Wayne Groom

Biography

Wayne Groom is the principal of the independent film production company Australian International Pictures Pty Ltd. He is the Producer/Writer/Director of the feature film Maslin Beach (1996), the telemovie Summer of Love (2001) and the television documentaries Tomorrow's Sun (1999) and Runnning on Sunshine (2004). Wayne is based in Adelaide, South Australia. He graduated from the University of Adelaide in 1972 with a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) and was the co-winner of the Institute of Engineers prestigious Parson's Prize. He entered the film industry in 1979 and formed his own production company soon after, financing and producing South Australia's first independent feature film Centrespread in conjunction with Greg Lynch Film Distributors. This film was one of the first Australian films shot on Super 16. The cinematographer was Geoff Simpson (Fried Green Tomatoes, Oscar & Lucinda). Other feature films and television dramas produced by Groom include The Dreaming (Dir: Mario Andreacchio), Strangers (Dir: Craig Lahiff), Pals (Dir: Mario Andreacchio), Point of Departure (Dir: Kathryn Millard). In 1991 and 1992, Groom studied comedy and screenwriting in Los Angeles at UCLA Ext. He also took acting classes with renown dramatist Jeff Corey. Maslin Beach was the first feature he wrote and directed. It was made on the famous South Australian nude beach. It has subsequently been screened on the Nine Network in Australia and Channel 5 in the UK. It gained cult status in Australia after being released on video and is now available on DVD in the USA.The New York Times called it a 'tender romantic comedy'. His next film, Tomorrow's Sun, a television documentary on the 1999 World Solar Challenge, made in conjunction with Panorama Australia, was screened on the Ten Network in Australia and Discovery Channel Asia-Pacific. It was purchased for world distribution by ZDF in Germany. The following project, the moody art film Summer of Love was the first Australian telemovie shot on High Definition. It was screened in 2001 on the Nine Network. In 2004, he completed a new international television documentary, Running on Sunshine, with investment from the Film Finance Corporation, the South Australian Film Corporation, Australian Major Events and the Seven Network.