Aspiring young film maker, Riley Sugars, has an extensive knowledge about Film, TV and entertainment. Dreaming to become a FILM DIRECTOR of feature films, Riley has goals to create great films that tell incredible stories.
From Melbourne, Riley has had the opportunity to work on many projects, short films, adverts and live television productions. The film CHECKMATE (2014) Riley's first short film for his final VCE Media project, which was inspired by the Netflix remake of House of Cards. Following the close themes of the show, Riley created characters similar to the the protagonist and situated them in a teenage environment- school. The result was the creation of Checkmate's protagonist Victor Pierce. The next film created by Riley was a step up technically. FORCED SMILE OR: (THE HUMOROUS YET UNFORTUNATE DAY OF A STRESS BALL) (2015), Riley's second short film, was produced during his first year at Deakin University. With assistance of multiple students, Riley was able to produced a higher class of short, with better cinematography and a more clear direction in the narrative. Though only shot in a 3 hour time frame, Forced Smile was months in the works with it's conception and it's post production work. Every director will say that there is something they would change with any project, and though that is the case here, Riley was extremely proud of the final product. The short was officially selected for two international film festivals, the 'Finpret Festival: Festival International de Prévention Santé des Étudiants' and the 'IndieWise Virtual Film Festival'. 2016 saw the co-direction of a short entitled PROSPERITY: THE UNDYING HABIT OF SUCCESS (2016) which was a change for Riley. This project taught him a large amount about collaborative work, being a good lesson in creative differences. The year also saw a collaboration with university friends to compete in Filmly, a 72 hour film festival. The finished product, called TWENTY TWO DEEDS was selected as a finalist in the festival. After this, Riley began work on his first documentary short, COOKIE DUST (2016), a crime drama about a former Armed Robbery Squad detective turned lawyer. This was a passion project of Riley's, doing detailed research and a vast time in the editing room, as well as helming the project as Director and Producer. 2017 saw Riley film review series MODERN MASTERPIECES release 22 episodes in the first half of 2017. Riley had planned on this series being over 40 episodes, however the passion of a new project took over. FOR THE LOVE OF CINEMA (2017) was Riley's obsession over 2017 as he wrote and directed the short romance drama. It was a passion project dedicated to love, loss and films. The film performed well, receiving multiple award nominations and wins, including the BlackBird Film Festival in New York, USA where it took out the 'World Cinema Award'. 2018 saw Riley begin his desire for filmmaking taking the helm of the short film JACK IN THE BOX (2018), which he directed and produced. This was the first film Riley has directed which wasn't from an original idea of his. It was both challenging and enjoyable to work purely on the directing craft and forming language that works with different kinds of cast and crew. RABBITS (2019) sees Riley tackle his most challenging film yet, based on his own family history, he is set to attack the ideas of family, legacy, nostalgia, fatherhood, masculinity and reflection. HATCHBACK (2022) is Riley's newest film starring Australian comedy actor Stephen Curry (The Castle, The King: The Story of Graham Kennedy) and Jackson Tozer (Rostered On, Mr Inbetween). This is Riley's first real dive into a comedy, where he serves as Director, Producer and Co-Writer. It has been touring the festival circuit and was recently nominated for an Australian Academy of Cinema Television Award at the 2022 AACTA Awards for Best Short Film. Riley is currently working on multiple different projects, multiple shorts and a new web series. More to come. |
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