Garnet Mae

Born in Sydney, New South Wales, Mae became interested in film at university where he studied broadcast journalism. He was also playing in a rock band at the time and developed a passion for music videos. When he graduated from university he took a year off to write and record music and worked part time as an usher at the Orpheum Picture Palace in Cremorne, an art deco cinema owned by Mike Walsh. After a year recording music he cut a five track EP titled "K" and set about making a music video for each track culminating in a stunt where he momentarily stopped peak hour traffic on the harbour bridge to shoot a scene for the title track "K". The music videos attracted the attention of several actors he worked with at the Orpheum and he joined forces with Filipino born, R.J Meyer, son of Flipino comic actor, Rudy Meyer, to write and produce a number of short films. The first was a kung fu comedy titled, "The Golden Sink of Lohan" which was selected as a finalist in the Metro Shifty Film Competition in 1994. Mae teamed up with university buddy, Robert Sullivan, to write his first feature length screenplay "Flashlight" which he also starred and produced in 1995. The film starred R.J Meyer and Loene Carmen. Frustrated with the length of time it took to get a feature film off the ground, in 1998 Mae set about shooting four features in one year. "Kung Fuji" was shot in The Philippines and costars Rudy Meyer and Ms. Mindinao, Inah Allegre. "Love Brokers" featured the talented Ben Mendelsohn in a surprise supporting role alongside soap star Megan Connolly. "Duran Duran" is set in a post apocalyptic 2037 where women have taken over the world and stars Rebekah Elmaloglou, Melissa Bell, Ben Oxenbould and Robert Carlton. "K" starred Mae and his early creative partner and cinematographer, Gotaro Uematsu. Mae's rapid shooting style attracted the attention of the press and he appeared on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald in 1999 and channel 9's Today Show. In 1999 Mae produced another three features, "My life as a Blue Ringed Octopus," "My Life as a Fried Green Tomato" and "Ma Vie un Suherman" which saw Mae and a troupe of actors travel around the globe to produce a feature film shot on four continents. In 2002 Mae moved to England to produce and direct "My Little Brother's a Vampire." Returning to Australia in 2003 Mae produced "Sisters in Blood", the first feature film shot entirely in one day. The film stars, Nicholas Bishop, Chloe Maxwell and Tash Beaumont. In 2005 Mae teamed up with writer/producer, Peter Furst to shoot the teen comedy "Going Down Under" (Australian Pie) which was released on DVD in the US with limited theatrical release in Australia. The film starred Ed Kavalee, Johnny Boxer, Austentayshus and Gabby Millgate. Mae wrote and produced "Passion Love Beauty" in 2010 and returned to the front of the camera to play himself in the film. Mae again teamed up with Peter Furst in 2011 to produce "Reservoir Cats" a parody of Quentin Tarantino's "Resevoir Dogs" in which all the male roles are replaced by female actors. The film was made to raise money for breast cancer research and promote gender equality. In 2012 Mae returned to the writers chair to pen, produce and direct "Smash - The Movie", a doco style feature about a group of ramraiders who decide to film their exploits.