Phillip Noyce facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Phillip Noyce AO
Noyce in 2010
Born	(1950-04-29) 29 April 1950 (age 75) Griffith, New South Wales, Australia
Alma mater	University of Sydney Australian Film, Television and Radio School
Occupation	Director producer screenwriter
Years active	1969–present
Known for	Rabbit-Proof Fence, Dead Calm, Clear and Present Danger, Roots (2016)

Phillip Roger Noyce is a famous Australian film and TV director. He was born on April 29, 1950. Since 1977, he has directed more than 19 movies. These movies include different types of stories. He has made historical dramas like Newsfront and Rabbit-Proof Fence. He also directed exciting thrillers such as Dead Calm and The Bone Collector. Plus, he made action films like Salt.

Phillip Noyce has worked with many well-known actors. These include Harrison Ford, Angelina Jolie, and Nicole Kidman. He has also directed and produced many TV shows. Some of these are The Cowra Breakout and Roots. His work has won him several awards. These include awards for Best Film and Best Director. He also received a special lifetime achievement award.

Early Life and Education
Career Highlights
Other Activities
Awards and Recognition
Filmography
- Films
  - Short films
  - Documentary films
- Television
See also

Early Life and Education

Phillip Roger Noyce was born in Griffith, New South Wales, Australia. This was on April 29, 1950.

He went to high school at Barker College in Sydney. He started making short films when he was 18 years old. His very first short film was called Better to Reign in Hell. It was 15 minutes long. He got money to make it by selling roles in the film to his friends.

He later went to Sydney University. After that, he studied at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in 1973.

In 1969, Noyce helped run the Sydney Filmmakers Co-op. This was a group of filmmakers who worked together. With another filmmaker, Jan Chapman, he ran a special cinema. It was called the Filmmaker's Cinema. They showed short films by new directors there. Many of these directors later became famous in Australian cinema.

Career Highlights

Phillip Noyce released his first professional film in 1975. Many of his movies are about spies and secrets. This is because his father told him stories about being in a special Australian commando unit during World War II.

After his first longer film, Backroads (1977), Noyce had a big success. This was with the film Newsfront (1978). This movie won many awards in Australia. It was also shown at big film festivals in London and New York.

Noyce also worked on two TV mini-series in Australia. These were The Dismissal (1983) and The Cowra Breakout (1984). Another Australian filmmaker, George Miller, helped produce a film that got Noyce noticed in Hollywood. This film was Dead Calm (1988). It also helped start the career of actress Nicole Kidman. After Dead Calm, Noyce went to the United States. He directed the movie Blind Fury there.

Noyce moved to the US with his family in 1991. Over the next eight years, he directed five films. One of his most successful movies was Clear and Present Danger. It starred Harrison Ford and earned a lot of money. After directing The Bone Collector in 1999, Noyce decided to return to Australia. He made the film Rabbit-Proof Fence. This movie tells the story of the Stolen Generations. These were Aboriginal children who were taken from their families. Noyce has said that making Rabbit-Proof Fence was his proudest moment. He felt it was important to show the experiences of the Stolen Generations.

Noyce also received praise for The Quiet American (2002). This film was based on a famous book. It earned actor Michael Caine an Academy Award nomination. Noyce won awards for best director for this film. After directing Catch a Fire (2006) in South Africa, Noyce made another big movie. This was Salt (2010), starring Angelina Jolie. It became his biggest commercial hit, earning almost $300 million worldwide.

In 2011, Noyce directed the first episode of the TV series Revenge. He has directed many other TV show pilots since then. These include Netflix's What/If and The Resident. In 2017, he signed a deal with 20th Century Fox Television.

His film Above Suspicion, starring Emilia Clarke, was released in May 2021. In 2021, Noyce became an executive producer for the film Show Me What You Got.

The Desperate Hour, starring Naomi Watts, was released in the US in March 2022. In late 2021, a special event was held in Paris. It showed 17 of Noyce's feature films and 10 of his short films.

Noyce's most recent film is Fast Charlie. It is a thriller with some dark comedy. It stars Pierce Brosnan and was released in December 2023. This film received very good reviews for Noyce's directing.

Other Activities

As of 2024, Phillip Noyce is an ambassador for the SmartFone Flick Fest (SF3). This is a film festival held every year in Sydney.

