History:

Richard Price Television Associates (RPTA) is a film, television and stage production company.

Founded in 1968, RPTA evolved into Primetime PLC, the largest independent distributor in the UK. For 20 years it handled all LWT’s programme sales, including Upstairs Downstairs, which sold to 81 countries and has since seen a very popular comeback in 2010 with a new BBC1 series. In 1998 Primetime was sold to Southern Star in Australia and Richard Price reverted to RPTA.

Since then RPTA has been involved in producing feature films, drama series, and stage-to screen productions, including The Royal National Theatre’s Oklahoma! Merchant of Venice, the RSC’s King Lear with Ian McKellan and Simon Callow’s Dickens, as well as West End productions of Kiss Me Kate and the Elaine Stritch At Liberty show. RPTA has also co-produced with many broadcasters including Disney, Tribute, PBS, NBC, Channel 7 Australia and NHK to name but a few.

  • Richard Price
  • Richard Price
  • Richard Price
  • Richard Price
  • Richard Price

Earlier, as Primetime PLC, RPTA produced Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby and won the US top drama award with an EMMY and TONY award. Other stage to screen successes were Porgy and Bess and the RSC’s Othello.

More recently the company has been behind the financing of stage plays and scripts that have gone on to be worldwide hits. RPTA put up half of the development fund for the stage play script of the worldwide hit musical Mamma Mia! that went on to become the film starring Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan. The musical has been enjoyed by over 45 million people worldwide, in countries including most recently China, France and Denmark.

In 2008 RPTA was responsible for the development, originally as a stage production, of David Seidler’s script for The King’s Speech. Gareth Unwin of Bedlam Productions, read the script and recognised its film potential. In 2011 The King’s Speech went on to win four Oscars and seven Baftas including Best Film, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor for Colin Firth.

Richard Price

Richard Price has over 40 years experience in film and television and plays a prominent role in cinematic history having financed the original development of David Seidlers’ script of The King’s Speech which has since gone on to become one of the most successful films of UK cinematic history.

Richard is a former treasurer and chairman of BAFTA and is also a director of the Performance Company. He was, for ten years, Chairman and then Vice Chairman of HFT, a major national charity for adults with learning disabilities and is now an HFT patron. He was also Vice Chairman of the Charities Tax Group. He and his wife Joan are patrons of The London Chamber Orchestra.

In his earlier career Richard launched and edited Pulse, the GP Newspaper, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this April.

Richard was also Chairman of the Watermill Theatre, Newbury from 2003 to 2007. During this time there was a successful £3million building appeal and six productions transferred to the West End and one to Broadway.

Richard has twice run for Parliament and was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal Television Society in 1984 and the MBE for services to television in 2000.

 

Margo Faith - Associate Producer and Script Assessor

Margo Faith has worked alongside Richard for over 15 years as his executive assistant, script reader and associate producer.