# Michele Bennett (film producer)

Michele Rosemary Bennett is an Australian film and television producer. She is the founder of Cherub Pictures and Pariah Productions and has produced films such as Chopper (2000), The Magician (2005), Drift (2013), and Judy and Punch (2019), as well as the television series Mr Inbetween (2018–2021), NCIS: Sydney (2023) and Queen of Oz (2023). Bennett has also produced music videos for artists such as INXS, U2, Prince, Silverchair and Foo Fighters.
Bennett's relationship with INXS lead vocalist, Michael Hutchence, inspired the band's 1988 hit single "Never Tear Us Apart".

## Career

In the early 1980s, Bennett had four jobs while she was studying at University in Melbourne, including a brief career as a model, and then started working as a photographer's agent.
In 1982, Bennett appeared on the music video for "The One Thing" by INXS, as one of the women at the banquet table.
In the late 1980s, Bennett started working with Australian filmmaker Richard Lowenstein on several music videos. In 1986, she made a cameo in Lowenstein's film Dogs in Space. In 1989, Bennett produced the U2 documentary LoveTown, directed by Lowenstein.
In the early 1990s, Bennett produced the INXS music videos "Suicide Blonde", "By My Side" and "Bitter Tears". She also produced music videos for artists such as U2, Prince, Silverchair, and Foo Fighters.
Bennett began collaborating with Australian filmmaker Andrew Dominik on music videos and commercials in Sydney in the early 1990s.
In 1991, Bennett founded her own production company, Cherub Pictures. The company has produced music videos, documentaries and television commercials.
In 2000, Bennett produced her first feature film through her company Pariah Productions, Andrew Dominik's crime drama Chopper (2000), which became a critical and box office hit in Australia. Since then, Bennett has produced feature films such as Scott Ryan's The Magician (2005), Morgan O'Neill and Ben Nott's Drift (2013), and Mirrah Foulkes's Judy and Punch (2019).
In 2004, Bennett produced the INXS documentary Welcome to Wherever You Are, directed by Lowenstein. In 2005, she produced the documentary Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man, directed by Lian Lunson.
From 2018 to 2021, Bennett produced the television series Mr Inbetween.
In February 2019, Bennett was a member of the jury of the Tropfest in Sydney.
In 2023, Bennett produced the television series NCIS: Sydney and Queen of Oz.

## Personal life

Bennett speaks Mandarin.
From 1982 to 1987, Bennett was in a relationship with INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence. They shared a flat in Paddington with New Zealand-Australian singer Jenny Morris, who was INXS's backing vocalist. Bennett inspired INXS's 1988 hit song "Never Tear Us Apart". Bennett introduced Hutchence to Australian filmmaker Richard Lowenstein, who directed several music videos for INXS, including the one for "Never Tear Us Apart". According to Hutchence's sister, Tina, Bennett was the only woman her brother said he had considered marrying. Lowenstein, who was close friends with Hutchence, also said that he believed that Bennett was the only woman that Hutchence would marry; "I always felt that, after everything, he'd go back and marry Michele and have a baby with her," he told The Independent in 1998.
Bennett and Hutchence remained close friends after the end of their relationship and she was described as Hutchence's "first real love", his "closest friend and confidante". Bennett was the last person that Hutchence called on the morning of his death, on 22 November 1997. According to Bennett, Hutchence called her two times that morning; first he left a message in her answering machine, then he called her again at 9:54 am and she answered the phone. Bennett said that Hutchence was crying, sounded upset, and told her he needed to see her. Bennett arrived at his hotel room door at about 10:40 am, but there was no response, so she wrote him a note and left it at reception. Hutchence's body was discovered by a hotel maid at 11:50 am. His death was ruled as suicide while depressed and under the influence of alcohol and other drugs.
Bennett refused to talk about her relationship with Hutchence publicly until the 2019 documentary Mystify: Michael Hutchence, directed by Richard Lowenstein, a close friend of both Bennett and Hutchence's.

## In popular culture

Bennett was portrayed by actress Jane Harber in the 2014 Australian biographical miniseries INXS: Never Tear Us Apart. Bennett claimed that the miniseries was not accurate and that she was not contacted by the filmmakers.

## Filmography

Actress
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1982 | INXS: The One Thing | Girl at the banquet table | Richard Lowenstein | Music video |
| 1986 | Dogs in Space | Grant's girl | Richard Lowenstein | Feature film; as Michelle Bennett |
Producer
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Notes |
| 1989 | U2: LoveTown | Richard Lowenstein | Documentary |
| 1989 | Flying Emus: Different Drum | Paul Clarke | Music video |
| 1990 | INXS: Suicide Blonde | Richard Lowenstein | Music video |
| 1991 | INXS: By My Side | Richard Lowenstein | Music video |
| 1991 | INXS: Bitter Tears | Richard Lowenstein | Music video |
| 2000 | Chopper | Andrew Dominik | Feature film |
| 2004 | INXS: Welcome to Wherever You Are | Richard Lowenstein | Documentary |
| 2005 | The Magician | Scott Ryan | Feature film |
| 2006 | Magic Happens: The Story of 'The Magician' | Luke Doolan | Documentary |
| 2007 | September | Peter Carstairs | Consulting producer |
| 2009 | Apricot | Ben Briand | Short film |
| 2013 | Drift | Morgan O'Neill and Ben Nott | Feature film |
| 2019 | Judy and Punch | Mirrah Foulkes | Feature film |
| 2021 | Shark | Nash Edgerton | Short film |
| 2023 | Queen of Oz | Christiaan Van Vuuren | Television series |
Executive producer
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Notes |
| 2004 | It Takes Two to Tango | Luke Shanahan | Short film |
| 2005 | Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man | Lian Lunson | Documentary; executive in charge of production for Cherub Pictures |
| 2010 | Bridezilla: Western Front | Justin Kurzel and Daniel Fletcher | Music video |
| 2014 | The Mule | Tony Mahony and Angus Sampson | Feature film |
| 2018–2021 | Mr Inbetween | Nash Edgerton | Television series |
| 2023 | NCIS: Sydney | Shawn Seet, David Caesar, Kriv Stenders and Catherine Millar | Television series |

## Accolades

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2000 | Australian Film Institute Awards | Best Film | Chopper | Nominated |
| 2018 | Screen Producers Australia Awards | Drama Series Production of the Year | Mr Inbetween | Won |
| 2018 | Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards | Best Drama Series | Mr Inbetween | Nominated |
| 2019 | Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards | Best Film | Judy and Punch | Nominated |
| 2019 | Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards | Best Drama Series | Mr Inbetween | Nominated |
| 2019 | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Film | Judy and Punch | Nominated |
| 2021 | Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards | Best Drama Series | Mr Inbetween | Nominated |