Alexander Proyas ( ; born 23 September 1963) is an Australian film director. He is known for directing the films ''

The Crow ''The Crow'' is a supernatural superhero comic book series created by James O'Barr revolving around the titular character of the same name. The series, which was originally created by O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his fianc� ...

'' (1994), '' Dark City'' (1998), ''

I, Robot ''I, Robot'' is a fixup collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines '' Super Science Stories'' and ''Astounding Science Fiction'' between 1940 and 1950 ...

'' (2004) and '' Knowing'' (2009).

Early life

Alexander Proyas was born in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

(then in the

United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 to 1971. It was initially a short-lived political union between Republic of Egypt (1953–1958), Egypt (including Occupation of the Gaza Strip by the United Ara ...

and now in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

) on 23 September 1963, the son of a Greek Cypriot mother and a father from Egypt whose Greek ancestors had moved to Egypt many generations ago. When he was three years old, the family moved to Australia, where he grew up in the Sydney suburb of Waterloo. He grew up on a

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...

where the main tenants were fellow immigrants and

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

, with whom he felt a kinship because they were all often subjected to racism by white Australians. At age 17, he joined the Australian Film, Television and Radio School and began directing music videos shortly after. He later moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to further his career, working on MTV music videos and TV commercials.

Career

Proyas' first feature film was the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

thriller ''

Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds ''Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds'' is a 1989 Australian independent science fiction adventure film directed, produced and written by Alex Proyas, who was making his first feature debut. Set in a post-apocalyptic world in which two si ...

'', which was nominated for two

Australian Film Institute The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Cinema of Australia, Australian film indu ...

awards in 1988, for

costume design Costume design is the process of selecting or creating clothing for a performers. A costume may be designed from scratch or may be designed by combining existing garments. "Costume" may also refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a ...

and

production design In film industry, film and television, a production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and ...

and which won a Special Prize at the 1990

Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival The , also sometimes called YIFFF, is held in a resort-like environment in the small town of Yūbari on the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaidō. From 1990 to 1999, the festival was known as the Yubari International Fantastic Adventure Fil ...

. Next, Proyas directed the 1994

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

thriller ''

'' starring

Brandon Lee Brandon Bruce Lee (February 1, 1965 – March 31, 1993) was an American actor. Establishing himself as a rising action star in the early 1990s, he landed what was to be his breakthrough role as Eric Draven in the supernatural superhero fi ...

. Lee was killed in an accident during filming, only eight days before the completion of the film on 31 March 1993. After Lee's death, Proyas and his producers decided to complete the film, partially rewriting the script and using a stunt double and special effects to film the remaining scenes. ''The Crow'' was released in May 1994 and was a box office and critical success. Proyas then wrote, directed and produced the 1998 science fiction thriller '' Dark City'', which received positive critical reception and won several awards but was a commercial disappointment. In 2004, he directed ''

'' starring

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...

, a science fiction film suggested by the

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

short story compilation ''

'' and was a box office success despite mixed reviews. Proyas' next film, the thriller '' Knowing'' starring

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Nicolas Cage, various accolades, including an Academy A ...

, began production in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in March 2008 and opened in North America in March 2009. Proyas directed '' Gods of Egypt'', starring

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Nikolaj William Coster-Waldau (; born 27 July 1970) is a Danish actor. He graduated from the Danish National School of Performing Arts in Copenhagen in 1993, and had his breakthrough role in Denmark with the film ''Nightwatch (1994 film), Night ...

, and co-written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. The film was critically panned upon its release in 2016 and bombed at the box office. In 2019, Proyas founded a production company in Sydney called The Heretic Foundation. In 2021, Proyas announced that he was developing a new video platform named VidiVerse for independent filmmakers as an alternative to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. In 2024, Proyas began filming R.U.R. a musical adaptation of the play of the same name by

Karel Čapek Karel Čapek (; 9 January 1890 – 25 December 1938) was a Czech writer, playwright, critic and journalist. He has become best known for his science fiction, including his novel '' War with the Newts'' (1936) and play '' R.U.R.'' (''Rossum' ...

Unrealized projects

Personal life

Proyas has long been married to artist Catherine "Cathy" Linsley, who worked in the art department for his first feature film ''

''. She has also worked in various capacities on short films and animations produced or written by Proyas. She was thanked in the credits of his film '' Knowing''.Cathy Linsley: Thanks (1 credit) 2009 Knowing (the producers wish to thank
from IMDb Accessed 30 April 2019

Filmography

Feature film

Short film

Music video

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *
Alex Proyas Discusses ''Dark City'' Sequel at AMCtv.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Proyas, Alex 1963 births ARIA Award winners Australian film directors Australian film producers Australian music video directors Australian screenwriters Australian people of Greek Cypriot descent Living people Action film directors Australian science fiction film directors Television commercial directors Mass media people from Alexandria Writers from Sydney Egyptian emigrants to Australia Egyptian people of Greek descent