FEATURE - Maleny filmmaker goes international

by Arcadia Love=

Sam Dixon began making films with friend Adric Watson and some schoolmates while studying at Maleny High School. His first short film, A Fistful of Steel, was filmed throughout the area and featured some of their schoolmates. It won them the Maleny Underground Film Festival (MUFFY) Short Film Award and set Sam on a path as a writer and director.

“We started making these films for fun and it’s just flowed on from there. There are so many great locations around Maleny, and we always had friends and other kids from school willing to get involved.”

While studying together for their Bachelor of Fine Arts, Film and Television at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Sam and Adric teamed up with fellow student Skye White. They worked on several short films together, mostly shot around Maleny that were written and directed by Sam, and produced by Skye, with Adric behind the camera. 

'The Sunshine State' premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2012 and in 2013 Sam participated in the Melbourne International Film Festival's Accelerator Program with the short, Old Mate, which he wrote and directed.

In 2015 Sam was selected for Screen Queensland's Projector Program to develop his first feature-length script, Our Mother the Mountain, and then pitch the script at the Independent Film Project in New York. In October 2018, his short horror film, No Friend in The Forest, funded by Screen Queensland premiered at Screamfest in Los Angeles. 

Sam realised a dream when he released his first full-length film, A Grand Mockery. Co-directed and co-produced with long-time collaborator, filmmaker Adam Briggs, the film premiered in October 2024 and won Best Feature Film at South by Southwest Film and TV Festival (SXSW.) At the festival, Sam met USA film distributor Yellow Veil Films who seemed like a good fit to take the film to an international audience. 

“I love making shorts but always wanted to make a full-length film. After Uni, Adric moved to London and is now a cinematographer for big-name music videos, so I worked with Charlie Hillhouse on A Grand Mockery.

“We shot the film in super 8mm to suit the style. Charlie had never seen a whole film shot on 8mm before. It was certainly a rare and bizarre thing to do, and we went through three cameras!”

The last part of the film was shot on Sam’s Dad’s cattle property in Witta and at a friend’s place near Bridge Creek Road. The rest are in a variety of locations around Brisbane including the Toowong Cemetery.

Sam now lives in Brisbane but loves coming back to the hills.

“I miss the peace of the place, my family and friends. Growing up in Maleny shaped me as a filmmaker. I always knew I was going to be a storyteller.

“As a kid, I used to draw comics and walk around with the animals, making up stories. I still do. Film became the accidental medium for my stories when a friend brought a camera to school and said, ‘Let’s make a movie.’”

Not surprisingly, Maleny characters always seem to find their way into Sam’s stories and films and Old Mate is still one of his most successful short films. 

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing though for Sam.

“Our success in filmmaking at Uni led to being offered a contract to make this film called No Friend in the Forest. The problem was that every aspect was managed. It became the most expensive-looking film I’ve made but was also the most stressful.

“I was flown to New York and Los Angeles, taken to networking events and saw a side of the industry I didn’t want to be a part of. I became disillusioned and met up with Adam who had gone through a similar thing.

“We reminded ourselves we just wanted to make movies with friends, have independent funding, live comfortably off our art and have fun.” 

Sam decided to get back to his roots and not take it all so seriously. He attributes the success of A Grand Mockery to this change in attitude. 

Today his advice to students is simple.

“Do the thing because you love the thing, not for the fame or wealth. If you go into creative industries for the wrong reason, it’ll destroy you. Fulfilment lies in loving what you do.”

Sam’s short films and music clips have played at film festivals around Australia and the world. He is currently seeking funding for his next feature film.

A Grand Mockery will be screening nationally and internationally this year and Sam promises to organise a Maleny screening. In the meantime, five of Sam’s short films are available to watch for free here:vimeo.com/samdixonfilmmaker