Geoff Murphy
Biography Geoff Murphy was born 13 th 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 2 nd 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 2 nd 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.