Steven Paul Davies was the youngest-ever newsreader on national radio in the UK, shortly after graduating from Goldsmiths' College, London. He spent two years working as a news presenter for Virgin Radio but quit his full time position to concentrate on writing.
"My initial interest in movies came through a television series called Moviedrome, hosted by Alex Cox on BBC2 every Sunday evening," says Steven. "The series showcased some amazing movies - like Alphaville, Sweet Smell of Success, Rumble Fish and Bullet for the General. They were all films which had something more to them than a straight adventure or romance story. I seemed to enjoy anything that was radical, even if in a very small way, like a strange credit sequence or a weird incidental music score."
Steven later discovered that Alex Cox was himself a filmmaker and then got into his films - the cult classic Repo Man and the reactionary historical epic Walker being his favourites. "So it wasn't really a big surprise for those close to me when I chose him as the subject for my first book," he says. "We've become good friends and still meet whenever he's in the UK."
After completing his first film biography Alex Cox: Film Anarchist, Steven Paul Davies teamed up with Andrew Pulver, Film Editor of The Guardian to write Brat Pack: Confidential, published a year later in December 2000. Research for this project saw Steven in New York and Los Angeles talking to casting directors, agents and directors, as well as many of the actors themselves. "It's fascinating to see how someone like Tom Cruise has shot to superstardom," says Steven, "while former heartthrobs like Mickey Rourke and Robert Downey Jr had time to chat over a few beers with some young kid from Hereford!"
Following the success of his first two books for Batsford, Steven then completed his next project, The A-Z Cult Films and Film-makers which has so far proved a real winner. The title has been reprinted twice and was used as the basis for a recent US documentary.
His book on Patrick McGoohan's strange series The Prisoner was released by Pan MacMillan in 2002 and the title has recently been revised and updated, enjoying a reprint in 2007. "I was always a big fan of McGoohan and his series The Prisoner and it's good to know the book has been received so well by the show's fans."
2003 saw Steven working with the director Mike Hodges (Get Carter / Flash Gordon / Croupier) on his official biography which was released in early 2004 and given the 'Highly Recommended' tag by Hotdog magazine. "I had the most fun ever on the Mike Hodges book," says Steven. "Mike is such a respected filmmaker and he very kindly introduced me to various actors he was directing at the time – people who can really be described as 'stars' – Clive Owen, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Malcolm McDowell. It was just an amazing time for me and to go out to dinner and chat with these people was fantastic."
Steven's most recent project is Out the Movies: A History of Gay Cinema. This new book looks at the development of gay-themed and gay-interest films throughout the decades, from early images in the 50s and 60s to recent hits such as Transamerica and Brokeback Mountain.
Now regarded as a prolific author and journalist in the field of film criticism, Steven Paul Davies is in great demand as a contributor for some of the most high profile publications in the UK and US – The Guardian, The Mail, Film Comment, Hotdog, to name a few. He also runs the media and PR firm One Media, based at city centre offices in Manchester and continues to act as a consultant on various television and film projects. He is based in London and Manchester.
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