Al Clark(II)

Al Clark was born in Huelva, Spain. He began his working life as a journalist on the London magazine Time Out before joining the still-embryonic Virgin, first as publicity director for the record company (where he represented the Sex Pistols, XTC, Devo, Phil Collins and Mike Oldfield, among others), then as founder and editor of The Film Yearbook, and finally as head of production for the film division. His British film credits as co-producer include "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (director Michael Radford) and "Aria" (directors Robert Altman, Jean-Luc Godard, Nicolas Roeg and others), and as executive producer, "Absolute Beginners" (director Julien Temple) and "Gothic" (director Ken Russell). Moving to Sydney, he was appointed to the board of The Australian Film Commission. During this period he executive produced "The Crossing" (director George Ogilvie) starring a young Russell Crowe, with whom he later worked again on "Heaven's Burning". In 1994 he produced Stephan Elliott's "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert", which was nominated for a Golden Globe as best picture, won an Oscar for costume design, plus two BAFTAs and multiple festival awards, and remains one of the most successful Australian films of all time. The stage musical adaptation that followed had lengthy runs in Australia and New Zealand, played for three years in London's West End, for 15 months on Broadway, has completed nationwide tours of the US and UK, and has opened local language productions all over the world. Clark's other producing credits include "Eye of the Beholder", also directed by Stephan Elliott, director John Polson's "Siam Sunset" (In Critics Week at Cannes), Scott Roberts' "The Hard Word", and two films with director Ana Kokkinos, "The Book of Revelation" and "Blessed". Both were premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, and "Blessed" also won the jury prize for best screenplay at San Sebastian Film Festival. Additionally, Clark produced "Red Hill", written and directed by Patrick Hughes, invited to the 2010 Berlin Film Festival, and released by Sony in the US and Australia. In 2017, he produced "Swinging Safari", his third film with Stephan Elliott. As executive producer, Clark's credits include Andrew Dominik's "Chopper", which won numerous awards and launched the international career of Eric Bana, Darren Ashton's mockumentary "Razzle Dazzle", which premiered at the 2007 Berlin Film Festival, and the musical "Goddess". Clark has served on the official juries of the San Sebastian, Valladolid and Adelaide Film Festivals and is also the author of two books: "Raymond Chandler in Hollywood" and "The Lavender Bus". He was the recipient of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Raymond Longford Award for lifetime achievement, the nation's highest screen accolade in January 2013, and was appointed to the board of Screen Australia in December 2014. His memoir "Time Flies", the first of two, was published in May 2021.