Sophie Hyde

{{short description|Australian film producer, writer and director}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Sophie Hyde

| image = Sophie Hyde at Berlinale 2022 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Hyde at the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival

| birthname =

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1977}}

| alma mater = Flinders University
La Trobe University

| occupation = Film director/writer/producer

| notable works = 52 Tuesdays
Animals
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

| partner = Bryan Mason

| children = 1

| website = {{url|http://closerproductions.com.au}}

}}

Sophie Hyde (born 1977) is an Australian film director, writer, and producer based in Adelaide, South Australia. She is co-founder of Closer Productions and known for her award-winning debut fiction film, 52 Tuesdays (2013) and the comedy drama Animals (2019). She has also made several documentaries, including Life in Movement (2011), a documentary about dancer and choreographer Tanja Liedtke, and television series, such as The Hunting (2019). Her latest film, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, premiered at the Sundance Festival in 2022. Her upcoming film Jimpa stars Olivia Colman and John Lithgow.

Early life and education

Sophie Hyde was born in Adelaide in 1977.{{cite web |first1=Anthony | last1=Frajman|first2= Dov | last2= Kornits |first3= Christine| last3= Westwood|title=Unsung Auteurs: Sophie Hyde |website=FilmInk |date=23 January 2024 |url=https://www.filmink.com.au/unsung-auteurs-sophie-hyde/ |access-date=18 October 2024}} As a teenager, she learnt acting skills at the Unley Youth Theatre (later Urban Myth), where she met some of her future colleagues. She later studied film theatre at Flinders University in Adelaide and followed up at La Trobe University in Melbourne, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1998.{{cite news|publisher=The Advertiser|url=https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/lifestyle/sa-weekend/sophies-independent-streak/news-story/dd84da264951d7d23898da6740fcfa07?nk=fa91a6369c228cebfb03a8cae2aa0114-1554011900|title=Sophie's independent streak|series=SA Weekend| first=Penelope|last= Debelle|date=6 July 2018|accessdate=31 March 2019}}{{cite web|website=The Broadsheet|url=https://www.broadsheet.com.au/adelaide/entertainment/article/creative-couples-sophie-hyde-and-bryan-mason|title=Creative Couples: Sophie Hyde and Bryan Mason|date=10 July 2018 |first=Daniela |last=Frangos |access-date=31 March 2019}}

{{anchor|work}}Work

=2000s=

In 2005, Hyde returned to Adelaide with funding to make a film about women's toilets. Later that year, she reconnected with a college acquaintance, editor and cinematographer Bryan Mason. They began a personal and professional relationship, forming a film company, Closer Productions. As of 2018, they reside in Malvern with their child, Audrey.

=2010s=

Hyde and Mason started making videos for nightclubs and dance shows, then moved to documentary films. After becoming friends with choreographer and dancer Tanja Liedtke, they started making a documentary about her. After the dancer's untimely death in a traffic accident in Sydney in 2007, they completed the film and named it Life in Movement, which was named best work at the 2011 Ruby Awards for the arts, won the 2011 Foxtel Australian Documentary Prize and won AACTA nominations for direction and for best feature documentary.{{cite news|title = Choreographer's tale tops awards|work = AdelaideNow|date = 10 September 2011|url = http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/entertainment/arts/choreographers-tale-tops-awards/story-e6frees3-1226133421789|accessdate=31 March 2019}}

Hyde completed her first feature film as director, co-writer and co-producer, 52 Tuesdays, filmed in Adelaide in 2013, then spent a year promoting it. This film earned many accolades, including World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award for Hyde at Sundance in 2014 and a Crystal Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.{{cite web|url=http://www.sundance.org/projects/animals-11d062ff-9b57-4d18-8b9c-6f786f83f95f|website=Sundance Institute|title= Animals|accessdate=31 March 2019}}

