Mark Lewis (filmmaker)

Last updated

Mark Lewis
OccupationDocumentary filmmaker
Years active1979–2010
Works Cane Toads: An Unnatural History
Parent(s)
FamilyJon Lewis  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Website http://mlrp.net/   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Mark Lewis is an Australian documentary film and television producer, director and writer. [1] He is famous for his film Cane Toads: An Unnatural History and for his body of work on animals. [2] Unlike many other producers of nature films, his films do not attempt to document the animals in question or their behaviors but rather the complex relationships between people and society and the animals they interact with. [3]

Contents

His films have earned him many awards, including a British Academy Award nomination, a nomination from the Directors Guild of America, two Emmy's for Outstanding Direction in documentary film, and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Science Program on American Television.[ citation needed ]

As a student, Lewis helped planning Philippe Petit's famous 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. He talks about his involvement in the acclaimed documentary Man on Wire (2008).[ citation needed ]

Filmography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cane toad</span> Worlds largest true toad

The cane toad, also known as the giant neotropical toad or marine toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad native to South and mainland Central America, but which has been introduced to various islands throughout Oceania and the Caribbean, as well as Northern Australia. It is a member of the genus Rhinella, which includes many true toad species found throughout Central and South America, but it was formerly assigned to the genus Bufo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breed standard</span> Written description of what a breed should look like

In animal husbandry or animal fancy, a breed standard is a description of the characteristics of a hypothetical or ideal example of a breed. The description may include physical or morphological detail, genetic criteria, or criteria of athletic or productive performance. It may also describe faults or deficiencies that would disqualify an animal from registration or from reproduction. The hypothetical ideal example may be called a "breed type".

<i>Flushed Away</i> 2006 animated adventure comedy film

Flushed Away is a 2006 animated adventure comedy film directed by Sam Fell and David Bowers, produced by Cecil Kramer, David Sproxton, and Peter Lord, and written by Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Chris Lloyd, Joe Keenan and Will Davies. It was the third and final DreamWorks Animation film co-produced with Aardman Features following Chicken Run (2000) and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), and was the first Aardman project mostly made in CGI animation as opposed to starting with their usual stop-motion – this was because using water on plasticine models could damage them, and it was complex to render the effect in another way. The film stars the voices of Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen, Shane Richie, Bill Nighy, Andy Serkis and Jean Reno. In the film, a pampered fancy rat named Roddy St. James (Jackman) is flushed down the toilet in his Kensington apartment by a sewer rat named Sid (Richie), and befriends a scavenger named Rita Malone (Winslet) in order to get back home while evading a sinister toad (McKellen) and his hench-rats.

<i>Gordy</i> 1994 American film

Gordy is a 1994 American family comedy-drama film directed by Mark Lewis, about a livestock piglet named Gordy who searches for his missing family. He experiences the lives of others who are part of the film's side plots, including traveling country music singers Luke McAllister and his daughter, Jinnie Sue; and lonely boy Hanky Royce whose mother, Jessica, is engaged to a sinister businessman named Gilbert Sipes. Gordy changes lives for the people he encounters due to their ability to understand him. The film was distributed by Miramax Films under their Miramax Family Films imprint.

<i>Cane Toads: An Unnatural History</i> 1988 Australian film

Cane Toads: An Unnatural History is a 1988 documentary film about the introduction of cane toads to Australia. Cane toads were introduced to Australia with the aim of controlling a sugar cane pest, the cane beetle, but they over-multiplied and became a serious problem in the Australian ecosystem. It is often humorous, and is used in high schools and colleges as a complement to curricula in biology, ecology, environmental science, anthropology, geography, and communication. It was filmed in Cairns and Gordonvale in Queensland.

<i>The Wind in the Willows</i> (1996 film) 1996 British film by Terry Jones

The Wind in the Willows is a 1996 British adventure comedy film based on Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows, adapted and directed by Terry Jones, and produced by Jake Eberts and John Goldstone. The film stars Terry Jones, Steve Coogan, Eric Idle and Nicol Williamson. While positively regarded, it was a box office bomb and had distribution problems in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animals in sport</span> Sports that involve use of animals

Animals in sport are a specific form of working animals. Many animals, at least in more commercial sports, are highly trained. Two of the most common animals in sport are horses and dogs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genesis Awards</span>

The Genesis Awards are awarded annually by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to individuals in the major news and entertainment media for producing outstanding works which raise public awareness of animal issues. Presented by the HSUS Hollywood Outreach program, the awards show takes place every March in California. The awards have honored such well-known personalities as Michael Jackson, Aaron Sorkin, Anderson Cooper, Peter Gabriel, Ellen DeGeneres, Jane Goodall, David E. Kelley, Paul McCartney, Arthur Miller, Stephen Colbert, Oprah Winfrey, Prince, Jacques Cousteau and Ian Somerhalder, as well as journalists, film and documentary writers and producers, print and broadcast news outlets in the United States.

