Scott Hicks

Robert Scott Hicks (born 4 March 1953) is an Australian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known as the director of Shine, the biopic of pianist David Helfgott, for which he was nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Director and Best Original Screenplay). Other films he has directed include the film adaptations of Stephen King's Hearts in Atlantis and Nicholas Sparks' The Lucky One.

Early life and education Hicks was born on born 4 March 1953 in Uganda. His father was a civil engineer. His family lived in Kenya, outside Nairobi before moving to the UK when Scott was 10 years old, He had piano lessons until his early teens, and learnt to read music, but "wasn’t really prepared to put the necessary time in". A single, "Speed Kills" / "Fascist Sounds" was released by WEA Records in 1982. "Spy of Love" (1982) "To Look at You" (1983)

In 1982, Hicks made a documentary film about the 11th Adelaide Festival of the Arts under artistic director Jim Sharman, titled The Hall of Mirrors: A Festival.

In 1986, Hicks wrote and directed the telemovie Call Me Mr. Brown, which was based on the Qantas bomb hoax of 1971.

More than six years later, Hicks made his third Hollywood film as a director in No Reservations, The Boys Are Back in Town, The film portrays the relationships within the ASQ, Australia's only full-time quartet, the wealthy arts patron, Ulrike Klein (founder of Jurlique) who purchases the violins, and a family of musicians and dealers in New York City called The Carpenters (David, Sean and Lauren Carpenter ). He said of the film: "This was about the people. People who are obsessed with what they're doing. Whether they're musicians, investors, dealers... they’re all obsessed". He called the Carpenters "the Kardashians of the music world".

Other roles

Hicks is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

In 2019 Hicks gave a training session in Singapore at MindChamps.

Recognition, awards, and honours Hicks was awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, Flinders University, in 1997.

Hicks was a finalist in 2008 for the Australian of the Year Awards.

In November 2024, Hicks' 1982 documentary The Hall of Mirrors: A Festival, about the Adelaide Festival under the directorship of Jim Sharman, was screened at the Space Theatre in the Adelaide Festival Centre, followed by a conversation with the two men. The event was the biennial Wal Cherry Lecture, coinciding with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Flinders Drama Centre celebration and named in honour of its founder, Wal Cherry.

Legacy In 2024, Hicks donated his personal archive of film memorabilia and documentation to the State Library of South Australia, including such items as hand-drawn sketches of movie scenes, storyboards from completed films, and the glasses and costume worn by Geoffrey Rush in Shine. A large exhibition of the items is planned for 2026.

Filmography Film Year Title Director Writer Producer 2016 Fallen 2012 The Lucky One 2009 The Boys Are Back 2007 No Reservations 2001 Hearts in Atlantis 1999 Snow Falling on Cedars 1996 Shine 1988 Sebastian and the Sparrow 1982 Freedom 1975 Down the Wind 1974 The Wanderer

Documentary film Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes 2007 Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts Also cinematographer 2004 I'm Only Looking – The Best of INXS 1993 Submarines: Sharks of Steel 1985 The INXS: Swing and Other Stories Family Tree 1983 One Last Chance 1982 The Hall of Mirrors: A Festival 1981 No Going Back 1980 Bert Flugelman: Public Sculptor Assertive Skills Training 1979 You Can't Always Tell

TV movies Year Title Director Writer Producer 1996 The Ultimate Athlete: Pushing the Limit 1994 The Space Shuttle 1986 Call Me Mr. Brown

TV series Finders Keepers (1991) The Great Wall of Iron (1991) Women Artists of Australia (1981)