Yahoo Serious

Yahoo Serious (born Greg Gomez Pead) became one of Australia's most successful independent conceptual artists and filmmakers of the 1980s and 1990s. Considered the first Australian to write, produce, direct and star in a major motion picture. He legally changed his name to "Yahoo Serious" in 1980 before his sudden fame. Born July 27, 1953 in New South Wales, Australia, Greg grew up near Newcastle and worked as a tyre fitter for a time to get through art school, but was eventually expelled from the school. Soon after he started combining his artistic talents with absurdist comedy and earned a lot of skeptical looks along the way. At age 21, Yahoo independently wrote, produced, directed and filmed "Coaltown," a documentary tracing the socio-political history of coal mining. It was released in 1977. The following year he won the National Award for Best Australian Educational Documentary for his TV series "Lifestyle." After extensive traveling throughout Asia, Europe and America, he began writing, directing and performing in experimental comedy and became the first Australian to do so in a major motion picture. This led to the spectacular success of his first weird, skimpily-budgeted vehicle Young Einstein (1988), the story of a young Tasmanian farmer who discovers rock music along with the theory of relativity. Blending political/social satire, silliness and slapstick with eye-popping visuals, he hit the jackpot with young audiences. Grossing over $100 million, he instantly branched out internationally, hitting all the popular talk shows and even making the cover of TIME magazine (February, 1989). Audiences took a fascination to his unique cinematic style. True to form, Serious involved himself in practically every detail of the making of the movie, from creating the original concept and script through incorporating the visual design and music soundtrack and performing all his own stunts. Following this crazy but fantastic roller coaster ride, Yahoo was not able to produce a follow up movie soon enough and quickly became yesterday's news. Coming out five years later, Reckless Kelly (1993) was the story of a Robin Hood-like, motorcycle-riding robber who becomes a Hollywood movie star. While it matched his first film in unconventional silliness, it would not match its box office success or popularity and it disappeared rather quickly. He worked in tandem with his one-time wife, producer Lulu Pinkus, on all three films. They divorced in 2007. Yahoo's third movie, Mr. Accident (2000), which centered around the most accident-prone man in the world, was also a commercial failure while still finding a cult following. Receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Newcastle in 1996, he was a guest for the opening of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. While no projects have occurred since his third film, who knows what's up this unique artist's sleeve next. An inveterate traveler and surfer living on the beaches of New South Wales, Yahoo is a board member of the Kokoda Track Foundation, a humanitarian aid organization focused on the indigenous people of Papua New Guinea. The Foundation provides education, health, and community services as well as disaster relief and tourism plans.