Beck Cole
Beck Cole is an Australian filmmaker of the Warramungu and Luritja nations. She is known for her work on numerous TV series, including "First Australians", "Grace Beside Me", "Black Comedy" and "Wentworth", as well as documentaries and short films. She is based in Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory. Early life, education and early career. Cole grew up in Adelaide and around the Port Adelaide area. Cole started working in media as a journalist when she got a cadetship at Imparja Television, when still at school. She gained experience in both writing and presenting stories, and also worked  as a news and weather presenter. She graduated from Charles Sturt University with a BA in Communication and Sociology, and soon afterwards started work in the Indigenous Unit at ABC Television, where she started her filmmaking career. After a few years she did a year's film directing course at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), where she was exposed to a number of Australian documentary filmmakers. Cole was mentored by photographer and filmmaker Michael Riley, who co-founded Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative, until his death in 2004. Career. While at AFTRS, Cole worked on and off for  the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA), with whom she has had an association ever since. Her early short documentary and drama films, starting with "Flat" (2002/3), were mainly focused on Aboriginal culture and family. "Flat" and "Plains Empty" (2005) premiering at Sundance "Flat" also screening at the Edinburgh Film Festival. Cole established a working as well as a personal relationship with cinematographer Warwick Thornton, and along with producer Kath Shelper they called themselves "the trinity" since working together from 2004. "Wirriya: Small Boy" (2004) is a short film about an eight-year-old boy who lives in Hidden Valley , an Indigenous town camp near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, with his foster mother. Cole worked as a writer-director on "First Australians" (2008), the acclaimed documentary television series about the history of Indigenous Australians, along with Rachel Perkins and Louis Nowra. In 2009 she wrote and directed "Making 'Samson and Delilah"', a 55 minute documentary on the making of the feature film "Samson and Delilah", directed by Thornton. Her debut feature film was the drama "Here I Am" (2011). She directed several episodes over three series of the "Black Comedy", which won a 2015 AACTA award for Best  Direction in a Light Entertainment or Reality Series. After working on a number of series on Indigenous themes, she collaborated with Leah Purcell on several episodes of the popular prison drama series, "Wentworth", between 2019 and 2021, and with Bevan Lee on the Seven Network series "Between Two Worlds", which premiered in 2020. Cole was voice director for all three seasons of "Little J & Big Cuz", and wrote two episodes of the series. Cole has been working on a horror film set in Alice Springs, which is based on a true story told by Aboriginal children who lived in a  residential care home, where they were attacked by an evil entity. Cole is supervising director of the film, called "We Are Still Here" and starring Meyne Wyatt, which is in pre-production, due for release in 2022. Recognition and accolades. Cole was one of seven filmmakers featured in the 5th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in Brisbane Personal life. Cole was formerly married to director Warwick Thornton, whom she met in 1999. They have a daughter, Luka May, an actress also known as Luka Magdeline Cole or Luka May Glynn-Cole. The  couple shared a personal as well as professional relationship. By 2018 Thornton and Cole had separated. She is a cousin of filmmaker Danielle MacLean.