If intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time, then I think art is the exploration of that conflict.
"Never Boring" that's what I want on my obituary. I’ve done a bunch of weird shit that all seems to centre around the conjunction of art and commerce, which to me is the epitome of pop culture. I've worked for an artist whose medium was lego, DJed to thousands at music festivals and made ads for instant noodles. Through all of this, I realised that I love how art can change the way we think, feel and live.
Advertising by day and DJing by night - that was my world until I got accepted into AWARD school in 2018. AWARD school opened my eyes to the power of ideas and how they can affect culture (you can check my folio here). After AWARD School, I wanted to continue my exploration of creativity and found AFTRS. Right from my first day, I knew that I could spend the rest of my life making stories.
At AFTRS, I got to enter a new world - the world of filmmaking. I have relished the chance to work on a wide range of different projects with diverse creators. Some highlights include:
- Writing & Directing my first short called Time Traveller Recruitment video. Super weird, super silly but I learnt a lot about storytelling and how to convey ideas.
- Producing Ballet Takes Balls, a documentary that explored mental health and bullying from a male perspective. We got to work with the Sydney Swans and a professional ballet dancer.
- Being a script editor for the Life Goals Season 4 writers room. This was a super challenging task as we were in the middle of the pandemic and had to create a whole new story world from scratch. I’m super proud of how we all worked as a team to get through this.
Also, opening myself to work on projects outside of AFTRS has been extremely rewarding. I have helped with sound recording on multiple short films such as Pearly Gates and on an AFTRS Masters shoot called Pasifka Drift. Working on these projects has helped keep my inspiration alive and allowed me to continue to see the power of filmmaking even during COVID times.
I know every filmmaker loves movies, and we all have our stories about why. So here's mine; I was an only child, so films kept me company. Whether it was playing the VHS of Return of the Jedi on a loop when I was five or my Nana taking me to almost every film that was out during school holidays when I was ten, to pirating Kubrick films late at night in my teens, film has always been front and centre. Being given the opportunity to make them is a dream come true.
Making art is tricky, and I'm not sure what will be next, but I can promise you one thing...
It's not going to be boring.
