Australian film producer
Al Clark (born in Huelva, Spain) is an
Australian
film producer .
[1] He is best known for his producer role on
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and his executive producer role on the film,
Chopper .
[2]
[3] Clark is also the author of four books.
Time Flies and Time Flies Too are Clark's memoirs,
[4]
[5]
[6] which merge the early days of punk and new wave popular music with the truncated British film renaissance of the 1980s and the world of international film finance, and later chronicle his move to Australia and his work there.
[4] Clark's first book Raymond Chandler in Hollywood
[7] provides an insight into the work of the writer of detective fiction and includes interviews with many of the Hollywood figures who were associated with
Raymond Chandler and his films. His second book Making Priscilla , also titled The Lavender Bus: How a Hit Movie Was Made and Sold , is a behind-the-scenes tale outlining the follies of film-making and how
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert became an international success.
[8]
Early life
Clark was born in Huelva,
Andalucia , in Southern
Spain and grew up there during the time of Franco's dictatorship, a childhood Clark described as extreme and intense.
[4] He and his sister Lesley were home schooled by their mother, a former Glasgow school teacher. Fluent in Spanish, his parents were the only people he spoke English to until the age of 9 when he was sent to a boarding school in Scotland.
[9]
[10]
Career
UK
Clark first worked as a journalist at
Time Out in London before becoming Publicity Director at
Virgin Records . It was here that he represented the
Sex Pistols ,
Phil Collins ,
Mike Oldfield and
Tangerine Dream .
[9]
[10]
His working life in London from 1971 – 1987 was dominated by
Tony Elliott , founder, publisher and editor of
Time Out magazine UK and
Richard Branson , Founder at
Virgin Group .
[11]
[10]
Over his time with Virgin and during the early years when the company expanded into different fields, Clark worked as a Publicity Director, a Book Editor for Virgin Books, Virgin's first Head of Creative Affairs and Head of Production for Virgin Films. Oscar winner,
A Shocking Accident , starring
Rupert Everett and
Jenny Seagrove was made in association with Virgin Films. Clark's first six films produced under the Virgin umbrella include:
Nineteen Eighty-Four directed by
Michael Radford and starring
John Hurt and
Richard Burton ,
[12]
Absolute Beginners directed by
Julien Temple and starring
David Bowie and
James Fox
[13] and
Gothic directed by
Ken Russell and starring
Gabriel Byrne ,
Natasha Richardson and
Timothy Spall .
[9]
[10]
[14]
Australia
Clark was the
executive producer for
The Crossing directed by
George Ogilvie and starring
Russell Crowe and
Danielle Spencer.
[10] He worked as a Commissioner on the AFC Board for a 3-year term 1989 - 1992. Clark served on the
Screen Australia board from December 2014 - December 2017. In 1994 Clark produced the award-winning feature film,
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - Director,
Stephan Elliott and starring
Terence Stamp ,
Hugo Weaving and
Guy Pearce . Together with his wife, Andrena Finlay, Clark owns and operates Wildheart Films. Their credits include: Executive Producer,
Thunderstruck ,
[15] Producer,
Red Hill ,
[16] and Producer,
Swinging Safari .
[17] Clark has served as Jury Member at several film festivals including: Jury President,
Adelaide Film Festival , 2013,
[18] Jury Member,
San Sebastian International Film Festival 2003
[19] and Jury Member
Valladolid International Film Festival , 1999.
Personal life
Clark has married twice. His first marriage was to Yoli with whom he had two children - Jason and Louise.
[5] They divorced in the early 1980s. Al met his second wife, Australian producer Andrena Finlay, at the
Cannes Film Festival in 1983 and again in 1986. Following that second meeting, Clark moved to Australia and married Finlay in December 1987. Clark and Finlay have two children – Rachel and Jamie.
[20]
Filmography
1984 -
Secret Places (executive producer) – director Zelda Barron – with Marie-Therese Relin,
Jenny Agutter
1984 -
Nineteen Eighty-Four (co-producer) – director
Michael Radford – with
John Hurt ,
Richard Burton
1986 -
Absolute Beginners (executive producer) – director
Julien Temple – with
David Bowie ,
James Fox
1986 -
Captive (executive producer) – director
Paul Mayersberg – with
Oliver Reed ,
Irina Brook
1986 -
Gothic (executive producer) – director
Ken Russell – with
Gabriel Byrne ,
Natasha Richardson ,
Timothy Spall
1987 -
Aria (co-producer) – directors
Robert Altman ,
Jean-Luc Godard ,
Nicolas Roeg ,
Bruce Beresford etc. – with
Theresa Russell ,
Bridget Fonda ,
Tilda Swinton
1990 -
The Crossing (executive producer) – director
George Ogilvie – with
Russell Crowe ,
Danielle Spencer
1994 -
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (producer) – director
Stephan Elliott – with
Terence Stamp ,
Hugo Weaving ,
Guy Pearce
1997 -
Heaven's Burning (producer) – director
Craig Lahiff – with
Russell Crowe ,
Youki Kudoh
1999 -
Siam Sunset (producer) – director
John Polson – with
Linus Roache ,
Danielle Cormack
1999 -
Eye of the Beholder (co-producer) – director
Stephan Elliott – with
Ewan McGregor ,
Ashley Judd
2000 -
Chopper (executive producer) – director
Andrew Dominik – with
Eric Bana ,
Vince Colosimo ,
Kate Beahan
2002 -
The Hard Word (producer) – director Scott Roberts – with
Guy Pearce ,
Rachel Griffiths ,
Joel Edgerton
2004 -
Thunderstruck (executive producer) – director Darren Ashton – with
Sam Worthington , Callan Mulvey,
Stephen Curry
2006 - The Book of Revelation (producer) – director
Ana Kokkinos – with
Tom Long ,
Greta Scacchi ,
Colin Friels
2007 - Razzle Dazzle (executive producer) – director Darren Ashton – with Ben Miller,
Kerry Armstrong ,
Tara Morice
2009 - Blessed (producer) – director
Ana Kokkinos – with
Frances O’Connor ,
Miranda Otto ,
Deborra-lee Furness
2010 -
Red Hill (producer) – director
Patrick Hughes – with
Ryan Kwanten ,
Steve Bisley , Tom E. Lewis
2013 - Goddess (executive producer) – director Mark Lamprell - with Laura Michelle Kelly,
Ronan Keating ,
Magda Szubanski
2017 -
Swinging Safari aka Flammable Children (producer) - director
Stephan Elliott - with
Guy Pearce ,
Kylie Minogue ,
Radha Mitchel
Awards
In 2013 Clark received the
AACTA Lifetime Achievement Award, the
Longford Lyell Award for his unwavering excellence and commitment to the film industry.
