Fred Schepisi began his production career in the advertising world and served as head of the Film House for almost 20 years where he directed both commercials and documentaries. His first feature-length film was the semi-autobiographical The Devil's Playground (1976), which won six 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 him 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). Evil Angels received numerous awards and nominations, including the AFI Best Achievement in Direction and Best Screenplay Adaptation, and two Golden Globe nominations, for Best Screenplay and Best Director.
Schepisi 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). He directed The Eye of the Storm, starring Charlotte Rampling, Geoffery Rush and Judy Davis, and the film adaptation of the best-selling novel by Richard Russo, Empire Falls (2004). Starring Paul Newman, Ed Harris, Joanne Woodward, Robin Wright Penn and Helen Hunt, Empire Falls 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. Schepisi was awarded the Order of Australia for his service to the Australian film industry as a director, producer and screenwriter.
Road Side Attractions
