Terry Hayes (born 8 October 1951) is an Australian screenwriter, film producer and author. He is best known for his work with Kennedy Miller production house, with whom he won the AACTA Award for Best Film twice, for The Year My Voice Broke (1987) and Flirting (1991).

Biography

Early years and journalism

Hayes was born in Sussex, England and emigrated to Australia at the age of 5. He began his career as a journalist, working as the US correspondent for the Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald. He spent periods as an investigative reporter, columnist and radio show host.

Kennedy Miller

Hayes met director George Miller when he did the novelisation of the script to Mad Max (1979). He and Miller got on well and the director subsequently hired Hayes to help on the script for Mad Max 2 (1981).

Hayes subsequently became an in-house writer for Kennedy Miller, working on the scripts for all their subsequent mini-series. Further work included a script for Dead Calm in 1989. He wrote Bangkok Hilton specifically as a vehicle for Nicole Kidman.

Hollywood and novelist

Hayes moved to Hollywood. His work includes an unused screenplay for Planet of the Apes, titled Return of the Apes in 1994.

In 2001, Hayes was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Screenplay for his work on From Hell.

Hayes' debut novel, I Am Pilgrim was published by Transworld Publishers on 18 July 2013. That same month, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired the film rights to the novel with Hayes attached to adapt it into a screenplay. His second novel entitled The Year of the Locust was planned for release in 2016, was finally released 9 November 2023.

In 2024, Hayes and British author Tammy Cohen were revealed as the writers of the tie-in novel to the film Argylle, under the pseudonym "Elly Conway". The book overleaf credits the (pseudonymous) author's full name as "Elizabeth Conway".

Personal life

Hayes married in 1999 and has four children.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleWriterProducerDirectorNotes
1981Mad Max 2: The Road WarriorYesGeorge MillerCo-wrote with Miller & Brian Hannant
1985Mad Max Beyond ThunderdomeYesYesGeorge Miller George OgilvieCo-wrote with Miller, co-producer
1987The Year My Voice BrokeYesJohn Duigan
1989Dead CalmYesYesPhillip Noyce
1991FlirtingYesJohn Duigan
1996Mr. ReliableYesYesNadia TassCo-wrote with Don Catchlove
1999PaybackYesBrian HelgelandCo-wrote with Helgeland
2000Vertical LimitYesMartin CampbellCo-wrote screenplay with Robert King, based on a story by Robert King
2001From HellYesAlbert Hughes Allen HughesCo-wrote with Rafael Yglesias

Uncredited script revisions

YearTitleDirectorNotes
1993CliffhangerRenny Harlin
1994The CrowAlex Proyas
2002Reign of FireRob Bowman
2005FlightplanRobert Schwentke

Television

YearTitleWriterProducerNotes
1983The DismissalYesMiniseries
1988Fragments of War: The Story of Damien ParerYesTelevision film
The Clean MachineYesYes
The Riddle of the StinsonYes
1984BodylineYesMiniseries
The Cowra BreakoutYes
1987VietnamYesYes
1988Dirtwater DynastyYesYes
1989Bangkok HiltonYesYes

Novels

  • I Am Pilgrim (2013)
  • The Year of the Locust (2023)
  • Argylle: A Novel (2024) – ISBN 978-0593600016 — writing as Elly Conway (writing team pseudonym), co-authored with Tammy Cohen. A tie-in novel to the Argylle media franchise.

External links