Peter Andrikidis

Peter Andrikidis was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in the 2001 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to Australian society and Australian film production Peter Andrikidis graduated from AFTRS (Film Direction) in 1981 as one of the youngest graduate students. He was immediately recruited to Crawford Productions where he went on to direct numerous dramas productions culminating in producing a series of 'Flying Doctors' (RFDS). Peter believes his real 'coming of age' was on the ABC drama 'G.P.' which he also became Producer. "I developed a deep understanding of story and script, shaping screenplays with the talented writers on 'G.P.'. Operating at the ABC was a wonderful creative process which was encouraged by Drama Heads Penny Chapman and Sue Masters." 'Wildside', the groundbreaking drama series, is Peter's greatest directing achievement, he thinks. "I was finally directing a drama where understated improvised performances (which I tried to attain my entire career) were finally achieved. A long relationship with actors Tony Martin and Rachel Blake was also establish for me on this series." Two episodes, which Peter directed, won a total of eight AFI's including Best Direction. He then went on to direct the entire ABC series 'Grass Roots' written by Geoffrey Atherden. This series went on to win seven AFI's over two seasons including Best Direction. It also won a New York Festival Award. In 2001 he directed the telemovie 'My Husband, My Killer' with Colin Friels and David Field, which also won numerous awards and his third AFI for Best Direction. "I loved working with Colin and David and would cast them in a flash". This film was the first for Screentime and would form the foundation for a great creative relationship with writer Greg Haddrick and Executive Producer Des Monaghan. In 2002/3 'Heroes' Mountain' (drama telemovie about the Thredbo Rescue) and 'Jessica' (mini-series with Sam Neill) each won a Silver Hugo for Best Direction and a Gold/Silver Plaque for Best Drama at the Chicago International Television Awards. Sam Neill also won a Silver Logie along with the 'Jessica' production for Best mini-series. This formed another great working relationship with long-time Producer Tony Buckley ('Heroes' Mountain' and 'Jessica'). Tony Buckley says 'Peter has a reputation for getting excellent performances from actors and bringing exciting visual flair to each production he undertakes.' In 2004/5 Peter directed five telemovies of 'BlackJack' for the Ten, which again won numerous awards including best direction twice in Chicago. 2006 saw Peter direct the $15 million dollar co-production with the Granada - ITV, Screentime and Power-TV 'The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant' with Romola Garai, Alex O'Loughlin Jack Davenport and Sam Neill. This screened to eight million viewers in the UK. It won an AFI, a Logie, and a New York Festival Award for Best TV Mini-series and a Silver Plaque for Best Direction at the Chicago Awards. In April 2006 he was voted one of the Top Ten Directors in Encore Magazine 'Celebration of the Industry's Finest'. The list included Baz Luhrmann, Gillian Armstrong, Phillip Noyce and Rolf De Heer. In 2007 he directed the SBS mini-series 'East West 101'. A drama about what it means to be Muslim in Australia after September 11, 2001. The cast includes Don Hany, William McInnes and Susie Porter. In that year he also directed the groundbreaking mini-series 'Underbelly' that not only received critical acclaim and seven AFI Awards (Best Direction-Peter Andrikidis) it also blitzed the ratings for the Nine Network in Australia. In 2008 Peter directed the telemovie 'The Informant' with William McInnes and Colin Friels for Ten and Screentime and directed and produced the UK-TV, Power-TV and Screentime mini-series 'False Witness'. The cast includes Dougray Scott, Claire Florlani, Rachael Blake and Richard Roxburgh. 'False Witness' won the AFI for best min-series. In 2009 Peter directed another season of 'East West 101' which won three AFI's including best direction. He directed a feature film for cinema release 'Kings of Mykonos' for Paramount, which was the third highest-grossing film in Australia and the number one highest-grossing film in Greece. In 2010 he directed a mini-series 'Killing Time' with David Wenham, Colin Friels and Diana Glenn for Fremantle International. Also the final season of 'East West 101' which won rave reviews. The following year he directed the telemovie 'Blood Brothers' with Lisa McCune, Tony Martin and Michael Dorman and the ABC series 'The Straits' with New York based actor Brian Cox (Bourne Supremacy). In 2012 Peter finished directing all episodes of the 6 part series 'Brothers in Arms' that was about the psychology behind the eruption of violence between two Sydney bikie gangs. Actors included Matt Nable, Cal Mulvey, Susie Porter, Tony Hayes and Maeve Dermody. Also in 2012 Peter is directed 'Serangoon Road' for HBO with Joan Chen, Don Hany and Maeve Dermody filmed entirely in Singapore and Indonesia. He also directed 'Janet King' for the ABC and Fat Tony and Co' which was shot in Athens Greece in 2013. In 2014 he directed the mini-series 'Catching Milat' for Shine Australia. 'Alex and Eve' a comedy feature film about a Greek Orthodox boy falling for a Lebanese Muslim girl and their families disagree with their union is in current cinema release and screening at Cannes and US Film Festivals. In 2016 Peter was set-up director on the new action drama series 'Hyde and Seek' for Matchbox and Nine Network. And in 2017 he was the set-up director on the next 'Janet King' and the new medical drama for ABC 'Pulse'. In 2018-he directed/produced the two part mini-series 'UB Chopper'. Peter just directed 'Reckoning' for Sony Pictures USA with Aden Yong and Sam Trammell. He also directed 'Harrow' with Ionan Gruffudd and 'Reef Break' with Poppy Montgomery for the ABC/ ABC Disney. In 2019/20 Peter produced/directed the series 'Monkey' (Season 2) for See/Saw and Netflix and the miniseries 'Eden' for STAN/Everycloud and Ballon UK. This year Peter produced/directed the mini-series 'Bali 2002' for STAN with Richard Roxburgh, Rachel Griffiths, Claudia Jessie and Sri Ayu Jati Kartika (which has received rave reviews) it will also screen on ITV (UK). His latest compelling drama mini-series 'The Claremont Murders' was the highest rating drama for the Seven Network. Peter's direction has won many awards for his actors, and many have moved to the US screens such as Simon Baker, Alex O'Loughlin, Abbie Cornish, Martin Csokas, Frances O'Connor and Ben Mendelsohn and Michael Dorman. He has also directed many seasoned actors such as Brian Cox, Sam Neil, Dougray Scott, Owen Teale, Claire Forlani, Romola Garai, Jack Davenport, Joan Chen, Richard Roxburgh, Colin Friels, Robert Taylor, Aden Yong and David Wenham. "I love directing with a passion and I thank God that I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to fulfill my dream and make a successful career of it."