Matthew Vesely is an Australian filmmaker, best known for his 2022 feature film Monolith. His other work includes the web series Wastelander Panda (2013) and the short films My Best Friend Is Stuck on the Ceiling (2015) and System Error (2020). He works as development manager at Closer Productions.
Matt Vesely | |
|---|---|
| Born | Matthew Vesely |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
| Years active | 2009– |
| Notable work | Monolith (2002) |
Early life and education
editMatthew Vesely grew up in Adelaide, South Australia.[1]
For high school, he attended Scotch College in Adelaide,[2] graduating in 2004.[3] He graduated from Flinders University with a Bachelor in Creative Arts[4][5] in 2007.[6][7]
Career
editVesely's career started with making a number of low-budget short films, including the comedy Better Late Than Never, the documentary Street's Press, and the 2009 drama A Load Of Buckshot. In 2009, He took part in the South Australian Film Corporation's inaugural FilmLab Development Workshop.[7] His short film The Thing About Dolphins,[8] produced under the auspices of FilmLab, screened at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2011 and was nominated for four South Australian Screen Awards. The 18-minute film was also screened at other short film festivals in Australia as well as at Raindance Film Festival in London.[6][9][3]
In 2013, he was part of the writing team for the post-apocalyptic sci-fi web series Wastelander Panda (with Victoria Cocks and Mike Jones),[8] which was produced by Kirsty Stark[6][10][11][12] and produced by Epic Films in Adelaide. The series reached a global audience, was featured on the front page of Buzzfeed, io9, Gizmodo, and Neatorama, and invited comparisons with Mad Max, The Road and The Book of Eli.[13] After being posted online, within three days the series was viewed over 100,000 times in 150 countries. The project was then given federal funding for a six-part online series.[14]
He has worked with Closer Productions for many years,[4] for some years in the role of development manager, alongside company co-founder and owner Sophie Hyde and producer Rebecca Summerton.[15] Hyde co-produced his 2015 short film My Best Friend Is Stuck on the Ceiling,[16][17] which starred Tom Ward and Erin James, and the voice of Canadian comedian Nick Nemeroff. Written, directed, and co-edited by Vesely, the film premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2015,[18] had its international premiere at Palm Springs International ShortFest, and was also screened at the Melbourne, Sydney, Flickerfest, and St Kilda Film Festivals,[15] touring for 18 months in all.[1] It was released on a streaming service on 22 October 2019.[17] The film became publicly available on YouTube after it was selected by the "Short of the Week" channel on 11 May 2020.[19][20][21]
Also through Closer, Vesely was a writer and script producer[15] on the 2017 TV series F*!#ing Adelaide, which starred Pamela Rabe, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, and Kate Box, and screened at the Adelaide Film Festival and on ABC Television.[22][8] He was also script producer on the 2019 SBS Television drama series The Hunting, starring Asher Keddie and Richard Roxburgh.[15]
Vesely has also worked as a writer and clip producer on the ABC comedy series The Weekly with Charlie Pickering.[15][1]
His 2020 short film, System Error, featured David Quirk as Sid, Nick Nemeroff (as the voice of George the Robot), and Vesely as George the Human.[23] The film was selected for the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, and opened the 2021 St Kilda Film Festival in Melbourne. It premiered in the UK at the Aesthetica Film Festival on 3 November 2020.[23] It was hosted by DUST, which made it available on their YouTube channel in March 2021.[24] Vesely described System Error as "a sort of pilot for a series we're working on called Overheater, which is a dystopian romantic comedy about a love triangle between an anxious young woman, a reckless man with a deathwish, and... George".[25] The film deals with mental illness and friendship, and "being okay with being broken".[25]
