Craig Anderson (actor)

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Craig Anderson
Born (1978-11-01) 1 November 1978 (age 45)
Alma mater University of Western Sydney
Occupation(s)Director, Actor, Producer

Craig Anderson is an Australian director, producer and actor best known for his comedic turns in the Australian television series' Double the Fist , Review with Myles Barlow , Laid , and award-winning short films Life in a Datsun, Demon Datsun, and Life in a Volkswagen. He directed the horror feature film Red Christmas.

Contents

Anderson is a physical media enthusiast and notably has an VHS collection with over 8500 tapes.

Early life

Anderson grew up in St Clair, New South Wales, a suburb of Western Sydney. [1]

Anderson has a First Class Honors in Performance and Theory from the University of Western Sydney. [2]

Career

Anderson first gained success as a filmmaker in 1999, when he collaborated with university friend Brian Moses to create the short film Life in a Datsun. The short was screened at the Tropfest and St Kilda Film Festival [3] to great acclaim. In 2000, they followed it up with Life in a Volkswagen.

The success of Anderson's short films with Moses lead to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation commissioning their late night TV series Double the Fist. The show is a satire of lifestyle television and features the characters pursuing the "most extreme lifestyle choices they can make". [4] Anderson was frustrated with representation on Australian television and wanted the show to be "lower-class people having cool fantasies and action adventures". [5] In a shock upset, the series beat Kath & Kim to win the 2004 Australian Film Institute award for best comedy series. [6] The series returned for a second season in 2008.

In 2008, Anderson also featured in three episodes of the ABC TV show Review With Myles Barlow. Anderson served as associate producer and first assistant director on the series [7]

In 2013, Anderson was the subject of a six-part Observational Documentary series Next Stop Hollywood , which followed him around Hollywood during pilot season. [8] In 2014, he shared directing duties on Australia's first Indigenous sketch Comedy series Black Comedy . Anderson and fellow director Bec Cole won the AACTA award for Best Direction in TV Light Entertainment or Reality Series for the series. [9]

Between directing television projects, in 2016, Anderson directed his first feature film, Red Christmas. The film was inspired by Tony Kaye's exploration of abortion in Lake of Fire. [10] Gary Doust's documentary Horror Movie: A Low Budget Nightmare depicts Anderson's journey creating the film. [11]

In 2023, Anderson started an analytical film podcast called Film Versus Film with Bruce and Herschel Isaacs from The University of Sydney. The hosts compare two wildly different films each episode, in an effort to understand cinematic trends and what defines iconic films. The first season also features a series of reflections on what media influenced them growing up in Western Sydney working-class families during the late 80s and early 90s.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleType
1999 Life in a Datsun CraigShort film
2000 Life in a Volkswagen Short film
2000 Bootmen Huey's MateFeature film
2010 Miscast Slacker Director 2Short film
2012SparkleShort film
2012SparkleShort film
2013The TenantThe TenantShort film
2015 Damsel JohnFilm
2016The Tail JobTrevorFeature film
2016 Tay Man Paul Tropfest short film
2016Baby Planet JuiceShort film
2016Hitnan PervertHitnanShort film
2017Horror Movie: A Low Budget NightmareDocumentary film (the making of Red Christmas )
2027SpellShort film
2018Huff to HuffShort film

Television

YearTitleRoleType
2000 Video Dare TV series
2004–08 Double the Fist Steve FoxxTV series, 16 episodes
2008Downtown RumbleMasterTV series
2008–10 Review with Myles Barlow Graham / Customer / ClownTV series, 5 episodes
2010 Charity Hurts CopVideo
2011 Laid RussTV series, 1 episode
2011 Bernie Web series
2011 Late Night Angel Weenie Baby Web series
2011 Dating Emergency 101 GregWeb series
2012Office CorrectnessGregVideo
2012 A Moody Christmas CounsellorTV miniseries, 1 episode
2013 Next Stop Hollywood HimselfDocumentary TV series
2013 The Elegant Gentleman's Guide to Knife Fighting Various charactersTV miniseries, 6 episodes
2014 The Moodys DeanTV miniseries, 1 episode
2014 Black Comedy Guest castTV series, 2 episodes
2015Alt TabVoiceVideo
2015Dirty BirdCopTV series, 1 episode
2015 Maximum Choppage Policeman PhilTV series, 1 episode
2015 Miso Hungry Documentary
2017 The Lost Tapes BabaTV miniseries
2017Jays of Our LivesSecurity GuardTV series, 1 episode
2017Tiger CopsSuperintendent AndersonTV series, 1 episode
2018 Sando Another VicTV miniseries, 1 episode
2018Nippers of Dead Bird BayTurtle PoacherTV series, 2 episodes
2018 Fresh Blood: Pilot Season LouTV series, 1 episode
2021 The Moth Effect Bartender / Miffed Bekchman / Fan / BenchmanTV miniseries, 3 episodes
2025WesternersSleeping UncleTV series, 1 episode

As director

Film

YearTitleType
1999Life in a DatsunShort film
2000Life in a VolkswagenShort film
2016 Red Christmas Feature film

Television

YearTitleType
2004–08 Double the Fist TV series
2014 Black Comedy TV series
2015 How Not to Behave TV series
2021 The Moth Effect TV miniseries
2021History Bites BackDocumentary TV series
2023 We Interrupt This Broadcast TV series

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References

  1. Casts, Pocket. "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Versus Parasite (2019) - Film Versus Film". Pocket Casts.
  2. "Next Stop Hollywood - Characters - ABC TV". www.abc.net.au.
  3. "AWARDS". bryanmoses.
  4. "Double the Fist". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 May 2004.
  5. Reviewer, Paul Kalina (21 August 2008). "Double the Fist". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  6. Coleman, Kerry (11 August 2008). "Back with a vengeance". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  7. "Review with Myles Barlow", imdb.com; retrieved 27 October 2017.
  8. "Chasing a dream in La La Land". 26 December 2012.
  9. "First AACTA Award winners revealed". IF Magazine. 27 January 2016.
  10. Windsor, Harry (15 June 2016). "Craig Anderson on directing E.T.'s Dee Wallace in debut slasher Red Christmas".
  11. https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/horror-movie-low-budget-nightmare "National Film and Sound Archive of Australia "