Paul Fenech
Paul Fenech | |
|---|---|
| Born | Paul Fenech 21 November 1972 Sydney, Australia |
| Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, film and television actor, director, producer and writer |
| Years active | 1995–present |
Paul Fenech (born 21 November 1972) is an Australian filmmaker, film and television actor, director, producer and writer of Maltese and Aboriginal descent.[1] He is best known for writing, directing, producing and starring in the television series Pizza, Swift and Shift Couriers, Housos and Bogan Hunters and the motion pictures Fat Pizza (2003), Housos vs. Authority (2012) and Fat Pizza vs. Housos (2014).
Career
Early in his career, Fenech directed More Than Legends, a documentary highlighting Aboriginal culture through the eyes of elders from the Nyungar (W.A.), Arrernte (N.T.) and Tiwi (N.T.) groups.[2]
He first achieved prominence by winning third place in Sydney's annual Tropfest short film festival in 1995 for a biographical short entitled Pizza Man based on his experiences as a pizza delivery driver. He won the Tropfest award for best film in 1998 for Intolerance, although he had submitted the film under the pseudonym Laura Feinstein to appeal to the sensitivities of the judges, particularly Tropfest founder John Polson, who hoped that a female director would win the award.[3]
Fenech was then able to secure a deal with Australian community broadcaster SBS to produce a sitcom based on his short film. Entitled Pizza, and premiering in 2000, it ran for five seasons, with the final season airing in 2007. A full-length motion picture based on the series entitled Fat Pizza was released in 2003. Over a decade later, Fenech combined the storyline of Pizza with that of his third SBS Series Housos to create the feature film Fat Pizza vs. Housos.[4][5][6][7]
Following the success of Pizza, he created the sitcom series Swift and Shift Couriers. Series 1 began airing on SBS on 27 October 2008 and Series 2 premiered on 15 August 2011.[8][9]
His third television show for SBS, Housos, first aired on 24 October 2011. To date, two series have been produced, in addition to two full-length, cinematically-released motion pictures, Housos vs. Authority (2012) and Fat Pizza vs. Housos (2014). Housos won the award for Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program at the 2014 Logie Awards.[7][10]
Fenech's most recent program Bogan Hunters, a combination of comedy and reality television, began airing on 13 May 2014 on 7mate and was the channel's highest-rating entertainment program and second highest rating show to date.[11][12]
Filmography
| Feature films | |||||
| Year | Title | Credit | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Dumb Criminals: The Movie | Director, writer, producer and executive producer | Rabbit | ||
| 2014 | Fat Pizza vs. Housos | Director, writer, producer and executive producer | Franky Falzoni/Pauly Falzoni | ||
| 2012 | Housos vs. Authority | Director, writer, producer and editor | Franky Falzoni | ||
| 2003 | Fat Pizza | Director, writer and producer | Pauly Falzoni/Alfredo Falzoni | ||
| 1999 | Somewhere in the Darkness | Lawnmower Man | |||
| Television | |||||
| Year | Title | Credit | Role | Notes | |
| 2015 | Dumb Criminals Motorcycle Club | Creator, director, writer and producer | Rabbit | ||
| 2014 | Bogan Hunters | Creator, director, writer and producer | Host | 10 episodes | |
| 2013 | Celebrity Splash! | Contestant | Himself | [13] | |
| 2011–2013 | Housos | Creator, director, writer and producer | Franky Falzoni | 18 Episodes | |
| 2008–2011 | Swift and Shift Couriers | Paul 'Mario' Gauci | 19 Episodes | ||
| 2006 | World Record Pizza | Pauly Falzoni | 6 Episodes | ||
| 2006 | The Da Vinci Cup | 3 Episodes | |||
| 2004 | Pizza: Special Deliveries | 10 Episodes | |||
| 2004 | Pizza Live | 5 Episodes | |||
| 2000–2007 | Pizza | 42 episodes | |||
| 1999 | The 50 Foot Show | Director | |||
| 1998 | Heartland | Title Design | Mini-series | ||
| Short films | |||||
| Year | Title | Credit | Role | Notes | |
| 1998 | Intolerance | Director and producer | |||
| 1997 | Dangerous Pizza | Director, writer and producer | |||
| 1996 | Space Pizza | ||||
| 1995 | Pizza Man | ||||
| 1994 | More Than Legends | Director and writer | |||
Awards and nominations
- 1998: Best Film (Intolerance, won)
- 1999: Grand Jury Prize (Somewhere in the Darkness, nominated)
- 2001: Most Outstanding Comedy Program (Pizza, nominated)
- 2002: Most Outstanding Comedy Program (Pizza, nominated)
- 2004: Most Outstanding Comedy Program (Pizza, nominated)
- 2005: Most Outstanding Comedy Program (Pizza, nominated)
- 2014: Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program (Housos, won)
Australian Comedy Awards
- 2003: Outstanding Australian TV Comedy – character based (Pizza, nominated)
- 2011: Comedy – Situation or Narrative (Housos, nominated)
Charity Work
In 2014, Fenech broke the Guinness World Record for 'Most Self Portrait (selfie) Photographs Taken in 24 hours’, taking a total of 2408. In order to qualify, each 'selfie' photograph had to be taken with a different participant. The event was held to raise money and awareness for Barnardos Australia.[14]
References
- ^ "Ohmoy Gourd!". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 August 2003. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- ^ "More than legends [videorecording]". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ Bookallil, Simon, Gone Troppo (documentary), 2004
- ^ "Interview With Pauly Fenech". Dimensions. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 July 2003. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- ^ "Triple J Film Reviews – Fat Pizza". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- ^ Woodhead, Cameron (2 March 2006). "Pizza: Subwoofers Of Mass Seduction". The Age. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- ^ a b "Fat Pizza Vs Housos". Hoyts. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
- ^ Molitorisz, Sacha (6 November 2008). "Fast delivery of a shifty crew". The Age. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- ^ "Episodes". SBS. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ "Victory for Aussie battlers at the Logies". SBS. 27 April 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ "Bogan Hunters is car-crash TV says creator Paul Fenech". Sydney Morning Herald. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- ^ "Sarah Ferguson grilling tops ABC1". TV Tonight. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- ^ http://au.tv.yahoo.com/celebrity-splash/cast/article/-/16839292/pauly-fenech/
- ^ "PAUL FENECH SNAGS NEW WORLD RECORD!!". FilmINK. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
External links
- Paul Fenech at IMDb
