John Hillcoat
Born in Queensland, Australia, John Hillcoat was raised in the USA and Canada where at a young age had the opportunity to develop an interest in fine arts. Returning to Australia, he graduated from Melbourne’s Swinburne Film School. After directing several shorts, his first feature film followed when he co-wrote and directed Ghosts… of the Civil Dead (1988). Hillcoat’s film received nine nominations at the Australian Film Institute Awards, an award for Best Film at the San Sebastian Film Festival, and competed at the Venice Film Festival.
Simultaneous to his feature film career, he’s directed music videos and collaborated on projects for such artists as Nick Cave, Einstürzende Neubauten, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode, Muse, Robert Plant, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Massive Attack.
In 2005, Hillcoat released The Proposition (2005), starring Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Guy Pearce, and Emily Watson. The Proposition was nominated for eight Australian Film Institute Awards, including Best Director and went on to win Best Feature Film at the IF awards. Hillcoat’s other feature work includes; The Road (2009), an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s prize-winning novel, which starred Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, and Charlize Theron, Lawless (2012), which starred Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Jessica Chastain and Triple 9 (2016) staring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Winslet, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie, Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, and Gal Gadot. For television, he’s directed an episode of Black Mirror titled Crocodile, the Showtime Emmy nominated series George and Tammy starring Jessica Chastain and Michale Shannon, and most recently Paramount’s Lioness starring Nicole Kidman, Morgan Freeman, and Zoey Saldana.
Currently, through Blank Films Inc, John is in development of several new film and television projects. The latest of which is an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. He continues to be highly sought after in the music video and commercial space as he continues to direct internationally award-winning projects.