[11]
[1]
[21]
Blessed , 2009 (Producer Al Clark, Director
Ana Kokkinos ) nominated for AFI Best Film.
Chopper , 2000 (Executive Producer Al Clark, Director
Andrew Dominik ). The film won:
Cognac Film Festival - Grand Prix and Best Film awarded by the
Film Critics Circle of Australia , it was also nominated by
AFI Best Film.
Siam Sunset , 1999 (Producer Al Clark, Director
John Polson ) won:
Festival de Cannes - Rail D'Or ;
Busan Film Festival - Best Film; Hawaii Film Festival - Golden Maile, Best Film; Oporto Film Festival - Best Film Fantasporto. The film was also nominated for
AFI Best Film.
In 1994
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Producer Al Clark, Director Stephan Elliott) won the following awards.
Festival de Cannes - Grand Prix du Publique ;
San Francisco International Film Festival - Starbucks Award, Most Popular Film; Seattle Film Festival - Golden Space Needle Award, Most Popular Film. The film also won the EDI Award for Highest Grossing Limited Release Film in the US in 1994. Nominations include
Golden Globes - Best Picture, Musical or Comedy,
BAFTA - Best Film and
AFI - Best Film.
The 1987 UK anthology film,
Aria was nominated for the
Festival de Cannes Palme d'Or .
[10]
In 1984 - 1985 the film
Nineteen Eighty-Four (Director
Michael Radford ) won Best Film,
Evening Standard British Film Awards and a Golden Tulip,
Istanbul International Film Festival.
See also
References
^
a
b
"Priscilla producer Al Clark to receive AACTA Raymond Longford Award" . IF Magazine . 21 November 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2018 .
^ Van Den Nieuwenhof, Liz (30 July 2000). "Delving into The Mind of a Killer". The Sunday Telegraph .
^ Swift, Brendan (21 November 2012),
"Priscilla producer Al Clark to receive AACTA Raymond Longford Award" , If.com.au
^
a
b
c Galvin, Peter (3 May 2021).
"Al Clark - Lucky Man" . FILMINK .
^
a
b Adams, Phillip (6 May 2021).
"Film Producer Al Clark on his passion for cinema from Spain to Sydney" . Late Night Live ABC Radio .
^ Clark, Al (2022).
Time Flies Too . Blackheath, NSW: Brandl & Schlesinger.
ISBN
978-0-6454998-0-3 .
OCLC
1341674627 .
^ Clark, Al (1996).
Raymond Chandler in Hollywood (1st ed.). Los Angeles: Silman-James Press.
ISBN
1-879505-29-0 .
OCLC
34547173 .
^ Clark, Al (1999).
The Lavender Bus .
ISBN
9780868195759 .
^
a
b
c Barber, Lynden (11 September 1999). "These Men Have One Thing in Common...This Man". The Weekend Australian, Review .
^
a
b
c
d
e
f Elder, Bruce (8 November 1997). "Virgins, Queens and Outsiders". The Sydney Morning Herald, Spectrum .
^
a
b Urban, Andrew (22 November 2012).
"Raymond Longford Award to Al Clark" . Urban Cinefile .
^
"Nineteen Eighty-four (1984)" . BFI . Archived from
the original on 19 February 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2018 .
^ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (21 September 2015).
"How we made Absolute Beginners" . The Guardian . Retrieved 30 August 2018 .
^
"A retro Halloween movie review: "Gothic" by Ken Russell (1986)" . SeanMunger.com . 31 October 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2018 .
^ Dallas, Sam (April 2011).
"An Adventurous Life" . Inside Film .
^
"Red Hill" . IMDb.
^ Keast, Jackie (January 2018).
"Stephan's Safari" . Inside Film .
^ George, Sandy (28 August 2013).
"Adelaide Film Festival Reveals Competition Titles" . Screen Daily . Retrieved 5 November 2018 .
^
"Official Selection Jury Members" . sansebastianfestival.com . September 2003. Archived from
the original on 5 November 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2018 .
^ Lacey, Stephen (14 February 2004). "Two of Us". Sydney Morning Herald, The Good Weekend .
^ Maddox, Garry (28 January 2013),
"The Sapphires sparkles at film awards" , The Sydney Morning Herald
External links