Rate My Professor Lewis Fitz-Gerald

Dr Lewis Fitz-Gerald serves as a Lecturer in Screen Studies within the Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education at the University of New England, having joined the institution in 2017 in the School of Arts. He holds a PhD from UNE completed in 2016, a Master of Arts in Communications from the same university in 2009, and a Bachelor of Dramatic Arts in Acting from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1978. Prior to his current role, Fitz-Gerald taught screen performance at Actors Centre Australia from 2008 to 2014 and screen direction at the Sydney Institute Film Academy from 2010 to 2013. His teaching portfolio includes courses on Australian Screens, Documentary, Hollywood Cinema, and Creative Industries, coordinating units such as The Art of Documentary (COMM581), News and Journalism (COMM332), and Creative Industries (COMM103). As a widely experienced educator in screen direction, screen performance, and documentary production, he bridges professional practice and academia.

Fitz-Gerald's academic interests center on screen performance and Australian film. His PhD culminated in the intimate documentary feature 39,000 Doors: Australian Kids In Care, which examined contemporary foster care experiences amid public debate. He authored the chapter “You’re In Trouble Mate”: Prison and Screen Practice in The Palgrave Handbook of Incarceration in Popular Culture (2020). Currently, he is developing the research project Voices of Australian Film Experience, aimed at preserving the cultural legacy of screen veterans, illuminating pathways into film, and exploring professional occupations in screen production. Complementing his scholarly work is a prolific industry career spanning film, television, and theatre, beginning with Bruce Beresford’s Breaker Morant. He has worked for all Australian networks, shot in the UK, Europe, and the US, and received nominations as actor and director. Fitz-Gerald co-founded Belvoir St Theatre Company, served as inaugural chair of Company B’s Artistic Directorate (remaining a shareholder), and sat on the board of Actors Centre Australia. He contributed to the NSW Film & Television Office and Australian Film Commission, acting as assessor and mentor for the Young Filmmakers Fund, New Screenwriters Program, and indigenous initiatives, and as a juror for AFI/AACTA awards. His professional affiliations include the Australian Directors Guild, Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance, Equity (UK), and Australian Writers Guild.