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Martin Fabinyi

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Martin Fabinyi
Born
Australia
Occupations
Years active1972–present

Martin Fabinyi is an Australian film and television producer and director and music label owner. He has also written books on the local rock music scene. He is known for being the co-founder of independent record label, Regular Records, in 1978, signing up Mental as Anything shortly afterwards.

Early life and education

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Martin Fabinyi grew up in Melbourne, Victoria.[citation needed]

After leaving school he joined GTV-9 as a floor manager and film editor.[citation needed]

Fabinyi Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, where he founded and edited the student newspaper Empire Times in March 1969,[1] but left after two years without completing a degree.[citation needed]

Career

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Fabinyi subsequently moved to Sydney, New South Wales, and began directing independent video films. He was part of the experimental movement Bush Video at the Aquarius Festival at Nimbin in 1973.[citation needed] He wrote articles on the music scene and designed album covers before meeting Cameron Allan in 1977.[citation needed]

In 1978 Allan and Fabinyi teamed up to finance a film project, The Lipstick Killers.[2] To raise money they formed an independent label, Regular Records, in September of that year.[3][4] The first artists they signed to the label was Mental As Anything, a Sydney-based new wave music group.[3][4][5] The label subsequently released music from many other well-known bands and musicians.

Fabinyi was the chief executive officer of Mushroom Pictures[6] from its formation in 1993 to 2009.[7] Mushroom Pictures' projects include the features Cut (2000), featuring Molly Ringwald; Chopper (2000);[7][8] and Macbeth (2006), among others.[9]

He joined Beyond Productions in 2010[7] where he co-produced the theatrical documentary The Angels: Kickin' Down the Door (2022), about rock band The Angels. The film was produced by Peter Hanlon, with co-producers Rick Davies, Bettina Hamilton, and Fabinyi.[10]

He also executive produced John Farnham: Finding the Voice,[11] which won the AACTA Award for Best Documentary.[12] and was a producer on Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line (2024).[13]

As of June 2026 Fabinyi is head of feature films & documentaries at Beyond Entertainment.[7]

Awards and nominations

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Books

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Fabinyi co-authored a number of books:

  • Fabinyi, Martin (1972). X: A Film. ISBN 0-9599297-0-3.[16]
  • Morris, Philip; Martin Fabinyi (1976). The Bumper Book of Rock. Collingwood, Vic: Outback Press. ISBN 0-86888-043-4.[17]
  • Creswell, Toby; Martin Fabinyi (1999). The Real Thing: Adventures in Australian Rock & Roll, 1957-now. Milsons Point, NSW: Random House. ISBN 978-0-09-183547-7.[18][19]

Filmography

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Credits:[20][21]

  • TV Dinner (1973) – video: filmmaker[22]
  • The Vacuum (1975) – video feature: director, writer, producer
  • Pure S (1975) - feature film: writer, ("The Vacuum")
  • Great Southern Land (1982) Icehouse (film clip) - co-director with Larry Meltzer
  • She's The One (1987) The Cockroaches (film clip - director
  • Around The World In Eighty Ways (1988) - feature film: music consultant
  • The Crossing (1990) – feature film: music co-ordinator
  • Tribal Voice – Yothu Yindi (1993) – TV documentary: producer[23]
  • Fashion (1993) – TV series: executive producer
  • Kate Ceberano & Friends (1993) – TV series: executive producer[24]
  • Next to Nothing/Nothing to Hide (1995) – TV series: executive producer
  • Counting the Beat (1996) – TV documentary: executive producer
  • The Singer and the Swinger (1999) – documentary: executive producer
  • Cut (2000) – feature film: producer
  • Chopper (2000) – feature film: executive producer
  • Horseplay (2003) – feature film: executive producer
  • The National Karaoke Challenge (2004) - TV series: executive producer
  • Gettin' Square (2003) – feature film: producer
  • Wolf Creek (2005) – feature film: executive producer
  • Macbeth (2006) – producer
  • Storm Warning (2007) – feature film: executive producer
  • Great Australian Albums (2007, 2008) – TV series: executive producer
  • Cannot Buy My Soul (2008) – feature documentary: executive producer
  • Cedar Boys (2009) – feature film: executive producer
  • Bait 3D (2011) – feature film: co-executive producer
  • Manny Lewis (2015) – feature film: producer[25][26]
  • Blood + Thunder: The Story of Alberts (2015) – TV documentary mini-series[27]
  • Indigo Lake (2016) – feature film: executive producer[28]
  • Backburning (2018) – short documentary: producer
  • Days Like These (2022) – TV series: executive producer[29]
  • The Angels: Kickin' Down the Door (2022) – producer
  • John Farnham: Finding the Voice (2023) – feature documentary: executive producer[11]
  • The Hardest Line (2024) – feature documentary: producer[13]
  • Live It Up: The Mental As Anything Story (March 2026) - feature documentary: executive producer[30][31]

