George Miller (filmmaker)

George Miller (born 3 March 1945) is an Australian filmmaker whose career has stretched across more than forty years. He is best known for creating and directing every film in the *Mad Max* series, which began in 1979. Two of those entries are ranked by Metacritic as among the greatest action films ever made. Miller has won an Academy Award from six nominations spread across five different categories. Miller started directing in Australia with the first three *Mad Max* films, made between 1979 and 1985 alongside his friend and producing partner Byron Kennedy. He then moved to Hollywood to direct *The Witches of Eastwick* (1987). His family drama *Lorenzo's Oil* (1992) earned his first Academy Award nomination. He later produced and co-wrote *Babe* (1995) and directed its sequel *Babe: Pig in the City* (1998). Miller ventured into animation with *Happy Feet* (2006), which won him the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and its sequel *Happy Feet Two* (2011). He returned to the *Mad Max* franchise with the widely praised *Mad Max: Fury Road* (2015), which won six Academy Awards, and *Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga* (2024). Miller trained in medicine at the University of New South Wales and worked as a physician for several years before entering film. Together with Kennedy, he founded the production company Kennedy Miller Mitchell. After Kennedy died in 1983, Miller’s main producers became his younger brother Bill Miller and Doug Mitchell. His other honors include a British Academy Film Award, a Critics Choice Award, a Golden Globe Award, and six Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards. **Early life and education**

Miller was born on 3 March 1945 in Chinchilla, Queensland, to Greek immigrant parents Jim and Angela Miller. Jim (born Dimitrios) came from the Greek island of Kythira near Mitata. His father anglicised the family surname from Miliotis to Miller when he emigrated to Australia in 1920. Angela’s family were Greek refugees from Anatolia, displaced by the 1923 population exchange. Miller attended Ipswich Grammar School and later Sydney Boys High School, then studied medicine at the University of New South Wales alongside his twin brother John. In his final year of medical school (1971), he and his younger brother Chris made a one-minute short film, *St. Vincent's Revue Film*, which won first prize in a student competition. In 1971, Miller attended a film workshop at Melbourne University, where he met fellow student Byron Kennedy. The two formed a lasting friendship and production partnership that continued until Kennedy’s death. In 1972, Miller completed his residency at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital, spending his free time crewing on short experimental films. That same year, he and Kennedy founded Kennedy Miller Productions. After Kennedy died in 1983, Miller kept his name in the company, which was later renamed Kennedy Miller Mitchell in 2009 to recognize producer Doug Mitchell’s role. **Career**

**1971–1985: Ozploitation and *Mad Max* trilogy**

Miller’s first work, the short film *Violence in Cinema: Part 1* (1971), divided critics, audiences, and distributors so sharply that it was placed in the documentary category at the 1972 Sydney Film Festival because of its matter-of-fact depiction of cinematic violence. In 1979, Miller made his feature-length directorial debut with *Mad Max*. Based on a script he wrote with James McCausland in 1975, the film was independently financed by Kennedy Miller Productions and became an international success. It launched the *Mad Max* series, which continued with two sequels starring Mel Gibson: *Mad Max 2* (also released as *The Road Warrior*, 1981) and *Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome* (1985). Between the second and third *Mad Max* films, Miller directed a remake of “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” as a segment for the anthology film *Twilight Zone: The Movie* (1983). Although he was not involved in or present for the infamous helicopter crash that occurred during production, the event shook him and led him to re-evaluate stunt work in his future films. He also co-produced and co-directed several acclaimed miniseries for Australian television, including *The Dismissal* (1983) and *The Cowra Breakout* (1984). **1987–1995: Established director**

In 1987, Miller directed *The Witches of Eastwick*, starring Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon, Cher, and Michelle Pfeiffer. The film proved difficult for Miller. He later said, “I quit the film twice and Jack [Nicholson] held me in there. He said, ‘Just sit down, lose your emotion, and have a look at the work. If you think the work is good, stick with the film.’ And he was a great man. I learnt more from him than anybody else I’ve worked with—he was extraordinary.” Nicholson also coached Miller to exaggerate his needs during production, asking for 300 extras when he only needed 150, knowing that producers would give him less. Production designer Polly Platt worked closely with Miller on the film. Cher later said that the day after her 40th birthday, Miller called her at home to tell her that he and Nicholson did not want her in the film because she was deemed “too old and not sexy.”

After *The Witches of Eastwick*, Miller focused mainly on producing Australian projects. His work as producer of *Flirting*, *Dead Calm*, and the TV miniseries *Bangkok Hilton* and *Vietnam*—all starring Nicole Kidman—helped advance her career. Miller returned to directing with the biographical medical drama *Lorenzo's Oil* (1992), which he co-wrote with Nick Enright.