Andrew L. Urban

Born in Budapest, Hungary, Andrew L. Urban escaped in the 1956 revolution and completed his education in London. He migrated to Australia in 1966. A career journalist specifically on film and filmmaking since 1985, in February 1997, with his wife Louise, he launched Urban Cinefile (www.urbancinefile.com.au), Australia's award winning weekly online movie magazine publishing reviews, interviews, news and much more. He still writes for local and international print publications including The Bulletin, Cinema Papers, and the Qantas in flight magazine, The Australian Way and is the Australian Bureau Chief for the film industry publication, Moving Pictures. In 1998 he was commissioned to interview past and present graduates of the Australian Film Television & Radio School (as well as other key players in the school's history) for Edge of the Known World, a book celebrating the school's 25th anniversary; the interviews were also the basis of the 60 minute ABC TV documentary, Brilliant Careers, which he wrote and narrated. This featured interviews with Phil Noyce, Gillian Armstrong, Jane Campion and dozens more. In 1992, he created Front Up, a weekly prime time social documentary program of spontaneous and personal interviews with people he meets in the streets of Australia, for SBS TV, which continues. He makes a cameo appearance (as himself) in the 2001 Warner Bros vampire movie, Queen of the Damned, directed by Australian Michael Rymer (Angel Baby).