David Robinson-Smith

Australian writer/director David Robinson-Smith grew up and is based in Budgewoi on NSW’s Central Coast.

David is focused on stories that find the nuance in seemingly black-and-white issues. His filmography includes CILECT CAPA-award & Australian Director’s Guild-winning short film Mud Crab (2022), David also won Best Director at the St Kilda Film Festival for this film.  

David has just finished his next short film We Used To Own Houses which is starting its festival run soon. He is also in development writing his debut feature film Colossus alongside Executive Producer Michele Bennett and Producer Julia Corcoran.

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Vee Shi grew up in China and is now based in Melbourne. His short film, "Jia,"was nominated for the AACTA Award 2024, won an AWGIE last night at the Australian Writers' Guild Awards 2024 and is nominated for the Australian Writers' Guild Award 2024 and Screen Producers Award Short Film Production of the Year 2024. "Jia" has won multiple awards, including the Australian Directors’ Guild (ADG) Award, Best Direction and Best Actor in an Australian Short Film at Flickerfest 2023, Best Australian Short Film at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival 2023, and the Jury Award at the Tels Quels Festival Brussels 2023. Vee participated in the MIFF Accelerator Lab 2023 and was selected for the Co-Curious "Stories from Another Australia" workshop in Victoria.

Vee is drawn to emotionally rich narratives, exploring themes of class, relationships and identity against the contemporary backdrop of the technological era. He is currently in post-production for his first feature film, "Time and Tide," a high-concept docu-fiction exploring challenging family relationships. He is also developing "Jia" into a feature film, and two TV series.

Vee currently holds the position of Development Executive at Big and Little Films.

Click here for more information.

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Victoria’s feature film THE FLOOD has sold to US/UK/Latin America and several European, Asian and Nordic territories since its Australian release. Distributed by Madman you can view THE FLOOD on SBS World Movies, DVD and VOD platforms.

Victoria is developing her next feature film with the team at Pivot Pictures, in post production on documentary ALIGHT AFTER DARK and writing a supernatural thriller.

You can contact Victoria via the ADG Directory or via her agent Wendy Howell at Creative Representation.

To contact Victoria please view her profile on the ADG directory.

Clare Plueckhahn is a director with experience in scripted drama, TVC's and documentary.

Most recently she has directed NEIGHBOURS, 2nd Unit on PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, supported by VIC Screen & comedy feature RICKY STANICKY - & is a household name in the Australian commercial world with a long list of clients including Kotex, MIFF, McDonalds, Aesop, TAC and The Australian Ballet.

Having started her career as a photographer, Clare has an eye for the visually interesting, the cinematic - evident in her award winning solo exhibition RUNNING WITH WOLVES. She fell into producing and shooting through her love of and connection to surfing, producing FIRST LOVE and then as DOP on UNCHARTED WATERS - and still freelances as an underwater cinematographer, with recent credits including RUN RABBIT RUN, THE CLEARING & SUMMER LOVE.

A strong storyteller with an excellent cinematic eye, her technical skills and experience across camera and producing add depth and breadth to her abilities as a director.

To contact Clare please view her profile on the ADG directory.

Hannah Smith is an Australian Director who grew up in Rural Far North QLD. At 17 she relocated south where she completed studies in film and television. She has always had a passion for telling stories that highlight community and family. Hannah has experience working on several features including “Dora” and “Godzilla vs. Kong” and lately, she has been working as a Second Unit Director on Disney's "The Clearing" and "The Artful Dodger".

Hannah has written and directed multiple projects of her own and her newest proof of concept titled “THE EMPYREAN” (2022) has won awards internationally - most recently "Best Sci-Fi short film at the VORTEX Rhode Island International Film Festival. 

Recently, Hannah completed two Directors Shadowing Opportunities; in QLD (With Jeffrey Walker) and NSW (With Neil Sharma). She has also finished working as a 2nd Unit Director on Disney's "The Artful Dodger" and "The Clearing".

Hannah is writing and developing several high concept/genre projects that lean heavily into the Comedy/Horror and Comedy/Drama space and continues to pursue a career as a working director.

To contact Hannah please view her profile on the ADG directory.

AP Pobjoy is a trans and queer ADG nominated writer, director and documentary-maker based on unceded Gadigal Land. Growing up between Melbourne and Far North Queensland, AP’s work focuses on outnumbered perspectives with a passion for Australian storytelling. Their work has been recognised by The Age, Stronger Than Fiction, RUUSH Magazine and Global Citizen and was nominated for BBFF’s ‘Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year' for their debut short, ‘Backing Up Bilitis.’ 

