| George Miller | |
|---|---|
| Born | George Miliotis 3 March 1945 Brisbane, Queensland, Queensland, Australia |
| Other name(s) | Dr. George Miller |
| Occupation | Film Producer, Film Director, Screenwriter and Physician |
| Years active | 1970 - Present |
George Miller (born 3 March 1945) is an Academy-Award winning Australian filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and medical doctor. He is probably most well known for his work on the Mad Max movies, but has been involved in a wide range of projects, including the Oscar-winning Happy Feet.
Miller is the older brother of Producer, Bill Miller.
He is also co-founder of the Production House Dr.D Studios and Kennedy-Miller Mitchell Films formerly known as Kennedy-Miller Productions.
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Biography
George Miller was born in Brisbane, Queensland, to Greek immigrant parents: Dimitri (Jim) Castrisios Miliotis and Angela Balson. Dimitri Miliotis was from the Greek island of Kythira and he anglicised his surname to Miller when he emigrated to Australia; the Balson family were Greek refugees from Anatolia.[1] The couple married and settled in Chinchilla and had four sons. The first two were the non-identical twins George and John, and later, Chris and Bill Miller arrived.
George attended Ipswich Grammar School and later Sydney Boys High School, then studied medicine at the University of New South Wales with his twin brother John. While in his final year at medical school (1971), George and his younger brother Chris made a one minute short film that won them first prize in a student competition.[2] In 1971, George attended a Film Workshop at Melbourne University where he met fellow student, Byron Kennedy, with whom he formed a lasting friendship. In 1972, Miller completed his residency at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital, spending his time-off crewing on short experimental films. The pair collaborated on numerous works after that.
Miller wrote and directed the Mad Max movies starring Mel Gibson (Mad Max, Mad Max 2 (known in the United States as The Road Warrior), and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome); co-wrote Babe and wrote and directed its sequel; and co-wrote (with Nick Enright) and directed Lorenzo's Oil. He also directed The Witches of Eastwick, starring Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon, Cher and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Miller co-produced and co-directed many acclaimed miniseries for Australian television including The Dismissal (1983) and The Cowra Breakout (1984).
Miller's role as producer of Flirting, Dead Calm and the TV mini-series Bangkok Hilton and Vietnam, all starring Nicole Kidman, was instrumental in the early development of her career.
| “ | Miller has said that he believes the new digital age of movies, exemplified by Happy Feet, is the most significant development in the industry since the advent of sound. | ” |
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—UNSWorld, (2007) p. 15 |
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Miller was also the creator of Happy Feet, a musical epic about the life of penguins in Antarctica.[3] The Warner Bros. produced film was released in November 2006. As well as being a runaway box office success, Happy Feet has also brought Miller his fourth Academy Award nomination, and his first win in the category of Best Animated Feature.
Miller is the Patron of the Australian Film Institute and the BIFF (the Brisbane International Film Festival) and a co-patron of the Sydney Film Festival.
He is currently working as director for the upcoming film Happy Feet 2.
Awards and recognition
- 1999: Received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of New South Wales[2]
- 2007: Received The Queensland - United States Personal Achievement Award at the Queensland Expatriate Awards at the Rainbow Room in New York
- 2007: Received the FIAPF Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
- 2007 (April): Awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree by the Australian Film Television and Radio School.[4]
- 2007: Received the AFI Global Achievement Award[5]
- 2008: Awarded an honorary Doctorate from the Griffith University.
Kennedy-Miller Mitchell
Kennedy-Miller Mitchell Films is an Australian film production company founded in 1973 by George Miller and Byron Kennedy as Kennedy-Miller Films. Kennedy Miller Films produced about some of George Miller's first films like Mad Max and Mad Max 2 it wasent till 1998 when it was first called Kennedy-Miller Productions. In 2009 George Miller and Doug Mitchell renamed the company Kennedy-Miller Mitchell.
Dr.D Studios
Dr.D Studios is a new digital production studio founded in 2008 by Academy Award winning producers George Miller and Doug Mitchell in partnership with the Omnilab Media Group. It's a permanent Australian studio, attracting the best talent from Australia and around the world to craft fine, entertaining stories.
Notes
- ^ http://www.kythera-family.net/index.php?nav=3-10&cid=63-90&did=2722&pageflip=1&PHPSESSID=1df799ea7cd9d68e14f74fdcc0d30826
- ^ a b UNSWorld (2007) p. 15
- ^ http://www.smh.com.au/news/film/the-penguin-suite/2006/11/30/1164777710443.html
- ^ George Miller gets Masters | NEWS.com.au Entertainment
- ^ "2007 Winners". http://www.afi.org.au/ Australian Film Insititute. http://www.afi.org.au/awards/winners.asp. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
References and Further reading
- UNSWorld (2007) 'Bring on the dancing penguins' in UNSWorld, Issue 6, May 2007, pp. 14-15)
External links
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