Dylan River

Dylan River (born 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, 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, 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.

Filmography YearTitle 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 YearResultAwardCategoryWorkRef.2021 WonAACTA AwardsBest Cinematography in a DocumentaryThe Beach: Too Mad Too Shy NominatedBest Cinematography in TelevisionA Sunburnt Christmas2019 WonBest Online Drama or ComedyRobbie Hood NominatedSpecial CommendationFinke: There and Back 2018 NominatedFilm Critics Circle of AustraliaBest CinematographySweet Country 2017 NominatedCamerimageMain Competition NominatedAsia Pacific Screen AwardsAchievement in Cinematography 2015 NominatedBerlin International Film FestivalBest Short FilmNulla Nulla WonAACTA AwardsBest Short Film

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. 2019 Dylan River for Briggs (featuring Greg Holden) - "Life Is Incredible" Best Video