At the start of 2020, AP was selected to be a part of the Emerging Practitioners Program at AIDC provided through Film Victoria. Shortly after, they began developing, writing and directing their first television documentary entitled WHY DID SHE HAVE TO TELL THE WORLD? Executive Produced by Sue Maslin and in association with Film Victoria and Screen Australia. WHY DID SHE HAVE TO TELL THE WORLD? opened the ABCTV Compass season for 2021 and went on to be nominated for an Australian Directors Guild Award. WHY DID SHE HAVE TO TELL THE WORLD also went on to win ‘Best Film’ at Mardi Grad Film Festival’s My Queer Career, was nominated for the presitgous Iris Prize. 

AP is also an emerging screenwriter. They have been on the ground as a note taker and contributor in many writers rooms, including Screen Australia Supported Snapchat Show APOLLO and Tik-Tok Series SCATTERED. They were most recently the Script Coordinator for the new ABC Comedy Show RETROGRADE, written by Meg O’Connell and Anna Barnes.  AP is also the recipient for the FILM VICTORIA 2021 SCREEN DEVELOPMENT, a 12-month rotation working inside of Film Victoria, ABC and FremantleMedia in feature and series development. 

Currently, AP is a part of AIDC’s 2022 initiative DOC.LAB.INTERACT developing a self-sustaining queer archive, writing an audio documentary series as well as creating a reality show - the first of its kind globally.

AP is also the Development Coordinator at AQUARIUS FILMS.

Check out AP's work here. 

Let's dive into AP's work...

1. WHY DID SHE HAVE TO TELL THE WORLD? (documentary short)

AP's debut award-winning television documentary, WHY DID SHE HAVE TO TELL THE WORLD, is an story about a pivotal moment within Queer history. Following Francesca Curtis and Phyllis Papps are many things. Researchers. Writers. Ultra-Feminists. Partners. They are also the first lesbian couple to come out on national television almost fifty years ago. Putting everything on the line, Phyllis and Francesca appeared on ABC TV This Day Tonight’s interview about lesbianism in October 1970. Now in the final years of their lives, the couple open up about love, loss and political change, solidified inside a fifty year relationship. A powerful and inspiring film about acceptance set against Australia’s fight for marriage equality. The documentary opened the ABCTV Compass Season and went on to be nominated for an ADG Award. Watch it here. 

2. BACKING UP BILITIS (short film). 

Seventeen-year-old closeted Jane creates an underground event in the basement of her suburban home, all on the brink of Melbourne's first gay liberation movement. In partnership with the Australian Queer Archives and Aztec Records Australia, Backing Up Bilitis, shot enirely on 16mm,  pays homage to the birth of Melbourne's liberation movement and Australia's first gay rights group, 'The Daughters of Bilitis.' Read more here.

Tin Pang is an award-winning film and television director/writer. He studied at the Griffith Film School at the Queensland College of Art in Brisbane, before completing the industry renowned USC/Universal Producing and Directing intensive program at the University of Southern California in 2008. 

His breakout short film, MOTHER, CHILD, exploring the trauma of survivors of stroke and their carers, premiered in the acclaimed Accelerator program of the 65th Melbourne International Film Festival in 2017. The film screened at Flickerfest, St Kilda Film Festival, HollyShorts, World-Fest Houston, Coronado Island Film Festival, and the Legacy Film Festival on Aging in San Francisco. The film would go on to win ‘Best Short Fiction (50 mins or less)’ at the 2017 ATOM Awards in Melbourne.

In 2021, Tin was chosen to direct RADICAL HONESTY,  a proof of concept comedy short written by Neilesh Verma and Suren Jayemanne. The project was one of five taking part in the Equity Foundation’s Screen Diversity Showcase 2021, with major support from Screen Australia, and partners at the Australian Directors’ Guild and the Australian Writers’ Guild.

After joining HOME AND AWAY as an assistant director in 2018, Tin began directing on the series as part of a director’s attachment with renowned director Ian Watson in early 2022. Tin is attached as a director on a TV kids drama currently in development at Beyond Productions. He is also actively developing a number of original projects, including a television comedy series and a romantic comedy feature.

Find Tin on his Website & Instagram. 

Let's dive into Tin's work...

1. MOTHER, CHILD (short film)

MOTHER, CHILD is an award-winning Australian short film that follows two characters over a period of 15 minutes in real time, and all in one continuous shot. Having suffered a recent Stroke, a mother and her adult son are reacquainted and forced to live together. As they face the physical and psychological challenges head on, they're placed on an emotional collision course, leading them to question whether their close proximity is such a good idea. Watch on Omeleto here.

2.. RADICAL HONESTY (short film)

RADICAL HONESTY is a proof of concept comedy short that was part of our 2021 Screen Diversity Showcase. Tin was selected to direct the project, written by  Neilesh Verma and Suren Jayemanne. After a couples therapy session, an eager yet clumsy Rohan finds himself attempting to navigate an unexpectedly frank conversation with his girlfriend Sophie. Radical Honesty was selected to screen at the 11th Peninsula Film Festival and Gold Coast Film Festival as part of their SIPFest Program. 

