Stephan Elliott (born 27 August 1964) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. His best-known film internationally is ''

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' is a 1994 Australian road comedy film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot follows two drag queens, played by Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce, and a transgender woman, played by Tere ...

'' (1994).

Career

Elliott began his career as an assistant director working in the boom of the

Australian film The cinema of Australia had its beginnings with the 1906 production of ''The Story of the Kelly Gang'', arguably the world's first feature film. Since then, Australian crews have produced many films, a number of which have received internati ...

industry of the 1980s. His first two feature films, '' Frauds'' (starring musician Phil Collins) and ''

'', along with his lesser known, shorter films ''Fast'' and ''The Agreement'' were produced by Rebel Penfold-Russell's Australian production company Latent Image Productions. ''Frauds'', ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' and ''

Welcome to Woop Woop ''Welcome to Woop Woop'' is a 1997 Australian comedy film directed by Stephan Elliott and starring Johnathon Schaech and Rod Taylor. The film was based on the novel ''The Dead Heart'' by Douglas Kennedy. " Woop Woop" is an Australian colloqui ...

'' were all officially selected to screen at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

, with "Priscilla" winning the ''Prix du public'' as well as an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Costume Design, among numerous other accolades. For a time during 1982/83, Stephan and Troy Tempest presented The Blues Brothers, every Friday night for over a year, at the heritage listed Cremorne Orpheum theatre. Dressed as Jake and Elwood, Stephan and Troy appeared on TV several times, along with their Bluesmobile. In 2004, Elliott was involved in a skiing accident which saw him hospitalised for several months. He credits the accident with rediscovering his sense of humour. This may go part way to explaining why, in 2007 Elliott worked with Fred Nassiri to create one of the most expensive music videos of all time. Shot in over 15 countries, with seven directors the song "Love Sees No Colour" aspires to spread a message of peace and love. His film '' Easy Virtue'', was written with co-writer Sheridan Jobbins, and is based on the Noël Coward play of the same name. It stars Colin Firth, Kristin Scott Thomas,

Jessica Biel Jessica Claire Timberlake ( née Biel ; born March 3, 1982) is an American actress and model. She has received various accolades, including a Young Artist Award, and nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bie ...

and Ben Barnes. It was produced by

Barnaby Thompson Barnaby David Waterhouse Thompson is a British film director and producer. He is best known for producing '' Wayne's World'', '' Spice World'', '' Kevin & Perry Go Large'' and '' An Ideal Husband'', as well as co-directing the ''St Trinians'' fil ...

for

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever s ...

in the UK, and premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

on 8 September 2008. It has also screened in the Rio Film Festival,

Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. Sections The Rome Film Festival official program is divided into several sections: Cinema d'O ...

and

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and sho ...

to great acclaim. His next film, ''

A Few Best Men ''A Few Best Men'' is a 2011 comedy film written by Dean Craig and directed by Stephan Elliott. The film stars Xavier Samuel as a young groom heading to the Australian Blue Mountains with his three best men for his wedding. A sequel, ''A Few L ...

'' starring

Xavier Samuel Xavier Samuel (born 10 December 1983) is an Australian film and theatre actor. He has appeared in leading roles in the feature films '' Adore'', ''September'', ''Further We Search'', ''Newcastle'', '' The Loved Ones'', ''Frankenstein'', ''A Fe ...

and

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

was released in 2012. Other writing credits include the script for the stage play of ''

Priscilla Priscilla is an English female given name adopted from Latin ''Prisca'', derived from ''priscus''. One suggestion is that it is intended to bestow long life on the bearer. The name first appears in the New Testament of Christianity variously as ...

'', which premiered in 2007 at Sydney's Lyric Theatre in Star City to excellent reviews. Later in the year, it moved The Regent Theatre 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 ...

and in May 2008 to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

's The Civic theatre in New Zealand, and then in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

's West End.

Personal life

Elliott came out as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

during his presentation at the inaugural AACTA Awards in Sydney on 31 January 2012. He has been in a relationship with his partner, Wil Bevolley, since the late 1980s. They had a

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

ceremony in London in 2008.

Filmography

*'' Frauds'' (1993) *''

'' (1994) *''

'' (1997) *'' Eye of the Beholder'' (1999) *'' Easy Virtue'' (2008) *''

'' (2011) *'' Rio, I Love You'' (2014) *'' Swinging Safari'' (2017)

References

External links

*
Unofficial fansiteOfficial website for 'Priscilla' the stage musicalToronto Film Festival review of Easy VirtueCompiled news articles about Stephan Elliott
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Stephan 1964 births Australian film directors Australian male screenwriters Australian LGBT screenwriters Australian gay writers LGBT film directors Gay screenwriters Living people People from Sydney People educated at Sydney Grammar School