Hyde's next project was a six-part TV series called Fucking Adelaide (aka F*!#ing Adelaide), commissioned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Screen Australia, aired on national TV from 15 July 2018 and ABC iview{{Cite web|url=https://iview.abc.net.au/show/f-ing-adelaide|title=F*!#ing Adelaide|website=ABC iview}} after debuting at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2017. A dark comedy about "home, family, identity and the 'small town-ness' of Adelaide", each episode was a part of a story told from a different character’s perspective, including a character played by Hyde's child Audrey and also starring Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Brendan Maclean and Kate Box as three siblings who respond to their mother's (played by Pamela Rabe) request to return to the family home in Adelaide.{{cite web|publisher=The Broadsheet|url=https://www.broadsheet.com.au/adelaide/entertainment/article/fcking-adelaide-premiere-adelaide-film-festival|title=Fucking Adelaide Goes National|first=Daniela|last=Frangos|date=2 October 2018|accessdate=31 March 2018}} Hyde has said that "It’s about the beautiful side of family, but also the negative side of being around people who feel like they know you, but perhaps don't allow you to change."; also that it reflects her love of Adelaide, which is greater once one has been away. The title started out as a joke, reflecting how Hyde felt about returning to Adelaide after being away — "both comforting and claustrophobic".{{cite web|website=La Trobe University|url=https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/announcements/2018/adelaide-on-screen-alumna-sophie-hyde-directs-a-short-series|title=Adelaide on-screen: alumna Sophie Hyde directs a short series|date=11 September 2017|access-date=3 April 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217230046/https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/announcements/2018/adelaide-on-screen-alumna-sophie-hyde-directs-a-short-series| archive-date=17 December 2021}} Co-written by Matthew Cormack and Matt Vesely and produced by Rebecca Summerton, it was in competition at the Series Mania International Festival in France in 2018, and screened in Berlin.

In 2018 Hyde made Animals, based on the novel of the same name by Emma Jane Unsworth, in Dublin. This was her first feature film shot abroad, and was screened in the Premieres category at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and as an Adelaide Film Festival "pop-up" event in April 2019.{{cite web|website=Adelaide Film Festival|url= https://adelaidefilmfestival.org/titles/106798|title=Animals|date= August 2017|accessdate=29 March 2019}} It was an Irish-Australian co-production and although not initiated by Hyde, it was a Closer Productions film.

In January 2019 it was announced that a drama mini-series called The Hunting would be screened later in the year on SBS TV, produced and directed by Hyde and starring Richard Roxburgh, Asher Keddie, Pamela Rabe, Sam Reid, Jessica De Gouw, Elena Carapetis and Sachin Joab.

In My Blood It Runs (2019), directed by Gayby Baby director Maya Newell, produced by Hyde, Rachel Nanninaaq Edwardson, Larissa Behrendt and Newell and made in collaboration with Arrernte and Garrwa people in the Northern Territory, had its world premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto in April/May 2019.{{cite web|website=if.com.au|url=https://www.if.com.au/in-my-blood-it-runs-to-make-world-premiere-at-hot-docs/|first=Jackie|last=Keast|title='In My Blood It Runs' to make world premiere at Hot Docs|date=20 March 2019|accessdate=3 April 2019}}

