Joan Long (born Joan Dorothy Boundy; 20 July 1925 – 2 January 1999) was an Australian producer, writer and director best known for ''
Caddie
In golf, a caddie (or caddy) is the person who carries a player's bag and clubs, and gives the player advice and moral support.
Description
A good caddie is aware of the challenges and obstacles of the golf course being played, along with the ...
'' (1976). She was awarded as a Member of the Order of Australia in 1980 for her services to the film industry.
[Anthony Buckley, 'Joan Long - Obituary', ''The Independent'', 1 March 1999](_blank)
accessed 18 June 2012
Early life
Long was born in
Rushworth, Victoria
Rushworth is a township in Victoria, Australia. It is located north of Melbourne and, at the 2016 Census, had a population of 1,335.
History
Rushworth was established during the Victorian gold rush in 1853. It was named by poet and later loca ...
and was the daughter of Katherine and Frances Boundy. She was brought up in a Methodist family and shared her childhood with four other siblings. Long went to
Geelong High School
Geelong High School is a co-educational, public, secondary school located in East Geelong, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The school opened in 1910, making it one of Victoria's oldest state secondary schools, and moved to its curr ...
and graduated from the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
with a bachelor's degree in History. In 1948, Long made the decision of moving to Sydney, in order to pursue a career in film.
Joan started working at the
Department of Interior (DOI)’s new film division, the
Australian National Film Board
Film Australia was a company established by the Government of Australia to produce films about Australia in 1973. Its predecessors were the Cinema and Photographic Branch (1913–38), the Australian National Film Board (1939–1955, under diff ...
. She was working as a secretary. Her main role was to assist Producer
Stanley Hawse.
She eventually started her direction debut in 1952 with a series of short documentaries and, in the process, became the second woman, after Catherine Duncan, to take on this role in the
Commonwealth Film Unit
Film Australia was a company established by the Government of Australia to produce films about Australia in 1973. Its predecessors were the Cinema and Photographic Branch (1913–38), the Australian National Film Board (1939–1955, under differ ...
, previously known as the Australian National Film Board.
After her marriage with Martin Long, she went on a 10-year break, in order to care for her two stepsons and her own son and daughter. She eventually came back to the Commonwealth Film Unit, and with her family in mind, she opted to work as a freelance scriptwriter rather than a full-time employee. However, as mentioned during her interview with Marie Knuckey, it was a decision that was frowned upon by certain people in her entourage: ¨What they said to my face was only a fraction of what they said to my back – you still get people who criticize the fact
hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
you work
€¦No one questions a man's right to work or that his career should go on. Whereas women have had to justify their right to work.¨
Career
1968-71: ''The Pictures That Moved'', ''Paddington Lace'' and ''The Passionate Industry''
Both
The Pictures That Moved: Australian Cinema 1896-1920' (1968) and
The Passionate Industry: 1920-1930' (1971) were documentaries portraying the evolution of the Australian film industry the movies were a compilation of different excerpts of newsreels, features and photographs of the addressed periods. She also interviewed several actors who played or participated in these pictures.
The two films were chosen to be among the Official Selections (Out of Competition category), at the
30th Cannes Film Festival, in 1977.
She also wrote
Paddington Lace' (1970), a film that depicts one of Sydney's oldest suburbs,
Paddington
Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...
, a place that eventually became "Sydney's
artist colony
An art colony, also known as an artists' colony, can be defined two ways. Its most liberal description refers to the organic congregation of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, often drawn by areas of natural beauty, the prior existence o ...
".
Long won an
AWGIE Award
The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967.
The awards are judged by over 50 writers, most of whom are previo ...
for each of these three films.
1975-77: ''Caddie and The Picture Show Man''
She eventually left the Film Unit and the documentary field in order to pursue the fiction route.
Joan Long wrote the screenplay for ''
Caddie
In golf, a caddie (or caddy) is the person who carries a player's bag and clubs, and gives the player advice and moral support.
Description
A good caddie is aware of the challenges and obstacles of the golf course being played, along with the ...