The cane toad in Australia is regarded as an exemplary case of an invasive species. Australia's relative isolation prior to European colonisation and the industrial revolution, both of which dramatically increased traffic and import of novel species, allowed development of a complex, interdepending system of ecology, but one which provided no natural predators for many of the species subsequently introduced. The recent, sudden inundation of foreign species has led to severe breakdowns in Australian ecology, after overwhelming proliferation of a number of introduced species, for which the continent has no efficient natural predators or parasites, and which displace native species; in some cases, these species are physically destructive to habitat, as well. Cane toads have been very successful as an invasive species, having become established in more than 15 countries within the past 150 years. In the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, the Australian government listed the impacts of the cane toad as a "key threatening process".

<i>Nature</i> (TV program) American TV series or program

Nature is a wildlife television program produced by Thirteen/WNET New York. It has been distributed to United States public television stations by the PBS television service since its debut on October 10, 1982. Some episodes may appear in syndication on many PBS member stations around the United States and Canada, and on the Discovery Channel. This series currently airs on Wednesday on PBS.

<i>The Standard of Perfection: Show Cats</i> American TV series or program

The Standard of Perfection: Show Cats is a 2006 American documentary television film directed by Mark Lewis about the lives of show cats and their owners.

Cane toads may refer to:

James FrazierACS was an Australian inventor, naturalist and cinematographer who invented the Frazier lens. He won many Australian and international awards for his work, including an Academy Award for Technical Achievement and an Emmy Award. He is known for filming documentaries for David Attenborough together with his long-time collaborator Australian naturalist, photographer and writer Densey Clyne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Evitts</span> American musician

Mark Steven Evitts is an American composer, producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Evitts has worked with such artists as Nas, Hit-Boy, G Herbo, Cheat Codes (DJs), Train, Blues Traveler, Jewel, Rodney Atkins, The Band Perry, Secondhand Serenade, Katharine McPhee, Drew Seeley, Jaida Dreyer, We The Kings, among many others.

<i>Cane Toads: The Conquest</i> 2010 documentary film by Mark Lewis

Cane Toads: The Conquest, a 2010 documentary film by Mark Lewis, tracks the inexorable decades long march of the invasive cane toad across Australia, a "sequel of sorts" to his 1988 cult classic, Cane Toads: An Unnatural History. It is described as an "irreverent" blend of "history, nature footage, re-enactments and colorful testimony," documenting what is widely considered to be one of Australia's biggest environmental disasters through its effect on people. It was filmed in 3D.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">21st International Emmy Awards</span>

The 21st annual International Emmy Awards took place on November 22, 1993 in New York City. The award ceremony, presented by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (IATAS), honors all programming produced and originally aired outside the United States.

<i>Animals</i> (American TV series) American animated television series

Animals is an American adult animated comedy television series created by Phil Matarese and Mike Luciano. The first two episodes were independently produced and presented at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015. In May 2015, HBO picked the series up with a two-season order, which premiered on February 5, 2016. The series was renewed for a third season on May 19, 2017. Season 3 premiered on August 3, 2018. In October 2018, it was announced that HBO had canceled the series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Drummond</span>

Matthew Simon Drummond is an Australian film director, screenwriter and visual effects supervisor.

Ben McNeill is an Australian film producer of feature and documentary films, including the 2023 Australian comedy drama film A Savage Christmas, which was nominated for Best Indie Film at the 13th annual AACTA Awards. In 2018, he co-produced organ transplant feature documentary Dying to Live (2018), which follows those awaiting an organ on the organ transplant list, and which was shortlisted for a 2018 AACTA Award.

References

  1. Mark Lewis. Screen Australia.
  2. Poole, Mark. (February 2008). Mark Lewis: Cane Toads . (Victoria, Australia).
  3. Maddox, Garry. (15 October 2008). Hanging loose with a high and mighty master. Sydney Morning Herald .
  4. Cane Toads: The Conquest . 2010. IMDb
  5. The Pursuit of Excellence. 2007. IMDb
  6. The Floating Brothel. 2006. IMDb
  7. Show Cats. 2006. IMDb
  8. Show Cattle. 2006. IMDb
  9. The Natural History of the Chicken. 2000. IMDb
  10. Animalicious. 1999. IMDb
  11. Rat. 1998. IMDb
  12. Walter V. Addiego (12 May 1995). "Arkansas piglet in heartland hokum" . Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  13. Rita Kempley (12 May 1995). "'Gordy'" . Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  14. The Wonderful World of Dogs. 1990. IMDb
  15. Round the Twist . 1989. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103529/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_10 IMDb]
  16. Cane Toads: An Unnatural History . 1988. IMDb