Michael James Rowland (born 15 January 1964) is an Australian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

Early years

Prior to his screen career, Rowland studied graphic design at the North Adelaide School of Art in South Australia and started his early working life as a designer and illustrator specialising in the arts. His list of freelance clients grew to include

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

(US), Womad (International) and

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

(UK). He also held the position of Art Director with the Adelaide Festival of Arts (1987–93) a job which saw him work with some notable artists, including

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

, 7th Earl of Harewood, Cheek by Jowl,

Jan Fabre Jan Fabre (born 14 December 1958) is a Belgian multidisciplinary artist, playwright, stage director, choreographer and designer. Conviction for sexual assault and harassment In September 2018, twenty former members of Fabre's performing ar ...

, Sankai Juku, Andy Goldsworthy,

Winton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Award ...

, the Kronos Quartet,

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the fou ...

and

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mon ...

. He has won numerous awards for his design and illustration, including the 1992 AADC's Master's Chair.

Cowboy Books

Michael established the graphic novella imprint Cowboy Books in 1990 with the publication of the awarding winning

Ten Drawings of the Jungle Ten, TEN or 10 may refer to: * 10, an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11 * one of the years 10 BC, AD 10, 1910 and 2010 * October, the tenth month of the year Places * Mount Ten, in Vietnam * Tongren Fenghuang Airport (IATA code), ...

. This first title was followed up two years later with The Existentialist Cowboys Last Stand (1992) and

Life Advice for High-Plains Drifters Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy tra ...

(2000). Cowboy Books sell throughout Europe, North America and Australia.

Film school

Michael 'retired' from graphic design in 1994, relocating to Sydney to study for a BA in Film at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS). In his first year as an undergraduate the screenrights to his novella ''The Existentialist Cowboy's Last Stand'' were bought and it was made into one of Australia's most successful short films of the 1990s, along the way earning Michael his first

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 Australian film industry. It is responsi ...

(AFI) nomination. The second came with the Russian language, space-race short, '' Flying Over Mother'' (1996), cementing his reputation as an original screenwriter/director with a global audience.

First feature film

His first feature film,

Lucky Miles ''Lucky Miles'' is a 2007 Australian drama feature film based on several true stories involving people entering Western Australia by boat in order to seek asylum. Its director was Michael James Rowland and its producers were Jo Dyer and Lesley D ...

(2007), is set in 1990 Western Australia. Unfolding as a traditional Australian tale of men lost in the desert, Lucky Miles packs a bold twist updating the genre with an ensemble cast including Kenneth Moraleda, Rodney Afif and Srisacd Sacdapraseuth. Lucky Miles was chosen to be the highly successful opening night film of the

2007 Adelaide Film Festival The 3rd Adelaide Film Festival took place in Adelaide, South Australia, from 22 February to 4 March 2007.Sydney Film Festival. Other awards include; the Special Jury Prize at the 2007

Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; german: Karlsbad, formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It lies on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá. It is ...

International Film Festival; Best Screenplay at the Vladivostok International Film Festival; the Black Pearl for Best New Director at the

Middle East International Film Festival The Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF; ar, مهرجان أبو ظبي السينمائي), formerly the Middle East International Film Festival, was an international film festival held in the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from 2007 to ...

; the Grand Prix at the 9th Rencontres Internationales du Cinéma des Antipodes and Best Film at the

Asian Festival of First Films The Asian Festival of First Films () (AFFF) was an annual film festival held in Singapore from 2005 to 2009 to celebrate and provide a platform for emerging filmmakers. It was also part of the Asian Film Market. History The Asian Festival of Fi ...

. In 2008, Australia's national broadcaster, ABC1, programmed

at 8:30 pm Sunday night on the Australia Day long-weekend holiday. Its contribution to the nation's celebration.

First television feature

In 2008, Rowland co-wrote and directed the one-hour ABC,

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

, BBC drama '' The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce''. Set in 1824 Van Diemen's Land, ''The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce'' tells the true story of an escape from the notorious British prison Sarah Island by eight convicts. Its Gothic narrative plots their privation and descent into cannibalism, through to the execution of the sole survivor,

Alexander Pearce Alexander Pearce (1790 – 19 July 1824) was an Irish convict who was transported to the penal colony in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), Australia for seven years for theft. He escaped from prison several times, allegedly becoming a cannibal ...

, for the murder of Thomas Cox. It was co-written and produced by Nial Fulton. The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce drew TV industry nominations in both Europe and Australia. It was nominated for Best Telefeature at the 2009

(AFI) Awards, Best Drama at the 2009 Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) Awards and Best Drama in the 2010

Rose D'Or The Rose d'Or ('Golden Rose') is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the lakesi ...

awards, Switzerland. Reflecting its 'factual' funding, in 2009 The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce won Best Documentary at the

IF Awards The Inside Film Awards (now known as the IF Awards) is an annual awards ceremony and broadcast platform for the Australian film industry, developed by the creators of Inside Film Magazine, Stephen Jenner and David Barda, and originally produced f ...

. For his work, Michael was nominated in the Best Telemovie Director category at the Australian Directors Guild Awards 2009, composer Roger Mason won Best Music for a Telemovie at the 2009 Australian Screen Music Award and Designer Felicity Abbott and props master Paul Stewart were both recognised for their work on the film at the 2009 Newport International Film Festival. In 2009 Australia's national broadcaster, ABC1, programmed ''The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce'' in prime time on Sunday night over the Australia Day long weekend. The previous year ''

'' had been programmed in the same 8:30 pm slot, making it the second year in a row the ABC had screened a Rowland feature to mark the nation's celebration.

Series Television

During 2010 and 2011 Michael directed 8 episodes of AFI and IF award winning series My Place, produced by Penny Chapman. He directed 3 episodes in the first series and was nominated for an Australian Directors Guild Award. He returned to the second series as set-up director and helmed a further 5 episodes. Early in 2011 he directed two episodes of the genre breaking comedy/drama/romance Spirited, produced by Jacquelin Perske and

Claudia Karvan Claudia Karvan (born 19 May 1972) is an Australian actress, producer and scriptwriter. As a child actor, she first appeared in the film, '' Molly'' (1983) and followed with an adolescent role in '' High Tide'' (1987). She portrayed a teacher i ...

. Mid year he directed three episodes of the ballet-teen-drama Dance Academy, produced by Werner Film Productions for ABC, and in the second half of the year directed three episodes of the award winning Foxtel drama '' Tangle''.

Notes

External links

Official website
Australian Film Television and Radio School

The Internet Movie Database

Adelaide Film Festival

Variety

Cowboy Books {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowland, Michael James Australian film directors People from Adelaide 1964 births Living people Australian Film Television and Radio School alumni