Stephan Elliott - Book

Stephan Elliott

Stephan’s career kicked off shooting hundreds of weddings from the age of 13 to 18 and now he turns green with the first bars of a bridal waltz.

He entered the film industry as an assistant director/editor on a series of dreadful Australian films before stepping up to the director’s chair at 26 with the comedy caper Frauds, starring Phil Collins and Hugo Weaving. This first feature was selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival 1993.

He announced his second feature - a script to be churned out in 12 days en route to the south of France - The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) starring Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce. Priscilla went on to become one of the most successful Aussie films of all time, racking up an Academy Award, BAFTA and AFI Awards for Best Costume Design and a Best Make Up/Hair. Other nominations include a Writers’ Guild Award and Golden Globe for Best Comedy/Musical.

Stephan then committed career suicide when he was talked into screening his unfinished black comedy Welcome to Woop Woop, starring Rod Taylor, Barry Humphries and Rachel Griffiths - in Cannes 1997. It was booed out of the Palais. The film has since grown into a massive underground cult.

He countered with a change of genre - the thriller Eye of the Beholder (1999), starring Ewan McGregor, Ashley Judd, KD Lang and Jason Priestley. The film premiered at Venice that year, winning the Brussels sci-fi and fantasy festival - an award also shared by Frauds. It is also, proudly, the lowest grossing No 1 hit in USA box office history.

Stephan took an interesting career turn by looking for inspiration in the French  Alps - and promptly skiing off them. He broke his pelvis and fractured his legs and back.

After four years of recuperation, Stephan is back on the horse with Priscilla The Musical and a Noël Coward adaptation, Easy Virtue, starring Jessica Biel, Ben Barnes, Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas, which is currently on release worldwide.

He still skis - it’s not as dangerous as filmmaking.