Ian was born in Adelaide but grew up in Melbourne – Beaumaris.

Education: Beaumaris State School, Haileybury and Prahran College.

Career: Film Director

Website: www.ianmacrae.net

Ian’s connection to Beaumaris is a strong one. Growing up there was incredibly formative for him, providing a highly creative environment. As a child, he had a puppet show that he performed at children’s parties and was active with the Beaumaris Art Group. In his teens, Ian managed the locally formed Red Onion Jazz Band and played drums in another group called the Society Syncopators. He was also a keen photographer.

His passion for the arts led him to study photography and painting at art school, with the goal of building a career in film. He was among the first cohort of photography students. The program initially focused on fine arts but expanded into a four-year course during his studies. After graduating, he directed two short films for Melbourne University’s architecture school.

He spent a year lecturing at Swinburne Film School before working as a director and producer at Channel 9 in the early 70’s.

After leaving Channel 9 he worked on Tommy the Rock Opera at the Myer Music Bowl, in Sydney and in London.

Ian started to gain interest in his film work so he started his own film company Ian Macrae Productions.

A few years later, his partner Andy Way joined him as Producer, and together they became Macrae and Way Film Productions. Based in South Melbourne, they produced just about every kind of film-except feature films. Over 25 years they worked across Australia and throughout Asia and the Pacific.

During that time, Ian served on the board of the Australian Film Institute and was active with the Save Our Suburbs committee.

In 2000, Ian and Andy made a life-changing decision to close the company and spend a year living in Bevagna, a small village in the heart of Umbria, Italy.

That year was filled with travel across the country, especially in search of Caravaggio’s paintings. Ian and Andy have returned to Bevagna nearly every year since, always seeking out new places to explore and fresh photographic opportunities.

Their travels to Italy have also taken them to Spain, Portugal, France, Turkey, Greece, and England. Over the past 20 years, they have also visited Vietnam, Bali, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia.

When back in Australia in 2001, Ian freelanced as a director for about five years. He has had three photographic exhibitions, including one in Italy and a group show at the Museum of Australian Photography. He has self-published ten books, designed many websites for friends, and served on the Lorne Sculpture Biennale committee for seven years (2009-2016).

These days, Ian stays active in his community as a committee member at the Poets Garden community garden, where he tends a small plot of vegetables and herbs. He is also an enthusiastic, if somewhat average, golfer playing at Royal Melbourne and Lorne Country Club.

For anyone interested in seeing some of Ian’s photos, books or the link to “The Alumni”, please visit his website: www.ianmacrae.net