After being expelled from art school, Serious co-wrote, co-produced, edited and directed at age 21 his first film,
Coaltown, "with the assistance of the
Australian Film Institute". Released in 1977, The film's popularity propelled Serious to stardom which saw him appear on the cover of
Time magazine and the Australian edition of
Mad magazine, and get his own
primetime slot on
MTV. The movie was a success in Australia but a critical and commercial flop upon receiving a wide release in the United States. In 1993, Serious released his next film,
Reckless Kelly, a satire about a modern descendant of the notorious Australian bank robber
Ned Kelly who also becomes a movie star in
Hollywood. While
Reckless Kelly was a hit in Australia, it failed outside of the country and ended Serious's bid for mainstream international popularity. In 2000, Serious released his third film,
Mr. Accident, about the most accident-prone man in the world. Like
Reckless Kelly, the film was not a commercial success outside Australia. Serious is a director of the
Kokoda Track Foundation, a humanitarian organisation focused on
Papua New Guinea. In 2019, in a rare Q&A session at Sydney's
Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, Serious stated in response to a question about what he had been doing recently, "I have been writing and I hope to continue to make some more movies." ==Honours and awards==