Timothy David Mitchell

Born to a farmer-later-turned-preacher and housewife, Timothy David Mitchell discovered his fascination for film when he was 14. He received his first camera at 14-and-a-half in 2007, which was a Sony Handycam DCR-SR60, which he continued to use for the next 5 years. He began to film various productions from his drama class and secondary college and even shot a number of short films in and around Swan Hill which quickly started to impress people. In 2010 at the age of 17, he and some friends from school collaborated to make a comedy war film "Alpha/Bravo" about two incompetent military teams who were forced to collaborate to rescue one of their men, which would accidentally become Mitchell's first feature length film, running for a total of 90 minutes (the original version ran for 93 minutes; Mitchell has since recut the film in 2011) - it was only after the film was completed that the filmmakers realised just how big the project went on for. Filming began in May 2010 and finished in January 2011, continually being interrupted by their year 12 studies, which also included Mitchell's short film "Mondo Supernatural" - a mockumentary about demonic possession within a secondary school body - for his media studies. The film "Alpha/Bravo" was also a horrific shoot for Mitchell who was constantly having power ceased from him by the producers and the writer. Mitchell recut the film in late 2011 and entered it into Film Festivals to no avail, but he did win the Award of Merit at The Accolade Competition. After completing school, Mitchell took a gap year in 2011 and attempted again to make another feature length, but failed due to lack of cast members and a lack of time. He filled his year by freelance filming for Swan Hill Performing Arts and the local theatre group. It was here that he met Adam Jacobs. After acting together in a local play, Jacobs asked Mitchell to shoot and edit a film we was working on. Ultimately Mitchell agreed. The project became "Random: It's a Small Town Thing", which starred Jacobs and featured other members of the Swan Hill Theatre Group in a tale about random characters who are brought together as a result of random occurrences over one night. Although it took a fortnight to shoot, it took a year and a half to edit due to a large amount of special effects work. Also during his gap year, Mitchell became friends with Melina Turner, a young emerging writer who wanted to become a novelist. The two began to collaborate and help each other with their project and soon became brother/sister figures to each other and eventually best friends. In 2012, Mitchell moved to Melbourne where he studied at JMC Academy. He decided it was time to attempt another feature film and with the assistance of Turner for story ideas, writing and art department (Turner is also a very skilled sketcher), he made "The Waiting Game" which focused on a rape victim who has to overcome her horrific ordeal and get her life back on track. The film was largely inspired by the work of Lars von Trier and Aaron Sorkin and gained some notoriety among Mitchell's piers due to its dark themes, and gained mixed opinions about its stylistic approach. The film has yet to be released. Mitchell also made the short film "A Disagreement" for his uni course, which was a homage to Dogme 95 films about two ministers who must discuss their differences on the topic of gay marriage to prevent their congregation from splitting. This was the first of Mitchell's directed films where Mitchell does not act as his own cinematographer and editor. In 2013, Mitchell and university/student residence friend Sam Ward teamed up to create their own production company Chief Pictures. Their first production under this banner was Ward's directorial debut, graduation short film "Bottomless Pit", which was very well received. Their second production, Mitchell's graduation film "Four Kinds of Love", is currently in production. Mitchell also planned to make a pilot episode for a new sitcom TV series created by him and "The Waiting Game" co-writer Melina Turner called "Enemies" for Melbourne's community TV station Chanel 31, but as a result of a fall-out between the two, the project was shelved. Both Mitchell and Turner are no longer friends. The space that Turner left was quickly filled by up-coming filmmaker Madelaine Cantwell whose own graduation film "Renew" was edited and scored by Mitchell. Cantwell also helped Ward and Mitchell on their respective projects and the two quickly became friends. They are currently writing a pilot for a comedy series entitled 'The Estate' to pitch to Channel 31.