Phillip Noyce

{{short description|Australian filmmaker (born 1950)}} {{refimprove blp|date=October 2024}} {{Use Australian English|date=April 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Phillip Noyce | honorific_suffix = AO | image = Phillip Noyce by Gage Skidmore.jpg | caption = Noyce in 2010 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1950|4|29|df=y}} | birth_place = Griffith, New South Wales, Australia | other_names = | years_active = 1969–present | alma_mater = University of Sydney Australian Film, Television and Radio School | occupation = {{hlist|Director|producer|screenwriter}} | known_for = ''Rabbit-Proof Fence'', ''Dead Calm'', ''Clear and Present Danger'', ''Roots'' (2016)  | children = | website = }} '''Phillip Roger Noyce''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=,|AO}} (born 29 April 1950) is an Australian film and television director. Since 1977, he has directed over 19 feature films in various genres, including historical drama (''Newsfront'', ''Rabbit-Proof Fence'', ''The Quiet American''); thrillers (''Dead Calm'', ''Sliver'', ''The Bone Collector''); and action films (''Blind Fury'', ''The Saint'', ''Salt''). He has also directed the Jack Ryan adaptations ''Patriot Games'' (1992) and ''Clear and Present Danger'' (1994), as well as the 2014 adaptation of Lois Lowry's ''The Giver''.

Noyce has worked at various times with such actors as Val Kilmer, Harrison Ford, Denzel Washington, Michael Caine, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Rutger Hauer and three films with Thora Birch over 25 years. He has also directed, written and executive-produced television programmes in both Australia and North America, including ''The Cowra Breakout'', ''Vietnam'', ''Revenge'', ''Roots'', and Netflix's ''What/If.''

Noyce's work has won him several accolades, including AACTA Awards for Best Film, Best Director and a special Longford Lyell lifetime achievement award.

==Early life and education== Phillip Roger Noyce<ref name=ao/> was born on 29 April 1950<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wtop.com/back-in-the-day/2022/04/today-in-history-april-29-dachau-is-liberated/ |title=Today in History: April 29, Dachau is liberated|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429131414/https://wtop.com/back-in-the-day/2022/04/today-in-history-april-29-dachau-is-liberated/|archive-date=29 April 2022}}</ref> in Griffith, New South Wales.<ref>{{cite book|title=501 Movie Directors|editor-first=Steven Jay|editor-last=Schneider|publisher=Cassell Illustrated|location=London|year=2007|page=529|isbn=9781844035731|oclc=1347156402}}</ref>

He attended high school at Barker College in Sydney, and began making short films at the age of 18. His first short film, the 15-minute ''Better to Reign in Hell'', was financed by selling roles to his friends.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

He graduated from Sydney University, and then attended the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in 1973.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

In 1969, Noyce ran the Sydney Filmmakers Co-op, a collective of filmmakers. With Jan Chapman, he ran the Filmmaker's Cinema for three years above a bookshop in Sydney, screening the short films of the directors who would go on to form the Australian New Wave: Gillian Armstrong, Peter Weir, Bruce Beresford, George Miller and Paul Cox.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

==Career== Noyce released his first professional film in 1975. Many of his films feature espionage, as Noyce grew up listening to his father's stories of serving with the Australian Commando unit Z Force during World War II.<ref name=treatment>{{cite web|url=http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/tt/tt100721phillip_noyce_salt|title=Phillip Noyce: Salt – The Treatment|publisher=KCRW|date=21 July 2010|access-date=24 January 2011}}</ref>

After his debut feature, the medium-length ''Backroads'' (1977), Noyce achieved huge commercial and critical success with ''Newsfront'' (1978), which won Australian Film Institute (AFI) awards for Best Film, Director, Actor and Screenplay; it opened the London Film Festival and was the first Australian film to play at the New York Film Festival.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Noyce worked on two miniseries for Australian television with fellow Australian filmmaker George Miller: ''The Dismissal'' (1983) and ''The Cowra Breakout'' (1984). Miller also produced the film that brought Noyce to the attention of Hollywood studios – ''Dead Calm'' (1988), which also launched the career of Nicole Kidman. After ''Dead Calm'', Noyce went to the US to direct ''Blind Fury'', starring Rutger Hauer, for Tri-Star Pictures.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Moving with his young family to the US in 1991, Noyce directed five films over the following eight years, of which ''Clear and Present Danger'', starring Harrison Ford, was the most successful, critically and commercially, grossing $216 million.{{cn|date=October 2024}} After 1999's ''Bone Collector'' starring Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington, Noyce decided to return to Australia for the Stolen Generations saga ''Rabbit-Proof Fence'', which won the AFI Award for Best Film in 2002. He has described ''Rabbit-Proof Fence'' as "easily" his proudest moment as a director: "Showing that film to various Aboriginal communities around the country and seeing their response, because it gave validity to the experiences of the Stolen Generations."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stevedow.com.au/Default.aspx?id=264 |title=Steve Dow, Journalist |publisher=Stevedow.com.au |access-date=24 October 2012}}</ref>

