Dr. Andrew Pike, OAM (born 1 January 1946) is an Australian film historian, film distributor and exhibitor, and documentary producer and director. Pike formed Ronin Films, an Australian film distribution company, with his first wife, Dr Merrilyn Fitzpatrick, in 1974. With Ross Cooper, he co-authored the book, Reference Guide to Australian Films 1906–1969 and has produced and directed many documentaries since 1982. Pike has been honoured with numerous awards including a plaque on the ACT Honour Walk in Canberra City, appointed of the Order of Australia (OAM) and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Canberra.
Personal life
Pike was born in Adelaide, South Australia. He moved to Canberra in 1963 to obtain a B.A. (Hons) and M.A. in Australian history at the Australian National University.
Career
After completing an M.A. on the history of Australian cinema at the Australian National University in Canberra, Pike worked as a cinema manager. During this time, he wrote many articles on film, which were published in journals and newspapers.
Pike was then given the opportunity to work for three years as a Consultant to the film collection of the National Library of Australia. This included the acquisition of films for study purposes in schools and universities. His next position was as a Research Fellow in the Department of Pacific and South-East Asian History at the Australian National University. Between 1989 and 1992, he was a board member of the Australian Film Commission.
In 1999 Pike was instrumental to the founding of the Friends of the National Film and Sound Archive, an association dedicated to supporting the Archive's work and to promote the principles of best practice in the film archive profession. He was elected President of the association in 2004.
Pike has a keen interest in policy issues affecting the film industry and is a frequent contributor to debates on industry issues. For example, he instigated forums on film culture at both the Sydney and Melbourne Film Festivals in 2000. He was also engaged as a consultant on regional cinemas by the New South Wales Film and Television Office and is active in promoting an expansion of audiences and a wider public appreciation of all aspects of cinema. He has a regular segment on ABC radio talking about film history.
In 2003 Pike was a Founding Member and Secretary of the ACT Film and Television Council. From 2008 to 2012, he was a member of the ACT Government's Cultural Council, advising the Arts Minister on arts policy and strategies. He also served as Chairman of the ACT Screen Investment Fund for the ACT Government, and has chaired the MPA APSA film development fund for the Asia Pacific Screen Academy from 2010 to 2015.
Ronin Films and Electric Shadows
In 1974, Pike formed Ronin Films with Merrilyn Fitzpatrick. The Canberra-based company was involved in many innovative distribution and marketing activities. In its first two decades, the company imported to Australia 120 feature films from Europe and Asia, and distributed many Australian films, including the feature films Strictly Ballroom, Shine and Road to Nhill, which achieved national success. The firm also developed an interest in films from China and Japan, importing many films from the Chinese "Fifth Generation" directors in the 1980s, and organising many Chinese directors to visit Australia including Chen Kaige, Wu Tianming, Zhang Zeming, Huang Jianxin and Tian Zhuangzhuang. The firm was actively involved in the beginnings of the French Film Festival in Sydney in the 1990s, and frequently worked with the Alliance Francaise and the French Embassy to host festivals and other French film events at Ronin's cinemas. As an exhibitor, the company ran several art cinemas including the Academy Cinema in Sydney for four years during the early 1990s, and Electric Shadows Cinemas in Canberra from 1979 to 2006. For many years Pike wrote programme notes for a weekly newsletter that was emailed to 4,500 cinema patrons in Canberra.
Ronin is a leading distributor of documentaries and specialises in the educational market. Their collection includes many films from the CAAMA (Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association) collection.
Author
Pike researched and co-authored (with Ross Cooper) the book Reference guide to Australian films 1906–1969, published by Oxford University Press in 1980 and Australian Film 1900-1977 in 1998.
He also co-authored with Ray Edmondson, Australia's Lost Films: The loss and rescue of Australia’s silent cinema.