Awards and Recognition

In January 2023, Phillip Noyce was given a special honor. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) by the Australian Government. This is a very important award.

Here are some of the awards and nominations Phillip Noyce has received:

Year	Title	Awards and nominations
1978	Newsfront	Australian Film Institute Award for Best Director Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay, Original
1989	Dead Calm	Nominated- Australian Film Institute Award for Best Director
2002	Rabbit-Proof Fence	Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Director London Film Critics' Circle Award for Director of the Year (shared with The Quiet American) National Board of Review Award for Best Director (shared with The Quiet American)
2002	The Quiet American	London Film Critics' Circle Award for Director of the Year (shared with Rabbit-Proof Fence) National Board of Review Award for Best Director (shared with Rabbit-Proof Fence)
2014	The Giver	Truly Moving Picture Award - Feature Film (Heartland Film Festival)
2024	Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award	55th International Film Festival of India

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer
1977	Backroads	Yes	Yes	Yes
1978	Newsfront	Yes	No	Yes
1982	Heatwave	Yes	No	Yes
1987	Echoes of Paradise	Yes	No	No
1989	Dead Calm	Yes	No	No
1989	Blind Fury	Yes	No	No
1992	Patriot Games	Yes	No	No
1993	Sliver	Yes	No	No
1994	Clear and Present Danger	Yes	No	No
1997	The Saint	Yes	No	No
1999	The Bone Collector	Yes	No	No
2002	Rabbit-Proof Fence	Yes	Yes	No
2002	The Quiet American	Yes	No	No
2006	Catch a Fire	Yes	No	No
2010	Salt	Yes	No	No
2014	The Giver	Yes	No	No
2021	Above Suspicion	Yes	No	No
2022	The Desperate Hour	Yes	No	No
2023	Fast Charlie	Yes	No	No

Executive producer

Show Me What You Got (2021)

Short films

Year	Title	Director	Producer
1969	Better to Reign in Hell	Yes	Yes
1971	Sun	Yes	Yes
	Memories	Yes	Yes
	Intersection	Yes	Yes
	Home	Yes	Yes
	Camera Class	Yes	Yes
1973	That's Showbiz	Yes	No
	Castor and Pollux	Yes	No
	Caravan Park	Yes	Yes
1974	Renegades: Fragments from a Diary of Three Years Experience 1970-73	Yes	Yes
1975	Finks Make Movies	Yes	Yes
1977	Disco	Yes	No
1978	Tapak Dewata Java	Yes	No
1979	Sue and Mario: The Italian Australians	Yes	No
1979	Bali: Island of the Gods	Yes	No

Documentary films

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Notes
1971	Good Afternoon	Yes	Yes
1976	God Knows Why, But It Works	Yes	Yes
2004	Welcome to São Paulo	Yes	Yes	Segment "Marca Zero"

Television

TV movies

Fact and Fiction (1980)
Three Vietnamese Stories (1980)
Mary and Martha (2013)

TV series

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer	Notes
1983	The Dismissal	Yes	No	Yes	Miniseries Director - Episode: "Part Two"
1984	The Cowra Breakout	Yes	No	Yes	Miniseries 3 episodes
1985-89	The Hitchhiker	Yes	No	No	5 episodes
1987	Vietnam	No	Yes	Yes	Miniseries
1992	Nightmare Cafe	Yes	No	No	Episode "Pilot"
1998	The Repair Shop	Yes	No	No	Unaired pilot
2003	Tru Calling	Yes	Executive	No	Director - Episode "Pilot" Executive producer - 2 episodes
2006-07	Brotherhood	Yes	Executive	No	Director - 2 episodes Executive producer - 3 episodes
2011-12	Revenge	Yes	Yes	No	Director - 2 episodes Consulting producer - 21 episodes Executive producer - 2 episodes
2011	Lights Out	No	Executive	No	3 episodes
2012	Americana	Yes	Executive	No	Unaired pilot
2012	Luck	Yes	No	No	Episode "Ace Meets With a Colleague"
2014	Crisis	Yes	No	No	Director - Episode: "Pilot" Executive producer - 13 episodes
2015	Warrior	Yes	No	No	Unaired pilot
2016	Roots	Yes	No	No	Miniseries Episode "Part 1"
2018	The Resident	Yes	No	No	Director - 2 episodes Executive producer - 40 episodes
2019	What/If	Yes	Executive	No	Director - 2 episodes