Meet the people at the cutting edge of Australia's screen culture industries.

Join us for this podcast series exploring the intersection between film, TV, videogames and creative technologies like AR and VR through the lens of their makers.

In each episode we sit down with a resident of ACMI’s industry-leading coworking space, ACMI X, to take a deep dive into topics ranging from individual projects to wider industry trends.

Learn more:

Inside ACMI X Podcast

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, VR and AR artist Marc-O-Matic began exploring the Crypto Art and NFT space, expanding his work into blockchain and metaverse platforms and eventually creating virtual worlds, animated artworks and digital wearables for an emerging decentralised economy. Two years on his work has earned over $1 million USD from NFTs – Non-Fungible Tokens – and is featured across some of the most notable NFT marketplaces including Super Rare, Makers Place, Decentraland, and festivals in the US like Art Basel Miami and NFT NYC.

In our first Inside ACMI X podcast, Marc-O-Matic talks about his practice and his own beginnings in this emerging space and offers practical advice for artists looking to make a living on the blockchain.

Inside ACMI X
https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/inside-acmi-x-pocast

ACMI X
Website: https://www.acmi.net.au/acmi-x/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/acmiXstudio

Marc-O-Matic
Website: https://www.marcomatic.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marc0matic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mr.marcomatic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcomatic/

Inside ACMI X podcast

Making and selling NFTs with artist Marc-O-Matic

In this episode, we discuss mentorship and storytelling in the screen industry with Denise Eriksen, co-founder of Media Mentors. Using her wealth of experience and knowledge of all things broadcasting, Denise helps creative practitioners find their way into the industry.

About Denise Eriksen
Denise has worked as a Journalist, Producer and Executive Producer around the world. She has been Head of Factual and Head of Current Affairs at the ABC; Head of Production and Development at SBS; and made programs for Seven, Nine, Ten and Foxtel over her lengthy career. She has trained TV professionals in many genres in Australia and around the world.

Mentoring and storytelling with Denise Eriksen

Mentorship and storytelling with Denise Eriksen

This fortnight, we're talking to writer and narrative designer, and ACMI X resident, Alexander Swords. Alexander made the switch from writing for film to writing for videogames, and he now advocates for the power of interactive narrative and the need for diverse future storytellers. His work explores emotional games, games for change and the adaptation and evolution of stories moving to new mediums.

His book, Forest Paths Method for Narrative Design (2020), provides an accessible and collaborative approach to writing and narrative design for interactive and non-interactive storytelling. It is now used internationally to develop, research and educate in the fields of videogames and screenwriting.

In this episode, we discuss the intersection of videogames and film, focusing on development, production, distribution and technology. This chat explores ways practitioners across both industries already are and can continue to take advantage of opportunities within these artistic forms.

Narrative Design in Videogames with Alexander Swords

In this episode, we invited filmmaker, author and co-founder of Lean Filmmaking Kylie Eddy to discuss how she has re-imagined the development, production and distribution of independent films – and how she is challenging conventional wisdom with new ways of working.

Last year, Kylie and her collaborator and brother David Eddy released their new book, 'The Art of Lean Filmmaking: An unconventional guide to creating feature films'. In November 2021, they wrapped up a six-week online Lean Filmmaking academy.

Re-imagining Independent Filmmaking with Kylie Eddy

This week on Inside ACMI X, we’re talking to Emma Parker and Chris Leaver from experiential training company Isonomic, to explore how they’re using Mixed Reality technologies to upskill the Australian workforce.

Isonomic is a cutting edge immersive Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality company made up of talented developers, game designers and 3D artists who transform complex training into state-of-the-art immersive training in Microsoft’s HoloLens.

Emma is Isonomic’s founder and CEO, and she has worked as a transformation and change expert for over 20 years, consulting in major blue-chip environments. Chris handles production and delivery. He is a visual effects artist, producer and sculptor.

Upskilling the Australian Workforce Using Mixed Reality with Emma Parker and Chris Leaver

In this episode of Inside ACMI X, we talk to resident Julian Wilton, Creative Director at Massive Monster Games Studio, about his experience making games with a focus on their new game, Cult of the Lamb, soon to be released.

Australian Game Developer Award winner Julian Wilton is an animator, illustrator, digital designer. He shipped his first console game before leaving university and is based in Melbourne, Australia, where he is completing a residency at ACMI X, working as the Creative Director at Massive Monster indie game development studio. Julian works closely with Massive Monster to develop Web, Mobile, Desktop & Console Games including their previous game The Adventure Pals.

The business of making games with Julian Wilton (Creator of 'Cult of the Lamb')

This episode is for creatives juggling multiple passions.
Meet our next guest on Inside ACMI X, Jacob Leaney, who has found a way to make music and games by combining the two.

Jacob is the founder of Things for Humans, the pop-music video game studio behind Video World. In this episode, Jacob shares his experience as a game developer, songwriter and producer. He is currently working on Halloween’s Valentine, the sequel to Video World.

Video World was showcased for Big Games Night In as part of Melbourne International Games Week (2–10 Oct 2021). Watch Jacob's introduction to the game: https://youtu.be/oge6sV1zzkM

Making music and games with Jake Leaney

Making music and games with Jacob Leaney (Things for Humans)

For our season finale, we interview new-media artist, PHD candidate and Lecturer at RMIT University, Tyler Payne.

Tyler's work focuses on the genre of self-portraiture in photography and video to investigate womens' embodiment through the lens of gendered advertising. She interrogates the impact that social media platforms such as Instagram have on women and their ability to visualise and share images of themselves.

