Fred Schepisi

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Fred Schepisi AO born 26 December 1939 is an Australian film director and screenwriter His credits include Last Orders Roxanne Plenty and Six Degrees of Separation Schepisi was born Frederic Alan Schepisi in Melbourne Victoria the son of fruit dealer Frederic Thomas Schepisi and Loretto Ellen née Hare He began his career in advertising and directed both commercials and documentaries before helming his first feature film The Devils Playground in 1976 Schepisi won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Direction and the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay for both The Devils Playground and Evil Angels released in the US as A Cry in the Dark In 1991 his film The Russia House was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 41st Berlin International Film Festival In 2005 Schepisi directed and coproduced the HBO miniseries Empire Falls for which he was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries Movie or Dramatic Special and the Directors Guild of America Award for Best Director of a TV Film In April 2008 it was announced Film Finance Corporation Australia was providing funding for Schepisis film The Last Man about the final days of the Vietnam War It is scheduled to begin filming in Queensland with Guy Pearce and David Wenham in leading roles towards the end of the year Schepisi has also directed a number of music videos including for the 2008 song Breathe by Kaz James featuring Stu Stone Asked about the gypsylike existence of a filmmaker Schepisi has said Its the hardest thing I think were todays circus people Its very hard on your family His wife Mary travels with me and when everyone was younger and it was possible I liked them to travel with me and be with me Fortunately Marys an artist she paints and often finds inspiration from our locations Description above from the Wikipedia article Fred Schepisi licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia