Episode 037 Part A: Fred Schepisi
Episode 37 of The Blank Canvas Podcast with Fred Schepisi.
One of all time great filmmakers. Fred Schepisi steered Meryl Streep to an Oscar nomination for A Cry In The Dark, so too for Stockard Channing in Six Degrees of Separation.
In fact, the worlds finest actors have been clamouring to work with Fred for 45 years; Helen Mirren. Donald Sutherland. Kirk Douglas. Michael Douglas. Will Smith. Meg Ryan. Michael Caine. Geoffrey Rush. Sir John Gielgud. Ian McLennan. Ray Winston. John Cleese. Jamie Lee Curtis. Kevin Cline. Tim Robbins, and the list goes on.
Fred started out in the advertising world in Melbourne, directing both commercials and documentaries. His first feature-length movie was the semi-autobiographical The Devil’s Playground which won 6 AFI awards including Best Film. The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith , in 1978, won a few more AFI awards and was nominated for Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Fred then began working internationally, highlights include; Plenty (again with Meryl Streep), Roxanne (starring Steve Martin & Darryl Hannah) The Russia House (with Sean Connery & Michelle Pfeiffer), Last Orders, Eye of the Storm, and Words & Pictures starring Juliette Binoche & Clive Owen.
The HBO movie Empire Falls, starring Paul Newman, Ed Harris, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Robin Wright, won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture made for Television.
Fred has worked across most genres and is a master at adapting books to screen. Appropriately, he was awarded the Order of Australia for his service to the Australian film industry as a director, producer and screenwriter.
Fred is a real character and a great conversationalist, he delivers a veritable master-class in film-making in this podcast, so much so, I’m releasing this chat over two episodes.
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THE BLANK CANVAS TEAM
Produced by Lee Rogers & Rien MacDonald.
Audio support by Jason Murphy/GASinc
Music by Rodrigo Enrique Bustos.
From the episode - Fred talks about setting the right ambience whilst on set with stars such as Will Smith and Jodie Foster.