The Australian Women's Register

Summary

Jocelyn Moorhouse has worked in both the Australian television and film industry. After the success of her debut feature film, Proof (1991), Moorhouse produced and directed big budget Hollywood films.

Moorhouse was born in September 1960, in Victoria, Australia. After she completed her Higher School Certificate at Vermont High School in 1978, Moorhouse enrolled in the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS).

In 1983, while studying, Moorhouse wrote and directed her first short film, Pavane. She graduated from AFTRS in 1984 and began work as a television script editor.

Moorhouse worked on such television shows as The Flying Doctors (1990-1991),Out of the Blue (1991), A Place to Call Home (1990), The Humpty Dumpty Man (1986).

Her short film The Siege of Barton’s Bathroom (1986) was developed into a book and a twelve part television series.

In 1991, she released her feature film debut Proof. Moorhouse wrote and directed the film which was funded entirely by Government sources. Proof is now recognised as a key contemporary Australian film.

In 1994, she produced the Australian classic,Muriel’s Wedding, directed by her husband, P.J. Hogan.

Her next two films were big budget Hollywood productions. Both films received mixed reviews and did not achieve the acclaim ofProof. In 1995, Moorhouse directed How to Make an American Quilt. The film focused upon a group of woman who share their stories and family histories through flashback while sewing a wedding quilt. In 1997, Moorhouse directed A Thousand Acres, based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Jane Smiley. Based on Shakespeare’s King Lear, the film explored the relationship between a father and his three daughters in the face of tragedy.

In 2002, Moorhouse wrote and Produced Unconditional Love (P.J. Hogan). In 2003, she was executive producer of Peter Pan (P.J. Hogan).