Terry Hayes (born 8 October 1951) is an Australian screenwriter, film producer and author. He is best known for his work with Kennedy Miller production house, with whom he won the AACTA Award for Best Film twice, for The Year My Voice Broke (1987) and Flirting (1991).

Biography

Early years and journalism

Hayes was born in Sussex, England and emigrated to Australia at the age of 5. He began his career as a journalist, working as the US correspondent for the Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald. He spent periods as an investigative reporter, columnist and radio show host.

Kennedy Miller

Hayes met director George Miller when he did the novelisation of the script to Mad Max (1979). He and Miller got on well and the director subsequently hired Hayes to help on the script for Mad Max 2 (1981). Hayes subsequently became an in-house writer for Kennedy Miller, working on the scripts for all their subsequent mini-series. Further work included a script for Dead Calm in 1989. He wrote Bangkok Hilton specifically as a vehicle for Nicole Kidman.

Hollywood and novelist

Hayes moved to Hollywood. His work includes an unused screenplay for Planet of the Apes, titled Return of the Apes in 1994. In 2001, Hayes was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Screenplay for his work on From Hell. Hayes' debut novel, I Am Pilgrim was published by Transworld Publishers on 18 July 2013. That same month, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired the film rights to the novel with Hayes attached to adapt it into a screenplay. His second novel entitled The Year of the Locust was planned for release in 2016, was finally released 9 November 2023. In 2024, Hayes and British author Tammy Cohen were revealed as the writers of the tie-in novel to the film Argylle, under the pseudonym "Elly Conway". The book overleaf credits the (pseudonymous) author's full name as "Elizabeth Conway".

Personal life

Hayes married in 1999 and has four children.

Filmography

Film

Uncredited script revisions

Television

Novels