THE SPIERIG BROTHERS
MICHAEL & PETER SPIERIG
Directors, Writers & Producers
Identical twin brothers Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig, known together professionally as the Spierig Brothers, are German-born Australian film Directors, Producers and Writers.
Peter and Michael created their first film, UNDEAD (2003), a low-budget zombie horror-comedy, after pooling together their life savings. UNDEAD screened at 17 film festivals, including Edinburgh, Montreal, Toronto, Sitges, Berlin, Amsterdam and Puchon. At the Melbourne International Film Festival, the International Federation of Film Critics awarded UNDEAD the prestigious Fipresci Award. The film was sold to 41 countries, and was released in the US and Canada by Lions Gate Entertainment, who developed a close relationship with Peter and Michael, and backed their second production DAYBREAKERS.
The Spierig Brothers’ second feature film, the vampire thriller DAYBREAKERS (2010), starred three-time Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill, Claudia Karvan, Vince Colosimo, Michael Dorman and Isabel Lucas. The film was released in the United States on 2,500 screens, and has gone on to gross more than $65 million worldwide.
The Spierig Brothers’ third film was the action sci-fi thriller PREDESTINATION (2015), based on the classic sci-fi short story “All You Zombies” by Robert A. Heinlein. The film starred Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook and Noah Taylor. PREDESTINATION was nominated for nine AACTA awards (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards) and won four, including Best Actress for Sarah Snook. The brothers also won the prestigious John Hinde Award for Best Science Fiction Screenwriting in 2014, and at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival won a Special Award for Best Sci-Fi Film and Best Screenplay.
The Spierig Brothers were excited to take on the eighth instalment of the SAW franchise with Lions Gate Entertainment’s JIGSAW and relished the opportunity to return to their horror origins, building upon the franchise originally conceptualised by fellow Australian Directors James Wan and Lee Whannell.
The Spierig Brothers are currently working on the horror film WINCHESTER which tells the true story of Sarah Winchester, the millionaire heiress to the Winchester Arms fortune who was convinced that she, and her family, were haunted by the souls killed by the infamous rifle. Starring Dame Helen Mirren and Australia’s Jason Clarke, WINCHESTER will be released theatrically worldwide in February 2018.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14TH
2:00 PM
“The Spierig Brothers” Presentation
Modern genre filmmaking legends in the making, the directing twin brother duo Michael & Peter Spierig, sit down and give us an in depth look into working in Hollywood, getting their films made, going from indies to studio films and more. Find out the secrets behind their films Daybreakers, Predestination, Undead, Jigsaw and The Winchester House and what else they have in store!
