David Parker

David Parker (born 1947), commonly known as Parker is an Australian cinematographer, film producer, screenwriter, and film director. He has made many films with his wife Nadia Tass through their company Cascade Films, including Malcolm, Rikky and Pete (1988), The Big Steal (1990), Amy (1997), and The Menkoff Method (2016).

Early life and education David Parker was born in 1947 in Brisbane, Queensland. His father, who was a teacher, actor, and musician, played the organ in Brisbane cinemas on weekends, accompanied by David. As he played before and after the B film, Parker never got to see the main features. His father was a founding member of a theatre company in Brisbane called Twelfth Night Theatre. His mother was a nursing sister who worked during World War II, and lived through the fall of Singapore in 1942.

As a child, Parker enjoyed mechanical things – designing and building things – as well as photography.

Career Film One of Parker's clients at his first photography studio was the national magazine TV Times, for which he became the Melbourne photographer, and this became his pathway into the entertainment industry. He worked on TV series such as Homicide and then, his first role as stills photographer on a film, on Raw Deal, a 1977 Australian Western.

Films shot by Parker include Malcolm, Rikky and Pete, The Big Steal, Pure Luck, Amy, Mr. Reliable, Matching Jack, John Doe, and Kath and Kimderella. Parker's TV cinematography includes The Outsiders (Francis Ford Coppola's offshoot series of the movie); He said in an interview that year that he had in the past worked on some very good films but also some "dreadful" ones, "generally very cynical exercises in financing" which were used as tax breaks. The musical earned nominations in the Helpmann Awards for the Best Direction in a Musical as well as Best Presentation for Children awards in April 2003.

He did other theatre work with Tass, including stage lighting, which he particularly enjoys.

Other awards won by Parker include: Winner, Gold ACS award for cinematography, for Rikky and Pete 1986: Co-winner (with Tass), of the AFI Award for Best Film, for Malcolm Winner, Cannes Junior award, for Amy

Parker and Tass also owned and operated the Melbourne Film Studios in Port Melbourne from 1989 until 2009. Many internationally successful films and TV series were shot in these studios prior to the Docklands Studios Melbourne opening in 2004.