Biography
Wayne Blair is an acclaimed film, television and theatre director, writer, actor and producer.
Wayne’s debut hit feature film, The Sapphires, a musical comedy had its world premiere at the
Cannes Film Festival in 2012 and has since brought him recognition around the world.
It played at festivals including Telluride, Toronto, Aspen, Zurich and Hamburg.
The film is the highest grossing Australian film of 2012 in Australia and won eleven AACTA Awards
including Best Director and Best Film.
Wayne has most recently directed upcoming feature film Top End Wedding starring Miranda Tapsell, which is set to have its World Premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
The film was directed by Wayne Blair (The Sapphires, Cleverman), and co-written by Miranda and Joshua Tyler (Plonk).
Prior to this he directed the hit series Love Child (Series 6) and Bite Club (Series 1) and worked as an actor on Mystery Road (directed by Rachel Perkins).
Wayne directed the remake of Dirty Dancing for Lionsgate in the US and the second season of the highly successful Clever Man, after directing Season 1.
Wayne co-produced and directed Clever Man – an innovative six-part futuristic action
drama for ABC-TV, a co-production between Goalpost Pictures and Pukeko Pictures, starring Game of
Thrones’ Iain Glen, Frances O’Connor and Deborah Mailman.
He directed Septembers of Shiraz, featured at the Toronto International Film Festival
(September 2015) and the opening of the San Diego Film Festival, with an impressive award winning
cast including Salma Hayek and Adrien Brody.
Wayne’s television directing credits include Redfern Now for ABC TV, Lockie Leonard Series 1 and 2
for the Nine Network, Australian-British children's supernatural comedy TV series, Dead Gorgeous
for the BBC and Australian children's TV series Double Trouble.
He directed British-Jamaican Debbie Tucker Green's play Dirty Butterfly and co-directed the
biographical play, Namatjira, with Scott Rankin who also wrote the play.
You have to let go of the past to have a better future, and you do that through love and family. Wayne Blair
Wayne wrote the episode 1788 of the MY PLACE series 2 for ABC-TV and an episode for the second
series of THE CIRCUIT, which won an AWGIE Award for Best Original miniseries in 2009. Wayne wrote
the short film RALPH which Deborah Mailman directed, which won the IF Award for Best Short in 2010.
Wayne also wrote BLOODLAND, a concept by Stephen Page and Kathy Marika for Sydney Theatre Company’s
2011 main stage season. The play was directed by Bangarra’s Stephen Page and performed in traditional
language. BLOODLAND toured to Adelaide Festival and Queensland Theatre Company in 2012.
Wayne also directed THE REMOVALISTS, THE 7 STAGES OF GRIEVING and ROMEO AND JULIET for Sydney
Theatre Company’s mainstage and education programs.
Wayne wrote and directed short film THE DJARN DJARNS which won the 2005 Crystal Bear Award in the
Kinderfilmfest competition at the Berlin Film Festival. The film also won a Deadly Award for
Outstanding Achievement in Film in 2005, Best Screenplay at the Flickerfest Film Festival 2006,
Best Short Screenplay at the AWGIES, Best Australian Short at the Film Critics’ Circle Awards and
has screened on SBS and Foxtel.Short film JUBULJ, which Wayne wrote and directed, won Best Film at
the ImagiNATIVE Short Film Festival in Canada.
Wayne directed and performed in JESUS HOPPED THE A-TRAIN and directed Brendan Cowell’s play RUBEN
GUTHRIE at Belvoir while he was an associate artist there in 2009 and 2010. Wayne wrote and directed a stage adaptation of NJUNJUL THE SUN for the KooembaDjarra Theatre Company in Brisbane and directed UNSPOKEN at the Old Fitz which toured nationally in 2006 with Performing Lines and won Best Independent Production at the Sydney Theatre Awards.
As an actor Wayne has appeared in theatre productions including TRUE WEST at STC directed by Phillip
Seymour Hoffman, TOT MOM directed by Steven Soderbergh, JESUS HOPPED THE A-TRAIN with B Sharp,
OTHELLO with Bell Shakespeare and STUFF HAPPENS, THE SAPPHIRES, RUN RABBIT RUN, CONVERSATIONS WITH
THE DEAD and CLOUDSTREET all for Belvoir.
He was also a performer in Bangarra Dance Theatre’s SKIN
and Melbourne Theatre Company’s INHERITANCE. For film, Wayne has appeared in Ana Kokkinos’ 2009
feature film BLESSED, David Caesar’s MULLET and Kieran Darcy Smith’s feature WISH YOU WERE HERE.
Wayne was awarded the Bob Maza Fellowship for 2011 by Screen Australia to provide opportunities for
career development, the Andrew Myer Fellowship by the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in
2007 and the Richard Wherrett Fellowship by the Sydney Theatre Company in 2006.
Filmography
- 2019 Top End Wedding being selected for Seattle International Film Festival
- 2016 Clever Man 2
- 2015 September of Shiraz
- 2013 The Turning
- 2012 The Sapphires
- 2011
The Last Time I Saw Michael Gregg - 2010
Dead Gorgeous (TV) - 2009 Blessed
- 2008 Double Trouble
- 2007 Jackie Jackie (TV)
- 2005 The Djarn Djarns
- 2002 Black Talk
Dirty Dancing
The Broken Shore (TV)
The Elegant Gentlemans Guide to Knife Fighting
Redfern Now
Wish You Were Here
Ralph
The Circuit (TV)
