Matthew C. Vella is an international award-winning filmmaker, comedian, podcaster & entertainer from Blacktown, Western Sydney.

HELLO!

Matthew C Vella is an award-winning filmmaker from Blacktown in Western Sydney with an expansive body of work writing, directing and producing long and short form content.

Matt is the producer of the upcoming feature film The Undesirables, (dir: Luke Agius) which he also co-wrote, scheduled for release in 2025. His credits as a director includes the short comedy She's Not Your Type, which won Best Comedy at Melbourne Indie Film Festival (2020), Best International Director at Austin Comedy Short Film Festival (2019) and Women’s Comedy Film Festival in Atlanta (2019), and the Audience Choice Award at Made in the West Film Festival (2018). His latest project, Nannu (2025), was recently the recipient of the Blacktown City Council's Creative Arts Fund.

Matt is also considered a cultural thought leader within Western Sydney's thriving artistic scene, as founder and facilitator of Western Sydney Filmmaker's Hangout, with 2000+ members. Western Sydney Filmmakers Hangout hosts regular free networking events, and has previously partnered with organisations such as Screen Australia, Arts and Cultural Exchange (ACE), CLIPPED Music Video Festival and Made in the West Film Festival.

He is also a prolific public speaker, workshop facilitator and mentor working across the corporate, not-for-profit and higher education sectors, including UNSW, Western Sydney University and University of Technology Sydney.

ACHIEVEMENT HIGHLIGHTS

• BLACKTOWN CITY CREATIVE ARTS FUND 2024 - Awarded funding for short film Nannu (2025). Read here.

• DIRECTOR’S ATTACHMENT - Greystanes - 2024 web series, 15 x 1 episodes,
  created by Ryan Cauchi & Matt Ferro (Screen Australia, TikTok) Watch here.

• Laugh Master’s Academy SKETCH-A-THON 2020: Winner, 1st Place

  Bad With Names (2020)

• Melbourne Indie Film Festival 2020: Best Comedy
  She’s Not Your Type (2018)

• Women’s Comedy Film Festival in Atlanta 2019: Best International Director
  She’s Not Your Type (2018)

• Austin Comedy Short Film Festival 2019: Best International Director
  She’s Not Your Type (2018)

• Sydney Indie Film Festival 2019: Best Editor
  She’s Not Your Type (2018)

• Made in the West Film Festival 2018 : Audience Choice Award
  She’s Not Your Type (2018)

• Made in the West Film Festival 2016 : Best Student Film
  Bleeding Backs (2016)

  For a complete list of awards, click here.

  
  GUEST SPEAKER / WORKSHOP FACILITATOR HIGHLIGHTS

  • TUTOR, SCREEN PRODUCTION II | UNSW - Tutor for Screen Production II, 2024.

  • CALLING CARDS, 2024 | SCREEN NSW, ARTS & CULTURAL EXCHANGE, MADE IN THE WEST CREATIVE - Guest Speaker. 8 week filmmaking workshop. Spoke on short film distribution and promotion. More info.

  • MEET SCREEN AUSTRALIA, 2019 | SCREEN AUSTRALIA, ARTS & CULTURAL EXCHANGE - Guest speaker. Was asked to provide an introduction about the importance of networking in Australian Film, in addition to helping promote the event. Event here.

  • THE AUSTRALIAN MILLIONAIRE BUSINESS NETWORK BUSINESS NETWORK , 2019 - Guest speaker via panel discussion. Asked to speak at a private event to an audience of investors about the state of the Australian Film Industry.

  • WESTERN SYDNEY FILMMAKERS HANGOUT (ONGOING) - Event facilitator. Ongoing networking events for filmmakers in Western Sydney. Have hosted partnered events with Screen Australia, Arts and Cultural Exchange, Made in the West Film Festival and more. Website here.

  • UTS VARIOUS WORKSHOPS (ONGOING) | UTS - Facilitated various workshops at University of Technology Sydney, based around digital media skills and educational media, particularly video editing with iMovie and Adobe Premiere. Example here.

  • VARIOUS EVENTS (ONGOING) | UTS - Facilitated various events at University of Technology Sydney, including UTS Video Meetup Community of Practice with over 15+ events with guest speakers from around the country. Have been a guest speaker for a variety of topics at multiple events, such as this example.

  • NO DRAMA WORKSHOP, 2016 | BARNADOS AUSTRALIA - Workshop Facilitator. 4 day workshop teaching basic media skills for disadvantaged youth.

  • VARIOUS WORKSHOPS 2013-2015 | WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY - Workshop Facilitator. Various workshops teaching Media Arts skills to high school students with the goal to inspire socio-economically disadvantaged youth to pursue tertiary education. Articles here and here.