Vesely's first feature film, the sci-fi thriller Monolith, featuring a single on-screen actor, Lily Sullivan, was selected to have its international premiere at SXSW in 2023,[26] after a screening at the 2022 Adelaide Film Festival. It also screened at Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival and Sitges Film Festival. It was well-reviewed by respected Australian film critic David Stratton,[27][28] as well as in The New York Times,[29] The Guardian,[30] and by other reviewers.[31][32] It was released in cinemas in the Australia and New Zealand in 2023, and the US in 2024.[33] Vesely was interviewed on RogerEbert.com about the film ahead of the US release.[34]
He has been working with Garth Davis and See-Saw Films as a screenwriter on a TV adaptation of French graphic novel by Léo Quievreux published in English as The Immersion Program.[27][35][36] In April 2022, Screen Australia announced funding the science fiction drama TV series Immersion, to be written by Vesely, directed by Davis, and executive produced by Emile Sherman and Samantha Lang.[37]
As of February 2024[update] he was also working on developing another film with his Monolith team (Lucy Campbell, writer, and Bettina Hamilton, producer), and a solo project, writing a script for a "kind of Lovecraftian cult film".[38] The trio were featured in an article entitled "Behind the screens: Meet 14 next generation South Australian filmmakers" in The Advertiser in December 2024, saying that the South Australian screen industry had increased its activity to a level not seen since the 1970s.[39]
Other activities
editVesely has also performed as a stand-up comic. In 2019, he performed a show at the Adelaide Film Festival, called "Matt Vesely and George The Robot Perform a Very Normal Stand Up Comedy Routine",[40] which won good reviews.[41][42]
In 2020, he appeared in minor role in the feature film A Sunburnt Christmas.[43]
He wrote an essay about the technical and other aspects of working with an inanimate object in a film, based on his experiences with System Error, for the filmmaking website No Film School.[44]
Accolades
edit- 2012: Winner, Best Music Video, SA Screen Awards[6]
- 2014: Colin Thiele Scholarship for Creative Writing,[45][8] which he used on a project called Catharsis, a series of 52 short stories, published weekly[46]
- 2016: Winner, Best Comedy and Best Screenplay, South Australian Screen Awards, for My Best Friend Is Stuck on the Ceiling[15]
- 2016: Nominated, the Dendy Award for Best Australian Short at the Sydney Film Festival, for My Best Friend Is Stuck on the Ceiling[15][8]
- 2016: Special Mention, Short Screenplay Award, at the Sydney Film Festival, for My Best Friend Is Stuck on the Ceiling[15][8]
- 2017: Winner, Best Screenplay, Heart of Gold Film Festival, for My Best Friend Is Stuck on the Ceiling[15]
- 2018: Script for a feature film, Overheater, shortlisted for Australian Writers' Guild's John Hinde Award[15]
- 2023: Monolith was one of four nominees for the CinefestOZ Film Prize, the richest film prize in the country and worth A$100,000[47]
- 2023: Listed on IF Magazine's "Rising Talent list" (sponsored by AFTRS)[27]
- 2023: Nominated, ADG Awards, "Best Direction in a Debut Feature Film" category[48]
- 2024: Nominated, AACTA Award for Best Indie Film (Monolith)[49]
- 2024: Recipient (along with Aaron Fa'aoso and four others) of the Talent Gateway program, a joint initiative of Screen Australia and Australians in Film, which aims to help emerging filmmakers to develop their skills and forge connections, in order to succeed further in the international market[50]
- 2024: One of ten filmmakers selected for the "Adelaide Film Festival goes to Cannes" initiative[26]
- 2024: Winner, Best Feature Film in the SA Screen Awards (Monolith)
References
edit- ^ a b c O'Loughlin, Patrick (27 March 2017). "Local Filmmaker Matt Vesely Comes Home With Shorts". The Adelaide Review. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ "Scotch College Adelaide". Facebook. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ a b "Where are they now?" (PDF). Scotch Reports (151). Scotch College: 30. June 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
In March at the Bigpond Film Festival, writer and director Matt Vesely ('04) had his first film festival screening of his short film, The Thing About Dolphins.
- ^ a b Flinders 50 Creatives Exhibition Program. 2016. p. 24. Retrieved 18 October 2024 – via Issuu.
