Isaac Elliott
Festival judge
I’m an AACTA and three-time Australian Directors Guild (ADG) nominee and Australian film and television director. My work draws heavily on my experiences growing up in Alice Springs and living with a disability. I explore unique characters through a compassionate but darkly comic lens.
I began making films in 2007 after a motorcycle accident led to me becoming a paraplegic. One of my early projects was filming the National Motocross Championship, and after realising I was out of my depth, I moved to Melbourne to study filmmaking. My graduating film, *A Static Wind*, won Best Tertiary Short Fiction at the 2016 ATOM Awards and earned me a finalist position in the 2017 Lexus Australia Short Film Fellowship.
I produced and starred in the feature documentary *Finke: There and Back* with Brindle Films, which was distributed by Madman Entertainment. The following year, I directed *Burlesque Blokes*, a 22-minute documentary exploring the life of an Australian male stripper, which received over three million views online. I also directed *The Legend of Burnout Barry*, a TV special for ABC and ACTF, which earned me a nomination for Best Direction in a Children’s Program at the 2020 ADG Awards.
In 2021, I made my series direction debut, directing two episodes of the ABC Kids/Netflix series *MaveriX*, where I also served as a co-creator with Rachel Clements and Sam Meikle. The show was nominated for Best Children’s Program at the 2022 AACTA Awards. I also received two further ADG nominations for my direction of the series.
I recently directed the short film *Don’t Come In… Yet!*, featuring Oli Pizzey-Stratford, Ella Newton, Toby Truslove and Warwick Capper. The film screened at festivals including CinefestOZ, Flickerfest, St Kilda, Dances With Films and the Calgary International Film Festival. I was also listed as one of Inside Film’s RISING STARS directors for 2022.
In the same year, I directed the documentary *We Are Sexual Beings* for SBS/NITV, which explores what it’s like to be young, disabled and sexual in modern Australia. Additionally, I served as series director for the 15-episode web series *Wildlifers!* for ABC ME. My work continues to span drama, documentary and children’s television.
I currently have several projects that have received development funding, including *Shafted*, a dark comedy about a FIFO worker injured in a mining accident. I am also developing *Hard as Puck*, a feature documentary following Australia’s first national Para Ice Hockey team as they attend the world championships. Think *Cool Runnings* meets *Murderball*.
I began making films in 2007 after a motorcycle accident led to me becoming a paraplegic. One of my early projects was filming the National Motocross Championship, and after realising I was out of my depth, I moved to Melbourne to study filmmaking. My graduating film, *A Static Wind*, won Best Tertiary Short Fiction at the 2016 ATOM Awards and earned me a finalist position in the 2017 Lexus Australia Short Film Fellowship.
I produced and starred in the feature documentary *Finke: There and Back* with Brindle Films, which was distributed by Madman Entertainment. The following year, I directed *Burlesque Blokes*, a 22-minute documentary exploring the life of an Australian male stripper, which received over three million views online. I also directed *The Legend of Burnout Barry*, a TV special for ABC and ACTF, which earned me a nomination for Best Direction in a Children’s Program at the 2020 ADG Awards.
In 2021, I made my series direction debut, directing two episodes of the ABC Kids/Netflix series *MaveriX*, where I also served as a co-creator with Rachel Clements and Sam Meikle. The show was nominated for Best Children’s Program at the 2022 AACTA Awards. I also received two further ADG nominations for my direction of the series.
I recently directed the short film *Don’t Come In… Yet!*, featuring Oli Pizzey-Stratford, Ella Newton, Toby Truslove and Warwick Capper. The film screened at festivals including CinefestOZ, Flickerfest, St Kilda, Dances With Films and the Calgary International Film Festival. I was also listed as one of Inside Film’s RISING STARS directors for 2022.
In the same year, I directed the documentary *We Are Sexual Beings* for SBS/NITV, which explores what it’s like to be young, disabled and sexual in modern Australia. Additionally, I served as series director for the 15-episode web series *Wildlifers!* for ABC ME. My work continues to span drama, documentary and children’s television.
I currently have several projects that have received development funding, including *Shafted*, a dark comedy about a FIFO worker injured in a mining accident. I am also developing *Hard as Puck*, a feature documentary following Australia’s first national Para Ice Hockey team as they attend the world championships. Think *Cool Runnings* meets *Murderball*.