Using a combination of video, still photography and electro-bricolage, Tyler investigates "the oppressive nature of the platform and the damages inherent in fitness and celebrity culture".

During our talk we discuss her primary research subject, Kim Kardashian.

Inside ACMI X

How many hours does it take to be a woman? with Tyler Payne

This episode is for fans of non-fiction.

Our guest, Natasha Gadd, is a writer/director and the Creative Director and CEO for the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC). In this episode, Natasha describes her creative process, industry trends and the documentaries she enjoys watching.

In 2005, Natasha co-founded Daybreak Films, a Melbourne based production company. She wrote and directed her debut feature documentary, Words From the City , nominated for five AFI Awards. Her follow up feature, Murundak: Songs of Freedom received the Grand Prix – FIFO, Best Documentary – Valladolid International Film Festival and the United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Award. Natasha has made a series of half hour arts documentaries including Weather and Muscle for which she received an Australian Directors Guild Best Director award.

Non-fiction storytelling with Natasha Gadd

This episode is for deep thinking comedy lovers.

Our guest is Emile Zile, an artist, filmmaker and performer who talks to us about his darkly comic practice – the critical re-use and re-encoding of media broadcasts, communication protocols and online platforms. His work reflects a distributed humanity, a yearning for transcendence and the limits of language.

Building on a background of live and single-channel video, his work uses site-specific performance, portraiture and filmmaking to capture the traces of humanity within an accelerating digital culture.

Making dark comedy with Emile Zile

This episode is for anyone fascinated by celebrity culture.

Sarah Scales is a PhD Candidate at Swinburne University researching the theory of parasocial relationships and breakups and the negotiation process fans experience following a celebrity scandal.
The cinema is her greatest passion in life, and she is fascinated by why and how audiences engage with the content they do, and the effects media can have on people. An ACMI X resident, she is currently working with company Media Mentors. You can find Sarah on Twitter at @sarahscales

What's a parasocial relationship? Talking fans and celebrity with Sarah Scales

This episode is for those interested in creating visual art for games.

Our next guest on Inside ACMI X is concept Artist Zahraa Al Zubaydi who is currently working on Pixellated The Game, about a cyborg child who finds a way to connect to two opposing worlds she belongs with, in a universe of different dimensions drawn in different styles. We spoke to Zahraa about her pathway into videogames, and the development of and inspirations behind Pixellated The Game.

Creating art for videogames with Zahraa Al Zubaydi

We explore how music can inspire the filmmaking process.
This episode's guest is Eva Otsing, an Estonian born and raised visual artist and filmmaker. Eva spoke to us about her path into filmmaking and how music greatly inspires her work. We chat about her recent documentary CONFLUENCE which she directed, shot and edited, which takes an intimate look into the world of the Kiwi artist Charlotte Watson. We also discussed her new art documentary in development.
This episode features music from Eva's documentary CONFLUENCE, composed by Ji Yoon Lee, and 'City Lament' composed by YL Hooi.

Making art documentaries with Eva Otsing

Have you considered what form is best for your story?

In this episode, we talk about Jason's path into the industry and strategy for storytelling; finding a personal connection and considering the perfect form.

Jason Christou is a creator/writer/director who tells stories infused by his Greek-Cypriot and Austrian/Slovenian descent across film, TV, documentary, interactive and games. His feature projects have been a finalist for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope Screenplay Contest, and selected to Warner Bros & The Blacklist’s “Aussie List”. He was a writer on ABC/Matchbox Pictures’ tv series NOWHERE BOYS, and a director’s apprentice on Sony/AMC’s PREACHER, and is a current Creative Victoria Creators Fund recipient for his interactive series/game WE THE JURY and a 2022 alumni and production funding recpient of the AFTRS National Documentary Talent Camp for SKINNY.

Choosing the right form for story with Jason Christou

Since 2016, artist Anthony Tan has been working on Way To The Woods, a third person adventure game where a deer and a fawn must embark on a journey through an abandoned world to get home. Anthony joined ACMI X as resident in 2022 to put the finishing touches on his highly anticipated game, which has received global attention for its gorgeous art style, mechanics and soundtrack.
In this episode of Inside ACMI X, Anthony spoke to us about the highs and lows he experienced making Way To The Woods and navigating the expectations of the game’s fanbase through to its completion.
Throughout this episode you will hear snippets of music from the game composed by Aivi & Surasshu, the electronic music duo behind the soundtrack to the animated show Steven Universe

Managing expectations as a solo game developer with Anthony Tan

Greta Nash's most recent short film, Heart Throb (2023), is about an 18-year-old, Gray (Gabriel Cali), whose love for his best friend Angelo is complicated by his desire for TikTok stardom. 

Last year, Greta underwent a Director's Attachment on Run Rabbit Run, funded by Screen Australia, and in the year prior, they wrote a polished draft of their first feature, School Camp, funded by Screen Tasmania.

Greta wrote and directed the winning Tropfest film Two Piece in 2018, and their previous short film Locker Room premiered at the 2017 Melbourne International Film Festival and has since had over 9 million views online.

Making Short Films with Writer/Director Greta Nash

Australia's only national museum of film, video games, digital culture and art - situated at the heart of Melbourne in Fed Square. Listen to our latest podcasts of live events, playlists associated with exhibitions, and more.

Located at Fed Square. Open daily. #acmimelbourne www.acmi.net.au

Inside ACMI X Podcast

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