Biography

A Pioneer Member of the Australian Academy Cinema Television Arts (AFI/AACTA), Franco's early works, 'Waiting 'Round Wynyard', 'La Scala Lo Scalone' (Stairs and Staircases) and 'Bad News Bachelors' screened at film festivals in Sydney, San Francisco, London and Edinburgh and sold to SBS, TV1 Sweden and NOS The Netherlands. He directed 'The Artist, The Peasant' and 'The Joys of the Women' for the ABC, the latter of which was released theatrically and nominated for an Australian Film Critics Circle Award. He was producer on the groundbreaking series 'A Change of Face' which challenged notions of Australian identity and ethnic stereotyping on the screen. It was nominated in the BANFF Television Awards and UN Media Peace Awards. His film 'Pipe Dreams' was one of ABC's highest rating programs for the year. Other ratings successes include SBS productions 'No Milk No Honey', 'Who Do You Think Are?', 'Hoover's Gold' and 'The Fabulous Flag Sisters' also screened on Fox Italy and won the Jury Prize at Rome Fiction Fest. Franco directed the mini-series 'Three Forever' (Tre per sempre), starring Bud Spencer and produced by Domenico Procacci of Rome-based company Fandango. The series screened on SBS and RAI in Italy where it attracted over 7 million viewers. It also sold to France and Germany. His 'Death of the Megabeasts' screened in the U.S., France and Australia and won a Gold Remi Award at Worldfest - Houston International Film Festival. His 'Skin Deep' was presold to SBS and Arte France and produced by Venice Gold Lion Award winner Marco Visalberghi. His 'Jack the Ripper - Prime Suspect' was broadcast on Network 7 in Australia and UK-TV. Distributed by BBC International, it also sold to Netflix U.S. He produced the drama series 'Under the Skin', winner of an AFI/AACTA Award for Best Miniseries and two Australian Writers Guild Awards including 'The Long Ride' by Tony Ayers - creator of the worldwide hit, 'Clickbait'. Episode 'Best Wishes' by Monica Pellizzari screened at the Venice International Film Festival. He was SBS Executive on the landmark indigenous package, 'From Sand to Celluloid' and Rolf de Heer's feature film, 'The Quiet Room'. Episode 'No Way To Forget' by Richard Frankland screened in Un Certain Regard at Cannes and 'The Quiet Room' in Official Competition, respectively. Franco also was EP on 'East Timor - Birth of a Nation' narrated by Academy Award winning actor Cate Blanchett, 'Uncle Chatzkel' with Oscar winning producer Emile Sherman ('The King's Speech') and 'Salvatore Zofrea - Master of Light" with producers Richard Mordaunt, Diana Barbara and Kim Mordaunt ("The Rocket"). Franco directed the romantic comedy 'Big Mamma's Boy,' starring Holly Valance and Frank Lotito. The film screened at CinefestOz, was released nationally in Australia by Madman Entertainment and sold to Fox Movies. He directed 'The New MoMA' for DAM - Design Art Magazine and produced 'Forgiveness Day' for The New York Times. He is writer of the mini-series 'The Rocky Road' and feature film 'Chasing Sophia' and co-writer of the Cold War spy drama, 'Little Europe'.
- IMDb mini biography by: Sabella Sugar