Noyce was also lauded for ''The Quiet American'', the 2002 adaptation of Graham Greene's novel, which gave Michael Caine an Academy Award Best Actor nomination and earned best director awards from London Film Critics' Circle and National Board of Review in the US.{{cn|date=October 2024}} After the apartheid-set ''Catch a Fire'' (2006) in South Africa,{{cn|date=October 2024}} Noyce decided to make another big budget studio film with 2010's ''Salt'' starring Angelina Jolie, which proved to be his biggest commercial hit to date, making nearly $300 million worldwide.<ref name=treatment/>

In 2011, Noyce directed and executive produced the pilot for the American Broadcasting Company series ''Revenge'' and has since directed numerous TV pilots, including Netflix's ''What/If'' starring Renée Zellweger and the FOX Network hit ''The Resident''. In 2017, he signed a first look deal with 20th Century Fox Television.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Otterson|first=Joe|date=26 October 2017|title=Phillip Noyce Sets First-Look Deal With 20th Century Fox Television, Hires New VP of Production|url=https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/phillip-noyce-20th-century-fox-television-1202599848/|access-date=31 January 2021|website=Variety|language=en-US}}</ref>

''Above Suspicion'', starring Emilia Clarke and Jack Huston, originally to be released in America in 2020 by Roadside Attractions, was delayed until May 2021 due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

In 2021, Noyce became executive producer on the film ''Show Me What You Got,'' written and directed by Svetlana Cvetko.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kornits |first=Dov |date=17 May 2022 |title=Svetlana Cvetko Shows Us What She's Got |url=https://www.filmink.com.au/svetlana-cvetkos-shows-us-what-shes-got/ |access-date=2 June 2022 |website=FilmInk |language=en-AU}}</ref>

''The Desperate Hour'', starring Naomi Watts, was released in the US by Roadside Attractions in March 2022.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

In late 2021, a 17 feature and 10 shorts retrospective of Noyce's work was presented at the Cinémathèque Française in Paris.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Noyce's next film, ''Fast Charlie'', a darkly comedic thriller starring Pierce Brosnan, Morena Baccarin and James Caan, written by Richard Wenk was released in the US in December 2023, earning Noyce highly positive reviews.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

==Other activities== {{as of|2024}} Noyce is an ambassador for SmartFone Flick Fest (SF3), held annually in Sydney.<ref name=sf3>{{cite web |title=SF3 festival ambassadors |website=SF3 |url=https://sf3.com.au/about/ambassadors/ |access-date=29 October 2024}}</ref>

==Recognition, honours, and awards== In the Australia Day Honours in January 2023, Noyce was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) by the Australian Government.<ref name=ao>{{Cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/2012551 |title=Mr Phillip Roger NOYCE : Officer of the Order of Australia| website=Australian Honours Search Facility| publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia) |access-date= 29 October 2024}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Awards and nominations |- |1978 |''Newsfront'' |Australian Film Institute Award for Best Director Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay, Original Best First Film Award (Taormina Film Fest) Best Director Award (Taormina Film Fest) Nominated- Golden Charybdis (Taormina Film Fest) |- |1982 |''Heatwave'' |Special Mention (Mystfest) Nominated- Best Film of Festival Award (Mystfest) |- |1989 |''Dead Calm'' |Nominated- Australian Film Institute Award for Best Director |- | rowspan="2" |2002 |''Rabbit-Proof Fence'' |Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film Christopher 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'') San Francisco Film Critics Circle Special Citation (shared with ''The Quiet American)'' Audience Award (Durban International Film Festival) Audience Award (Edinburgh International Film Festival) Audience Award (Leeds International Film Festival) Audience Award for Best Foreign-Language Film (São Paulo International Film Festival) Audience Award for Feature Film (Valladolid International Film Festival) People's Choice Award for Beat Feature-Length Fiction Film (Denver Film Festival) Nominated- Australian Film Institute Award for Best Director Nominated- Inside Film Award for Best Director |- |''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'') San Francisco Film Critics Circle Special Citation (shared with ''Rabbit-Proof Fence'') Nominated- Satellite Award for Best Director Nominated- Golden Kinnaree Award for Best Film (Bangkok International Film Festival) |- |2014 |''The Giver'' |Truly Moving Picture Award - Feature Film (Heartland Film Festival) |- |2024 | Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award | 55th International Film Festival of India<ref name="ltaawards:variety">{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2024/film/news/robbie-williams-better-man-iffi-goa-1236206303/ |title= Robbie Williams Film ‘Better Man’ to Open India’s IFFI Fest, Phillip Noyce Set for Lifetime Honor |author= Naman Ramachandran |work= Variety|date= 11 November 2024 |access-date= 11 November 2024 |language=en}}</ref> |- |}

