We are thrilled to announce award-winning Cinematographer BRYAN MASON to lead a comprehensive day of insights into all thing’s camera department, cinematography, and becoming a Director of Photography. 

Join our dynamic Launch Lab for a deep dive into career pathways, finding your voice in cinematography, and deconstructions of scenes shot by Bryan and other DoP guests.

Bryan’s credits as Cinematographer/DoP include Good Luck to You, Leo Grande starring Emma Thompson, Sundance and Berlin award-winning 52 Tuesdays, and the AACTA-nominated ABC series, Aftertaste.

Joining Bryan Mason in conversation is ACS award-winning DoP CLAIRE BISHOP, whose credits includes Warwick Thornton’s The New Boy and Wolfram, and Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel.

More special guests to be announced!

Whether you’re an aspiring cinematographer, an emerging director, or interested in pathways into the camera department, this Launch Lab is an unmissable opportunity for practical, real-world insights toward working in cinematography.

Date: Saturday 14 February 2026

Time: Doors 9.30am | Lab 10.00am – 4.00pm | Networking 4.00pm – 5.00pm

Venue: The Mercury 

BRYAN MASON

Bryan Mason is a founding member of Closer Productions. A multi skilled, award-winning editor and cinematographer, Bryan has worked across feature drama, documentary and television. Most recently, he was cinematographer and editor for the 4x BAFTA nominated film Good Luck To You, Leo Grande directed by Sophie Hyde and starring Emma Thompson.

In 2015, he shot, edited and produced the Sundance and Berlin award winning 52 Tuesdays for which he won the Screen Editors of Australia award. He was cinematographer and editor on both Irish comedy Animals and Iranian/Australian drama My Tehran for Sale. His feature documentary credits include Australian Documentary Prize winner Life in Movement (director/editor/cinematographer) and Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure, for which he won an Australian Academy Award for editing.

He edited feature documentaries Sam Klemke’s Time Machine, Embrace, Mother with a Gun and the acclaimed In My Blood It Runs. Recently he edited the short documentary The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone, which released worldwide on Netflix and was nominated for a Peabody Award in 2023. Bryan’s television credits include the SBS 4×1 hour series The Hunting (editor), the ABC iView series F*!#ing Adelaide (cinematographer/editor/producer) and the AACTA nominated ABC comedy series Aftertaste S1 (editor) and Aftertaste S2 (cinematographer/editor). 

CLAIRE BISHOP

Claire is an ACS award winning DOP who was named one of IF Magazines Rising Stars of 2025. 

With extensive experience in the camera department, Claire has worked with some of Australia’s most prolific filmmakers, including shooting additional camera and second unit on Warwick Thornton’s THE NEW BOY, and THE ROYAL HOTEL by Kitty Green. Claire is continuing her relationship with Warwick Thornton in 2025 by working as first assistant camera on his latest feature WOLFRAM. Claire shot the performance-based video work, WITNESS for artist, Ida Sophia, which was awarded the Ramsey Art Prize by the Art Gallery of South Australia, and will be featured in the Dark Mofo 2025 programme. 

In 2024 she won ACS Gold and the Milton Ingerson Award for the short film FINDING JIA, directed by Alice Yang. In the same year the ACS awarded her The Drew Llewelyn Camerimage Scholarship, which saw her travel to Poland for Cameraimage 2024. Claire received the National John Leake OAM ACS Emerging Cinematographer Award from the ACS in 2019. Following this Claire was supported by Screen Australia as part of the Enterprise People Initiative, where she travelled to Los Angeles and attended the American Society of Cinematographers Masterclass. She was also awarded the Emerging Filmmaker Award at the 2015 South Australian Screen Awards. 

In 2018 Claire produced and shot the web-series THE BIG NOTHING screening at festivals such as Seattle International Film Festival, Series Fest Colorado, Seoul Web-fest, and Adelaide Film Festival, garnering Claire a Silver ACS award for her work. 

MICHAEL TESSARI

Michael Tessari is an Australian DOP working on narrative films, commercials and music videos. Recently released work includes the sci-fi thriller Monolith (dir. Matt Vesely) which won a National ACS Award of Distinction and was also honoured with a nomination for the Grand Jury Prize in Cinematography at the 2023 SXSW festival in Austin.

Tessari has consistently worked on successful narrative long-form projects, with the horror film Awoken released theatrically across North America and the rest of the world. The Netflix Original Series Gymnastics Academy which trended at number 1 across multiple countries, and the aforementioned sci-fi thriller Monolith, had a successful festival run across the world at SXSW, AFF, FreightFest, Bifan, MIFF and Sitges to name a few.

In the last 12 months Tessari has lensed the Screen Australia financed drama, With or Without You (dir. Kelly Schilling) which recently won another National ACS, Award of Distinction. The horror film Diabolic (dir. Daniel Phillips) and the action film The Run (dir. Stephen De Villiers).  With or Without You has been released in cinemas all around Australia. Diabolic and The Run are currently in post production. Additionally last year Tessari was honoured to be listed in IF Magazine’s 2024 Rising Talent List.