Duncan Sarkies is a New Zealand screenwriter, playwright, stand-up comic, and novelist. He is best known for having co-written the script of Scarfies with his brother Robert Sarkies, who directed the film.
Early life and education
Duncan Sarkies grew up in the South Island city of Dunedin.[citation needed]
He is the brother of film director and screenwriter Robert Sarkies.[1]
Career
Sarkies' is known for his creation of "eccentric plots and darkly comic portrayals of 'the outsider' and the disturbed".[1]
He co-wrote, with his brother Robert, the script for Scarfies, a black comedy-crime thriller released in 1999.[1]
He also wrote New Fans, the tenth episode of the comedy series Flight of the Conchords.[1]
Sarkies debut novel, Two Little Boys was published in March 2008, and was made into a film of the same name, released in 2012.[2][3]
In 2013 he published another novel, Demolition of the Century.[1]
Sarkies took the part of Declan the Werewolf in Taika Waititi's 2014 film What We Do in the Shadows.[4] Also in 2014, he was script editor on the 2014 ABC Television (Australia) series Soul Mates.[4] He contributed to the writing of four episodes of Maximum Choppage, which aired on the ABC in 2015.[4]
He directed, wrote, and co-created the 12-episode fantasy podcast series The Mysterious Secrets of Uncle Berties Botanarium, released in 2016 through Howl.[1]
He has been a contributor to the American TV series, What We Do in the Shadows since 2019.[4]
Sarkies assisted with story development for the documentary Wilbur: The King in the Ring, Julia Parnell's feature film that premiered at Doc Edge in 2017, after starting life as a short film in 2015 for Loading Docs.[4]
Other activities
As part of the 2022 Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, Duncan hosted a series of online talks with New Zealand writers Pip Adam, Kirsten McDougall, and Rose Lu.[1]
Recognition and awards
Sarkies' work has been praised by critics for its originality.[1]
His awards and fellowships include:
- 1994: Sunday Star-Times Bruce Mason Playwriting Award[5][1]
- 1995: Chapman Tripp Theatre Award for Best New Zealand Play, for his 1994 work Saving Grace[1]
- 1998: Louis Johnson New Writers' Bursary[1]
- 2000: Montana New Zealand's Hubert Church NZSA Best First Book of Fiction Award, for his book of short stories Stray Thoughts and Nose Bleeds[1]
- 2015: Grimshaw Sargeson Fellowship[1]
- 2023: Residency at the Michael King Writers Centre in Auckland[1]
Personal life
As of 2022 Sarkies was living in Wellington.[1]
Selected works
Plays
- The Ceramic Camel (1993)
- Lovepuke (1993)*
- Saving Grace (1994)
- Snooze (1997)
- Twelve (1997)
- Blue Vein (1997)
- Special (1997)
- Bystander (1998)
*Published in Eleven Young Playwrights (1994)
Podcasts
- The Mysterious Secrets of Uncle Berties Botanarium[1]
Novels
Films
Television
- "New Fans" (2007), s1 e10 of Flight of the Conchords[1]
- "The New Cup" (2009), s2 e2 of Flight of the Conchords
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "Duncan Sarkies". Academy of New Zealand Literature. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
- ^ Two Little Boys Archived 29 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Southland Institute of Technology.
- ^ Two Little Boys. Duncan Sarkies website, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e "Duncan Sarkies". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
- ^ "Bruce Mason Playwriting Award". teara.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
External links
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