'' (1976), which was based on the autobiography of Catherine
''Caddie'' Edmond, ''
Caddie, A Sydney Barmaid''. The story loosely recounted the life of Caddie Marsh as she desperately tried to hold her life together by getting a job as a barmaid in order to support her two kids, during the Great Depression in Sydney. The film is both a critique of the male-dominated society and its scrutiny on women, and a highlight on the implications of being a working-class single-mother during this period in time.
The film was done as part of Australia's participation in the
International Women's Year
International Women's Year (IWY) was the name given to 1975 by the United Nations. Since that year March 8 has been celebrated as International Women's Day, and the United Nations Decade for Women, from 1976 to 1985, was also established.
Hist ...
. ''Caddie'' (1976) received a total of $390,000 in funding ($50,000 from the government) for its production. The film won 3 feature awards at the
18th Australian Film Institute Awards. Long's script was nominated for
Best Original Screenplay
The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...
, but lost to
Fred Schepisi
Frederic Alan Schepisi ( ; Kael, Pauline (1984). ''Taking It All In''. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 55. born 26 December 1939) is an Australian film director, producer and screenwriter. His credits include ''The Chant of Jimmie B ...
's
''The Devil's Playground''.
Joan Long founded the company,
Limelight Productions
Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created wh ...
in 1975 and under its name, she continued to tackle subject matters related to the film industry. She started working on a script revolving around the adventure of a picture showman who traveled across the countryside to bring motion pictures to those who could not access them. The screenplay eventually became ''
The Picture Show Man
''The Picture Show Man'' is a 1977 Australian film about a travelling film exhibitor (John Meillon) in the 1920s. He has to deal with the rebelliousness of his son ( Harold Hopkins) and a rival American exhibitor (Rod Taylor).
The film was Rod Ta ...
'' (1977) which she also worked on as producer. Additionally, the film was also her reaction to ''Caddie'', "
hewanted something light-hearted"
that would get her mind away from the heaviness of her previous work.
1978-1988: Transition from writer to producer
After ''
The Picture Show Man
''The Picture Show Man'' is a 1977 Australian film about a travelling film exhibitor (John Meillon) in the 1920s. He has to deal with the rebelliousness of his son ( Harold Hopkins) and a rival American exhibitor (Rod Taylor).
The film was Rod Ta ...
'', Joan Long continued on her path as a producer and worked on various other films, with an emphasis on social justice and gender issues.
She worked as a producer wit
Margaret Kellyon ''
Puberty Blues
''Puberty Blues'' is a 1981 Australian coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Bruce Beresford, based on the 1979 novel of the same name (essentially a protofeminist teen novel) by Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey.
Plot
The story focuses o ...
'' (1981), an adaptation of
Kathy Lette
Kathryn Marie Lette (born 11 November 1958) is an Australian-British author whose works have been best-sellers.
Early life
Lette was born on 11 November 1958 in Sydney's southern suburbs.
She appeared in ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' of 20 Au ...
and
Gabrielle Carey
Gabrielle Carey (born 10 January 1959) is an Australian writer noted for the teen novel, ''Puberty Blues'', which she co-wrote with Kathy Lette. This novel was the first teenage novel published in Australia that was written by teenagers. Carey h ...
's book of the same name. The film is a coming of age story that follows two teenage girls in their important life stage. The feature also tackles different themes such as sex, drugs, school, etc.
She was involved in
''Silver City'' ''(''1984) which was directed and originally written by
Sophia Turkiewicz
Sophia Turkiewicz is an Australian people, Australian film director, film and television director known for her film ''Silver City (1984 film), Silver City''. ''Silver City'', which Turkiewicz began during a six-month stay in Poland, was release ...
. After having seen the young filmmaker's previous work ''
Letter from Poland'' (1978), Long tried to bring one of Turkiewicz's other scripts, written in 1974, to the screen. After several modifications done on the original screenplay, Long decided to bring Australian playwright
Tom Keneally
Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his non-fiction novel '' Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler's rescue of Jews during the Holocaust, ...
on board to help forge a story. Eventually, on their eleventh draft, they got green-lit with a story that depicted the Polish post-war refugees’ journey to Australia, after World War II, focusing on a time that greatly shaped the nation's current multiculturalism. The film addressed different themes such as identity, assimilation, culture, and ultimately, revolved around the refugees’ relation and interaction with their new home. The film screened throughout Australia, Europe and the United States.
