{{short description|Australian designer and director (born 1938)}} {{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox person |name = Russell Hagg |image = |caption = |birth_name = |birth_date = {{birth year|1938}} |birth_place = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|02|10|1938|||df=yes}} |death_place = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |alma_mater = University of Melbourne<ref name="SMH"/> |occupation = Designer, director, script writer, film maker<ref name="kip"/> |years_active = |boards = |spouse = |children = Georgina Haig (daughter) Julian Haig (son) |parents = |signature = |website = }}

'''Russell Hagg''' (1938 – 10 February 2022) was an Australian designer, director, script writer and film maker.<ref name="kip">{{cite web |title= Inside Actress Georgina Haig’s Dreamy Coastal Home |url= https://kipandco.com.au/blogs/kip-co/georgina#:~:text=My%20name's%20Georgina%20Haig%2C%20I,like%20making%20things%20it%20seems! |access-date=23 November 2025 |work= www.kipandco.com.au}}</ref>

==Early life== Hagg grew up in Ivanhoe, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria and studied an architecture degree at the University of Melbourne in the early 1960s. After graduating, he drove a Kombi with friends from Singapore to England, through Afghanistan. When he got to England, he worked as an architect but aspired to work in film.<ref name="SMH">{{cite web |title= The person who helps actor Georgina Haig land 'half' her roles |url= https://www.smh.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/the-person-who-helps-actor-georgina-haig-land-half-her-roles-20210908-p58ptp.html |first= Jane |last= Rocca |date= 12 September 2021 |access-date=23 November 2025 |website= The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref>

==Career== Before becoming a designer in British films, Hagg worked for Crawford Productions as a writer and director.<ref name="pike">Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p 311</ref>

Hagg was the art director on 1971 cult Stanley Kubrick film ''A Clockwork Orange'' while working in London. He returned to Australia in the 1970s, working for Crawford Productions, starting his own company and undertaking scriptwriting.<ref name="SMH"/> He went on to write Brian Trenchard-Smith's 1983 children's adventure film ''BMX Bandits'',<ref>{{cite web|url= https://bandsaboutmovies.com/2024/05/01/frog-dreaming-1986/ |title= Frog Dreaming (1986) |website= www.bandsaboutmovies.com |date= 1 May 2024 |access-date= 9 November 2025}}</ref><ref name="domain">{{cite web|url= https://www.domain.com.au/living/sept15-cover-georgina-haig-1085198/ |title= Georgina Haig: Back with the family |website= www.australiancinema.info |first= Jane |last= Rocca |date= 16 September 2021}}</ref> starring Nicole Kidman in her first big screen film role.

Hagg was the original director for 1986 Australian adventure film ''Frog Dreaming'' (aka ''The Quest'') starring Henry Thomas of ''E.T.'' fame,<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/russell-hagg/credits/3030451019/ |title= Russell Hagg |website= TV Guide |access-date= 9 November 2025}}</ref> before Trenchard-Smith took over direction, two weeks in.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://australiancinema.info/films/frogdreaming.html |title= Frog Dreaming |website= www.australiancinema.info |access-date= 9 November 2025}}</ref>

Hagg also worked in television including Australian series ''Chances'', ''Water Rats'' and ''Blue Heelers''.<ref name="domain"/>

==Personal life== At the age of 47, Hagg had a daughter, actress Georgina Haig, together with artist, Gillian Haig, before welcoming son Julian three years later. They raised their kids in Red Hill, on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. The couple separated and subsequently divorced, when Georgina was a teenager. Hagg then moved to McCrae, a suburb of Melbourne. He became a grandfather through Georgina.<ref name="domain"/><ref name="SMH"/>

After Hagg died in 2022, his daughter wrote, directed and starred in short film ''Ashes'', inspired by her relationship with him.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.filmink.com.au/georgina-haig-dying-is-easy-directing-comedy-is-hard/ |title= Georgina Haig: Dying is Easy, Directing Comedy is Hard |website= FilmInk |first= Dov |last= Kornits |date= 15 January 2013}}</ref>

==Filmography==

===Film=== {|class="wikitable" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | 1971 || ''A Clockwork Orange'' || Art director || |- | 1977 || ''Raw Deal'' || Director / producer || |- | 1979 || ''Taxi'' || Director || |- | 1980 || ''Harlequin'' || Script editor || |- | 1981 || ''The Survivor'' || Script editor || |- | 1983 || ''BMX Bandits'' || Writer || |- | 1986 || ''Frog Dreaming'' || Original director || |- | 1999 || ''The Cup'' || || |}

===Television=== {|class="wikitable" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | 1975 || rowspan="2"|''Cash and Company'' || Director || 5 episodes |- | rowspan="3"|1976 || Producer || 13 episodes |- | rowspan="2"|''Tandarra'' || Director || 6 episodes |- | Producer || 13 episodes |- | 1983–1984 || ''Matlock Police'' || Script editor || 30 episodes |- | 1992 || ''Chances'' || Script editor || 12 episodes |- | 1994–1995 || ''Blue Heelers'' || Script editor || 8 episodes |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|0353569}}

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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagg, Russell}} Category:1938 births Category:2022 deaths Category:Australian film directors Category:Designers from Melbourne {{Australia-film-director-stub}}