Tony Ayres (born 1961) is an Australian showrunner, screenwriter, and director in television and film. He is most notable for his films Walking on Water (2002) and The Home Song Stories (2007), as well his work in television, including working as the showrunner on The Slap and teen adventure series Nowhere Boys (2013). He founded his own film production company, Tony Ayres Productions (TAP), in 2018.
Early life and education Tony Ayres was born in Portuguese Macau (now in China) in 1961.Tony Ayres on Prints and Printmaking In 1964, Ayres' mother married an Australian sailor and migrated her family to Perth, Western Australia.
In 1972, when Ayres was 11 years old, his mother died by suicide. She was a nightclub singer."Going beyond the pale". The Age, 4 April 2003."Writer and director Tony Ayres". ABC Queensland, 10 August 2007.
Ayres' stepfather died of a heart attack three years after the death of his wife, and two days before he was due to remarry. Ayres and his older sister briefly lived with their stepfather's former fiancée, before being placed in the care of Ayres' history teacher (whom his sister would later end up marrying). Ayres temporarily relocated to Canberra, ACT, to study, before moving back to help care for the teacher and his children. Ayres' 2007 film The Home Song Stories is loosely based on this early period of his life.
Ayres attended Ardross Primary School and Applecross Senior High School, later studying photography and printmaking at the Australian National University in Canberra, before working as an exhibition curator. He later completed postgraduate studies in film and video at the Swinburne Film and Television School (now the University of Melbourne Faculty of VCA and MCM School of Film and Television) in Melbourne, Victoria.
Career
Ayres' first feature film, Walking on Water, won the Teddy Award at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2002, and won 5 AFI Awards. His second feature film, The Home Song Stories, also premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, and won 24 Australian and international awards, including 8 AFI Awards.
Ayres was the showrunner and director of the 8-episode miniseries The Slap, which won five AACTA Awards, including Best Miniseries or TV Movie, and was nominated for a BAFTA and International Emmy. His other credits include producing the comedy series Bogan Pride with Rebel Wilson, and directing the 2009 telemovie Saved. Ayres was the showrunner for the ABC3 show Nowhere Boys, as well as executive producer on Old School and Devil's Playground.
On 31 January 2025, it was announced that Netflix series The Survivors had been announced in the 2025 Australian drama slate, and that Ayres would produce and write for the show. Ayres, alongside Matchbox Pictures, was heavily involved with the production when it was first announced in 2023. On 4 July 2025, ABC announced it was in active production with Ayres for a new series called Toxic based on the Erin Patterson "mushroom murders" trial.
Other activities In 2018, after departing Matchbox Pictures, Ayres created his production company Tony Ayres Productions (TAP).
In 2020 Ayres was appointed as a board member of the South Australian Film Corporation for three years.
Recognition and honours On 16 May 2023, Ayres was awarded an honorary degree with a Doctor of Arts in film and television from AFTRS.
Personal life Ayres is openly gay.
Filmography Film Year Title Credited as Notes Director Producer Writer 1992 Double Trouble Documentary short film 1997 Exposed Short film 1998 Mrs. Craddock's Complaint Short film 1998 China Dolls Documentary film 1999 Sadness Documentary film 2002 Walking on Water 2007 The Home Song Stories 2010 Lou 2011 Miss South Sudan Australia Documentary film 2013 The Turning Segment: "Cockleshell" 2013 Spine Short film 2014 Cut Snake 2016 Nowhere Boys: The Book of Shadows 2017 Ali's Wedding
Television The numbers in directing and writing credits refer to the number of episodes.
Year Title Credited as Network Notes Creator Director Writer Executiveproducer 1992 Six Pack (1) SBS TV Anthology series 1994 Under the Skin (1) SBS TV Anthology series 1996 Naked: Stories of Men (1) ABC Anthology series 1998 The Violent Earth (3) Nine Network Miniseries 2009 Saved SBS TV Television film 2011 The Slap (2) ABC1 Producer 2013–18 Nowhere Boys ABC3ABC Me Producer Executive producer 2015–19 Glitch ABC TV 2020 Stateless ABC TV 2021 Clickbait (5) Netflix Limited series 2021 Fires ABC TV Anthology series2025The Survivors (2) Netflix Limited Series +Key Denotes television series that have not yet been aired
Executive producer-only Year Title Network Notes 2005 The Last Valley ABC Documentary film 2008 Two Men & Two Babies SBS TV Documentary film 2009–13 Anatomy ABC1 DocuseriesProducer Executive producer 2012 The Straits 2012 Underground: The Julian Assange Story Network Ten Television film 2013 Next Stop Hollywood ABC1 2014 Old School 2014 Devil's Playground Showcase 2015 The Slap NBC Miniseries 2015 Maximum Choppage ABC2 2016–17 The Family Law SBS Series 1–2 2016–18 Wanted Seven Network 2017 Seven Types of Ambiguity ABC TV 2021 Creamerie TVNZ OnDemandWeb series
Producer-only + Year Title Network NotesRef 2008 Bogan Pride SBS TV 2016 Barracuda ABC TV Miniseries2023The Spooky FilesABC TVTV series
Awards Tony Ayres won the award of Best Dramatic Feature at the 2015 Byron Bay International Film Festival for the film Cut Snake.
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