References

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  1. ↑ Fabinyi, Martin (2003). "In the Beginning: + Was the Word 11.03.69". Empire Times. 35 (10) (ET Turns 50; History ed.): 15 – via Issu.
  2. ↑ Fabinyi, Martin (19 July 2013). "Composer Was a Restless Intellect". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  3. 1 2 McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Mental as Anything'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-86508-072-7. Archived from the original on 13 August 2004. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  4. 1 2 Nimmervoll, Ed. "Mental As Anything". Howlspace – The Living History of Our Music. White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd (Ed Nimmervoll). Archived from the original on 26 July 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  5. ↑ Helen Thomas, "Countdown to silence", The Age, 9 July 1987, p. 41.
  6. ↑ Doreen Carvajal, "Violent movies being tested on 10-year-olds", The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 September 2000, p. 38.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Beyond Entertainment – Production at Beyond". Production at Beyond. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
  8. ↑ Garry Maddox, "Create, excite and innovate: screen industry told to lift its sights", The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 November 2001, p. 14.
  9. ↑ "G'day, you midnight hags: Macbeth goes Aussie", Times Colonist, 1 September 2004, p. 40.
  10. ↑ Cornford, Susy (28 November 2022). "Madeleine Parry embraces the rockstar experience in directing 'The Angels: Kickin' Down the Door'". IF Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 July 2025. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  11. 1 2 "Screen Australia Announces $2.3 Million for 10 Documentaries". Screen Australia. 14 July 2021. Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. 1 2 Australian Film Institute (12 February 2024). "AACTA Awards Winners and Nominees". AACTA Awards.
  13. 1 2 "Midnight Oil Documentary Funding Approved by Screen Australia". Blink TV. 31 July 2017. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ↑ "Japanese Story people's choice", smh.com.au. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  15. ↑ Screen Producers Australia Awards Finalists Announced, screenproducers.org.au. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  16. ↑ "X : a film / designed and produced by Martin Fabinyi, Pat Woolley and Brendon Stretch ; with Ann Kelly, Pamela Cocabola, Paul Lester, Bronte Slaughter, Di Fuller, Jonny Fantastic, John Woods and Violet" (library catalogue entry). National Library of Australia.
  17. ↑ "The bumper book of rock / [by] Philip Morris ; photos: Philip Morris, design: Martin Fabinyi" (library catalogue entry). National Library of Australia.
  18. ↑ "The real thing : adventures in Australian rock & roll, 1957-now / Toby Creswell & Martin Fabinyi" (library catalogue entry). National Library of Australia.
  19. ↑ Martin Fabinyi, The Real Thing: Adventures in Australian Rock & Roll, 1957-Now (abstract), Random House Australia, 2000 via Google Books. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  20. ↑ "Martin Fabinyi | Movies and Filmography". AllMovie. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  21. ↑ "Martin Fabinyi – The Screen Guide". Screen Australia. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  22. ↑ "Video Notes". Tharunka. Vol. 19, no. 13. New South Wales, Australia. 20 June 1973. p. 5. Retrieved 9 November 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  23. ↑ Johnson, Stephen M; Yunupingu, Mandawuy; Thorpe, Leanne; Australian Film Commission; Australian Broadcasting Corporation; Mushroom Pictures (1993), Tribal Voice, Mushroom Pictures, retrieved 11 November 2022
  24. ↑ "Kate Ceberano & Friends". Tvmem.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  25. ↑ "Carl Barron's film 'Manny Lewis' proves life as a comic isn't all laughs". The Daily Telegraph. 23 July 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
  26. ↑ "Manny Lewis (2015) – Anthony Mir | Cast and Crew". AllMovie. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  27. ↑ "Blood & Thunder: The Sound of Alberts (2015) – The Screen Guide". Screen Australia. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  28. ↑ "Trailer of the Day: Indigo Lake". Cinema Australia. 30 January 2017. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  29. ↑ "Days Like These with Diesel (2022) – The Screen Guide". Screen Australia. Archived from the original on 21 August 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  30. ↑ Moyle, John (5 March 2026). "The Mental As Anything Story". Australian Arts Review. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
  31. ↑ "Live It Up: The Mental As Anything Story". FilmInk. 14 January 2026. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
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