Steven McGregor


Steven McGregor is an Australian filmmaker, known for his work on Redfern Now, Black Comedy, Sweet Country, and numerous documentaries, including My Brother Vinnie.

Early life and education

McGregor grew up near the leprosarium in East Arm, a suburb of Darwin, in the Northern Territory. His mother, who had grown up on a mission, was a healthworker at the leprosarium until its closure around 1970. He and his siblings used to hang out there to use the swimming pool and play. He said there was no real stigma attached to it, and the people with leprosy were fairly happy, but missed their family and homes.
He was always fascinated by black and white photographs. The film Papillon caught his imagination as a child.
He completed a Masters in Drama Directing at Australian Film, Television and Radio School in Sydney.
McGregor lost an eye at the age of 25 when he was hit in the head with a hockey stick when playing a game of hockey.

Career

McGregor began his career as a production assistant in the Northern Territory Chief Minister's media unit in Darwin, where he worked for six years. His next job was as a cameraman for Imparja Television in Alice Springs. His first major documentary was about Australian rules football in the mid-1990s, for Channel 7.
After losing his eye at the age of 25, he had to change from camera work. CAAMA offered him a job, while he undertook a traineeship there in writing and directing. At CAAMA he met Warwick Thornton, Erica Glynn, Beck Cole, and many others.
Since the mid-1990s, McGregor has written, directed, and produced many documentaries, as well as fictional feature films, TV dramas, and comedy series. His varied work includes Arafura Pearl, a documentary about Aboriginal leader Kathy Mills; Redfern Now ; Blue Water Empire, a documentary series about the Torres Strait Islands; and Black Comedy. He co-wrote Sweet Country with David Tranter. He worked on a documentary about Archie Roach in 1999.
In 2006 he directed My Brother Vinnie, a short documentary film about actor Aaron Pedersen and his brother. Written by Pedersen, and shot by Warwick Thornton, it was selected for the Melbourne International Film Festival and Message Sticks Indigenous Film Festival.
Around 2007 McGregor worked with Baz Luhrmann as a script consultant on his feature film Australia.
Croker Island Exodus, directed and co-written by McGregor and co-writer on the 2022 SBS Television drama miniseries True Colours.
McGregor was a co-writer on the 2024 Netflix series Territory.
He again teamed with David Tranter to co-write the script for Wolfram, Warwick Thornton's follow-up to Sweet Country.

Recognition and awards

McGregor has been nominated for numerous and won several awards for his work on a number of films and television series, some of which are listed below:
The Steve McGregor Award for Best Emerging Talent in Film/Television was inaugurated at the National Remote Indigenous Media Festival in 2009. The inaugural winner was Bernard Namok Jnr, who worked for the Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting Association.