[Leuner, Beata. Migration, Multiculturalism and Language Maintenance in Australia: Polish Migration to Melbourne in the 1980s. Peter Lang, 2008. 24. Retrieved 11 March 2016.]
Personal life
Since her early years, Long showed a passion for motion pictures and a desire to contribute to its expansion. She gradually learned her way through the industry, going from a secretarial job to working on productions as a director, writer and producer. However, her contribution was not limited to the silver screen, Long was also an active member among the Australian film community itself.
Joan Long became the first female president of the
Australian Writers Guild (AWG), in 1972.
During that same year's inquiry into the Australian Film Industry, Long who represented the AWG, was one of the two women present among the ninety-nine witnesses, and was, at one point, mistaken for a secretary by one of the male witnesses.
She had also made it a mission of hers to preserve the industry's history. In 1984, she was appointed head for the
National Film and Sound Archive
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...
's first Advisory Committee.
In recognition of her contributions, she received the AWG's
Dorothy Crawford Award, in 1991, and was given the Venus Award by the
Women in Film and Television
Women in Film & Television International (WIFTI) is a global network of non-profit membership chapters. Established in 1997, it is dedicated to advancing professional development and achievement for women working in all areas of film, video, and ot ...
, in 1997.
Jennie Boddington
Jennifer "Jennie" Boddington (née Blackwood) (1922 – 15 November 2015) was an Australian film director and producer, who was first curator of photography at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, Melbourne (1972–1994), a ...
wrote a eulogy for her long-time friend and colleague in which she described Joan as a "fire ball", with a "spirit of obligation, of service, of giving herself to the community"
Even during her final years, she was supposedly working on a screenplay for a documentary about Australia's famous pioneers of the silent-era, the McDonagh sisters (
Paulette Paulette may refer to:
*Paulette (name), French feminine given name
*Paulette (tax)
* Paulette Caveat - a caveat filed in 1973 by a group of Dene chiefs at the land titles office in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories to gain a legal interest in 40 ...
,
Phyllis
Phyllis is a feminine given name which may refer to:
People
* Phyllis Bartholomew (1914–2002), English long jumper
* Phyllis Drummond Bethune (née Sharpe, 1899–1982), New Zealand artist
* Phyllis Calvert (1915–2002), British actress
* P ...
and
Isabella
Isabella may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Isabella (surname), including a list of people
Places
United States
* Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...
).
Select credits
* ''The Pictures That Moved'' (1968) (documentary) - writer
* ''Paddington Lace'' (1970) (documentary) - writer
* ''The Passionate Industry'' (1971) (documentary) - director, writer
*''
Caddie
In golf, a caddie (or caddy) is the person who carries a player's bag and clubs, and gives the player advice and moral support.
Description
A good caddie is aware of the challenges and obstacles of the golf course being played, along with the ...
'' (1976) - writer
*''
The Picture Show Man
''The Picture Show Man'' is a 1977 Australian film about a travelling film exhibitor (John Meillon) in the 1920s. He has to deal with the rebelliousness of his son ( Harold Hopkins) and a rival American exhibitor (Rod Taylor).
The film was Rod Ta ...
'' (1977) - writer, producer
*''
Puberty Blues
''Puberty Blues'' is a 1981 Australian coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Bruce Beresford, based on the 1979 novel of the same name (essentially a protofeminist teen novel) by Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey.
Plot
The story focuses o ...
'' (1981) - producer
*''
Silver City'' (1984) - producer
*''
Emerald City
The Emerald City (sometimes called the City of Emeralds) is the capital city of the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900).
Fictional description
Located in the center of the La ...
'' (1988) - producer
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Joan
Australian film producers
1925 births
1999 deaths
Australian film directors
Australian women film directors
Australian women film producers
University of Melbourne women