Paul Saltzman is a two-time Emmy Award-winning, Toronto-based director-producer of over 300 film and television productions. He began his media career at the National Film Board of Canada (production manager, assistant director) and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (public affairs story-editor and on-air host). In 1967 he interviewed American inventor and visionary Buckminster Fuller, who would later say that Saltzman changed his assessment of the '60s generation.
Early in 1968 he learned meditation at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram in India. It was a profound experience that changed his life. During his time there, he met, hung out with and photographed the Beatles and their wives and girlfriends, Mia Farrow, Donovan and Mike Love.
In 1968-69 he assisted in the birth of a new film format as second-unit director and production manager of the first IMAX film. He later attended the original Woodstock Music Festival, produced a Leonard Cohen concert tour, and made his first film, a documentary on Bo Diddley.
In 2000, Viking Penguin released Paul’s first book compiling his photographs and experiences meeting The Beatles in Rishikesh. In early 2006 Paul created the Deluxe Limited Edition box set, ‘The Beatles in India’. Paul's photographs of this incredible time are all available to purchase as hand-signed, limited editions. Each of them adds vibrant dimension to the story of The Beatles trip to India and the writing of so many iconic songs. They are a treasured part of The Beatles history, and capture a vital aspect that would otherwise be unavailable due to the exclusive nature of the retreat.
His 2009 documentary,
Prom Night in Mississippi - made with Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman - won numerous awards and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2020 Saltzman released
Meeting the Beatles in India, a fabulous documentary film that retraces his path to India where he happend to meet and stay with The Beatles. It can be streamed via the Gather Films platform at
THIS LINK.
Today, Paul continues to make films; leads small tour groups to India; and does film screenings and workshops worldwide on the Beatles, Moving Beyond Prejudice, Meditation, Maximizing Creativity, Conflict Resolution and Nonviolent Communication, and Overcoming Performance Anxiety.
He loves traveling, skydiving and scuba diving, and plays ice hockey several times a week. He has one daughter.