Fred Schepisi
Fred Schepisi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Frederic Alan Schepisi 26 December 1939 |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1976–present |
| Known for | The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith Plenty Last Orders Empire Falls The Eye of the Storm |
| Spouse | Mary Schepisi |
| Children | Alexandra Schepisi |
Frederic Alan Schepisi AO (/ˈskɛpsi/ SKEP-see;[1] born 26 December 1939) is an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. His credits include The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Plenty, Roxanne, A Cry in the Dark, Mr. Baseball, Six Degrees of Separation, and Last Orders.
Early life and education
[edit]Frederic Alan Schepisi was born in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond on 26 December 1939, the son of Loretto Ellen (née Hare) and Frederic Thomas Schepisi, who was a fruit dealer and car salesman of Italian descent.[2][3]
During his late teens, he began watching classic post-war European films such as The Wages of Fear, Rocco and His Brothers, and Bicycle Thieves at The Savoy,[4] a theatre in Russell Street which specialised in showing such films.[5]
As part of his high school education, he spent 18 months[3] at the Marist Brothers juniorate[6] in Macedon in regional Victoria.[4] His experiences there were later depicted in his 1976 feature film The Devil's Playground.[3]
After completing his school-leaving certificate at 14, for a short time he worked in one of his father's car yards as a motor mechanic but had no aptitude for the job, and was glad to discover the world of advertising.[4]
Career
[edit]Schepisi started work as a messenger at Carden Advertising (later Clemenger), where a number of journalists were also employed, including Phillip Adams. He joined local film clubs and experimented with filmmaking.[4] He worked his way up in the advertising industry, becoming a copywriter, and eventually started directing commercials.[3] He was appointed as Victorian manager for Cinesound Productions in 1964, at the age of 24, after lying about his age. There he met cinematographer Russell Boyd. At the time, Cinesound was only making newsreels and corporate films, but Schepisi changed its direction. He used the best film students from the newly-established Swinburne film courses to work on the films, and produced avant-garde commercials for clients such as Volkswagen and Alcoa, which brought profits to the company. He was less interested in creating newsreels.
The Film House
[edit]In 1966, along with graphic designers Bruce Weatherhead and Alex Stitt, Schepisi bought out Cinesound Victoria in 1966, renaming it The Film House.[4] The Film House founded became an important player in the "new wave" of Australian filmmaking, along with Gillian Armstrong, Bruce Beresford, and Peter Weir. Since Cinesound had stopped making films during World War II, there hadn't been many Australian films made.[4] Schepisi invited editor Jill Bilcock to work for him soon after her graduation from Swinburne Film and Television School.[7]
Films
[edit]His first fiction film was a 30-minute short film, part of the anthology feature film Libido in 1973. In collaboration with Australian author Thomas Keneally, he made the short film The Priest.[3]
Schepisi's first feature film was The Devil's Playground, in 1976, but it was The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978), based on Keneally's novel of the same name, that brought him to international notice.[3] This film was one of the first to feature an Aboriginal story on the big screen.[4] This led to his first film produced in the US, Barbarosa (1982), a Western starring Willie Nelson.[3]
The sci-fi parable Iceman (1984) came next, and in 1985 he adapted David Hare's stage drama, Plenty, for the film of the same name (1985), starring Meryl Streep.[3] In 1987 Steve Martin starred in his next film, the comedy Roxanne (1987), based on the 1897 French play by Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac. Streep, along with Sam Neill, starred again in his 1988 film Evil Angels, which was filmed in Australia (released as A Cry in the Dark outside of Australia and New Zealand).[3][8]
The Russia House (1990), based on the spy thriller by John le Carré, starred Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer.[8] Six Degrees of Separation (1993) was another adaptation, this time of the 1990 play by John Guare, and in 1994 he made I.Q., based on a story about Albert Einstein and his niece.[3] His next major film on the big screen was in 2001, Last Orders,[3] starring Ray Winstone, Michael Caine, and Bob Hoskins.[8]
In 2003, he made It Runs In The Family, with Kirk and Michael Douglas in the lead roles.[4] In 2005, Schepisi directed and co-produced the HBO miniseries Empire Falls,[9] starring Paul Newman, Ed Harris, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joanne Woodward, Robin Wright Penn, and Helen Hunt.[8]
In April 2008, it was announced that Film Finance Corporation Australia was providing funding for Schepisi's film The Last Man, about the final days of the Vietnam War. It was scheduled to begin filming in Queensland, with Guy Pearce and David Wenham in leading roles, towards the end of the year.[10]
In 2011, Schepisi directed The Eye of the Storm. Filmed in Melbourne, Sydney, and Far North Queensland, and based on the novel by Patrick White, The Eye of the Storm stars Charlotte Rampling, Judy Davis, and Geoffrey Rush. The story is about "children finally understanding themselves through the context of family".[11]
In 2013, he directed Words and Pictures, starring Juliette Binoche and Clive Owen.[8]
Music videos
[edit]Schepisi has also directed a number of music videos, including for the 2008 song "Breathe" by Kaz James featuring Stu Stone.[12]
Other activities
[edit]In the mid-1960s, he campaigned strongly, along with MP Barry Jones, broadcaster and writer Phillip Adams, for the establishment of a film school in Melbourne. This led to the first course in filmmaking at Swinburne Technical College in 1966, leading to the establishment of the Swinburne Film and Television School a few years later.[13] Schepisi became an examiner of its first film course, an unpaid role.[4]
Schepisi was president of the 2006 Bangkok International Film Festival in Thailand.[14]
In 2007, he chaired the jury at the 29th Moscow International Film Festival.[15]
As of 2024[update], Schepisi is a patron of the National Film and Sound Archive.[16]
Recognition and awards
