HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Nelson Woss (born in
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
, Western Australia) is an Australian film producer who made the feature films '' Red Dog'' and ''
Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...
''.


Career

After graduating from Christ Church Grammar School, Nelson Woss attended the
University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...
before completing his education at Babson College in the United States. He first worked in the film industry at
Village Roadshow Village Roadshow Limited is an Australian company which operates cinemas and theme parks, and produces and distributes films. Before being acquired by private equity company BGH Capital, the company was listed on the Australian Securities Ex ...
in Los Angeles. Woss then worked for director
Ivan Reitman Ivan Reitman (; October 27, 1946February 12, 2022) was a Czechoslovak-born Canadian filmmaker. He was best known for his comedy work, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 1998. Film ...
's company Northern Lights, which, at the time, was based at
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
. In 2000, Woss set up his own independent production company, Endymion Films Inc, and executive produced the feature film ''Venus & Mars''. Woss also developed and produced the screenplay for the hit computer game ''Abuse'', which was marketed around the world. In 2002, Woss developed and produced the Australian feature film ''
Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...
'' for
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
. Woss produced the highly successful Australian feature film '' Red Dog''. The film has made more than 21 million at the Australian box office since opening in August 2011. ''Red Dog'' is the eighth-highest grossing Australian film of all time and 11 days after opening, ''Red Dog'' became the highest grossing Australian film of 2011. In January 2012, ''Red Dog'' won Best Film at the
1st AACTA Awards The Inaugural Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known more commonly as the AACTA Awards, presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), honoured the best Australian and foreign films of 2011 ...
and the AFI Members Choice award. ''Red Dog'' was officially released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
,
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
and download on 1 December 2011 in Australia. The ''Red Dog'' DVD is the biggest-selling Australian DVD of all time. The DVD is also the third-highest selling DVD of all time in Australia behind ''
Avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...
'' (first) and '' Finding Nemo'' (second). A deal with Roadshow Entertainment and Coles saw one dollar from the sale of every DVD sold in Coles during December 2011 donated to the RSPCA. More than $17,000 was raised for the animal charity. In February 2012 Woss and Koko, the canine star of ''Red Dog'', visited RSPCA to present a cheque for the money raised. In March 2012, it was announced that Woss was working with Australian theatre producer John Frost to adapt '' Red Dog'' into a stage musical. Woss is president of Endymion Films Inc. and its Australian counterpart Woss Group Film Productions. Woss lives in Perth, Western Australia. Up until his death in December 2012,
Koko (dog) Koko (9 April 2005  – 18 December 2012) was an Australian canine film actor and fundraiser, an Australian Kelpie who was best known for his role as Red Dog, the title character of the 2011 film '' Red Dog''. He was owned by Nelson Woss, ...
the canine star of ''Red Dog'' also lived with Woss. The two were inseparable and Woss was reportedly devastated when Koko died. Woss and Koko were the subject of a portrait by acclaimed Australian artist
Adam Cullen Adam Frederick Cullen (9 October 1965 – 28 July 2012) was an Australian artist, most known for winning the Archibald Prize in 2000 with a portrait of actor David Wenham. He was also known for his controversial subjects and his distincti ...
. The painting was a finalist for the 2012 Archibald Prize. In 2015 Woss teamed up with director
Kriv Stenders Kriv Stenders is an Australian writer, producer and director best known for the film '' Red Dog'' and the thriller film ''Kill Me Three Times''. He started off directing music videos for many famous Australian bands, including Go Betweens, M ...
('' Red Dog''), (''
Kill Me Three Times ''Kill Me Three Times'' is a 2014 black comedy thriller film directed by Kriv Stenders, which follows a hit man who falls into schemes of blackmail, murder, and revenge. It was selected to be screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at ...
'') and writer Dan Taplitz ('' Red Dog'') to produce '' Red Dog: True Blue'', a prequel to '' Red Dog''. '' Red Dog: True Blue'' was theatrically released in 2017. The film grossed over AUD8M at the Australian box office and has become a perennial family film. It has been distributed around the world and won the Grand Prize at the 2012 ''
Heartland Film Festival The Heartland International Film Festival is a film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana. The festival was first held in 1992, its goal is to "inspire filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion pictu ...
'' In 2014 Woss set up a new company, Good Dog Distribution, to jointly distribute '' Red Dog: True Blue'' along with Roadshow Distribution. In 2019, Woss produced an ultra-low budget mockumentary about his dog.
Koko (dog) Koko (9 April 2005  – 18 December 2012) was an Australian canine film actor and fundraiser, an Australian Kelpie who was best known for his role as Red Dog, the title character of the 2011 film '' Red Dog''. He was owned by Nelson Woss, ...
. Koko: A Red Dog Story was theatrically released in Australia and has become a cult film. Audiences often can not agree whether the story portrayed is based on truth or fiction.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woss, Nelson Living people Date of birth missing (living people) People educated at Christ Church Grammar School Australian film producers Year of birth missing (living people)