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Peter Andrikidis: One of Australia’s most experienced directors

By Mary Kouinoglou

“Underbelly” director Peter Andrikidis of Greek descent broke the rules and changed Australian television.
Peter Andrikidis brought Australian drama back and swept the television categories of the Australian Film Institute Awards (AFI) 2008.  Underbelly based on Melbourne gangland wars won six of the eight Awards it was nominated for, including Best Drama Series and Best Direction in television.
The director said that Australian television was looking good in the post-Underbelly world. Underbelly did not afraid to change the standard. It spoke fearlessly about sex and violence. As a result, two million people came to watch.
Peter Andrikidis graduated from the Australian Film Television and Radio School in Film Direction in 1981. He was immediately recruited to Crawford Productions, where he directed numerous drama productions.
Soon, he moved to the ABC to work as director and producer on the medical drama series GP, which earned him his first AFI Award.
This was followed by the groundbreaking police drama series Wildside, which the director considers as his greatest directing achievement. Two of the episodes that Andrikidis directed won a total of eight AFI Awards.
Grass Roots written by Geoffrey Atherden was his next series, that won seven AFI Awards, including Best Direction.
Peter Andrikidis has also directed a number of mini-series and telemovies, which have won numerous Awards in Australia and overseas. These included the real life dramatisations My Husband My Killer, Heroes’ Mountain and the adaptation of a novel by Bryce Courtney called Jessica.
In 2004/5 Peter Andrikidis directed five BlackJack telemovies for the Ten Network, featuring Colin Friels solving cold crime cases.
In 2006 he directed the $15 million dollar Granada-ITV co-production The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant with Romola Garai, Jack Davenport and Sam Neill. This screened to eight million viewers in the UK. It won an AFI, a Logie, a New York Festival Award for Best TV Mini-series and a Silver Plaque for Best Direction at the Chicago Awards.
In April 2006 he was voted one of the Top Ten Directors in Encore Magazine’s Celebration of the Industry’s Finest. The list included Baz Luhrmann, Gillian Armstrong, Phillip Noyce and Rolf De Heer. He was also awarded a Centenary Medal for Outstanding services to Australian Society and Film Production in 2003. He has a reputation for getting excellent performances from actors and bringing exciting visual flair to each production he undertakes.
Peter Andrikidis is currently directing the SBS mini-series East West 101, a drama about what it means to be Muslim in Australia after September 11, 2001. The cast includes Don Hany, William McInnes and Susie Porter.

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