=2020s=

Starting to work as an international freelance director, in 2021 Hyde directed the comedy film,{{cite web | title=Good Luck To You, Leo Grande | website=Cornerstone Films | url=https://cornerstonefilm.com/film/good-luck-to-you-leo-grande/ | access-date=14 February 2021}} starring Emma Thompson, called Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. Written by Katy Brand,{{cite web | title=Sophie Hyde to direct Emma Thompson in UK sex comedy | website=IF Magazine | date=27 October 2020 | url=https://www.if.com.au/sophie-hyde-to-direct-emma-thompson-in-uk-sex-comedy/ | access-date=14 February 2021}}{{cite web | title=Emma Thompson to Star in Sophie Hyde's 'Good Luck to You, Leo Grande' | website=Variety | date=27 October 2020 | url=https://variety.com/2020/film/global/emma-thompson-sex-comedy-good-luck-to-you-leo-grande-sophie-hyde-1234816494/ | access-date=14 February 2021}} the film was made by Genesius Pictures in the UK.{{cite web | title=Emma Thompson set to star in Sophie Hyde's new feature, Good Luck to You Leo Grande| website=Closer Productions | date=27 October 2020 | url=http://closerproductions.com.au/news/archive/202010 | access-date=14 February 2021}} This is her first film in a long time as an independent director, without Closer Productions and with her not acting as producer as well. It premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival (an online rather than in-person event because of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States) on 23 January 2022.{{cite web | title=SA director Sophie Hyde's new comedy drama to premiere at virtual Sundance| first=Penelope |last= Debelle | website=InDaily | date=18 January 2022 | url=https://indaily.com.au/inreview/film/2022/01/19/sa-director-sophie-hydes-new-comedy-drama-to-premiere-at-virtual-sundance/ | access-date=21 January 2022}}{{cite web | title=Good Luck to You, Leo Grande | website=2022 Sundance Film Festival | url=https://festival.sundance.org/program/#film-info/61ae0d6714aef7e26f1bf469 | access-date=21 January 2022}} It was released on Hulu in the US on 17 June 2022,{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2022/03/good-luck-to-you-leo-grande-not-okay-fire-island-hulu-release-dates-1234976067/|title=Searchlight's 'Fire Island', 'Good Luck To You, Leo Grande' & 'Not Okay' Get Hulu Release Dates|website=Deadline Hollywood| first=Patrick| last=Hipes| date=11 March 2022|access-date=14 April 2022}} in UK cinemas on the same date,{{cite web |last=P.| first=Maddie| url=https://collider.com/how-to-watch-good-luck-to-you-leo-grande-where-online-streaming/|title=How to Watch 'Good Luck to You, Leo Grande': Where to Stream the Sex-Comedy Movie|website=Collider|date=17 June 2022|access-date=30 July 2022}} and in Australian cinemas from 18 August 2022.{{cite interview| first=Sophie |last=Hyde| author-link=Sophie Hyde | interviewer-last=Di Rosso | interviewer-first=Jason | title=The Screen Show | website=ABC Radio National | date=11 August 2022 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/the-screen-show/sophie-hyde-brandon-perea-jordan-peele/13999666 | access-date=15 August 2022| format=Audio}}{{cite web | title=Emma Thompson stars in stripped back film Good Luck to you, Leo Grande | website=ABC Radio National | date=11 August 2022 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/emma-thompson-stars-in-stripped-back-film-good-luck-to-you-leo-g/101326390 | access-date=15 August 2022| format=Audio}}{{cite web | title=Emma Thompson Wants Women Of All Ages To Enjoy Sexual Pleasure In 'Good Luck To You, Leo Grande'' | website=Marie Claire | date=20 June 2022 | url=https://www.marieclaire.com.au/good-luck-to-you-leo-grande-where-to-watch | access-date=15 August 2022}}

In April 2022 Screen Australia announced funding for a number of projects, including Jimpa, described as "an inter-generational queer family drama", to be made by Hyde along with co-writer Matthew Cormack, producer Liam Heyen and executive producer Aud Mason-Hyde.{{cite web | title=Screen Australia announces over $1 million to develop 31 projects | website=Screen Australia | date=13 April 2022 | url=https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2022/04-13-screen-australia-announces-over-1-million | access-date=14 April 2022}} In May 2024 it was announced that Olivia Colman would be starring alongside John Lithgow in Jimpa, which is being filmed in South Australia, Amsterdam, and Helsinki.{{cite web | title=Olivia Colman and John Lithgow to star in new South Australian film Jimpa from director Sophie Hyde | website=SAFC | date=7 May 2024 | url=https://www.safilm.com.au/latest-news/olivia-colman-and-john-lithgow-to-star-in-new-south-australian-film-jimpa-from-director-sophie-hyde/ | access-date=8 May 2024}} The film also stars Hyde's child Aud Mason-Hyde, Daniel Henshall, Kate Box, Eamon Farren, Cody Fern, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, and Deborah Kennedy.{{cite web | last=Slatter | first=Sean | title=John Lithgow, Olivia Colman to put family first in Sophie Hyde's 'Jimpa' | website=IF Magazine | date=7 May 2024 | url=https://if.com.au/john-lithgow-olivia-colman-to-put-family-first-in-sophie-hydes-jimpa/ | access-date=9 May 2024}}{{cite web | last=Kornits | first=Dov | title=Sophie Hyde Embarks on Most Personal Project Yet, JIMPA | website=FilmInk | date=7 May 2024 | url=https://www.filmink.com.au/sophie-hyde-embarks-on-most-personal-project-yet-jimpa/ | access-date=9 May 2024}} Sales for the film begin at the Marché du Film (Film Market) at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.{{cite web | last=Frater | first=Patrick | title=Olivia Colman and John Lithgow Lead LGBTQ Family Heartwarmer ‘Jimpa,’ Launching at Cannes Market From CAA and Protagonist | website=Variety | date=7 May 2024 | url=https://variety.com/2024/film/news/olivia-colman-john-lithgow-jimpa-lgbtq-family-film-1235994021/ | access-date=9 May 2024}}