- ^ "Study Creative Arts and Media at Flinders". Flinders University. 24 September 2024. Archived from the original on 24 September 2024. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Matt Vesely". Festival Scope. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ a b "Matt Vesely". SA FilmLab. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "Matthew Vesely". AustLit. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ The Thing About Dolphins at IMDb
- ^ "The Wastelander Panda Chronicles". YouTube. 6 March 2024. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ Wastelander Panda at IMDb
- ^ "Wastelander Panda". YouTube. 6 March 2024. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ Noble, Kelly (30 January 2012). "Wastelander Panda Film Attracts Worldwide Attention". Glam Adelaide. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ De Bruyn, Simon (14 March 2013). "Wastelander Panda Is Coming For You. New Series Teasers Begin". ScreenAnarchy. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Matt Vesely". HLA Management Australia. 18 January 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ "My Best Friend Is Stuck on the Ceiling (2015)". Screen Australia. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ a b "My Best Friend is Stuck on the Ceiling". Rotten Tomatoes. 17 October 2024. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ "My Best Friend is Stuck on the Ceiling". Adelaide Film Festival. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ "Watch the Best Short Films". Short of the Week. 11 May 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ My best friend's stuck on the ceiling on YouTube
- ^ "My Best Friend is Stuck on the Ceiling by Matt Vesely". Short of the Week. 11 May 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
- ^ "New films from punk to F*!#ing Adelaide". News. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ a b "System Error". AustLit. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ Sci-Fi Short Film: "System Error" on YouTube Dust, 12 March 2021
- ^ a b Cribb, Daniel (12 March 2021). "EXCLUSIVE: Behind The Scenes Of Aus Sci-Fi Short 'System Error'". Supanova Comic Con & Gaming. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ a b "Adelaide Film Festival Announces Cannes Initiative". Adelaide Film Festival. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ a b c Keast, Jackie (31 October 2023). "Looking back at IF's Rising Talent from 2023: Part 3". IF Magazine. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ Stratton, David. "Strangely gripping supernatural thriller will keep you guessing". The Australian.
- ^ Marsh, Calum (15 February 2024). "'Monolith' Review: Friend of the Pod People". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ Hoad, Phil (20 February 2024). "Monolith review – impressive first contact sci-fi seeks the truth out there". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- ^ Peirce, Andrew F (2 August 2023). "Monolith Weaves an Unsettling Mystery with a Mesmerising Performance from Lily Sullivan". The Curb. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
- ^ Nunez, JP (27 August 2023). "FrightFest 2023: Monolith Dives Head-First into a Paranormal Mystery". Horror Obsessive. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
- ^ Simmons, Charlotte (15 January 2024). "'Monolith' Prepares to Finally Descend on U.S. Audiences with a New Trailer". The Mary Sue.
- ^ Vesely, Matt (15 February 2024). "A Film with Something to Say: Matt Vesely on Monolith". Roger Ebert (Interview). Interviewed by Lee, Zachary. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ "The Immersion Program by Léo Quievreux". Floating World Comics. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ Quievreux, Leo (2019). The Immersion Program. Translated by Vigneault, François. Floating World Comics. ISBN 978-1-942801-89-4. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ "Screen Australia announces over $1 million to develop 31 projects". Screen Australia. 13 April 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- ^ Vesely, Matt (25 February 2024). "Podcasting Horror and Conspiracies: Filmmaker Matt Vesely on Monolith". Filmint (Interview). Interviewed by Sorrento, Matthew. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ McDonald, Patrick; Yankovich, George (22 December 2024). "Meet 14 SA filmmakers of the future". Adelaide Now. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
- ^ "Matt Vesely and George The Robot Perform a Very Normal Stand Up Comedy Routine". AusStage. 15 February 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ "Matt Vesely And George The Robot Perform A Very Normal Stand Up Comedy Routine ~ Adelaide Fringe 2019 Review". The Clothesline. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ Dobson-Keeffe, Nigel (24 February 2019). "Matt Vesely And George The Robot Perform A Very Normal Stand Up Comedy Routine". The Adelaide Show Podcast. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ "A Sunburnt Christmas". NFSA. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- ^ Vesely, Matt (26 March 2021). "What Are Mumblecore Movies? Definition and Examples for Filmmakers". No Film School. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ "Colin Thiele Scholarship for Literature". AustLit. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ "Catharsis". Matt Vesely. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ Slatter, Sean (13 July 2023). "'Bromley: Light After Dark', 'Monolith', 'Shayda', 'The Rooster' up for $100,000 CinefestOZ prize". IF Magazine. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ "2023 ADG Awards Nominees Announced". Australian Directors' Guild. 16 November 2023. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ "Winners & Nominees". AACTA. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ "Screen Australia and Australians in Film unveil participants for industry development programs". IF Magazine. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
External links
edit- Official website
- Matt Vesely at IMDb
- Monolith director Matt Vesely talks about why South Australia is the hotbed for genre filmmaking right now in this interview, on The Curb, 25 October 2023, (video, 38 min)
