The National Film and Television School wishes to pay tribute to one of our graduates, Academy Award winner Lloyd Phillips who passed away last week.
Lloyd who was born in South Africa but raised in New Zealand came to the NFTS in 1977 and graduated in 1979 specialising in Producing. During his time at the school Lloyd honed his talent for storytelling and proved popular among his peers with his film Half Way Round The Circle Now proving to be one of the most successful graduation films of that year. After leaving the NFTS Lloyd went on to direct the short film The Dollar Bottom for which he won the 1981 Academy Award for Best Short Film, at the same time becoming the first ever New Zealander to win an Oscar. His career then spanned out, producing such films as 12 Monkeys, Inglourious Basterds and The Legend of Zorro; his most recent film, Man of Steel a reboot of the Superman series, is due out later this year.
Nik Powell, Director of the NFTS commented ‘It’s always with sadness that we learn of the death of one of our alumni. The loss of Lloyd, a fantastic storyteller and supporter of the school, at such a young age, is a huge loss not just to the school but to our industry’.
Lloyd is survived by his wife, Beau St. Clair and his sister Avril.
