Stephan Elliott
Stephan Elliott | |
|---|---|
 Stephan Elliott at the premiere of his film A Few Best Men in 2012 | |
| Born | 27 August 1964 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation(s) | Director, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Partner | Wil Bevolley |
Stephan Elliott (born 27 August 1964) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. His best-known film internationally is The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994).
Career
[edit]Elliott began his career as an assistant director working in the boom of the Australian film industry of the 1980s.
His first two feature films, Frauds (starring musician Phil Collins) and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, along with his lesser known, shorter films Fast and The Agreement were produced by Rebel Penfold-Russell's Australian production company Latent Image Productions.
Frauds, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Welcome to Woop Woop were all officially selected to screen at the Cannes Film Festival, with "Priscilla" winning the Prix du public as well as an Academy Award for Best Costume Design, among numerous other accolades. For a time during 1982/83, Stephan and Troy Tempest presented The Blues Brothers, every Friday night for over a year, at the heritage listed Cremorne Orpheum theatre. Dressed as Jake and Elwood, Stephan and Troy appeared on TV several times, along with their Bluesmobile.
In 2004, Elliott was involved in a skiing accident which saw him hospitalised for several months. He credits the accident with rediscovering his sense of humour.[1]
In 2007, Elliott worked with Fred Nassiri to create one of the most expensive music videos of all time. Shot in over 15 countries, with seven directors, the song "Love Sees No Colour" aspires to spread a message of peace and love.
His film Easy Virtue, was co-written with Sheridan Jobbins, and is based on the Noël Coward play of the same name. It stars Colin Firth, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jessica Biel and Ben Barnes. It was produced by Barnaby Thompson for Ealing Studios in the UK, and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September 2008.[2] It has also screened in the Rio Film Festival, Rome Film Festival and London Film Festival.[3]
His next film, A Few Best Men starring Xavier Samuel and Olivia Newton-John[4] was released in 2012.
Other writing credits include the script for the stage play of Priscilla, which premiered in 2007 at Sydney's Lyric Theatre in Star City to excellent reviews. Later in the year, it moved The Regent Theatre in Melbourne and in May 2008 to Auckland's The Civic theatre in New Zealand, and then in London's West End.
Personal life
[edit]Elliott came out as gay during his presentation at the inaugural AACTA Awards in Sydney on 31 January 2012.[5] He has been in a relationship with his partner, Wil Bevolley, since the late 1980s. They had a civil partnership ceremony in London in 2008.[6][7]
Filmography
[edit]- Frauds (1993)
- The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
- Welcome to Woop Woop (1997)
- Eye of the Beholder (1999)
- Easy Virtue (2008)
- A Few Best Men (2011)
- Rio, I Love You (2014)
- Swinging Safari (2017)
References
[edit]- ^ Mottram, James (23 October 2008). "Easy Virtue director Stephan Elliott talks about comeback from horrifying accident". London: The Times. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
- ^ "TIFF'08 – Easy Virtue". Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
- ^ "Easy Virtue brings British humour to Rome Film Festival". Reuters. 27 October 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
- ^ "Olivia Newton-John to star in Stephan Elliott's a Few Best Men | Encore Magazine". Archived from the original on 17 January 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
- ^ "A Few Best Men director comes out at AACTAs". Australia: ABC News. 1 February 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
- ^ Hornery, Andrew (17 February 2012). "Closet door still closed".
- ^ "Stephan Elliott, the Aussie wedding crasher". Australian Times. 31 August 2012.
External links
[edit]
- 1964 births
- 20th-century Australian LGBTQ people
- 21st-century Australian LGBTQ people
- Australian film directors
- Australian male screenwriters
- Australian LGBTQ screenwriters
- Australian gay writers
- Australian LGBTQ film directors
- Gay screenwriters
- Living people
- Film directors from Sydney
- People educated at Sydney Grammar School