Simon Wincer

Simon Wincer (born 1943) is an Australian film and television director best known for the miniseries Lonesome Dove and the film Free Willy.^[1] He attended Cranbrook School, Sydney, from 1950 to 1961. On leaving school he worked as a stagehand at TV Station Channel 7. By the 1980s he had directed over 200 hours of television. In 1986, he directed the telemovie The Last Frontier and also won a Christopher Award.

Simon Wincer
Wincer interviewed on AccessReel.com in 2011
Born	1943 (age 81–82) Sydney, Australia
Education	Cranbrook School, Sydney
Occupation	Film director
Years active	1965–present
Awards	Christopher Award

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer
1979	Snapshot	Yes	No	No
1980	Harlequin	Yes	No	No
1983	Phar Lap	Yes	No	No
1985	D.A.R.Y.L.	Yes	No	No
1987	The Lighthorsemen	Yes	Yes	No
1990	Quigley Down Under	Yes	No	No
1991	Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man	Yes	No	No
1993	Free Willy	Yes	No	No
1994	Lightning Jack	Yes	Yes	No
1995	Operation Dumbo Drop	Yes	No	No
1996	The Phantom	Yes	No	No
2001	Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles	Yes	No	No
2003	The Young Black Stallion	Yes	No	No
2011	The Cup	Yes	Yes	Yes

Television

Year	Title	Notes
1971–1975	Matlock Police	17 episodes; Also writer and assistant director
1972	Division 4	15 episodes
1973	Ryan	4 episodes
1974–1976	Homicide	5 episodes; Also assistant director
1975	Cash and Company	4 episodes
1976	The Sullivans	4 episodes
	The Lost Islands	1 episode
	Tandarra	7 episodes
	The Box	1 episode
1977–1978	Chopper Squad	5 episodes; Also writer
1977–1980	Young Ramsay	5 episodes
1979	Skyways	2 episodes
	Bailey's Bird
1979–1980	Prisoner: Cell Block H	4 episodes
1986	Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color	1 episode
1992–1993	The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles	6 episodes
2001	Ponderosa	1 episode

TV films

• The Haunting of Hewie Dowker (1976)
• Bluegrass (1988)
• Flash (1997)
• Escape: Human Cargo (1998)
• The Echo of Thunder (1998)
• Murder She Purred: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery (1998)
• P.T. Barnum (1999)
• Crossfire Trail (2001)
• Monte Walsh (2003)

Miniseries

• Against the Wind (1978) (co-directed with George T. Miller)
• The Last Frontier (1986)
• Lonesome Dove (1989)
• Into the West (2005)
• Comanche Moon (2008)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Work	Category	Result
1980	Australian Film Institute Award	Harlequin	Best Director	Nominated
	Sitges Awards		Prize of the International Critics' Jury	Won
1983	Australian Film Institute Award	Phar Lap	Best Director	Nominated
1989	Primetime Emmy Awards	Lonesome Dove	Outstanding Directing in a Miniseries or a Special	Won
1990	Directors Guild of America Award		Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Specials	Nominated
2002	Western Heritage Awards	Crossfire Trail	Best Television Feature Film	Won
2005	Online Film & Television Association Award	Into the West	Best Direction of a Motion Picture or Miniseries	Won