Sam Rogers is an award-winning Writer/Director from Melbourne, Australia. After graduating from Swinburne's Film and Television course, his short film ‘Breathe’ (2015) was officially selected at the St Kilda Film Festival 2015 and he won ‘Most Exciting Talent’ at the ReelGood Film Festival in Melbourne. In 2018 his short film 'Nangs' (2018) won Best Director at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival.
SAM ROGERS
FILM MAKERS
PHEBE
SCHMIDT
Phebe Schmidt (b. 1993) is a photographer and filmmaker based in Melbourne. Her work explores consumption, self-image and identity in a branded contemporary culture under constant surveillance. Schmidt graduated with first class Honours from RMIT in 2017, is the recipient of the 2018 Eastside International Residency (LA) 2018, and has exhibited in both solo and group shows nationally and internationally. Schmidt has exhibited at West Space (VIC), Blindside (VIC), The Honeymoon Suite (VIC), Art Space (NSW), Gertrude Contemporary (VIC), Moana Project Space (WA),Margaret Lawrence Gallery (VIC), Sarah Scout Gallery (VIC) and Gaia Gallery (Istanbul) among others. In addition to her art practice, Schmidt is a widely published commercial photographer, working for publications from Vogue to Vault Art magazine. Her commercial and art practices inform each other and are central to her investigation of visibility and branded identity.
THE HOTEL
NAOMI
Melbourne-based filmmakers Lewis and Callum Mitchell are the brothers behind The Hotel Naomi. Their work can be described as ambivalent love letters to America. The Hotel Naomi’s seminal project, American Eggs, is a three part comedic webseries about love and revenge in Indiana.
The other hallmark of The Hotel Naomi’s work is their experimental aesthetic. American Eggs was mostly improvised, and shot in front of a green screen, and their latest work, Decadencia, was completely dubbed in the style of a Latin-American telenovela.
Alongside original narrative they have created film-clips for musicians such as Darren Sylvester and Banoffee.
JAKE
WILLIS
Jake Willis is an emerging writer/director in Melbourne. His work focuses on the often unspoken tender moments we share. ‘Here In Silence’ went on to screen at festivals around the world, winning awards at Best Film at Deaf Fest. The film has since secured multiple years of distribution across Europe.
KATHLEEN
LEE
Kathleen Lee completed her Bachelor of Film & Television in 2011 at Swinburne University. She has since been working freelance in the industry directing music videos, content videos and creating her own short films. Her first series Sex & Death was backed by Screen Australia with principle funding and released in March 2020. Sex and Death is set to screen at Melbourne Web Fest and Seoul Web Fest picking up nominations for best screen play and cast. Kathleen’s offbeat romantic comedies depict eccentric but warm characters and celebrate the zeitgeist and landscape of the world around her.
ZACHARY
BRADTKE
Bradtke's career started as a Photographer (ACMI Diegesis Urban Landscape Winner 2008/2009), Designer (Publications VOGUE, VICE 2006-2008) and a represented Digital Artist (Solo Show 'Digital Guided Meditation' 2014).
Bradtke went on to establish himself as a film maker. Documenting the music community for the past 10 years. In 2015 He co-established Banalarama with writer Nick Clarke. Backed by Creative Victoria, he Directed Live Music show "ABABCd" for four seasons.
In 2017 Bradtke established a collaboration with KEWL Studios. KEWL x Banalarama Studios have since pooled local film makers into a singular space. Creating Music Videos, Brand Campaigns and Comedy Shorts.
On top of Banalarama's commercial success, Bradtke has had Films, Music Videos, Shorts and Fashion Films nominated for awards and selections for film festivals. Including the ARIAS, St Kilda Film Festival, MIFF and VAMFF.
In 2020 Bradtke is a Director and Writer for narrative shorts and episodic content. While continuing to run his own studio, Banalarama.
TED
WILSON
A Tasmanian writer/director, Wilson has a Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) Screenwriting Masters. His short film BUILDING BRIDGES (Dir: Jessica Barclay Lawton) screened in the 2014 Melbourne International Film Festival Accelerator program. In 2015 he was awarded three filmmaking artist residencies – in France, Italy and Russia. FAMILY HOLIDAY was selected for MIFF’s 2015 Accelerator Program and won the Best Short Film and Audience Choice Awards at 2016’s ReelGood Film Festival. In 2018, Wilson’s debut feature UNDER THE COVER OF CLOUD world premiered at MIFF, and is currently screening on SBS on Demand in Australia and Amazon Prime globally.
JACOB
HARRIS
Jacob Harris is a white Australian-American filmmaker based in Melbourne (Naarm), Australia. His narrative work ranges thematically from the ethereal to working class struggles, drawing on early childhood in Western Sydney (on the Darug lands of the Eora Nations) and Hobart (nipaluna).
As director, Jacob believes that energy on screen best materialises from intuition and collaboration. He holds a strong interest in the role of film in continually shaping Australian identity on this land, where sovereignty was never ceded. His fascination with the beauty and tragedy of existence are illustrated through the emotional and physical burdens borne by his onscreen characters.
Jacob's short film 'Three Poems' won the inaugural Audience Choice Award at the ReelGood Film Festival in 2014. His short film, 'The Spirit' won the best Made In Melbourne film award at Melbourne Indie Film Festival in 2020, following its premiere at MonsterFest in 2019. He has just completed work on a new short film, ‘Summer Turns to Jacky Winter’, and is collaborating on an upcoming documentary series, ‘Cinema Spaces’.
ISABELLA
GIOVINAZZO
Isabella Giovinazzo is an Australian actress from Melbourne. From 2013 until 2017, she played Phoebe Nicholson in the Australian soap opera Home and Away. She began playing Jessie Davies in the Network Ten drama series Playing For Keeps in 2018. As well as acting she directed a number of short films. She co-wrote the documentary Chong's World with Ella Carey, and it was selected for inclusion in the St Kilda Film Festival. After the completion of her film and televsion degree at Swinburne Univsersity, when her attention turned more to acting, she wrote, produced, and played the lead role in the short film Swim that was also selected for inclusion in the St. Kilda Film Festival. It later screened at the Byron Bay Film Festival, and aired on the Australian television network SBS.
TOBIAS
WILLIS
Tobias Willis has established a career in music as a filmmaker and now runs his own studio, KEWL. As a film director Tobias Willis worked closely with the local music community to release a feature-length documentary called Now Sound: Melbourne’s Listening which premiered as an official selection at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August 2018 and has seen wider distribution worldwide. Tobias’ latest release through KEWL as a producer was 6 part web series Sex and Death backed with principle funding from Screen Australia, the series was picked up by SBS Viceland set to air late 2020.
