# Dylan River

Dylan River (born 1991 or 1992), also credited as Dylan River Glynn McDonald, is an Australian film director, writer, and cinematographer. He co-wrote and directed the series Robbie Hood in 2019, and is known for his as cinematographer on the 2020 series The Beach, documenting his father, Warwick Thornton. He also wrote and directed episodes of the prequel TV series Mystery Road: Origin (2022), and in 2024 is co-creator and director of Thou Shalt Not Steal.

## Early life and family

Dylan River was born in 1992 in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. His father, Warwick Thornton, is a filmmaker and his mother, Penelope McDonald, is a producer, screenwriter, and director. He is the grandson of Freda Glynn, the co-founder of CAAMA.

## Career

River's work includes writing, direction and cinematography.
In 2013, his debut feature documentary, Buckskin, about Kaurna educator Jack Buckskin, won the Foxtel Australian Documentary Prize. It is available on SBS on Demand.
In 2017, River (credited as Dylan River Glynn McDonald) directed a short documentary film about actor and musician Tom E. Lewis, called Finding Maawirrangga. The film was written by Lewis, produced by Julia Morris, and executive produced by Lewis' wife Fleur Parry. Itnd screened at the 2017 Sydney Film Festival and 2018 Flickerfest. Not long after Lewis' death in May 2018, the film screened at the inaugural Northern Territory Travelling Film festival in June of that year. The film tells of Lewis' return to his grandmother's country to learn his songlines, and in it he also relates how he contravened some cultural norms on stage.
In 2019, River co-created (with Tanith Glynn-Maloney), co-wrote (with Kodie Bedford), and directed Robbie Hood, a six-part series of 10-minute episodes, which was widely praised. Pedrea Jackson stars as Robbie, a young teenager with a kind heart, who goes around Alice Springs with his two friends "borrowing heavily" from the rich to help his family and friends. It had its world premiere at Canneseries The series won an AACTA Award for Best Online Comedy or Drama and a Screen Producers Australia Award for Online Series Production of the Year. The production company, Ludo Studio, producers of Bluey, also won another major SPA Award for their business. All episodes became available on SBS on Demand on 5 July, while the series first aired on SBS Viceland on 9 July, and aired on NITV on 11 November 2019.
He directed the 2022 six-part prequel series Mystery Road: Origin, and co-wrote several episodes.
Over some of the 10 years leading up to its release in June 2023, River worked with his mother, Penelope McDonald, as co-writer and cinematographer on the feature-length documentary film Audrey Napanangka, about a Warlpiri woman and her partner, Santos, who have raised many children in the Central Desert. The film's locations included Mparntwe (Alice Springs), Yuendumu, and Mount Theo (Purturlu), Audrey's country, and it was co-produced by Trisha Morton-Thomas and Rachel Clements. Rona Glynn-McDonald (founder of not-for-profit Common Ground) was executive producer of the film.
In 2024 River co-created (with Tanith Glynn-Maloney) and directed a Stan Original series, Thou Shalt Not Steal. Shot in South Australia and the Northern Territory, the road trip comedy drama series stars Noah Taylor, Miranda Otto, Will McDonald, and Sherry-Lee Watson. It premiered on 17 October 2024 on Stan in Australia.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Contribution | Note |
| 2022 | Mystery Road: Origin | Director and writer | TV series |
| 2020 | A Sunburnt Christmas | Cinematographer | Feature film |
| 2020 | The Beach | Cinematographer | 6 episodes |
| 2019 | Robbie Hood | Director and writer | 6 episodes |
| 2019 | The Australian Dream | Cinematographer | Documentary |
| 2018 | Finke: There and Back | Director, writer and cinematographer | Documentary |
| 2018 | Ward One | Director and writer | Short film |
| 2017 | Sweet Country | Second unit director | Feature film |
| 2017 | Coat of Arms | Director and writer | Short film |
| 2017 | Finding Mawiranga | Director and cinematographer | Documentary |
| 2017 | Blasko | Cinematographer | Documentary |
| 2017 | We Don't Need a Map | Cinematographer | Documentary |
| 2016 | Black Comedy | Writer | 1 episode |
| 2015 | Black Chook | Director | Short film |
| 2015 | Nulla Nulla | Director, writer and composer | Short film |
| 2014 | Who We Are: Brave New Clan | Cinematographer | Documentary |
| 2014 | Talking Language with Ernie Dingo | Cinematographer | Documentary |
| 2013 | Buckskin | Director and composer | Documentary |
| 2023 | Audrey Napanangka | Co-writer, cinematographer | Documentary |
| 2024 | Thou Shalt Not Steal | Director | Comedy series |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Result | Award | Category | Work |
| 2021 | Won | AACTA Awards | Best Cinematography in a Documentary | The Beach: Too Mad Too Shy |
| 2021 | Nominated | AACTA Awards | Best Cinematography in Television | A Sunburnt Christmas |
| 2019 | Won | AACTA Awards | Best Online Drama or Comedy | Robbie Hood |
| 2019 | Nominated | AACTA Awards | Special Commendation | Finke: There and Back |
| 2018 | Nominated | Film Critics Circle of Australia | Best Cinematography | Sweet Country |
| 2017 | Nominated | Camerimage | Main Competition | Sweet Country |
| 2017 | Nominated | Asia Pacific Screen Awards | Achievement in Cinematography | Sweet Country |
| 2015 | Nominated | Berlin International Film Festival | Best Short Film | Nulla Nulla |
| 2015 | Won | AACTA Awards | Best Short Film | Nulla Nulla |

### ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
| 2019 | Dylan River for Briggs (featuring Greg Holden) - "Life Is Incredible" | Best Video | Nominated | |