Baz Luhrmann has revealed his plans for his career and creativity following the worldwide release of his “Elvis” film.
The celebrated director told a crowd at Vivid Sydney that he’s not sure he will make another feature film.
“I’m at the point in my journey where I am like, would I even bother making another film?” he said.
Instead, he said he may well turn his attention to helping the next generation of storytellers and creatives to get their ideas off the ground.
“I can certainly help create environments and get behind them and help their journey to flourish as much as possible,” he said.
Helping this next generation of creatives, he said, will in turn help Australia assume its ‘adult’ position in the world, both creatively and economically.
“We are at that crossroads, we are at an extremely important time to take on our full adult position in the world and make sure people like where I am in my journey, it’s our responsibility to pay back. We can’t just wait in line, but make sure we’re there.”
He said Australia’s regional position was in flux, with the world paying more attention to Asian cinema and cultural phenomena such as K-Pop.
“This nexus that we sit in, and I believe we are blessed with sitting in this crossroads of a world where this emerging new, youthful, creative energy is so alive – it’s so alive on so many levels,” he said.
“But we are uniquely positioned to allow that confluence, that layering, the chaos, the creative chaos and energy that will come, ensuring that that’s not pulled apart, but that it’s united, that it’s brought together.
“So that’s where I think I could spend the rest of my days being useful doing. I am committed to that.”
This commitment would mirror the help and space afforded to him when he was an up-and-comer, he said.
“This country, my opportunities, I’ve just been blessed,” he said. “And when I was young, whether it was Jim Sharman, who was an Australian creative director of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” who looked out for me, or later on, all of the greats like Martin Scorsese or Steve [Spielberg] and those guys.”
Luhrmann noted acclaimed directors such as Scorsese and Spielberg didn’t necessarily understand his own work – saying it’s “weird” – but they supported him nonetheless because it was his own work and his own language in film. He said he would extend this approach to the next generation of filmmakers.
Also on the agenda for Luhrmann is a six-part series on Disney Plus, “Faraway Downs”, which is currently in post-production.
The series is a rework and recut of Luhrmann’s 2008 film “Australia” which he said he never got to finish the way he wanted to.
Baz Luhrmann was speaking at Vivid Sydney. You can read ‘Eight Insights into the Mind of Baz Luhrmann From His Vivid Sydney Talk‘ here.