Roger Donaldson (born November 15, 1945) is an Australian-born New Zealand film producer, director and writer who has made numerous successful movies. He was one of several co-founders of the New Zealand Film Commission.
Roger Donaldson was born in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia and in 1965 he emigrated to New Zealand to establish a small still photography business. He first entered the film industry when he made the drama series Winners and Losers for New Zealand television, then later directed and produced his first film Sleeping Dogs in 1977. As this was the first film to come out of New Zealand in nearly 15 years, he lobbied the New Zealand Government to found the New Zealand Film Commission in 1978. Donaldson's first films were made in close collaboration with his friend and leading man, actor and musician Bruno Lawrence, with whom Donaldson worked extensively in the 1970s, but the partnership and their long friendship effectively ended after Smash Palace.
Donaldson's first American break was his remake of the film Mutiny of the Bounty, which was released as The Bounty and featured Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins. He was nominated for a Golden Palm from the Cannes Film Festival for this film. Since then Donaldson has been involved with many popular and successful movies, among them being the thriller No Way Out (starring Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman), Cocktail (starring Bryan Brown and Tom Cruise), Dante's Peak (starring Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton), Thirteen Days (starring Kevin Costner and Steven Culp) and the popular yet oft-maligned Species.
