Dia Taylor (Also known as Claudia Taylor)
b. February 8, 1995, Brisbane,
Australia.
BIOGRAPHY:Dia Taylor is an independent filmmaker and
videographer. She has been working behind the camera professionally since 2007,
founding her own event videography company Taymaynari Productions in 2017.
Dia’s
passion for film first began at age twelve when she would help her aunt Silvana
McCausland on her films; ‘Rules Is Rules’, ‘Chocolate Fetish’, and ‘Shed
Dwellers’.Dia worked as an actor and a
production assistant on these projects.
Dia studied filmmaking briefly at NIDA,
Sydney (The National Institute of Dramatic Arts) in 2009 before completing
certificate III in digital media at The Gordon Institute of TAFE, and a bachelor’s
degree of film production at SAE Institute in 2018.
During her time at SAE, Dia was hired on her
first feature film ‘The Green Woman’ as first assistant director and was later
promoted to co-producer by director Samuel McDermott.This pushed Dia to later that year, direct
her own first feature film ‘Marital Problems’ at the age of twenty.‘Marital Problems’ would later win best
original screenplay and best comedy at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival
(MUFF) 2018.
As well as directing, Dia has also worked on
a number of productions in other roles including being Director Of Photography
on Nathan Hill’s feature film ‘I, Portrait’, Camera Assistant on Rebecca Ann
Bentley’s ‘Kill Me, Heal Me’, and Producing Andrew Walsh’s ‘How Deep Is The
Ocean’.
Dia is most known for her short films;
‘Jane’ which screened at the Queers in Shorts film festival in the UK, ‘Blue.’ Official
Selection at the 2018 Cefalu Film Festival, and Warrandyte Film Feast
2020, ‘Grayscale’ which was the highest voted Australian
film in My Rode Reel 2019, and ‘What I Was Missing’ which was the winner of Best Use of Prop
at the 48 Hour Film Festival 2019. Also, a film written by Dia, ‘Andrea’s Son’ has an online view
count of 6.6 million views.
Dia
continues to make her film ideas a reality and resides in Melbourne, Australia.
Blue.
CRITICAL
OVERVIEW:If I am to be 100% honest, I have always
struggled when critiquing my own work.That being said I do of course always manage to find fault in it when
looking back.But to look at my work as
a critic, I find difficult.I do not see
my films as films.They are stories that
have been buzzing around in my head for so long that they almost become a part
of me, and when I finally finish one, I feel as though that part of me has been
freed.
I suppose looking at my work, you could say
that it is majority character driven.We
follow the characters more so than the events that surround them.We look at them as people.We see their faults and their virtues.We see what drives them and what pushes them
back.We delve into the emotions that
make us human.I have always loved the
roles we play and the differences between us that set us apart.I love delving into people’s creative passions
and showing what brings them joy.I have
always also been particularly fond of romantic relationships.
I feel as though I’ve always been a
filmmaker, long before I knew what a filmmaker was.Playing make believe stories with my friends
as a child, pretending to be pirates or world class spies.Filmmaking for me is both a passion as much
as it is an obsession.I aim to give my
characters life.
- Dia Taylor, March 2020.
Jane (2012, 5:40 mins)
Little Red String (2015, 1:24 min)
FILMOGRAPHY:
Grayscale
Jane (2012,
5:40 mins, short drama)
Little Red String (2015, 1:24 mins, micro short drama)
The Naked Wolf (2016, 6:03 minutes, short Horror, Co-director Declan Cole Flynn)
Soy (2016,
7:53 minutes, short comedy)
Dark Night Of The Zomboogies (2017, 3:05 minutes, Short Horror, co-director David Black)
Blue. (2017,
6:21 minutes, short fantasy drama)
Marital Problems (2017, 90 minutes, feature film)
The Devil You Know (2018, 6:17 minutes, short drama, 48 hour film festival 2018)
Spinning A Yarn (2019, 5:08 minutes, short comedy, part of the ‘Tales That Broke My Brain’
series)
These Few Hours (2019,
6:36 Minutes, short romance scifi)
Grayscale (2019,
3:01 minutes, short romance, My Rode Reel 2019)
What I Was Missing (2019, 7:09 minutes, short romance comedy, 48 hour film festival 2019)
Sempre Piu (2019,
11 minutes, short thriller)
Little Miseries (2020, 25 minutes, short thriller)
The Naked Wolf (2016, 6:03 mins)
Soy (2016, 7:53 mins)
Marital Problems
AWARDS:
Official Selection
Feb 2020Warrandyte
Film Feast
Blue.
Winner - Best Original Score
Dec 1, 2019Prodigy Film Festival
Blue.
Special Mention
Dec 2019One
Reeler Short Film Festival
Grayscale
Winner - Best Use of Prop (Broom)
Nov 1, 2019Melbourne 48 Hour Film Competition
What I Was Missing
Special Mention
Oct 1, 2019Global
Shorts 2019
Grayscale
These Few Hours
Finalist
Aug 1, 2019Las
Vegas Global Film Fest
I Have Gustave (writer/producer)
Winner - Best Female Director
Aug 1, 2019Direct
Monthly Online Film Festival
Blue.
Official Selection
Aug 2019Direct
Monthly Online Film Festival
Blue.
Selected for Lift Off Sessions
Jul 1, 2019Pinewood Studios
These Few Hours
Selected for Lift Off Sessions
Jul 1, 2019Pinewood Studios
Blue.
Jane
Short Film Of The Month
Mar 1, 2019Australian Short Film Network
These Few Hours
Semi Finalist
Jul 1, 2018Indie
Best Films Festival
I Have Gustave (writer/producer)
Short Film Of The Month
May 1, 2018Australian Short Film Network
The Naked Wolf
Short Film Of The Month
Apr 1, 2018Australian Short Film Network
Blue.
Official Selection
Jan 1, Cefalù film festival
Blue.
Best Comedy
Nov 1, 2017Melbourne Underground Film Festival
Marital Problems
Little Miseries
Official Selection
Aug 1, 2017Cardiff International film festival
I Have Gustave (writer/producer)
Official Selection
Aug 1, 2017Big
Terror Film Festival
Hungry, Cole? (supervisor)
Finalist
Jun 1, 2017Wonderford Film Festival
I Have Gustave (writer/producer)
Official Selection
Feb 1, 2017Warrandyte Film Feast 2017
Dark Night of the Zomboogies
Special Mention
Dec 1, 2016One
Reeler Film Competition
Soy
Blue (2017, 6:21 mins)
These Few Hours (2019, 6:36 mins)
SELECT
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
‘Dynamic Dia’ by David Black, medium.com,
November 2017
