During this period he also co-wrote and directed a telemovie, Call Me Mr. Brown. He is, however, best known as the director of "Shine", the Oscar-winning biopic of pianist David Helfgott. Geoffrey Rush won the Academy Award for Best Actor, for his portrayal as Helfgott, and the film was also nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Armin Mueller-Stahl), Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Original Dramatic Score, Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. The AFI Awards gave it significant recognition as well, with nine nominations total. Hicks's first Hollywood studio film "Snow Falling on Cedars" (1999) starring Ethan Hawke, Max von Sydow and Sam Shepard, and based on David Guterson's novel of the same title, also received an Academy Award nomination. This was followed in 2001 by the adaptation of Stephen King's novel "Hearts in Atlantis" starring Anthony Hopkins. After working on "Hearts in Atlantis", Hicks decided to take time off and enjoy living at home. In that time, he fell into working on television commercials. Hicks also enjoyed success in the world of American television commercials (which he terms "multi-million dollar mini-movies") – one of which was inducted into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. More than six years later, Hicks resurfaced as a director in "No Reservations". He followed that up with a more personal project, shooting a feature-length documentary on the iconic composer Philip Glass, "glass: a portrait of Philip in twelve parts". This film premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, to great acclaim, and has since been released in the U.S. and at film festivals around the world. In 2009 he made "The Boys Are Back", an Australian-UK co-production starring Clive Owen. In 2014-15, he made the documentary "Highly Strung" about the Australian String Quartet, documenting the musical rehearsals and performance processes, the breakup of the group, and the copying of the Giovanni Battista Guadagnini cello by a leading luthier in Italy. Hicks is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Hicks was a finalist in 2008 for the Australian of the Year Awards. Hicks has had his portrait painted by David Bromley several times. The 1999 portrait was a finalist for the Archibald Prize.