Hyde is slated to direct upcoming biopic An Ideal Wife, centring on the sexual awakening experienced by poet-author Constance Lloyd when she found out her husband Oscar Wilde was homosexual.{{cite web | last1=Elsa Keslassy | first1=Manori Ravindran | last2=Keslassy | first2=Elsa | last3=Ravindran | first3=Manori | title=Emilia Clarke to Play Oscar Wilde's Wife and Irish Author, Constance Lloyd, in Sophie Hyde's 'An Ideal Wife' | website=Variety | date=31 October 2022 | url=https://variety.com/2022/film/global/game-of-thrones-emilia-clarke-constance-llyod-sophie-hyde-oscar-wilde-1235417766/ | access-date=26 December 2023}}

Closer Productions

Hyde is co-founder, along with Mason, of the film production company Closer Productions, which is based in the Adelaide suburb of Glenside. Other members of the Closer team are Mason (editor, DOP, producer, director); Matthew Bate (writer, director); Rebecca Summerton (producer); Matthew Cormack (writer, sales/delivery); Raynor Pettge (visual effects, editor); and Matt Vesely (development manager, writer, director).{{cite web|website=Closer Productions| url=http://closerproductions.com.au/info|title=Info|accessdate=2 April 2019}}

Recognition and awards

A 2024 homage to her work as a filmmaker published in FilmInk's Unsung Auteurs series noted her "strong visual sense and taste for the daring and unusual", but said that her "sensitivity towards actors... really gives Sophie Hyde her directorial power", and that she is "nothing short of a national treasure".

Awards include:

Numerous nominations and awards for 52 Tuesdays{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1170520/awards|website=IMDB|title=Sophie Hyde: Awards|accessdate=9 April 2019}}
2009: Melbourne International Film Festival — Best Experimental Short Film — Winner (with Kat Worth) — Necessary Games
2012: AACTA Awards — Best Feature Length Documentary — Nominee (shared with Bryan Mason) — Life in Movement (2011)
2012: AACTA Awards — Best Feature Length Documentary — Nominee (shared with Matthew Bate) — Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure (2011)
2012: AACTA Awards — Best Direction in a Documentary — Nominee (shared with Bryan Mason) — Life in Movement (2011)
2018: Screen Producers Australia (SPA) Awards - Online Series Production of the Year – Winner (Closer Productions) – Fucking Adelaide (2017){{cite web|url=https://www.if.com.au/guesswork-television-bunya-productions-top-spa-awards/|website=IF Magazine|title=Guesswork Television, Bunya Productions top SPA Awards|first=Jackie |last=Keast|date=23 November 2018|accessdate=9 April 2019}}{{cite web | last=Knox | first=David | title=Screen Producers Awards 2018: winners | website=TV Tonight | date=23 November 2018 | url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2018/11/screen-producers-awards-2018-winners.html | access-date=24 August 2024}}

Filmography

=Film=

=As director=

Ok, Let's Talk About Me (2005) - short documentary. Producer, director.{{IMDb title|0450071|Ok, Let's Talk About Me

