating from New York University, he decided to change direction and began to pursue a career as a filmmaker. In 1954, he began working as an assistant editor for a company that made commercials. There, Stuart became a special assistant to avant-garde filmmaker Mary Ellen Bute. Several years later, Stuart obtained a position as a film researcher for Walter Cronkite's breakthrough series — The 20th Century. In 1959, David Wolper asked him to join a newly formed production company. For the following 17 years, Stuart served as a key executive with the Wolper Organization. During that time he produced and directed dozens of documentaries — among them, The Making of the President, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Four Days in November and Wattstax as well as various features including Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium.
In 1977 the Wolper Organization was acquired by Warner Brothers. Since that time, Stuart has been an independent producer and director. Among his productions have been documentaries such as Man Ray: Prophet of the Avant-Garde and Billy Wilder — The Human Comedy, AFI's 100 Years-100 Movies, Inside the KGB and the seventy-nine part series, Ripley's Believe It or Not. He also worked in long-form fictional television, producing or directing various dramas such as Bill, The Triangle Factory Fire and Ruby and Oswald and the twelve-hour miniseries, The Chisholms.
Contact the lecture bureau to schedule Mel Stuart for your next event.
the lecture bureau 
7 Crescent Street Cambridge, MA 02138 888-912-0355