Roger Donaldson
| Roger Donaldson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
15 November 1945 Ballarat, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation | Film producer, director, writer |
Roger Donaldson (born 15 November 1945) is an Australian-born New Zealand film director, producer and writer whose films include The World's Fastest Indian (2005), acclaimed 1981 relationship drama Smash Palace, and a run of titles shot in the United States, including Kevin Costner starrers No Way Out and Thirteen Days, and the 1997 disaster film Dante's Peak.
Donaldson was born in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia and in 1965 emigrated to New Zealand, where he established a small still photography business and began making commercials. Donaldson was also directing documentaries, including an adventure series featuring Everest-conquering New Zealander Edmund Hillary, and his first ventures into drama. Donaldson and actor/director Ian Mune collaborated on a number of projects for television, including anthology series Winners and Losers, based on short stories by New Zealand authors.
In 1976 Donaldson directed and produced his first feature Sleeping Dogs. The film starred Mune and Sam Neill as two men fighting for their lives in a totalitarian New Zealand. He followed it with Smash Palace, starring Bruno Lawrence as a man who kidnaps his daughter after his marriage disintegrates.
Donaldson's international break came when producer Dino de Laurentiis invited him to helm a version of Mutiny on the Bounty, after Lawrence of Arabia director David Lean left the project. The film, released as The Bounty, starred Anthony Hopkins as William Bligh and Mel Gibson as mutineer Fletcher Christian. Donaldson was nominated for a Golden Palm at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival for this film.
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