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Hal McElroy Hal McElroy i(A65618 works by)
Born: Established: 1946 ;
Gender: Male
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BiographyHistory

Film and television producer/director, Hal McElroy left school at age 16 and initially began working in advertising. He later accepted a position as assistant/gofer with director Fred Schepisi. In 1971 he and his twin brother James set up the film production company Salt Pan Films (later McElroy and McElroy), after a number of frustrating experiences with various film companies. Their debut film was the 1974 feature The Cars that Ate Paris, directed by Peter Weir. It became the first Australian film to gain international recognition at the Cannes Film Festival. The McElroy brothers' next two films were also directed by Weir, these being the critically-acclaimed Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and The Last Wave (1977).

Hal McElroy's credits as a producer include a range of feature films, television programs and telemovies, including: Blue Fin (1978), Ratbags (1981, TV), Return to Eden (1983, TV miniseries) , Razorback (1984), Return to Eden (1986, TV series), A Dangerous Life (1988), Blue Heelers (1994-2006), The Sum of Us (1994), Water Rats (1996-1999), Dog's Head Bay (1999), Balmain Boys (2002) and Sea Patrol (2008).

McElroy is also credited with writing episodes for Murder Call (2000), Water Rats, Blue Heelers and Sea Patrol. His credits as an assistant director include: Flashpoint (1972), Alvin Purple (1973), The Man from Hong Kong (1975), The Great McCarthy (1975) and Caddie (1976).

The McElroy brothers dissolved McElroy and McElroy in March 1992, with Hal focusing his attention on television production (James McElroy turned primarily to feature film production). Soon afterwards, Hal established Southern Star McElroy, an independent subsidiary division of Southern Star Entertainment. McElroy left Southern Star in 1997 and founded McElroy Television in April the following year. In 1999 McElroy's parent company Eden Productions Pty Ltd sued Southern Star Entertainment for AUS$10.5 million over alleged non-payment of royalties from Blue Heelers and Water Rats. Southern Star subsequently mounted its own lawsuit against McElroy's company for $140,000 it claimed was owed by Eden.

McElroy Television was rebranded McElroy All Media in early 2005, with its operations overseen by Chief Executive Officer Di McElroy.

Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • See: Centre for Screen Business - Australian Film, Television and Radio School website for Interview with Hal McElroy. http://www.aftrsmedia.com/CSB/?p=191 (Sighted: 15/03/2010)

Awards for Works

form y separately published work icon Blue Heelers ( dir. Mark Callan et. al. )agent 1994 Sydney Australia : Hal McElroy Southern Star Seven Network , 1994-2006 Z1367353 1994 series - publisher film/TV crime

A character-based television drama series about the lives of police officers in the fictitious Australian country town of Mt Thomas, this series began with the arrival of Constable Maggie Doyle (Lisa McCune) to the Mt Thomas station in the episode 'A Woman's Place'. Doyle and avuncular station boss Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon (John Wood) were the core characters of the series until the departure of Lisa McCune.

Immensely popular for a decade, Blue Heelers was cancelled in 2006 after thirteen seasons. The announcement was front-page news in Australia's major newspapers including The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney's Daily Telegraph, The Herald Sun and The Age in Melbourne, and Brisbane's Courier Mail.

On June 8, 2006 Ross Warneke wrote in The Age:

'It's over and, to be perfectly blunt, there's no use lamenting the demise of Blue Heelers any more. When the final movie-length episode aired on Channel Seven on Sunday night, 1.5 million Australians tuned in, a figure that was big enough to give the show a win in its timeslot but nowhere near big enough to pay the sort of tribute that this writer believes Heelers deserved after more than 500 episodes.It is unlikely there will be anything like it again. At almost $500,000 an hour, shows such as Blue Heelers are quickly becoming the dinosaurs of Australian TV.'

1998 winner Logie Awards Most Popular Series
1997 winner Logie Awards Most Popular Series
1999 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series

Known archival holdings

National Film and Sound Archive (aka ScreenSound Australia) (ACT)
Last amended 17 Apr 2012 12:36:30
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