Russell Hagg

Russell Hagg was an Australian designer, director, script writer and film maker.

Early life

Hagg grew up in Ivanhoe, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria and studied an architecture degree at the University of Melbourne in the early 1960s. After graduating, he drove a Kombi with friends from Singapore to England, through Afghanistan. When he got to England, he worked as an architect but aspired to work in film.

Career

Before becoming a designer in British films, Hagg worked for Crawford Productions as a writer and director.
Hagg was the art director on 1971 cult Stanley Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange while working in London. He returned to Australia in the 1970s, working for Crawford Productions, starting his own company and undertaking scriptwriting. He went on to write Brian Trenchard-Smith's 1983 children's adventure film BMX Bandits, starring Nicole Kidman in her first big screen film role.
Hagg was the original director for 1986 Australian adventure film Frog Dreaming starring Henry Thomas of E.T. fame, before Trenchard-Smith took over direction, two weeks in.
Hagg also worked in television including Australian series Chances, Water Rats and Blue Heelers.

Personal life

At the age of 47, Hagg had a daughter, actress Georgina Haig, together with artist, Gillian Haig, before welcoming son Julian three years later. They raised their kids in Red Hill, on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. The couple separated and subsequently divorced, when Georgina was a teenager. Hagg then moved to McCrae, a suburb of Melbourne. He became a grandfather through Georgina.
After Hagg died in 2022, his daughter wrote, directed and starred in short film Ashes, inspired by her relationship with him.