Duncan Sarkies

Last updated

Duncan Sarkies
RSNZ honours 2024 Wellington-106753 (cropped) Duncan Sarkies.jpg
BornNew Zealand
Medium Stand-up, screenwriter, playwright, novelist
NationalityNew Zealand
Notable works and roles Two Little Boys (novel)
Two Little Boys (film)

Duncan Sarkies is a New Zealand screenwriter, playwright, stand-up comic, and novelist. He is best known for having co-written the script of Scarfies with his brother Robert Sarkies, who directed the film.

Contents

Early life and education

Duncan Sarkies grew up in the South Island city of Dunedin.[ citation needed ]

He is the brother of film director and screenwriter Robert Sarkies. [1]

Career

Sarkies' is known for his creation of "eccentric plots and darkly comic portrayals of 'the outsider' and the disturbed". [1]

He co-wrote, with his brother Robert, the script for Scarfies , a black comedy-crime thriller released in 1999. [1]

He also wrote New Fans , the tenth episode of the comedy series Flight of the Conchords . [1]

Sarkies debut novel, Two Little Boys was published in March 2008, and was made into a film of the same name, released in 2012. [2] [3]

In 2013 he published another novel, Demolition of the Century. [1]

Sarkies took the part of Declan the Werewolf in Taika Waititi's 2014 film What We Do in the Shadows . [4] Also in 2014, he was script editor on the 2014 ABC Television (Australia) series Soul Mates . [4] He contributed to the writing of four episodes of Maximum Choppage , which aired on the ABC in 2015. [4]

He directed, wrote, and co-created the 12-episode fantasy podcast series The Mysterious Secrets of Uncle Berties Botanarium, released in 2016 through Howl. [1]

He has been a contributor to the American TV series, What We Do in the Shadows since 2019. [4]

Sarkies assisted with story development for the documentary Wilbur: The King in the Ring, Julia Parnell's feature film that premiered at Doc Edge in 2017, after starting life as a short film in 2015 for Loading Docs. [4]

Other activities

As part of the 2022 Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, Duncan hosted a series of online talks with New Zealand writers Pip Adam, Kirsten McDougall, and Rose Lu. [1]

Recognition and awards

Sarkies' work has been praised by critics for its originality. [1]

His awards and fellowships include:

Personal life

As of 2022 Sarkies was living in Wellington. [1]

Selected works

Plays

*Published in Eleven Young Playwrights (1994)

Podcasts

Novels

Star Gazers (2025)


Films

Television

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 "Duncan Sarkies". Academy of New Zealand Literature. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  2. Two Little Boys Archived 29 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine , Southland Institute of Technology.
  3. Two Little Boys. Duncan Sarkies website, 2008.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Duncan Sarkies". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  5. "Bruce Mason Playwriting Award". teara.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2020.