Alex Proyas

Alexander Proyas was born in Alexandria (then in the United Arab Republic and now in Egypt) on 23 September 1963, the son of a Greek Cypriot mother and a father from Egypt whose Greek ancestors had moved to Egypt many generations ago.{{Cite web|last=Kapetopoulos|first=Fotis|date=2020-02-17|title=Alex Proyas: Looking for a new country in filmmaking|url=https://neoskosmos.com/en/158445/alex-proyas-looking-for-a-new-country-in-filmmaking/|access-date=2020-08-30|website=Neos Kosmos|language=en}}

When he was three years old, the family moved to Australia, where he grew up in the Sydney suburb of Waterloo.{{cite book | last =Lancaster | first =Kurt |author2=Thomas J. Mikotowicz | title =Performing the Force: Essays on Immersion into Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Environments | publisher =McFarland & Company | year =2001 | pages =61 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=p_y8MBIuJ1AC&pg=PA61 | isbn =978-0-7864-0895-5 }} He grew up on a housing estate where the main tenants were fellow immigrants and Indigenous Australians, with whom he felt a kinship because they were all often subjected to racism by white Australians.

At age 17, he joined the Australian Film, Television and Radio School and began directing music videos shortly after.

He later moved to Los Angeles to further his career, working on MTV music videos and TV commercials.{{cite web|url=http://indie-cinema.com/2021/08/interview-alex-proyas/|work=Indie Cinema Magazine|title=Interview with Alex Proyas|author=Diana Ringo|date=25 August 2021}}

Proyas' first feature film was the independent science fiction thriller Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds, which was nominated for two Australian Film Institute awards in 1988, for costume design and production design{{cite web | title =Awards for Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds | publisher =IMDb | url =https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098373/awards | access-date =28 December 2007 }} and which won a Special Prize at the 1990 Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival.{{cite web|url=http://yubarifanta.com/index_pc.php?ct=archive.php&langue=21002 |title=Yubari International Fantastic Adventure Film Festival '90 |website=yubarifanta.com |access-date=19 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040407040236/http://yubarifanta.com/index_pc.php?ct=archive.php&langue=21002 |archive-date=7 April 2004 }}

Next, Proyas directed the 1994 superhero fantasy thriller The Crow starring Brandon Lee. Lee was killed in an accident during filming, only eight days before the completion of the film on 31 March 1993. After Lee's death, Proyas and his producers decided to complete the film, partially rewriting the script and using a stunt double and special effects to film the remaining scenes.{{Cite news | last =Ascher-Walsh | first =Rebecca | title =How Crow Flew | newspaper =Entertainment Weekly | date =13 May 1994 | url = https://ew.com/article/1994/05/13/crow-cast-deals-brandons-lee-death/ | access-date = 28 December 2007 }} The Crow was released in May 1994 and was a box office and critical success.{{cite web|title=The Crow (1994) |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |url=http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/crow/ |access-date=28 December 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725234253/http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/crow/ |archive-date=25 July 2008 }}

Proyas then wrote, directed and produced the 1998 science fiction thriller Dark City, which received positive critical reception and won several awards{{cite web | title =Awards for Dark City | publisher =IMDb | url =https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118929/awards | access-date = 28 December 2007 }} but was a commercial disappointment. In 2004, he directed I, Robot starring Will Smith, a science fiction film suggested by{{cite web | title =Full Cast and Crew for I, Robot | publisher =IMDb | url =https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343818/fullcredits | access-date = 28 December 2007 }} the Isaac Asimov short story compilation I, Robot and was a box office success despite mixed reviews.

Proyas' next film, the thriller Knowing starring Nicolas Cage, began production in Melbourne in March 2008 and opened in North America in March 2009.{{Cite news | last =Fleming | first =Michael | title =Cage to star in Proyas' 'Knowing' | newspaper =Variety | date =10 December 2007 | url = https://variety.com/2007/film/markets-festivals/cage-to-star-in-proyas-knowing-2-1117977454/ | access-date = 28 December 2007 }}

Proyas directed Gods of Egypt, starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and co-written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. The film was critically panned upon its release in 2016{{cite news|title=Alex Pyoyas' epic fantasy film project Gods of Egypt|url=http://geektyrant.com/news/2013/6/6/nikolaj-coster-waldau-joins-alex-proyas-gods-of-egypt.html|access-date=17 June 2013|newspaper=geektyrant.com}} and bombed at the box office.

In 2019, Proyas founded a production company in Sydney called The Heretic Foundation.

In 2021, Proyas announced that he was developing a new video platform named VidiVerse for independent filmmakers as an alternative to YouTube.

In 2024, Proyas began filming R.U.R. a musical adaptation of the play of the same name by Karel Čapek.{{Cite web |last=Proyas |first=Alex |title=RUR day 1 |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/DBo_nMBTuvL/ |website=Instagram}}{{Cite web |title=R.U.R |url=https://www.mojo.film/rur |website=MoJo Global Arts}}

{{main|Alex Proyas' unrealized projects}}

Proyas has long been married to artist Catherine "Cathy" Linsley, who worked in the art department for his first feature film Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds. She has also worked in various capacities on short films and animations produced or written by Proyas. She was thanked in the credits of his film Knowing.[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0513158/ Cathy Linsley: Thanks (1 credit) 2009 Knowing (the producers wish to thank] from IMDb Accessed 30 April 2019

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Category:1963 births

Category:ARIA Award winners

Category:Australian film directors

Category:Australian film producers

Category:Australian music video directors

Category:Australian screenwriters

Category:Australian people of Greek Cypriot descent

Category:Living people

Category:Action film directors

Category:Australian science fiction film directors

Category:Television commercial directors

Category:Mass media people from Alexandria

Category:Writers from Sydney

Category:Egyptian emigrants to Australia

Category:Egyptian people of Greek descent