A graduate of both UTS (Design) and AFTRS (Drama Directing), Andrew Undi Lee  is a queer, Australian-born Korean director, writer, producer and production designer. Recipient of the Kenneth B Myer Award for Exceptional Talent, he also received the Young Australian Korean Filmmaker Award from the Korean Consulate of Australia.

His short film MELON GRAB screened at the 2017 Sydney International Film Festival and was nominated for a Dendy Award for Best Short Film with Andrew nominated as Best Director. Andrew also received a nomination for the Australian Director's Guild Best Direction in a Short Drama for the film.

Most recently a writer for ABC’s BORN TO SPY, TROPPO, a Korean consultant for THE NEWSREADER and AFTER THE VERDICT. Andrew is currently in several writing rooms for other television series in development.  He is also writing NIGHT BLOOMERS, a Korean Australian horror series he created through I.C.E. and Film Independent’s international mentorship workshop – a project which has been commissioned by SBS through Screen Australia and SBS’s Digital Originals program. Shooting to commence in 2022.

Andrew is also part of the 2021 Screen Diversity Showcase as a screen director with the Equity Foundation initiative. As well as being a part of the 2022 Midsumma Queer Play Writing award for his two hander stage play No Asians.

Find Undi on his Website & Instagram. 

Let's dive into Undi's work...

1. NIGHT BLOOMERS (web series)

Night Bloomers is an anthology of horror stories from the Korean diaspora. With a goblin stowaway and monsters hunting in the night, the heroes of Night Bloomers experience a world of fractured identities and unresolved yearnings. This chilling horror was just announced as one of the four new dramas commissioned through the Digital Originals Initiative. Congrats to Undi and your whole team. Read about it here. 

2. MELON GRAB (short film)

An uncertain future dawns upon two young best friends as one of them is moving away from their coastal hometown. Their way of dealing with it is skateboarding as the descending sun marks a new point in their lives. This short was actually nominated for an ADG Award for Best Direction in a short film in 2018 AND it was a recipient for @screenaustralia 'Hot Shots' and 'Arts Central'.

3. ERIC (short film)

Tucked away in a forgotten and isolated motel, a "lad" encounters a returning soldier coping with post-traumatic stress disorder. The brief encounter is a soft collision of two characters both lost
and trying to find themselves within each other. It screened at Cannes Film Festival (Cinéma des Antipodes)!!!

Watch Undi's showreel here. 

Executive Director, Alaric McAusland talks to ADG member Andrew Undi Lee about his journey into the foundations of his storytelling, insight into different funding options for emerging directors and what the future holds for Undi, specifically the strides he is taking in instigating opportunities for Korean-Australians. 

Samuel Van Grinsven is a writer and director whose debut feature film SEQUIN IN A BLUE ROOM won the Audience Award at the 2019 Sydney Film Festival.

It soon became a festival hit screening globally at festivals including Palm Springs International Film Festival, TIFF Next Wave, BFI Flare and MIFF. Nominations for AACTA and ADG Awards followed, as well as domestic and international theatrical releases.

He is currently in development on his second feature WENT UP THE HILL, an Australia / New Zealand co-production with Causeway Films (The Babadook) and POP Film (Savage). 

Executive Director Alaric McAusland talks to ADG member Samuel Van Grinsven about his journey across the ditch with a family of professional impersonators, finding his voice in experimental theatre in Brisbane and finding his collaborators at film school. Sam steps through the casting and production of his award winning graduate project ‘Sequin in a Blue Room’, its queer and mainstream festival strategy and picking up a global distributor.

Let's dive into Kauthar's work...

1. #MATCHED (TikTok Series)

#MATCHED is a TikTok sensation that follows a hellbent woman in her late twenties as she embarks on a dating rampage to find 'THE ONE'. Kauthar created, directed and executive produced the series which just wrapped its second season. #MATCHED Season Two was not only funded for production by Screen Australia, Film Victoria and TikTok, it also implimented what is believed to be Australia's first Inclusion Rider in the Screen Sector. The Rider was designed to create a production-specific cultural safety policy for the Muslim cast and crew involved, in consultation with Muslim community leaders. Read more about #MATCHED here and watch Season One here. 

2. THE NINTH TOWER

When the Victorian Government locks down his public-housing building, a teenager responsible for his mother's welfare is pushed to the brink. THE NINTH TOWER had its World Premiere at the 69th Melbourne International Film Festival. Read more here.

Will Suen

Will Suen is a Sydney based director born in Maitland. He began a career in filmmaking as the ultimate slashy, with professional credits across the spectrum of crew roles, including but not limited to Gaffer, Editor, and Standby Props.

He eventually crawled up the credits list to direct commercials,
music videos and short films. He's also the co-founder of Half Symbolic Films, a boutique film distributor most notably responsible for bringing the works of Masaaki Yuasa to cinemas across Australia.

Will's film Sweet Juices also directed by Sejon IM will be screening at Revelations next week followed by screenings at Fantasia in Montreal, MIFF in August and various festivals across France.