}}

The Road to Wallaroo (2006) - short documentary biography. Producer, director.{{IMDb title|7594232|The Road to Wallaroo}}
My Last Ten Hours with you (2007) - short drama/ romance LGBT-themed film, included in the Boys on Film DVD series (6: Pacific Rim). Director.{{cite web|url=http://closerproductions.com.au/films/my-last-ten-hours-you|website=Closer Productions|title=My Last Ten Hours with You|accessdate=2 April 2019}}
Necessary Games (2009) - short drama/fantasy. Producer, co-director (with Kat Worth).{{IMDb title|1493023|Necessary Games}}
Elephantiasis (2010) - short film. Producer, director. Winner, Best Director, World of Women Film Festival.{{IMDb title|1686677|Elephantiasis}}{{Cite web|url=http://closerproductions.com.au/films/elephantiasis|title=Elephantiasis | Closer Productions|website=closerproductions.com.au}}
Life in Movement (2011) - documentary about dancer and choreographer Tanja Liedtke. Producer/director/writer.{{IMDb title|1754128|Life in Movement}}
52 Tuesdays (2014) - drama. Producer, director, co-writer with Matthew Cormack.{{IMDb title|3100636|52 Tuesdays}}{{cite web|url=http://closerproductions.com.au/films/52-tuesdays|website=Closer Productions|title=52 Tuesdays|accessdate=2 April 2019}}
Animals (2019) - comedy/drama. Producer/director.{{IMDb title|4426738|Animals}}
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022){{IMDb title|13352968|Good Luck to You, Leo Grande}}
Jimpa (TBA){{imdb title|23745668|Jimpa}}
An Ideal Wife (TBA){{IMDb title |23142580|An Ideal Wife}}

=As producer=

Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure (2011) - documentary/comedy/drama (written and directed by Matthew Bate). Producer.{{IMDb title|1766085|Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure}}
Sam Klemke's Time Machine (2015) - feature length documentary (written and directed by Matthew Bate). Producer.{{IMDb title|4228876|Sam Klemke's Time Machine}}
My Best Friend is Stuck on the Ceiling (2015) - short comic film (written and directed by Matt Vesely). Co-producer.{{IMDb title|5020558|My Best Friend Is Stuck on the Ceiling}}{{cite web|url=http://closerproductions.com.au/films/my-best-friend-stuck-ceiling|website=Closer Productions|title=My Best Friend Is Stuck on the Ceiling|accessdate=2 April 2019}}
In My Blood It Runs (formerly Kids) (2019) - documentary (directed by Maya Newell and others). Producer.{{cite web|website=Closer Productions|title=In My Blood It Runs|url=http://closerproductions.com.au/films/my-blood-it-runs-formerly-kids|accessdate=3 April 2019}}

=Television=

Fucking Adelaide (2017) - TV comedy drama mini-series (6 short episodes) for ABC TV. Producer/director.{{cite web|url=http://closerproductions.com.au/films/fucking-adelaide|website=Closer Productions|title=Fucking Adelaide|accessdate=2 April 2019}}{{IMDb title|6420462|Fucking Adelaide}} AKA F*!#ing Adelaide and F**king Adelaide.{{cite web|website=ABC iview|url=https://iview.abc.net.au/show/f-ing-adelaide|title=F*!#ing Adelaide|accessdate=2 April 2019}}
The Hunting (2019) - four-part drama miniseries screening on SBS in August 2019. Producer/director.{{cite web|website=SBS Television|url=https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2019/01-17-asher-keddie-richard-roxburgh-the-hunting|title=Asher Keddie and Richard Roxburgh to star in new SBS drama The Hunting: Media release|date=17 January 2019|accessdate=2 April 2019}}

=Video=

Beyond Beliefs: Muslims & Non-Muslims in Australia (2007) - documentary. Producer, writer.{{IMDb title|8193048|Beyond Beliefs: Muslims & Non-Muslims in Australia}}

=Others=

Wastelander Panda (2012), a three-part webseries (executive producer);{{cite web |title=Wastelander Panda (2013) |website=Screen Australia |date=17 October 2016 |url=https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/wastelander-panda-2013/32401/ |access-date=18 October 2024}} prologue for a television series{{cite web |last=Noble |first=Kelly |title=Wastelander Panda Film Attracts Worldwide Attention |website=Glam Adelaide |date=30 January 2012 |url=https://glamadelaide.com.au/wastelander-panda-film-attracts-worldwide-attention/ |access-date=18 October 2024}}