David Jowsey

David Jowsey is an Australian film producer, co-founder of Bunya Productions. He is known for producing many films made by Indigenous Australian filmmakers. Bunya Productions' co-owners are Indigenous filmmaker Ivan Sen, and Jowsey's wife Greer Simpkin.

Early life and education Jowsey was born in Auckland, New Zealand. His mother used to take him to the cinema a lot and he developed a deep love of storytelling and films as a child. At Auckland University, he ran a drama group, which led to a job at TVNZ.

Career In his work at TVNZ, he worked for some time in the Māori department, and developed an affinity for telling Indigenous stories.

Moving to Australia, Jowsey married an Aboriginal woman who was a dancer with Bangarra Dance Theatre. They were married for many years, and have a son, whom he describes as a Murri (Queensland Aboriginal) person. The family connections taught him much about Aboriginal culture and political issues. Jowsey was a lecturer at Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) as well as being employed by the ABC.

He went to work with Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) in Alice Springs for two years, At the time, CAAMA had a music studio, film production company, radio station as well as TV station (Imparja). Jowsey ran the video section and made many friends and lifelong connections in the industry, including Erica Glynn, Steven McGregor, Danielle MacLean, Warwick Thornton, where he learnt much about television production. She had extensive experience at the ABC in television before joining the company in 2015. Among other productions, she worked on The Slap (2011) and Jack Irish (2012–2021). She is Jowsey's wife.

Jowsey also produced Satellite Boy in 2011,

Dark Matter The distribution arm of the company is Dark Matter.

Recognition and awards Nicholas Godfrey, senior lecturer in screen at Flinders University in Adelaide, wrote that Jowsey "is one of the most influential figures in shaping Australia's screen landscape over the last decade", and, of Bunya, "Few production companies have contributed as consistently to the development of Australian screen culture in recent years".

Many films and television series produced by Bunya have won awards, Mystery Road TV series, AACTA Award for Best Television Drama Series in 2018

In September 2022, Jowsey was the recipient of the Don Dunstan Award, awarded by the Adelaide Film Festival, for his contribution to Australian screen culture.

Notable productions Mystery Road, Loveland (2022, dir. Sen) Limbo (2023, dir. Ivan Sen) Prima Facie (2026, dir. Susanna White)