Fred Schepisi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fred Schepisi AO
Born	Frederic Alan Schepisi (1939-12-26) 26 December 1939 (age 85) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation	Film director producer screenwriter
Years active	1976–present
Known for	The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith Plenty Last Orders Empire Falls The Eye of the Storm
Spouse(s)	Mary Schepisi
Children	Alexandra Schepisi

Schepisi in 1984

Frederic Alan Schepisi AO (/ˈskɛpsi/ SKEP-see; born 26 December 1939) is a famous Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He has made many well-known movies. Some of his most famous films include The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Plenty, Roxanne, and Six Degrees of Separation.

Early Life and Learning

Frederic Alan Schepisi was born in Richmond, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, on December 26, 1939. His father, Frederic Thomas Schepisi, sold fruit and cars. His mother was Loretto Ellen Hare.

When he was a teenager, Fred started watching classic European films. He saw movies like The Wages of Fear and Bicycle Thieves at The Savoy theatre in Melbourne. These films were very important to him.

For a short time, he studied at a Marist Brothers school in Macedon. His experiences there later inspired his 1976 movie, The Devil's Playground.

After finishing school at 14, he tried working as a mechanic in his father's car business. But he soon found he was much better suited for the world of advertising.

Starting His Film Career

Fred Schepisi began his career as a messenger at an advertising company called Carden Advertising. He joined local film clubs and started trying out filmmaking. He learned a lot and eventually became a copywriter, which means he wrote the words for advertisements. Later, he started directing commercials.

In 1964, when he was 24, he became the manager for Cinesound Productions in Victoria. He met cinematographer Russell Boyd there. At that time, Cinesound mostly made newsreels and films for businesses. But Fred changed things. He hired talented film students to work on new projects. He created new and exciting commercials for big companies like Volkswagen. This helped the company earn more money.

The Film House Studio

In 1966, Fred Schepisi and two graphic designers, Bruce Weatherhead and Alex Stitt, bought Cinesound Victoria. They renamed it The Film House. This new company became very important in the "new wave" of Australian filmmaking. This was a time when many great Australian directors, like Gillian Armstrong and Peter Weir, started making movies.

Before this time, not many Australian films had been made since World War II. Fred invited editor Jill Bilcock to work at The Film House. She later became a very famous film editor.

Fred Schepisi's Movies

Fred Schepisi's first story film was a 30-minute short film called The Priest. It was part of a larger movie called Libido in 1973. He worked on this film with Australian writer Thomas Keneally.

His first full-length movie was The Devil's Playground in 1976. But it was The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978) that made him known around the world. This film was based on a book by Thomas Keneally. It was one of the first movies to tell an Aboriginal story on the big screen.

This success led him to make his first film in the United States, Barbarosa (1982). It was a Western movie starring the famous singer Willie Nelson.

Next, he made the science fiction movie Iceman (1984). In 1985, he directed Plenty, which starred the amazing actress Meryl Streep. In 1987, he directed the comedy Roxanne, starring Steve Martin. This movie was based on an old French play called Cyrano de Bergerac. Meryl Streep and Sam Neill then starred in his 1988 film Evil Angels, known as A Cry in the Dark in other countries.

In 1990, he directed The Russia House, a spy movie with Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer. Six Degrees of Separation (1993) was another movie based on a play. In 1994, he made I.Q., a fun story about Albert Einstein. His next big movie was Last Orders in 2001, with actors like Michael Caine.

In 2003, he directed It Runs in the Family, which starred Kirk Douglas and his son Michael Douglas. In 2005, Fred Schepisi directed and helped produce the TV miniseries Empire Falls for HBO. This series had many famous actors, including Paul Newman and Helen Hunt.

In 2011, Fred Schepisi directed The Eye of the Storm. This film was shot in Australia and starred Charlotte Rampling and Geoffrey Rush. The story is about how children learn about themselves through their family.

In 2013, he directed Words and Pictures, starring Juliette Binoche and Clive Owen.

Music Videos Directed

Fred Schepisi has also directed music videos. One example is the video for the 2008 song "Breathe" by Kaz James.

Other Important Activities

In the mid-1960s, Fred Schepisi worked hard to help create a film school in Melbourne. This led to the first filmmaking course at Swinburne Technical College in 1966. This course later became the Swinburne Film and Television School. Fred even helped by being an examiner for the first film course without getting paid.

He was also the president of the Bangkok International Film Festival in Thailand in 2006. In 2007, he led the jury at the 29th Moscow International Film Festival. As of 2024, Fred Schepisi is a supporter of the National Film and Sound Archive, which helps preserve Australia's film history.

Awards and Recognition

Fred Schepisi has won many awards for his work. He won awards from the Australian Film Institute (AFI) for Best Direction and Best Screenplay for both The Devil's Playground and Evil Angels.

A photograph of him, taken in 2000, is kept at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.

Some of his other awards include:

• 1973: Won a Silver AFI Award for The Priest.
• 1976: Won the AFI Award for Best Film for The Devil's Playground.
• 1991: Received the Raymond Longford Award from the AFI, a special award for his contributions to Australian cinema.
• 1994: Won the Chauvel Award at the Brisbane International Film Festival.
• 2004: Was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. This is a high honor for his services to the Australian film industry.
• 2005: Nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on Empire Falls.
• 2006: Received an honorary degree from the University of Melbourne.
• 2006: Empire Falls won a Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or TV Movie.
• 2011: Won a Special Jury Prize at the Rome International Film Festival for Eye of the Storm.

Personal Life

Fred Schepisi has been married three times and has seven children. He had four children with his first wife, Joan.

He met his second wife, Rhonda Finlayson, when she worked as a driver for his company, Film House. They married in 1973. Rhonda was also a production manager and casting director. She helped find actors for his films, including Tom E. Lewis for The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith. They had two daughters together. Rhonda passed away in 1995.

His third wife, Mary, is American. They married in 1984 and had their seventh child. Mary is an artist and often travels with Fred when he is making films. She finds inspiration for her paintings from the places they visit.

Fred Schepisi supports Australia becoming a republic, which means having an Australian head of state instead of the British monarch. He helped start the Australian Republican Movement.

Filmography

• The Devil's Playground (1976)
• The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)
• Barbarosa (1982)
• Iceman (1984)
• Plenty (1985)
• Roxanne (1987)
• Evil Angels (A Cry in the Dark) (1988)
• The Russia House (1990)
• Mr. Baseball (1992)
• Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
• I.Q. (1994)
• Fierce Creatures (1997)
• Last Orders (2001)
• It Runs in the Family (2003)
• Empire Falls (2005)
• The Eye of the Storm (2011)
• Words and Pictures (2013)

See also

In Spanish: Fred Schepisi para niños