George Miller (producer)

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George Miller

Born George Miliotis
March 3, 1945 (1945-03-03) (age 63)
Chinchilla, Queensland, Australia
Other name(s) Dr. George Miller
Occupation film director, producer, screenwriter and physician

Dr George (Miliotis) Miller (born March 3, 1945), is an Academy-Award winning Greek Australian film and television screenwriter, director and producer. 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 should not be confused with the Scottish-Australian director George T. Miller (who directed The Man From Snowy River, among many other feature films.)

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[edit] Biography

George Miliotis was born in Chinchilla, Queensland, to Greek immigrant parents: Dimitri (Jim) Castrisios Miliotis, from Kythera, and Evangelia (Angela) Balloyoulo. The Balloyoulo family were Greek refugees from Asia Minor, while Dimitri was from the Greek Island of Kythera and he anglicised his surname to Miller when he emigrated to Australia. [1] The couple married and settled in Chinchilla and had four sons. The first two, non-identical twins were George and John, and later, Chris and Bill (Vassilli).

George served as an altar boy at the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint George, Rose Bay. He attended 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 Med School (1971), George and his younger brother Chris made a one minute short film, that won them first prize in a student competition.[1] In 1971, George attended a Film Workshop at Melbourne University where he met fellow student, Byron Kennedy. In 1972, Miller completed his residency at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital, spending his time-off crewing on short experimental films. Miller formed an irrepressible bond with fellow film fanatic Byron Kennedy. The pair collaborated on numerous works after that.

Miller wrote and directed the Mad Max movies starring Mel Gibson (Mad Max, 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.

With Phillip Noyce, Miller co-produced and co-directed two acclaimed miniseries for Australian television: 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 film industry since the advent of sound. ”

—UNSWorld, (2007) p. 15

He spent 18 months in Sydney directing the computer-animated film Happy Feet, a musical epic about the life of penguins in Antarctica. [2] The Warner Brothers-produced film was released in November 2006, and is Australia's largest animated film project, with a crew of over 300 artists and technicians at the visual effects house Animal Logic. 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 has recently been confirmed by Warner Bros. as the director of Justice League of America, a large-scale superhero epic featuring Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and a host of others. The film will reportedly showcase an elaborate blending of live-action, motion-capture, and CGI animation. He has also confirmed he will direct the fourth Mad Max film, only known as Fury Road.

[edit] Awards and recognition

  • Miller's films are frequently seen on 'Best of' lists[citation needed], ranging from "Happy Feet" on AFI's top 50 animated films[citation needed] to "The Road Warrior's" staple-presence in 'Best Films of All Time' lists[citation needed] - however rarely is he found on 'Best Director' lists. Some have found this to be because of his sparse filmography[citation needed].

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ UNSWorld (2007) p. 15
  2. ^ UNSWorld (2007) p. 15

George Miller won the 2007 AFI Global Achievement Award

[edit] References and Further reading

  • Turner, Brock (2007) (Cover page) 'George Miller Film's $1 billion man' (page 27) - 'Curious George' in The Australian Financial Review Magazine, May 2007 issue (Wealth Issue). pp.26-38
  • UNSWorld (2007) 'Bring on the dancing penguins' in UNSWorld, Issue 6, May 2007, pp.14-15)

[edit] External links

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George Miller
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