Roger Scholes (11 December 1950 – 3 June 2022) was an Australian independent film and television maker from 1983 on. He worked as a producer, director, writer, script editor,
cinematographer
The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...
, and editor in drama and documentary projects for cinema and television.
Early career
Roger graduated from the
Swinburne Film and TV School
Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as ''Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition ...
, now the
University of Melbourne Faculty of VCA and MCM, in 1971 and worked at Fred Schepisi’s Film House in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. During the 70’s he worked in France, Switzerland,
U.K.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and United States. In 1982 he returned to
Swinburne
Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as ''Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition ...
for the post-graduate course and was awarded Best Director at his graduation.
1980s
In December 1982 he directed and edited a short film ''The Franklin River blockade'' concerning the
Franklin Dam.
During the 80’s he worked with his writer/
film producer
A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...
partner,
Katherine Scholes
Katherine Anne Scholes (born 5 July 1959) is an Australian writer. She was born in the Dodoma Region of Tanzania where her parents were English missionaries, and spent most of her childhood there before moving to England and then Tasmania.Schole ...
, on a number of documentaries before writing and directing his first feature film ''
The Tale of Ruby Rose
''The Tale of Ruby Rose'' is a 1988 Australian film written and directed by Roger Scholes, produced by Andrew Wiseman and Bryce Menzies, and starring Melita Jurisic, Chris Haywood, Rod Zuanic, Sheila Florance, and Martyn Sanderson.
Synopsis
In ...
''. The film won four critics prizes at the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
in 1987 including Best Actress and Best Director.
Award-winning Australian & Australian films 1937-2008
''Screen Australia''
In 1988 Roger and Katherine formed their production company, Edward Street Films. Together they produced numerous documentaries including ''The Valley, the last tall forests'' and ''Home of the brave'' which won First Prize at the International ITVA American Film Awards
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
in 1993.
1990s
In 1996 Roger co-wrote and directed ''The Coolbaroo Club'', a dramatized documentary for cinema and television release. It won the 1996 Human Rights Award for Media. In 1998 he co-wrote and directed ''The Human Journey'', a 3-hour documentary series for ABC TV and Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
, which won the 2000 Eureka Prize for Science Media.
2000s
Since then he has written and directed the 3 hour teleseries ''Stories from the Stone Age'' which gained a record viewership for ABC TV, S4c and Channel 4. His documentary series ''Last Port of Call'' and ''Future Shack'' gained the highest documentary rating for the ABC in 2006 with 1.2 million viewers and 2010 series ''The Passionate Apprentices'' gained the highest Inside Australia slot rating ever for SBS TV.
Recent work
In 2014 Roger was the Cinematographer on the ABC documentary 'Defendant 5' and the Production Designer on the International History TV series 'Death or Liberty'.
Roger was preparing a number of films and online projects for production including a feature film ''Crow Bay'', feature films ''Secret Cove'', ''The Broken Hill'' and ''Dogtower'' and the documentaries ''Read My Lips'', ''Christmas Play of Cape Barren'' and ''Journey to my African School''.
Roger has worked as a cinematographer with over 35 years experience in celluloid and digital formats. He has written numerous screenplays for film and television and has worked as a production designer and script editor on many feature film, documentary and community education projects. He has also worked as a lecturer, mentor and tutor in film writing, directing, cinematography and production for many institutions including the Australian Film Television and Radio School, the Swinburne University Film and Television School, York University, Deakin University, Film Victoria, the Australian Film Commission, Screen Tasmania, La Trobe University, The Friends School, Kickstart Arts, Wide Angle Tasmania and has served as a board member for the Swinburne Film School ow the VCA the Tasmanian Film Festival and Screen Tasmania.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scholes, Roger
1950 births
2022 deaths
Australian film directors