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Michael Jenkins Michael Jenkins i(A5632 works by)
Born: Established: 1946 ; Died: Ceased: 4 Mar 2024
Gender: Male
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BiographyHistory

Film and television director/writer.

Michael Jenkins's television credits as a director include Blue Murder, The Leaving of Liverpool, The Dirtwater Dynasty, Emerald City, and Wildside. As a writer, he also collaborated on such television series as Bellbird (q.v.). His break-out television series was the 1983 mini-series Scales of Justice, which he directed to a Robert Caswell script.

He was one of two creators (with Ben Gannon) of the groundbreaking teenage television drama Heartbreak High, based on his own script, with Richard Barrett, The Heartbreak Kid: Barrett had written the original stageplay on which the film was based. Although Jenkins left the program after its initial three years, Heartbreak High was eventually syndicated in over 70 countries.

Jenkins died in March 2024. He had been diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease in 2020.

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

form y separately published work icon Wildside ( dir. Peter Andrikidis et. al. )agent 1997 Sydney : Gannon Jenkins Television ABC Television , 1997-1999 Z1367384 1997 series - publisher film/TV crime detective

An adult drama set in an inner-city crisis centre and police station, Wildside focuses on a group of people who deal with the endless array of problems, crimes, and triumphs that tumble onto the streets of a city bursting with life. In addition to the police, other characters include those who work in a crisis centre in the tough red-light district of the city.

1998 winner Logie Awards Most Outstanding Miniseries or Telemovie
2000 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
1999 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
1998 won Australian Film Institute Awards Best Mini-series or Telefeature
form y separately published work icon Rebel ( dir. Michael Jenkins ) Australia : Phillip Emanuel Productions , 1985 Z1038977 1985 single work film/TV

During World War II, an American Marine, Rebel, is recuperating in Australia from wounds suffered in battle. He is weary of war and intent on going absent without leave. After meeting local singer Kathy, he becomes infatuated and pursues her. But Kathy is married and initially uninterested in Rebel. This begins to changes, however, when he hides out at her place, and intensifies when she receives a letter advising her that her husband has been killed in battle. Meanwhile, the local police and the U.S. military are searching for Rebel. He arranges to escape Australia by cargo ship, but eventually allows himself to be arrested in order to save Kathy from being arrested for harbouring him.

1985 nominated Australian Film Institute Awards Best Screenplay: Adapted
form y separately published work icon Careful, He Might Hear You ( dir. Carl Schultz ) Sydney : Syme International Productions , 1983 Z1359519 1983 single work film/TV

Set in the Depression, the story follows the bitter struggle between two sisters over the custody of their orphaned nephew. Each determined to have the boy, both women resort to deceitful manipulation and cruel lies.

1984 winner New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting Film writing.
1983 winner Australian Film Institute Awards Best Screenplay Adapted from Another Source
Last amended 7 Mar 2024 16:05:51
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