Matthew Saville (born 1966) is an Australian television and film director, known for ''

Noise Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...

'' (2007) and '' A Month of Sundays'' (2015).

Early life and education

Saville was born around 1966, the youngest of six children, and grew up in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. He studied at the

Victorian College of the Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music (FFAM). It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus ...

Career

Saville began his career working as a titles designer for many Australian television series. Several of his short films, including ''Franz and Kafka'' have received awards and screened widely at film festivals. He came to wider prominence as a writer/director with his one-hour film ''Roy Hollsdotter Live'', a bittersweet comedy about a stand-up comedian experiencing a personal breakdown. The film won awards at the

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. , the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...

in 2003, as well as at the Australian Writers' Guild Awards. He directed the TV comedy series ''

Big Bite ''Big Bite'' was an Australian sketch comedy television series which ran on the Seven Network from 8 May 2003 to 4 March 2004 in a prime time timeslot on Thursdays. Since the end of the series, episodes have been repeated on the Foxtel cable cha ...

'' (2003–4) and '' We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year'' (2005), on both occasions working with Chris Lilley, as well as episodes of the drama series ''

The Secret Life of Us ''The Secret Life of Us'' is an Australian television drama series set in the beachside neighbourhood of St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is primarily a drama with some comedic moments. The series was produced by South ...

'' (2001–2005) and the first three episodes of '' The Surgeon'' (2005). In 2007 Saville's

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

debut ''

'' was released, for which he received an AFI nomination for Best Director. In September 2007, his opera, ''Crossing Live'', with music by his wife Bryony Marks, was staged at the

Malthouse Theatre Malthouse Theatre is the resident theatre company of The Malthouse building in Southbank, part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct. In the 1980s it was known as the Playbox Theatre Company and was housed in the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne's CBD ...

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 ...

. It won Victorian

Green Room Awards The Green Room Awards are Australian peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, theatre companies, independent theatre, musical theatre, contemporary and experimental performance, and opera. The awards, which were established in ...

in New Operatic Work, Best New Australian Opera Work, and was shortlisted in the 2008

Victorian Premier's Literary Awards The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary ...

, Prize for Best Music Script. In 2010 he directed ''

Cloudstreet ''Cloudstreet'' is a novel by Australian writer Tim Winton published in 1991. It chronicles the lives of two working-class families, the Pickles and the Lambs, who come to live together in a large house called Cloudstreet in Perth, Western Au ...

'', a television miniseries version of

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 ...

's novel. Saville has also worked alongside Josh Thomas, directing several episodes of ''

Please Like Me ''Please Like Me'' is an Australian comedy-drama television series created by and starring Josh Thomas. Thomas also serves as a writer for every episode. The series premiered on 28 February 2013 on ABC2 in Australia and is on occasion available ...

'' (2013–2016), the ABC hit comedy/drama show. His film ''

Felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

'' was screened in the Special Presentation section at the

2013 Toronto International Film Festival The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. ''The Fifth Estate (film), The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and ''Life of Crime (film), Life o ...

. Saville wrote and directed the 2015 film '' A Month of Sundays'' starring

Anthony LaPaglia Anthony LaPaglia (, ; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen he has received several accolades including three AACTA Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. For his starring role as Jac ...

Personal life

Saville is married to Bryony Marks, who is a well-known screen composer. They married in 2003 at her parents' vineyard in Gembrook, in the

Dandenongs The Dandenong Ranges (commonly just the Dandenongs) are a set of low mountain ranges in Victoria, Australia, approximately east of the state capital Melbourne. A minor branch of the Great Dividing Range, the Dandenongs consist mostly of rol ...

, and have two sons. Marks has written the scores for several of Saville's films and TV series, including ''Noise'', ''Felony'' and ''Please Like Me'', as well as many others.

References

External links

*
Sleepy Brain's extensive interview with Matt Saville
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saville, Matthew Australian television directors Australian film directors Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian screenwriters University of Melbourne alumni