[edit]Schepisi won a number of Australian Film Institute (AFI) and Australian Writers' Guild Awards.[9] He won the AFI Award for Best Direction and the AFI Award for Best Screenplay for both The Devil's Playground and Evil Angels (released as A Cry in the Dark outside of Australia and New Zealand).[citation needed]
A photographic portrait of him by Kate Gollings, taken in 2000, is held by the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.[17]
Other honours and awards include:
- 1973: Co-winner, with Thomas Keneally of a Silver AFI Award, for The Priest[3]
- 1976: Winner, AFI Award for Best Film, for The Devil's Playground[3]
- 1991: Nominated for Golden Bear at the 41st Berlin International Film Festival, The Russia House[18]
- 1991: Winner, AFI's Raymond Longford Award[14]
- 1994: Chauvel Award at the Brisbane International Film Festival[14]
- 2003: Australian Screen Directors Association's Outstanding Achievement Award[14][19]
- 2004: Officer of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours, "For services to the Australian film industry as a director, producer and screenwriter, the development of creative talent as a mentor and to support for the preservation of Australia's film heritage"[9][8][a]
- 2005: Nominated, Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special and the Directors Guild of America Award for Best Director of a TV Film, for Empire Falls[citation needed]
- 2006: Honorary Degree of Doctor of Visual and Performing Arts, University of Melbourne;[14][20] - the first honorary doctorate to be awarded by the Victorian College of the Arts[3]
- 2006: Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or TV Movie, for Empire Falls[3]
- 2011: Special Jury Prize at Rome International Film Festival, for Eye of the Storm[8]
Personal life
[edit]Schepisi has been married three times and has seven children. He had four children with his first wife Joan. His second wife Rhonda died of cancer, after they had had two children. His third wife, Mary, whom he married in 1984 and with whom he had a seventh child, is American.[21]
In 2011, asked about the "gypsy-like existence" of a filmmaker, Schepisi said: "It's the hardest thing. I think we're today's circus people. It's very hard on your family. [His wife] Mary travels with me and when everyone was younger and it was possible, I liked them to travel with me and be with me. Fortunately, Mary's an artist; she paints, and often finds inspiration from our locations."[22]
He supports Australia becoming a republic and is a founding member of the Australian Republican Movement.[23]
Filmography
[edit]- The Devil's Playground (1976)
- The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)
- Barbarosa (1982)
- Iceman (1984)
- Plenty (1985)
- Roxanne (1987)
- Evil Angels (A Cry in the Dark) (1988)
- The Russia House (1990)
- Mr. Baseball (1992)
- Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
- I.Q. (1994)
- Fierce Creatures (1997)
- Last Orders (2001)
- It Runs in the Family (2003)
- Empire Falls (2005)
- The Eye of the Storm (2011)
- Words and Pictures (2013)[24]
Unmade films
[edit]- Bitter Sweet (1979) – romance drama for Avco Embassy[25]
Footnotes
[edit]- ^ Per personal contact with the Honours Secretariat, Schepisi ticked a box on his form that said he did not want his name to appear electronically, so he does not appear in a search on the official honours list. See the discussion on his Wikipedia talk page.
References
[edit]- ^ Kael, Pauline (1984). Taking It All In. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 55. ISBN 0-03-069361-6
- ^ "Fred Schepisi Biography (1939-)". Film Reference. 26 December 1939. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Fred Schepisi". OnlyMelbourne. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Bailey, Michael (20 June 2021). "81, film director Fred Schepisi is fighting fit to keep his own cinematic style". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 20 June 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- ^ Roe, Ken. "Savoy Theatre in Melbourne, AU". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- ^ "Marist Brothers Juniorate, Macedon (1948—1954)". National Redress Scheme. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- ^ "Spotlights: Jill Bilcock". ACMI. August 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g "About Fred Schepisi". Fred Schepisi. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- ^ a b c "Film director Schepisi honoured with Aust Day award". ABC News. 25 January 2004. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- ^ Ziffer, Daniel (3 April 2008). "Fred Schepisi's new local venture". TheAge.com.au. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
- ^ "About Fred Schepisi" (archived 2014)
- ^ "MTV Confidential" The Daily Telegraph, 23 April 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
- ^ "VCA Film and Television Archive". Museums and Collections. 11 September 2024. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "Award of Honorary Degree of Doctor of Visual and Performing Arts: FRED SCHEPISI" (PDF). University of Melbourne. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- ^ "29th Moscow International Film Festival (2007)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
- ^ Friedrich, Sabine (4 July 2024). "Patrons". Friends of the National Film and Sound Archive. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- ^ "Fred Schepisi, c. 2000". National Portrait Gallery collection. 9 October 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- ^ "Berlinale: 1991 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
- ^ "Australian directors to honour Fred Schepisi". Screen Daily. 10 December 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- ^ "The University of Melbourne's honorary degree holders". About us. 30 August 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- ^ Caroline Baum, "Fred bare", The Age, 22 April 2006, Good Weekend magazine, p. 46
- ^ Dow, Steve (10 October 2006). "Action Men: Australian directors on film". SteveDow.com. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ^ Australian Republican Movement (1987–2009). "Records of the Australian Republican Movement, 1987-2009 (manuscript)". description of documents in the National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
- ^ Shaw, Lucas (2 November 2012). "Clive Owen, Juliette Binoche Team With Fred Schepisi for 'Words & Pictures'". thewrap.com. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
- ^ "Oz in LA", Cinema Papers, May–June 1979. p. 332.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Fred Schepisi at IMDb
- McFarlane, Brian. The Films of Fred Schepisi. University Press of Mississippi, 2022.
