Don McLennan (born 1950) is an Australian film director, scriptwriter and producer. He was born in Leeton, NSW, Australia. He grew up on an island and was educated at Marist College, a boarding school in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. After he graduated he went to work at the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

in 1967. He worked for leading Australian production companies such as

Fauna Productions Fauna Productions is an Australian TV and film production company established by Lee Robinson, Lionel ('Bob') Austin and John McCallum who met during the making of the film '' They're a Weird Mob'' (1966). Robinson, Austin and McCallum had a vi ...

, Grundy Productions,

Crawford Productions Crawford Productions is an Australian Media (communication), media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, a ...

, Lewis Young Productions as an assistant director and producer before making his first film, a short drama, ''Point of Departure'' in 1972. In 1975 he produced his first feature film ''Apostasy''. He established his name in the Australian film industry with the award-winning feature '' Hard Knocks'' which he co-wrote, co-produced and directed. ''Hard Knocks'' won the Jury prize at the 1980 AFI Australian Film Awards, as well as Best Actress for Tracy Mann. The following year he started a production company, Ukiyo Films, with Zbigniew Friedrich. Over the next eight years the company produced three feature films and numerous documentaries. In 1989 he directed ''

Mull Mull may refer to: Places *Isle of Mull, a Scottish island in the Inner Hebrides ** Sound of Mull, between the Isle of Mull and the rest of Scotland * Mount Mull, Antarctica * Mull Hill, Isle of Man * Mull, Arkansas, a place along Arkansas Highwa ...

'' which won the AFI Members Award for Best Film and the Best Actress for Tracy Mann. The film was invited to 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 Montreal Film Festival. In 1985 he started Ukiyo Theatre with Friedrich. They co-produced a trio of plays by Samuel Beckett, ''Waiting For Godot'', ''Krapp's Last Tape'' and ''Endgame'' performed by the American theater group San Quentin Drama Workshop. The plays were directed by Beckett and toured

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In 1990 McLennan 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, ...

and established himself as a scriptwriter. He wrote scripts for

Dimension Films Dimension Films was an American independent film and television production and distribution label founded in 1992, and currently owned by independent studio Lantern Entertainment. Formally one of the American " mini-majors" (i.e., small to m ...

, and several other leading production companies. He continues to direct documentaries, PSA's for Federal and State Elections, and TV reality programs.

Select credits

*''The Intruders'' (feature) (1968) Assistant Director *''Blind Date'' (Game Show) (1969) Assistant producer *''Division Four'' (TV Series)(1970) Assistant Director *''Happening 73'' (TV Music Program) (1973) Assistant Producer *''Point of Departure'' (short) (1973) Writer/Director *''Boss'' (short) (1976) Producer *''Apostasy'' (feature) (1978) Producer *''Hard Knocks'' (feature) (1980) Co-Writer/Co-Producer/Director *''Find Out, Talk About'' (documentary) (1981) Director *''Fabulous Fifties'' (documentary) (1982) Writer/Director *''River of Giants'' (documentary) (1983) Director *''On the Road With Circus Oz'' (documentary) (1984) Producer *''Artist In The Community'' (documentary) (1985) Producer/Director *''Beckett Directs Beckett'' (theater) (1985) Producer *''Slate, Wyn & Me'' (feature) (1987) Writer/Director *''Mull'' (feature) (1988) Director *''Breakaway'' (feature) (1990) Producer/Director *''Men of the Forest'' (documentary) 2000 Director *''Las Vegas Constables'' (pilot) (2008) Producer/Director

References

External links

* Australian film directors Living people 1950 births English-language film directors People from Leeton, New South Wales {{Australia-film-director-stub