Geoff Murphy

Biography Geoff Murphy was born 13th October 1938

He lived in Highbury, Wellington

Went to St Patrick's College

Originally trained and worked as a school teacher

Geoff was one of the founding members of the hippy musical Blerta

His first feature film was Wild Man (1977)

Goodbye Pork Pie (1981) was the film that put him on the map

He followed with Utu (1983) and The Quiet Earth (1985)

Murphy worked in Hollywood directing big budget movies like Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, Young Guns II and Freejack

Returned to NZ to work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy as 2nd Unit Director

Made a documentary about Blerta (2001)

Directed the Horror Spooked (2004)

Directed the NZ television comedy series Welcome to Paradise

Dvd Remastered Release of Goodbye Pork Pie and was the 2nd unit director on xXx: State of the Union (2005)

How he got into Film Murphy was encouraged by his friend Derek Morton to start

work on a short film “The Magic Hammer” in the 60s which he never finished.

He started hanging out with some future collaborators such as Bruno Lawrence, John Charles and Allun Bollinger at a Jazz Bar.

Filmography

Wild Man (1977) Production Company:

- Acme Sausage Company

Writers: - Geoff Murphy - Bruno Lawrence - Ian Watkin

Financiers: - Television One - $24,000 commission

Dagg Day Afternoon (1977) Production Company:

- Acme Sausage Company

Writers: - John Clarke and Geoff Murphy

Financiers: - Television One - $24,000 commission

Goodbye Pork Pie (1981) Production Companies:

- New Zealand Film Commission - New Zealand United - Pork Pie Productions

Writers: - Geoff Murphy - Ian Mune

Financiers: - New Zealand Film Commission

Utu (1983) Production Company:

- Glitteron

Writers: - Keith Aberdein - Geoff Murphy

Financiers: - New Zealand Film Commission

The Quiet Earth (1985) Production Company:

- Cinepro - Mr. Yellowbeard Productions Limited & Company

Writers: - Craig Harrison (novel) - Bill Baer - Bruno Lawrence - Sam Pillsbury

Financiers:- New Zealand Film Commission

Never Say Die (1988) Production Company:

- Everard Films

Writers: - Andy Borowitz - Geoff Murphy

Financiers: - New Zealand Film Commission

Red King White Knight (1989) Production Company:

- Citadel Entertainment- Home Box Office (HBO)- Zenith Entertainment

Writers: - Ron Hutchinson

Young Guns II (1990) Production Company:

- Morgan Creek Productions

Writers: - John Fusco

Freejack (1992) Production Company:

- Morgan Creek Productions

Writers: - Robert Sheckley (novel)- Steven Pressfield - Ronald Shusett- Dan Gilroy

Blind Side (1993) Production Company:

- Chestnut Hill Productions- Home Box Office (HBO)

Writers: - Stewart Lindh- Solomon Weingarten - John Carlen

The Last Outlaw (1993) Production Company:

- Home Box Office (HBO)

Writers: - Eric Red

Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995) Production Company:

- Warner Bros. Pictures- Regency Enterprises- Seagal/Nasso Productions

Writers: - Richard Hatem- Matt Reeves- J.F. Lawton

Don’t Look Back (1996) Production Company:

- Alphaville Films- Home Box Office (HBO)

Writers: - Tom Epperson- Billy Bob Thornton- William Petrowitch

Magnificent Seven (1997) Writers:

- Frank Q. Dobbs- Chris Black- Pen Densham- John Watson- William Roberts

Fortress 2 (1999) Production Company:

- Carousel Picture Company- TheGower Productions- John Flock Productions

Writers: - Steven Feinberg- Troy Neighbors- John Flock- Peter Doyle

Race Against Time (2000) Production Company:

- Motion International- Rosemont Productions International- Turner Network Television (TNT)

Writers: - Cary Solomon- Chuck Konzelman

Blerta Revisited (2001)

Writers: - Geoff Murphy

Spooked (2004) Production Company:

- Ora Digital- Capital Pictures- NZOA- New Zealand Film Commission- Silverscreen Films- TV3

Writers: - Geoff Murphy- Ian Wishart (novel)

Financiers: - New Zealand Film Commission

Preferred Film Style Geoff Murphy generally makes action films, with a fast pace

and high intensity.

He likes the Western Genre.

He has gone away from the traditional NZ film stereotypes such as NZ emptiness and isolation.

Current Film Projects Geoff’s last film was in 2009 and is currently not making

anymore.

He is now 74.

Impact of Work on NZ Society Geoff Murphy was one of the frontrunners of New Zealand

film and was part of the breakthrough taking NZ film to the rest of the world.

He did this with his first few films such as Goodbye Pork Pie and Utu.

He was one of the first NZ directors to be taken seriously overseas.