Phillip Roger Noyce (born 29 April 1950) is an Australian film and television director. Since 1977, he has directed over 19 feature films in various genres, including historical drama ('' Newsfront'', '' Rabbit-Proof Fence'', '' The Quiet American''); thrillers ('' Dead Calm'', '' Sliver'', '' The Bone Collector''); and action films ('' Blind Fury'', '' The Saint'', ''

Salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

''). He has also directed the Jack Ryan adaptations '' Patriot Games'' (1992) and '' Clear and Present Danger'' (1994), as well as the 2014 adaptation of

Lois Lowry Lois Ann Lowry (; née Hammersberg; born March 20, 1937) is an American writer. She is the author of many books for children and young adults, including '' The Giver Quartet'', '' Number the Stars'', the Anastasia series, and '' Rabble Starkey''. ...

's '' The Giver''. Noyce has worked at various times with such actors as Val Kilmer,

Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. Regarded as a cinematic cultural icon, he has starred in Harrison Ford filmography, many notable films over seven decades, and is one of List of highest-grossing actors, the highest-gr ...

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14 March 1933) is a retired English actor. Known for his distinct Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films over Michael Caine filmography, a career that spanned eight decades an ...

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for Nicole Kidman on screen and stage, her work in film and television productions across many genres, she has consistently ranked among the world ...

, Meryl Streep,

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor, with a career that spanned over 170 roles across nearly 50 years, beginning in 1969. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. H ...

and three films with Thora Birch over 25 years. He has also directed, written and executive-produced television programmes in both Australia and North America, including '' The Cowra Breakout'', ''

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

'', ''

Revenge Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more fo ...

'', ''

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...

'', and

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

's '' What/If.'' Noyce's work has won him several accolades, including

AACTA Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the cinema of Australia, film and ...

for Best Film, Best Director and a special Longford Lyell lifetime achievement award.

Early life and education

Phillip Roger Noyce was born on 29 April 1950 in

Griffith, New South Wales Griffith is a major regional city in the northern Riverina region of western New South Wales, known commonly as the food bowl of Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith Local government in Australia, local government area. Like ...

. He attended high school at Barker College in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, and began making short films at the age of 18. His first short film, the 15-minute ''Better to Reign in Hell'', was financed by selling roles to his friends. He graduated from

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, and then attended the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in 1973. In 1969, Noyce ran the Sydney Filmmakers Co-op, a collective of filmmakers. With Jan Chapman, he ran the Filmmaker's Cinema for three years above a bookshop in Sydney, screening the

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

s of the directors who would go on to form the Australian New Wave:

Gillian Armstrong Gillian May Armstrong (born 18 December 1950) is an Australian feature film and documentary film director, director, best known for ''My Brilliant Career (film), My Brilliant Career'' (1979), ''Mrs. Soffel'' (1984), ''High Tide (1987 film), Hi ...

, Peter Weir,

Bruce Beresford Bruce Beresford (; born 16 August 1940) is an Australian film director, opera director, screenwriter, and producer. He began his career during the Australian New Wave, and has made more than 30 feature films over a 50-year career, both locally ...

, George Miller and Paul Cox.

Career

Noyce released his first professional film in 1975. Many of his films feature espionage, as Noyce grew up listening to his father's stories of serving with the Australian Commando unit Z Force during World War II. After his debut feature, the medium-length '' Backroads'' (1977), Noyce achieved huge commercial and critical success with '' Newsfront'' (1978), which won Australian Film Institute (AFI) awards for Best Film, Director, Actor and Screenplay; it opened the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the British Film Institute, BFI estim ...

and was the first Australian film to play at the New York Film Festival. Noyce worked on two miniseries for Australian television with fellow Australian filmmaker George Miller: '' The Dismissal'' (1983) and '' The Cowra Breakout'' (1984). Miller also produced the film that brought Noyce to the attention of Hollywood studios – '' Dead Calm'' (1988), which also launched the career of

. After ''Dead Calm'', Noyce went to the US to direct '' Blind Fury'', starring

, for Tri-Star Pictures. Moving with his young family to the US in 1991, Noyce directed five films over the following eight years, of which '' Clear and Present Danger'', starring

, was the most successful, critically and commercially, grossing $216 million. After 1999's '' Bone Collector'' starring

and

, Noyce decided to return to Australia for the Stolen Generations saga '' Rabbit-Proof Fence'', which won the AFI Award for Best Film in 2002. He has described ''Rabbit-Proof Fence'' as "easily" his proudest moment as a director: "Showing that film to various Aboriginal communities around the country and seeing their response, because it gave validity to the experiences of the Stolen Generations." Noyce was also lauded for '' The Quiet American'', the 2002 adaptation of

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

's novel, which gave

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

Best Actor nomination and earned best director awards from

London Film Critics' Circle The London Film Critics' Circle is the name by which the Film Section of The Critics' Circle is known internationally. The word London was added because it was thought the term Critics' Circle Film Awards did not convey the full context of the ...

and National Board of Review in the US. After the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

-set '' Catch a Fire'' (2006) in South Africa, Noyce decided to make another big budget studio film with 2010's ''

'' starring

, which proved to be his biggest commercial hit to date, making nearly $300 million worldwide. In 2011, Noyce directed and executive produced the pilot for the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...

series ''

'' and has since directed numerous TV pilots, including

's '' What/If'' starring Renée Zellweger and the FOX Network hit ''The Resident''. In 2017, he signed a first look deal with 20th Century Fox Television. ''Above Suspicion'', starring Emilia Clarke and Jack Huston, originally to be released in America in 2020 by Roadside Attractions, was delayed until May 2021 due to the

Coronavirus Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2021, Noyce became executive producer on the film '' Show Me What You Got,'' written and directed by Svetlana Cvetko. '' The Desperate Hour'', starring Naomi Watts, was released in the US by Roadside Attractions in March 2022. In late 2021, a 17 feature and 10 shorts retrospective of Noyce's work was presented at the Cinémathèque Française in Paris. Noyce's next film, '' Fast Charlie'', a darkly comedic thriller starring

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He was the fifth actor to play the fictional secret agent Portrayal of James Bond in film, James Bond in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film series, starri ...

, Morena Baccarin and James Caan, written by Richard Wenk was released in the US in December 2023, earning Noyce highly positive reviews.

Other activities

Noyce is an ambassador for SmartFone Flick Fest (SF3), held annually in

Recognition, honours, and awards

In the Australia Day Honours in January 2023, Noyce was made an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AO) by the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

Filmography

Films

Executive producer * ''Show Me What You Got'' (2021)

Short films

Documentary films

Television

TV movies * ''Fact and Fiction'' (1980) * ''Three Vietnamese Stories'' (1980) * '' Mary and Martha'' (2013) TV series

Unmade films

*''Simmonds and Newcombe'' (late 1970s) – about the manhunt for Simmonds and NewcombeRod Bishop & Peter Beilby, "Ken Cameron", ''Cinema Papers'', March–April 1979 p 257-258 *''King Hit'' (late 1970s) – about the dismissal of the Whitlam government

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Noyce, Phillip 1950 births Living people Action film directors Australian film directors Australian film producers Australian Film Television and Radio School alumni Australian screenwriters Australian television directors Australian television producers Australian television writers People from Griffith, New South Wales People educated at Barker College