Matthew Vesely is an Australian filmmaker, best known for his 2022 feature film ''

Monolith A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock, such as some mountains. Erosion usually exposes the geological formations, which are often made of very hard and solid igneous or metamorphic rock. Some monolit ...

''. 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 Closer Productions is a film and television production company founded by filmmakers Sophie Hyde and Bryan Mason in Adelaide, South Australia, in January 2004. It is known for award-winning feature films such as ''52 Tuesdays'' (2013) and ''Ani ...

Early life and education

Matthew Vesely grew up in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. For high school, he attended Scotch College in Adelaide, graduating in 2004. He graduated from

Flinders University Flinders University, established as The Flinders University of South Australia is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across a number of locations in South Australia and ...

with a Bachelor in Creative Arts in 2007.

Career

Vesely's career started with making a number of low-budget

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

s, 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 South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) is a South Australian Government statutory corporation established in 1972 to engage in film production and promote the film industry, located in Adelaide, South Australia. The Adelaide Studios are managed ...

's inaugural FilmLab Development Workshop. His short film ''The Thing About Dolphins'', produced under the auspices of FilmLab, screened at the

Adelaide Film Festival The Adelaide Film Festival (AFF, formerly ADLFF) is a film festival usually held for two weeks in mid-October in movie theater, cinemas in Adelaide, South Australia. Originally presented wikt:Special:Search/biennial, biennially in March from 2 ...

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 Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 2013, he was part of the writing team for the post-apocalyptic sci-fi

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

''Wastelander Panda'' (with Victoria Cocks and Mike Jones), which was produced by

Kirsty Stark Kirsty Stark is an Australian film producer based in Adelaide, South Australia. In 2010 she established a production company called Epic Films, and in 2023, an online platform called CrewHQ, which provides an online jobs market for freelancers i ...

and produced by Epic Films in Adelaide. The series reached a global audience, was featured on the front page of

Buzzfeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...

io9 ''io9'' is a sub-blog of the technology blog ''Gizmodo'' that focuses on science fiction and fantasy pop culture, with former focuses on science, technology and futurism. It was created as a standalone blog in 2008 by editor Annalee Newitz under ...

Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' () is a design, technology, science, and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the sub-blogs ''io9'' and ''Earther'', which focus on pop ...

, and Neatorama, and invited comparisons with

Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...

, ''

The Road ''The Road'' is a 2006 post-apocalyptic novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. The book details the grueling journey of a father and his young son over several months across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that has destroyed ...

'' and ''

The Book of Eli ''The Book of Eli'' is a 2010 American post-apocalyptic neo-Western action film directed by the Hughes brothers, written by Gary Whitta, and starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson, and Jennifer Beals. The sto ...

''. 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. He has worked with

for many years, for some years in the role of development manager, alongside company co-founder and owner

Sophie Hyde Sophie Hyde (born 1977) is an Australian film director, writer, and producer based in Adelaide, South Australia. She is co-founder of Closer Productions and known for her award-winning debut fiction film, '' 52 Tuesdays'' (2013) and the comedy ...

and producer

Rebecca Summerton Rebecca "Bec" Summerton is an Australian film producer who does most of her work with Closer Productions in Adelaide, South Australia. Working in film and television across many genres, she is known for producing ''52 Tuesdays'', ''The Hunting' ...

. Hyde co-produced his 2015 short film ''My Best Friend Is Stuck on the Ceiling'', which starred

Tom Ward Tom Ward (born 11 January 1971) is a Welsh-born British film, stage, and television actor. He is best known for playing Dr. Harry Cunningham in the long-running BBC crime drama series, ''Silent Witness'' from 2002 to 2012. Early life Ward was b ...

and Erin James, and the voice of Canadian comedian Nick Nemeroff. Written, directed, and co-edited by Vesely, the film premiered at the

in 2015, had its international premiere at Palm Springs International ShortFest, and was also screened at the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Flickerfest Flickerfest is an international short film festival held annually in January at Bondi Beach, Sydney. It is an Academy and BAFTA recognised short film festival for both international and Australian film makers. History The festival originated ...

, and

St Kilda Film Festival St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, southeast of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. St Kilda recorded a population of 19,490 at the 2021 ...

s, touring for 18 months in all. It was released on a streaming service on 22 October 2019. The film became publicly available on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

after it was selected by the "Short of the Week" channel on 11 May 2020. Also through Closer, Vesely was a writer and script producer on the 2017 TV series '' F*!#ing Adelaide'', which starred

Pamela Rabe Pamela Rabe (born Pamela June Koropatnick; 30 April 1959) is a Canadian–Australian actress and theatre director. A graduate of the Playhouse Acting School in Vancouver, Rabe is best known for her appearances in the Australian films '' Sirens ...

, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, and

Kate Box Kate Box (born 28 October 1979) is an Australian stage, film, and television actress. She is known for her roles as Nicole Vargas in ''Rake,'' Lou Kelly in '' Wentworth'', and as Dulcie Collins in '' Deadloch''. Early life and education Kate ...

, and screened at the

and on

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

. He was also script producer on the 2019

SBS Television The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from tax revenue. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World Movies, SBS ...

drama series ''

The Hunting ''The Hunting'' is an Australian Drama (film and television), drama series starring Asher Keddie and Richard Roxburgh, screening on SBS (Australian TV channel), SBS TV and SBS on Demand on 1 August 2019. The four-part miniseries was created by ...

'', starring

Asher Keddie Asher Keddie (born 31 July 1974) is an Australian actress. Beginning her career in the television series ''Five Mile Creek'' in the mid 1980s, Keddie received wide recognition for her role in the television series ''Offspring''. Her significant ...

and

Richard Roxburgh Richard Roxburgh (born 23 January 1962) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of a number of accolades across film, television, and theatre, including several AFI and AACTA Awards, Logie Awards, and Helpmann Awards. He bega ...

. Vesely has also worked as a writer and clip producer on the ABC comedy series ''

The Weekly with Charlie Pickering ''The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'' is an Australian news satire series on the ABC. The series premiered on Wednesday, 22 April 2015, featuring Charlie Pickering as host with Tom Gleeson, Adam Briggs and Judith Lucy in the cast who joined ...

''. His 2020 short film, ''System Error'', featured

David Quirk David Quirk is an actor and stand-up comedian based in Melbourne, Australia. Career Live Quirk has been performing stand-up comedy since 2002. In 2006, he was a state finalist in Triple J's Raw Comedy competition, and in 2007 he made his Mel ...

as Sid, Nick Nemeroff (as the voice of George the Robot), and Vesely as George the Human. The film was selected for the 2020

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

, and opened the 2021

. It premiered in the UK at the Aesthetica Film Festival on 3 November 2020. It was hosted by

DUST Dust is made of particle size, fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian processes, aeolian process), Types of volcan ...

, which made it available on their YouTube channel in March 2021. 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". The film deals with

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

and friendship, and "being okay with being broken". Vesely's first feature film, the sci-fi thriller ''

'', featuring a single on-screen actor,

Lily Sullivan Lily Sullivan is an Australian actress. She played Coral in the 2012 film ''Mental'' and Miranda in the 2018 television series '' Picnic at Hanging Rock''. She plays leading roles in two 2023 feature films, the Australian sci-fi thriller ''Mon ...

, was selected to have its international premiere at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

in 2023, after a screening at the 2022 Adelaide Film Festival. It also screened at

Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (), or BiFan, formerly known as Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival or PiFan, is an international film festival held annually in July in Bucheon, South Korea. Inaugurated in 1997, the fe ...

and

Sitges Film Festival SITGES - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia () is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Catalonia, Spain. It specializes in fantasy film, fantasy, Horror film, horror and Cult film, cult films. Established in 1968, the festiva ...

. It was well-reviewed by respected Australian film critic

David Stratton David James Stratton (born 1939) is an English-Australian film critic and historian. He has also worked as a journalist, interviewer, educator, television personality, and producer. His career as a film critic, writer, and educator in Austral ...

, as well as in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', and by other reviewers. It was released in cinemas in the Australia and New Zealand in 2023, and the US in 2024. Vesely was interviewed on

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

about the film ahead of the US release. He has been working with

Garth Davis Garth Davis (born 1974) is an Australian television, advertising, and film director, best known for directing the films ''Lion'' (2016), and biblical drama ''Mary Magdalene'' (2018). He earlier directed episodes of the series '' Top of the Lak ...

and

See-Saw Films See-Saw Films is a British-Australian film and television production company founded in 2008 by Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, with offices in London and Sydney. Their productions include ''The King's Speech'', ''Top Of The Lake'', ''Lion'', ...

as a

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

on a TV adaptation of French

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

Léo Quievreux Léo Quievreux (born 1971) is a French author and illustrator of comic books, and founder of publisher Éditions Gotoproductions. His moniker as a musician is Pik. Early life and education Quievreux was born in Mulhouse in the Alsace region of F ...

published in English as '' The Immersion Program''. In April 2022,

Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...

announced funding the science fiction drama TV series ''

Immersion Immersion may refer to: The arts * "Immersion", a 2012 story by Aliette de Bodard * ''Immersion'', a French comic book series by Léo Quievreux * ''Immersion'' (album), the third album by Australian group Pendulum * ''Immersion'' (film), a 2021 ...

