
Brian Trenchard-Smith
Biography
Brian Trenchard-Smith is an Anglo Australian film and television director, producer, and writer, with a reputation for large scale movies on small scale budgets, many of which display a quirky sense of humor that has earned him a cult following. Quentin Tarantino referred to him in Entertainment Weekly as one of his favorite directors. His early work is featured in Not Quite Hollywood, an award winning documentary released by Magnolia. Among his early successes were the 20th Century Fox release The Man from Hong Kong, a wry James Bond/Chop Sockey cocktail, the Vietnam battle movie Siege of Firebase Gloria, and the futuristic satire Dead End Drive-In, a particular Tarantino favorite. BMX Bandits, showcasing a 15-year old Nicole Kidman, and Miramax's The Quest, starring ET's Henry Thomas, won prizes at children's film festivals in Montreal and Europe. He has also directed 35 episodes of television series as diverse as Silk Stalkings, Time Trax, The Others, and Flipper. Born in England, where his Australian father was in the RAF, Trenchard-Smith attended UK's prestigious Wellington College, where he neglected studies in favor of acting and making short films, before migrating to Australia. He started as a news film editor, then graduated to network promos before he became one of a group of young people that, as he recalls, "pushed, shoved, lobbied and bullied the government into introducing investment for Australian made films." He persuaded Australia's largest distribution-exhibition circuit at the time, the Greater Union Theater Organization, to form an in-house production company that he would run. The company made three successful films in a row, and his career was underway. In parallel careers, he was also founding editor of Australia's quarterly Movie magazine for 6 years, and has made over 100 trailers for other directors in Australia, Europe, and America. Among his 39 movies, 5 were commissioned by Showtime, including the remake of the World War II classic, Sahara, the highly rated, Happy Face Murders, starring Ann-Margret, and DC 9/11: Time of Crisis, with Timothy Bottoms as President Bush. His frequently repeated family drama for Lifetime, Long Lost Son starring Gabrielle Anwar, introduced future Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford to audiences in the title role." I knew from his first scene, he was going to be hot." In 2009, Trenchard-Smith shot Porky's - The College Years, a re-imagining of the famous 80's franchise of teen comedies. His recent ecological thriller Arctic Blast, starring Michael Shanks, was chosen to premiere at the 2010 Possible Worlds Canadian Film Festival in Sydney. Trenchard-Smith writes for filmindustrybloggers.com as The Genre Director, and is a contributing guru to trailersfromhell.com. He is married to Byzantine historian Dr. Margaret Trenchard-Smith, lives in Los Angeles, and is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Acting (7 movies)
Directing (45 movies)

The Man from Hong Kong
1975

Tyrannosaurus Azteca
2007

Frog Dreaming
1986

Night of the Demons 2
1994

The Siege of Firebase Gloria
1989

Stunt Rock
1978

Tides of War
2005

Arctic Blast
2010

Sahara
1995

BMX Bandits
1983

Dead End Drive-In
1986

Turkey Shoot
1982

Leprechaun 3
1995

Day of the Panther
1988

Happy Face Murders
1999

Porky's: Pimpin' Pee Wee
2009

In Her Line of Fire
2006

Dangerfreaks
1987

Deathcheaters
1976

Britannic
2000
Hospitals Don't Burn Down
1978

The Paradise Virus
2003

Atomic Dog
1998

Seconds to Spare
2002

The Cabin
2011

Escape Clause
1996

The Love Epidemic
1975

Sightings: Heartland Ghost
2002

Official Denial
1993

Out of the Body
1988
That Dangerous Summer
1980

Strike of the Panther
1989

DC 9/11: Time of Crisis
2003

Absolute Deception
2013

Day of the Assassin
1979

Kung Fu Killers
1974

Megiddo: The Omega Code 2
2001

Drive Hard
2014

Voyage of Terror
1998
Doomsday Rock
1997
The World of Kung Fu
1973

Jenny Kissed Me
1986

Long Lost Son
2006

The Stuntmen
1973

Leprechaun 4: In Space
1997
| Title | Year | Job | 
|---|---|---|
| The Stuntmen | 1973 | Producer | 
| The Stuntmen | 1973 | Writer | 
| Kung Fu Killers | 1974 | Writer | 
| Kung Fu Killers | 1974 | Producer | 
| The Love Epidemic | 1975 | Writer | 
| The Man from Hong Kong | 1975 | Screenplay | 
| Deathcheaters | 1976 | Producer | 
| Stunt Rock | 1978 | Screenplay | 
| Dangerfreaks | 1987 | Writer | 
| Demonstone | 1990 | Executive Producer | 
| Britannic | 2000 | Writer | 
| Seconds to Spare | 2002 | Writer | 
| The Paradise Virus | 2003 | Producer | 
| Tides of War | 2005 | Producer | 
| In Her Line of Fire | 2006 | Producer | 
| Malibu Shark Attack | 2009 | Producer | 
| Drive Hard | 2014 | Screenplay | 
| Elimination Game | 2014 | Executive Producer | 




