Rory Pearson

*PROFANITY WARNING* Now the dust’s settled, we’re still losing our minds over how wild this last month has been for our short film MATES. Two wins at the @sydfilmfest and an amazing response at the @stkildafilmfest to kick it off. More screenings to come. Here’s a taste. Credits: Director – @papapearson Cast – @atmarcusat & @marvelouscrane Writers – @papapearson & @atmarcusat Produced by – @atmarcusat Cinematographer – @leo_t_cine Executive Producer – @oliverzidler Camera Operators – @lamostrafx + @leo_t_cine Gaffer – @jackgoldingphotography Music – @decodoherty Sound – @stuartmelvey Editors – @papapearson + @atmarcusat Colour - Scott Maclean Titles – @sillysigridd #Mates #shortfilm #SFF

It’s Mates Day! Woo! Our short film is a Dendy Award finalist at Sydney Film Festival and in official comp at St Kilda! Still can’t believe it. #Mates #SydneyFilmFestival #DendyAwards #StKildaFilmFestival #SFF #SKFF

Last weekend we were truly blown away because MATES took out ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Screenwriting’ at the Sydney Film Festival, Dendy Awards. And yeah… the gongs are going straight to the pool room. Thank you @sydfilmfest for realising a dream I’ve had since forever. Starting with my mate @atmarcusat who starred, produced, co-edited and co-wrote the film. The ultimate creative. Mate, you scared a lot of people but also made them laugh and feel every bit of it. You showed the truth of mateship and what it means to be lonely. Making Prick Daniels has been a long journey, and I’m so happy I got to help bring him to life. @marvelouscrane your raw performance was sublime. Also your improv, dress sense, overall schteeze. Roy Squad just got bigger. You loved this film and brought so many ideas. And your mind? Somehow sexier than your bod. @leo_t_cine your imagery, vision and temperament helped wrangle what was at times pure madness. We went deep. Hyper real, honest, with just the right amount of style and Heat level 90s blue. @decodoherty you got the score down pat. Safdie Bros, The Curse, Tangerine Dream… you understand me. Your beautiful score heart wrenching and ominous in the best way. @stuartmelvey THE best sound designer and mixer in town. Committed, invested, and world building like a boss. Awkwardness, hollowness, rage, lament, the world is yours. @lamostrafx shot this beautifully while super pregnant (Luna was there!). @jackgoldingphotography lit the thing like a pro. Ladders, rain, food, making sure Marcus didn’t collapse. Legend. @oliverzidler , distro king, festival hero, belief machine. You never stop pushing us. Scott Maclean, thanks for killing it on the grade. And @sillysigridd , my love. Your design on titles and poster wrapped it all up in class. The opening title still gets me. We wanted to make a film that talked about mateship in a really truthful way. To tell the story of those men that don’t make a fuss, that just slowly disappear. Capture how many find it hard to express themselves, understand or defend boundaries, or say how they feel negatively or positively, and I think we may have just pulled it off. Well done mates. I love you all.

We’re on tomorrow from 2:30 at The Town Halls Alive program. We’ll be screening ‘Lay Down and Rot’ by Sean Burns and ‘Mates’ by Rory Pearson, followed by an in depth discussion concerning filmmaking in the Inner West. Come along! 📍Leichhardt Town Hall 🗓️ Saturday 16th May 🕰️ 2:30pm Speakers @booo_urns @papapearson @nickpayneandthe Moderator @_charleswilliams

MATES had its international premiere at Dublin International Film Festival ☘️ earlier this month and it was everything we could hope for. Big crowd, proper energy, and they absolutely loved the film! We met so many amazingly talented filmmakers and made friends for life. It was the kind of festival that reminds you why you make film. The whole city was chockas for cinema, it was obsessed!… at the risk of a bit of hobnobbing, we were often pinching ourselves as we saw some of Ireland and the world’s biggest names all there for the love of film (and spice bags). I met Aiden Gillen which was fun (he had a film in our section), Paul Rudd collected the Volta and Im definitely guilty for fanboying over Colin Farrell when we saw him at the awards. It really was a special place. A crazy experience and one we’ll never forget. So proud of where this film’s gone and the places it’s taken us. Sláinte mates 🍀 @dublinfilmfestival #diff2026

Our film MATES storms Dublin this month and we’re absolutely giddy about it. Dublin International Film Festival! Our beautiful chaos heads overseas. We can’t wait to explain to our Irish fam why Michael Bevan’s 4 against the West Indies in 1996 was one of the finest knocks in Australian cricket history. “How you livin life like that bro?” Last ball. Four runs needed. One wicket left. The entire Caribbean already celebrating. Bevan smacks it straight down the ground to the boundary for victory. That refusal to fold. That beautiful defiance. That’s the spirit of the team behind MATES and their wonderful work getting us to our international prem! Love you all. #diff2026 #matesfilm #bevan @dublinfilmfestival @matesfilm

Lineup Preview part 2/2 Some more incredible films featuring at CineFlux 2026 🗓️ Friday the 13th of February 🕰️ Doors open 7:00pm 🗺️ Leichhardt Town Hall 🎟️ Humantix, Link in bio, limited door tix Come by and share in some epic local films! See you there! #sydneyfilm #aussiefilm #australianfilm #innerwest #sydneyfilmfestival

Down in the annals

Grateful to have MATES recognised as a Market Pick at the Clermont-Ferrand @shortfilmmarket . Proud of this film and all the people behind it as it keeps travelling. More to come. #clermontferrand #clermontferrandshortfilmfestival @lecourtclermont

MATES is shipping off to the Dublin International Film Festival! 🇮🇪 Our first overseas film fest. It’s so humbling to see that our Irish fam understands what it truly means to be mates. It’s a really awesome festival with great programming. We’ll be playing February 26 so if you’re in Ireland or the British isles, make the trip and come catch a beer with us 🍻 @dublinfilmfestival #mates #matesfilm #diff #shortfilm

‘You’re gonna give us a tour right?’ Thank you @ausindefest ! We recently enjoyed our fourth and final film festival in what turned out to be a four week tour of @matesfilm through October! Being able to take the film to Gympie, then Byron Bay, then Adelaide and finally Brisbane for AIFF was a real privilege. I’m so happy the film has touched so many. And the best part was definitely meeting all the passionate, brilliant film makers across the country, staying with them, and playing alongside their work. I’ll never forget the experience ❤️ @adlfilmfest @heartofgoldshortfilmfestival @byronbayfilmfestival

Thanks @adlfilmfest for including @matesfilm in the 2025 line-up alongside brilliant work from friends @brock_parlane & @william_jaka , @raechoi_ , @lologrrrrrr , @hanfmoore and so many more. What a festival, a real gem 💎 Taking place in some of Australia’s most beautiful cinemas, it was a dream to spend a whole week soaking up Adelaide with old and new mates! Our screening was so much fun, the kinds words from everyone got me buzzin, and closing night was real spesh. Take a bow @matkesting . As David and Margaret would say 5 stars. Hell yeah.