Fred Schepisi

Fred Schepisi began his production career in the advertising world in Melbourne, Australia, where he served as head of the Film House for almost 20 years, directing both commercials and documentaries. His first feature-length film was the semi-autobiographical 'The Devil's Playground' (1976) which won 6 AFI awards including Best Film and established Fred's reputation as a talented director and writer. The success of his second film 'The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith' (1978) took Fred to the U.S. where he directed 'Barbarosa' (1981), 'Iceman' (1983), 'Plenty' (1985), and 'Roxanne' (1987) before returning to Australia to co-write and direct 'Evil Angels' (a.k.a. 'A Cry in the Dark', 1988). Fred also directed the screen adaptation of John Guare's play 'Six Degrees of Separation' (1993) starring Stockard Channing, Donald Sutherland and Will Smith. His other film credits include 'The Russia House' (1990), 'Mr. Baseball' (1992), 'IQ' (1994), 'Fierce Creatures' (1996), 'Last Orders' (2001) and 'It Runs in the Family' (2002). Fred's most recent project was 2014's 'Words & Pictures', with Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche. In 2011 he directed 'The Eye of the Storm', based on the novel by acclaimed author Patrick White about children finally understanding themselves through the context of family, and starring Charlotte Rampling, Judy Davis and Geoffrey Rush. The film won the Jury Prize at Rome International Film Festival in November 2011. Prior to that, he directed the film adaptation of the best-selling novel by Richard Russo 'Empire Falls' (2004). Featuring Paul Newman, Ed Harris, Joanne Woodward, Robin Wright Penn and Helen Hunt, this film debuted in the U.S. on HBO, was nominated for a number of awards and won a Golden Globe for Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television. Fred was awarded the Order of Australia for his service to the Australian film industry as a director, producer and screenwriter.