'', to be written by Vesely, directed by Davis, and

executive produced Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In films, ...

Emile Sherman Emile Paul Sherman (born June 1972) is an Australian film and television producer best known for producing the film '' The King's Speech'' (2010), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Picture and the BAFTA award for Best Film and Best Bri ...

and

Samantha Lang Samantha Lang is an Australian film director and screenwriter. Her production company is Handmaid Media. Early life and education Samantha Lang was born in London, England, migrating to Australia with her family at the age of 14. She attended ...

. 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 Lovecraftian horror, also called cosmic horror or eldritch horror, is a subgenre of horror, fantasy fiction and weird fiction that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than gore or other elements of shock. It is na ...

cult film". 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.

Other activities

Vesely has also performed as a stand-up comic. In 2019, he performed a show at the

, called "Matt Vesely and George The Robot Perform a Very Normal Stand Up Comedy Routine", which won good reviews. In 2020, he appeared in minor role in the feature film '' A Sunburnt Christmas''. 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.

Accolades

* 2012: Winner, Best Music Video, SA Screen Awards * 2014:

Colin Thiele Scholarship for Creative Writing Carclew is an Australian youth arts centre based in Adelaide, South Australia. It was founded in 1971 as the South Australian Performing Arts Centre, with its name changed on several occasions to variations of Carclew Youth Performing Arts Cent ...

, which he used on a project called ''Catharsis'', a series of 52 short stories, published weekly * 2016: Winner, Best Comedy and Best Screenplay, South Australian Screen Awards, for ''My Best Friend Is Stuck on the Ceiling'' * 2016: Nominated, the Dendy Award for Best Australian Short at the

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. , the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...

, for ''My Best Friend Is Stuck on the Ceiling'' * 2016: Special Mention, Short Screenplay Award, at the Sydney Film Festival, for ''My Best Friend Is Stuck on the Ceiling'' * 2017: Winner, Best Screenplay, Heart of Gold Film Festival, for ''My Best Friend Is Stuck on the Ceiling'' * 2018: Script for a feature film, ''Overheater'', shortlisted for

Australian Writers' Guild The Australian Writers' Guild (AWG) is the professional association for Australian performance writers for film, television, radio, theatre, video, and new media. The AWG was established in 1962, and has conferred the AWGIE Awards since 1968, ...

's John Hinde Award * 2023: ''Monolith'' was one of four nominees for the CinefestOZ Film Prize, the richest film prize in the country and worth * 2023: Listed on ''

IF Magazine ''IF Magazine'', also known as ''Inside Film'', ''IF: Australia's Filmmaker Magazine'', and ''IF: The Magazine for Independent Filmmakers'', is an Australian print and online trade publication for screen-content professionals in Australia and N ...

s "Rising Talent list" (sponsored by

AFTRS The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), formerly Australian Film and Television School, is Australia's national screen arts and broadcast school. Opened to students in 1973 as Film and Television School (FTS), after accredita ...

) * 2023: Nominated, ADG Awards, "Best Direction in a Debut Feature Film" category * 2024: Nominated,

AACTA Award for Best Indie Film The AACTA Award for Best Indie Film is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) since 2018. The award is presented at the annual AACTA Awards, which hand out accolades for achievements in feature film, ...

(''Monolith'') * 2024: Recipient (along with

Aaron Fa'aoso Aaron Fa'aoso is an Australian actor, screenwriter and producer, known for his roles in ''East West 101'', ''The Straits'' (which he also wrote and produced) and ''Black Comedy (TV series), Black Comedy''. He established Lonestar Productions in ...

and four others) of the Talent Gateway program, a joint initiative of

and

Australians in Film Australians in Film (AiF) is a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization that serves the Australian community working in the film and television industry. It awards the annual Heath Ledger Scholarship to emerging Australian actors, as well as sev ...

, which aims to help emerging filmmakers to develop their skills and forge connections, in order to succeed further in the international market * 2024: One of ten filmmakers selected for the "Adelaide Film Festival goes to Cannes" initiative * 2024: Winner, Best Feature Film in the SA Screen Awards (''Monolith'')

References

External links

* *
''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) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vesely, Matt Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian directors Australian screenwriters Mass media people from Adelaide Flinders University alumni