==Filmography== ===Films=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! 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}} |- | rowspan="2" |1989 |''Dead Calm'' |{{yes}} |{{no}} |{{no}} |- |''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}} |- | rowspan="2" |2002 |''Rabbit-Proof Fence'' |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} |- |''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}} |- |TBA |''Ally Clark'' |{{yes}} |{{no}} |{{no}} |- |}

'''Executive producer''' * ''Show Me What You Got'' (2021)

==== Short films ==== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Director ! Producer |- |1969 |''Better to Reign in Hell'' |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |- | rowspan="5" |1971 |''Sun'' |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |- |''Memories'' |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |- |''Intersection'' |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |- |''Home'' |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |- |''Camera Class'' |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |- | rowspan="3" |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}} |- | rowspan="2" |1979 |''Sue and Mario: The Italian Australians'' |{{yes}} |{{no}} |- |''Bali: Island of the Gods'' |{{yes}} |{{no}} |}

====Documentary films==== {| class="wikitable" |- ! 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''' {| class="wikitable" |- ! 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}} |{{partial|Executive}} |{{no}} |Director - Episode "Pilot" Executive producer - 2 episodes |- |2006-07 |''Brotherhood'' |{{yes}} |{{partial|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}} |{{partial|Executive}} |{{no}} | 3 episodes |- | rowspan="2" |2012 |''Americana'' |{{yes}} |{{partial|Executive}} |{{no}} |Unaired pilot |- |''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}} |{{partial|Executive}} |{{no}} |Director - 2 episodes |}

===Unmade films=== *''Simmonds and Newcombe'' (late 1970s) – about the manhunt for Simmonds and Newcombe<ref>Rod Bishop & Peter Beilby, "Ken Cameron", ''Cinema Papers'', March–April 1979 p 257-258</ref> *''King Hit'' (late 1970s) – about the dismissal of the Whitlam government

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * Maltin, Leonard. [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0637518/bio Phillip Noyce Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia], ''imdb.com''. Retrieved 16 August 2005. * {{cite book | author = Brian McFarlane, Geoff Mayer, Ina Bertrand (Ed.) |title = The Oxford companion to Australian film| publisher = Melbourne, Australia ; New York: Oxford University Press| year = 1999| isbn = 0-19-553797-1}} * Petzke, Ingo: [http://www.redavocadofilm.com Backroads To Hollywood – Phillip Noyce.] Pan Macmillan (Sydney) 2004 * Petzke, Ingo. [http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2006/great-directors/noyce/ Great Directors – Phillip Noyce] Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 10 February 2007. * ''Contemporary North American Film Directors: A Wallflower Critical Guide'' By Yoram Allon, Hannah Patterson, Del Cullen. Entry on Phillip Noyce [https://books.google.com/books?id=3mv-ia4YzAsC&dq=archie+kalokerinos&pg=PA397 Look inside at Google Book search]

==External links== *{{IMDb name|0637518}}

{{Phillip Noyce}} {{AACTA Award Best Direction 1971–1979}} {{IFFI - Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award}} {{London Film Critics Circle Award for Director of the Year}} {{Longford Lyell Award}} {{National Board of Review Award for Best Director}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noyce, Phillip}} Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:Action film directors Category:Australian film directors Category:Australian film producers Category:Australian Film Television and Radio School alumni Category:Australian screenwriters Category:Australian television directors Category:Australian television producers Category:Australian television writers Category:People from Griffith, New South Wales Category:People educated at Barker College Category:Best Director AACTA Award winners Category:Producers who won the Best Film AACTA Award Category:Longford Lyell Award recipients