John Hipwell (producer)

John Hipwell is an independent film producer. John was born on January 13, 1953 in Melbourne, Australia. He is not to be confused with John Hipwell, the rugby player and his father John Buckland Hipwell, who was an architect. He studied Film & TV at Swinburne Film & TV College (Later to become Victorian College of the Arts VCA) and soon after established HIPS, a film/video and new media production/distribution company. John has worked on many Australian feature films, including ‘Alvin Purple’ and ‘Mad Max’. John’s independently owned production company, HIPS – Hipwell International Production Services, has supplemented and complemented his creative and technical skills with script and concept development, TVC’s, music videos, DVD’s, streaming video, interactive CD’s and educational, corporate, induction and business communications. He has successfully delivered scores of short films for major public and private corporations including Hertz, Motorola, Mobil and Energy Victoria. John has also held various academic positions and is included in many publications and broadcasts. He has been an active Arts and Recreation Training Victoria board member and is currently concentrating his creative and technical talents on producing feature films and directing “new media” documentaries, vis-aurals and art works.

Feature Films

His first professional job was in 1972 when John was the runner, soon to be promoted to 3rd Assistant Director for the movie ‘Alvin Purple’, with Tim Burstall the director/producer. Throughout the years 1976, '77 and '78, he was a 3rd Assistant Director to four other movies, ‘End Play’, which won an AFI Award for Best Achievement in Editing, ‘Eliza Fraser’, which was nominated for the AFI Award for Best Actor in a Lead Role, ‘The Getting of Wisdom’, which won an AFI Award for Best Screenplay Adapted and was nominated for four other AFI awards, and ‘The Mango Tree’. In 1978, he was a Unit Manager for the movie, ‘Mad Max', which won four AFI awards and was nominated for four others, one including ‘Best Director’, and in 1978 and 1979, he was a 2nd Assistant Director for the movies ‘Snapshot’ and ‘Thirst’. Up until 2009, Hipwell was involved in another eleven feature films, which were all very successful. Films included, ‘Lady Stay Dead’, ‘Devil In The Flesh’, ‘Two Brothers Running’, ‘Girl’, ‘Point Of No Return’, ‘The Caterpillar Wish’ and ‘Arctic Blast’, where he was Co-Executive Producer.

Documentaries & Business Communications

Since 1976, John was a producer/director of over a hundred different documentaries and educational films. He has been involved in documentaries for the Australian government, Victoria government, children’s TV, HERTZ, Mobil, Gas & Fuel companies, Motorola and many others. Documentaries include, ‘Where The Action Is (1985)’, ‘The Sun, Energy and Us (1986)’, ‘Going Japanese (1987)’, ‘First Tuesday in November (1988), ‘Robinhood Range Hoods (1992)’, ‘Hertz Koala (1996)’, ‘Melbourne Art Fair 2002 (2002)’ and ‘Trio: Andrew Sibley (2003)’. Other documentaries include, ‘Alice Through the Lift Door (1976), ‘The Full Circle’, ‘Ikara (1980) and ‘The Hedgehog and the Fox (1981),

Commercials, TV & Cinema

John has produced, written and directed twenty one cinema commercials, and directed and produced a variety of television commercials, either freelance or while employed with various Melbourne film/video production companies. The most recent (Royal Stag) was with Razorblade Productions India in 2011.

TV Series, ABC & CP (Crawford Productions)

Between 1973 and 1974, John was the 2nd and 1st Assistant Director for the TV Series ‘Matlock Police’, which won a Logie for Best New Drama Series and a Penguin Award for Best Actor (Michael Pate). In 1974, John was the 1st Assistant Director for the series ‘Division 4’, another Australian police drama. In 2005, John was the producer and director of the series, ‘The Making Of Dusty’.

Rock Video Clips

1986 was a rock year for John. He produced three different music videos for rock bands Uncanny X-Men and Kids In The Kitchen. For Uncanny X-Men, he produced the video for the song ‘I Am’ and for Kids In The Kitchen, he produced music videos for the songs, ‘Out Of Control’ and ‘Current Stand’.

Melbourne Theatre Company

John’s work also included theatre work. In 1976, he was the Assistant Stage Manager for three different plays; ‘Shindig’, ‘The Freeway’ and ‘Much Ado AbOUT Nothing'.

Academic & Industry Appointments

From 1980, John has supervised numerous internship students. These people include Australian students who came from universities such as Deakin, RMIT, Melbourne Uni, Monash and various secondary schools. He also supervised student internships coming from countries such as Germany, Netherlands and India. In 1996, he was part of the judging panel for the Deputy Visual Communications “Short Film Forum” for the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). And in 1990, he was a guest lecturer for the “Acting workshop & production” of John Smallbone Productions. John has also been a pre selected Jury Member for many years (1991, 1992, 2004 & 2006), for the AFI Film Festival and AFI Film Awards. In 2005, 2006 and 2009, John was on the judging panel for the International Emmy Awards.

Publications, Broadcasts, Festivals, Collections & Awards

John has been a part of many different publications, radio broadcasts and film festivals. In 1987, he was interviewed by Eleanor McKena, from Radio Port Phillip. In 1997, he was part of the David Armstrong Live, Optus Vision interview. In addition, in 2007, he was part of the Warrandyte Film Festival, to name a few.

Boards & Societies

From 1973 and 2002, he was a member of the Media & Entertainment Arts Alliance (MEAA)). In 1995, he was the Deputy Chairperson for the Arts Recreation Training Victoria (VERVE) and in 1996; he was the Acting Chairperson for the same board. From 2000, he was a member of the Australian Cinematographer Society (ACS)). From 1978, he was a “Pioneer” Member of the Australian Film Institute (AFI) and from 2008 and 2011, he was a board member for the Open Channel.

Qualifications

John studied at Swinburne Institute of Technology for two years and for further training, he went to the Australian Film, TV and Radio School (AFTRS)), attended Screen Producers Australia Association (SPAA)), Open Channel and Industry short courses, seminars and tutorials.

Personal life

John is married to artist, Rachel Rovay and they have one son, Oren Hipwell.

Filmography: Feature Films