Max Hemmings is an Australian director working across commercial and narrative projects.
He began his career in London, directing branded and cultural films for clients including Cathay Pacific, FILA, Bottega Veneta, Genesis Motors x Soho House, and Dropbox. His work is characterised by tonal restraint, performance-led storytelling and a blend of documentary realism with stylised, emotionally precise imagery.
Alongside commercial projects, Max has directed narrative and cultural films for platforms including NOWNESS and Phoenix Central Park. His short film The Kicked Dog, produced by RadicalMedia and starring Alan Ford and Clive Russell, screened internationally at Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying festivals.
In 2023 he was selected for PlayLab Films’ Directors Lab in Mexico, mentored by Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
Max is currently developing The Mercy Seat, an original anthology television series exploring identity, mortality and constructed experience, alongside the feature project Cicada.
He is based in Sydney.
PRESS:
Little Black Book (LBB)
The Guardian, Interview Magazine, Promo News, Hunger, Monster Children - The Jezebels ‘Pleasure Drive’
WINNER: ‘Ad of the Day’ on BOOOOOOOM.TV - Bottega Veneta X Highsnobiety
NOMINEE: Shiny Awards - FILA ‘Disruptor’
WINNER: ‘Ad of the Day’ on BOOOOOOOM.TV - FILA ‘Disruptor’
WINNER: ‘Video Of The Day’ on VOTD - Nowness ‘Private View: John Simpson’
BOOOOOOOM.TV - Nowness ‘Portrait of a Place: Wimbledon’
Campaign Brief - Sydney Childrens Hospital TVC
Deluxe Cinematography Prize - ‘Wanderlust’ AFTRS graduate film, starring Jessica Tovey and Eamon Farren.
FILM FESTIVALS:
Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival
St Kilda Film Festival
1.4 Awards (Fiction Short)
British Urban Film Festival
San Diego International Film Festival
Manchester International Film Festival
Newport Beach Film Festival
Bolton International Film Festival
Byron Bay International Film Festival
Shanghai Short Film Festival
Canberra Short Film Festival (WINNER: Best Screenplay, Best Actor - Clive Russell)
Exit 6 Film Festival
Shockfest Film Festival
SENE Film Festival
Edmonton Short Film Festival
Hamilton Film Festival
Short Encounters International Film Festival (NOMINEE: Best Director, Best Actor - Clive Russell)