Michael Petroni is an Australian screenwriter and director.

Biography

Petroni worked in the early 1990s as a comedy writer and performer on Australian television, and appeared as "Psycho Bob", an American serial killer character, in ''

The Big Gig ''The Big Gig'' was a popular Australian television sketch comedy music/variety series based on the British TV series '' Saturday Live''. It was produced and broadcast on ABC TV in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was produced and directed by ...

'' and '' DAAS Kapital'' (with the Doug Anthony All Stars). In 1994, he moved to Los Angeles to study screenwriting at the

AFI Conservatory The AFI Conservatory is a private non-profit graduate film school in the Hollywood Hills district of Los Angeles. Students (called "Fellows") learn from the masters in a collaborative, hands-on production environment with an emphasis on stor ...

, from which he graduated in 1996. During his time at the AFI, he wrote his first feature film script, '' Till Human Voices Wake Us'' which he subsequently directed as a feature film starring

Guy Pearce Guy Edward Pearce (born 5 October 1967) is an Australian actor. List of awards and nominations received by Guy Pearce, His accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award, and nominations for an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a British Academy Film Aw ...

and

Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, List of awards and nominations received by Helena Bonham Carter ...

, winning several awards for the script. Since his debut, Petroni has also co-written ''

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys ''The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys'' is a 2002 American comedy-drama film directed by Peter Care and written by Jeff Stockwell and Michael Petroni based on Chris Fuhrman's 1994 semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel of the same name. The f ...

'' (2002), ''

Queen of the Damned ''Queen of the Damned'' is a 2002 horror film directed by Michael Rymer from a screenplay by Scott Abbott and Michael Petroni, and based on the 1988 novel ''The Queen of the Damned'' by Anne Rice, the third novel of the book series ''The Vampi ...

'' (2002) and ''

Possession Possession may refer to: Law *Dependent territory, an area of land over which another country exercises sovereignty, but which does not have the full right of participation in that country's governance *Drug possession, a crime *Ownership *Pe ...

'' (2009), an English language adaptation of the Korean film '' Addicted''. He also co-created the 2003 TV series ''

Miracles A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

'' with Richard Hatem, with the series based on his unfilmed movie script ''A Course in Miracles'' which had been in development since 1998 with

Jerry Zucker Jerry Gordon Zucker (born March 11, 1950) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is one third of the filmmaking trio Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. He is best known for his role in writing and directing comedy spoof films like ...

Fleming, Michael
Zucker Touchstone's 'Miracles' worker
''Variety'', 12 January 1998. and later

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor and film director. Russell Crowe filmography, His work on screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Russell Crowe, various accolades, including an Academy Award, two Gold ...

attached to direct. On 26 February 2008, ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' reported that Petroni was writing the script for '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'', the third installment in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' franchise. He wrote the screenplay for exorcism horror movie '' The Rite'' based on the book ''The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist'' by Matt Baglio.Holden, Stephen
Giving the Devil His Possessive Due
''The New York Times'', 27 January 2011. In March 2013, Screen Australia announced that it would be funding an Australian supernatural thriller, '' Backtrack'', which Petroni would write and direct.Quinn, Karl
Screen Australia finds money for ghost thriller
''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 5 March 2013. In November 2017, it was announced that Petroni would be credited as an executive producer and creator for the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

thriller series, ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

''. The series premiered on 1 January 2020.

Filmography

Film writing credits

*'' Till Human Voices Wake Us'' (2002) *''

'' (2002) *''

'' (2009) *'' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'' (2010) *'' The Rite'' (2011) *''

The Book Thief ''The Book Thief'' is a historical fiction novel by the Australian author Markus Zusak, set in Nazi Germany during World War II. Published in 2005, ''The Book Thief'' became an international bestseller and was translated into 63 languages and s ...

'' (2013) *'' Backtrack'' (2015) *''

The Pope's Exorcist ''The Pope's Exorcist'' is a 2023 supernatural horror film directed by Julius Avery from a screenplay by Michael Petroni and Evan Spiliotopoulos, based on the 1990 book ''An Exorcist Tells His Story'' and the 1992 book ''An Exorcist: More Sto ...

'' (2023)

Television credits

*''

'' (2003; co-creator) *''

Masters of Science Fiction ''Masters of Science Fiction'' is a television anthology series by some of the producers of ''Masters of Horror''. The show debuted on ABC on August 4, 2007, at 10PM for a run of four episodes. It was originally scheduled to run in six parts, bu ...

'' (2007; episode "The Awakening"; teleplay) *''

'' (2019; creator)

Directing credits

*''Trespasses'' (1999 short film) *'' Till Human Voices Wake Us'' (2002) *''

'' (2007; episode "The Awakening") *'' Backtrack'' (2015)

Acting credits

*'' DAAS Kapital'' (1991–1992; as "Psycho Bob") *''

Masters of Horror ''Masters of Horror'' is a horror anthology television series created by director Mick Garris for the Showtime cable network. Origin In 2002, director Mick Garris invited some director friends to an informal dinner at a restaurant in Sherm ...

'' (2006; episode " Pick Me Up" as Ambulance Attendant)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petroni, Michael 21st-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian screenwriters Living people Australian screenwriters Australian film directors AFI Conservatory alumni Australian male screenwriters Australian male television writers Australian television writers Year of birth missing (living people)