Gerard Lee is an Australian novelist, screenwriter, and director.

Early life

Gerard Lee was born 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 ...

and brought up in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

in the 1960s in the inner southern suburb of Dutton Park. Lee began writing for ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' newspaper at the age of 16, although he later attended the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

, the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, and, many decades later,

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

(QUT).

Early career

Lee started as a poet and drummer (including sitting in as the drummer for the first performance by Brisbane band,

The Go-Betweens The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster (musician), Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only co ...

). He later moved to fiction and travel writing, then writing for film and television. Lee met

Jane Campion Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and ''The Power of the Dog (film), The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for ...

at AFTRS and later co-wrote her feature debut, '' Sweetie'', which won Best Screenplay at the Australian Film Institute Awards, a Camera d'Or at Cannes, and many other awards. It was screened internationally and is now part of

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...

. Lee's feature film ''All Men Are Liars'', set in the Queensland cane fields, which he wrote and directed, opened the Sydney Film Festival in 1995 and won awards internationally (San Remo Film Festival, Palm Springs Film Festival). As a prose writer, Lee has published two novels, a collection of short stories and a collection of travel stories, all with University of Queensland Press. The 'Oxford Companion to Australian Literature' stated of Lee in a commentary on his first novel, "True Love and How to Get it", "...a witty writer with a deceptively naive narrative style, Lee frequently satirises contemporary Queensland lifestyles". His second novel, ''Troppo Man'' (1990), set in Ubud, Bali, was shortlisted for the Vogel's Young Writers Award.

Recent career

In recent decades Lee has focused on writing for film and television. Lee produced and wrote the screenplay for the film ''

My Mistress ''My Mistress'' is a 2014 Australian film. Plot A sixteen-year-old boy discovers his father's suicide. Distraught, he goes searching for ways to numb the pain. He then meets a mysterious woman who turns out to be a dominatrix and finds solace in ...

'', starring Emmanuelle Beart and

Harrison Gilbertson Harrison Sloan Gilbertson (born 29 June 1993) is an Australian actor. Beginning his career as a stage actor, he is known for his role in the 2014 blockbuster film ''Need for Speed (film), Need for Speed''. Early life Harrison Sloan Gilbertson w ...

, which was released November 2014 and sold in many territories. It is the story of a relationship between a 16-year-old boy and a 40-something S&M mistress. He was also the principal screenwriter of the film ''

Breath Breathing (spiration or ventilation) is the neuroscience of rhythm, rhythmical process of moving air into (inhalation) and out of (exhalation) the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the Milieu intérieur, internal environment, mostly to flu ...

'' adapted from the novel of the same name by

Tim Winton Timothy John Winton (born 4 August 1960) is an Australian writer. He has written novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. In 1997, he was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia, and has won the ...

. It was released in the US in 2018, produced by Simon Baker (also director/actor/producer) and Mark Johnson (''Breaking Bad''). As a television writer, Gerard Lee is the co-writer with Jane Campion of the successful mini-series '' Top of the Lake'', which garnered eight Emmy Nominations for the first series and is now in its second season - 'Top of the Lake: China Girl'. As of 2021, Lee was working on a screenplay for the Peter Carey novel ''Theft'' with Optimism Films (Melbourne). He is also working with Wayne Blair (The Sapphires, Dirty Dancing etc.) on a feature screenplay for a personal film set in Blair's hometown, Rockhampton. Currently titled ''Godfrey'', it is the story of two brothers, one of them Indigenous, the other living with a disability.

Other

Lee has travelled widely in Europe and in Asia. He has taught creative writing at a range of tertiary institutions including a Masters of Screenwriting at QUT.

Books

* ''Manual for a Garden Mechanic'' (1976) (Ragman Productions, Robert Kenny, Melbourne) * ''Pieces for a Glass Piano'' (1978), * ''True Love and How to Get It'' (1985), * ''Troppo Man'' (1990), a comedy novel set in Ubud, Bali. * ''Sweetie: The Screenplay'' (1991), * '' Eating Dog: Travel Stories'' (1994), Eating Dog: Travel Stories at GBooks
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Television

* '' Top of the Lake'' (2013), a seven-hour drama serial, set in the South Island of New Zealand, co-created and co-written with

. * ''Top of the Lake: China Girl'' (2017) a seven-hour drama set in Sydney, Australia co-written with Jane Campion.

Short films

* '' Passionless Moments'' (1983), co-written and co-directed with

Feature films

* '' Sweetie'' (1989), co-written with

* '' All Men Are Liars'' (1995), writer/director * ''My Mistress'' (2013), writer/producer * ''Breath'' (2014) writer

References

External links

*
Gerard Lee's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Gerard Australian screenwriters Living people 1951 births