timothy despina marshall
award-winning queer writer/director
& script consultant/mentor
Featured Work
About
TDM.
I carry the name and legacy of my grandmother (yia yia) Despina - a strong Egyptian-born Greek woman, who encouraged me endlessly, and always led with kindness.
I'm a proud queer filmmaker with a strong passion for championing stories from the LGBTQIA+ community and am committed to sharing my knowledge and supporting the next generation of creatives making their way into the industry (with a focus on queer creatives).
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Bio.
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In 2024, Timothy's debut feature film, queer horror In The Room Where He Waits, released to critical acclaim, earning a five-star review in ScreenHub, a spot on The Guardian’s list of the top 10 Australian films of 2024. The film also earned Timothy a nomination for Best Director (Film Budget under $1.5M) at the Australian Directors Guild Awards.
His next horror feature film currently in development, Parrot, won the Simpsons Pitching Competition at Screen Forever.
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Timothy first gained international recognition in 2013 when his short film Gorilla won the UK’s prestigious Iris Prize, the world’s largest LGBTQIA+ short film award, awarding him £25K to make his next short film. The outcome of this, Followers, was selected for Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, and the Melbourne International Film Festival’s Accelerator Programme in 2015.
Timothy is an alumnus of Screen Australia’s Talent USA programme (2017) and the Film Independent Directing Lab in Los Angeles (2018). As a screenwriter, he has developed projects alongside top story consultants, including Andrew Ellard (IT Crowd, Red Dwarf), Lynne Vincent McCarthy (The Babadook, The Nightingale), and Sundance script consultant Ruth Atkinson.
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Beyond traditional filmmaking, in 2014 Timothy created online series TORSO as a way to break down stereotypes and celebrate diverse bodies within the online queer community. TORSO was featured in The Huffington Post and has been presented as an interactive installation with a custom-built app at both Outfest LGBTQIA+ Film Festival Los Angeles and the Reykjavík International Film Festival.
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Timothy is also the co-founder of The Weight of Mountains, a biennial site-specific filmmaking residency rooted in building and fostering creative community across borders. The initiative has brought filmmakers together from across the globe in locations including Iceland, Morocco, Canada, and Vietnam.
Despina + mini TDM
Script Consulting (AKA making your script the best it can be)​
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I consult on feature film, television, short film, and web series projects in various stages of development. It's important to me that as a consultant I feel I'm the best fit for your story, and your creative team, so I take projects on selectively based on an initial brief consult.
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All my consultation sessions focus on face-to-face (online) development discussions, with written notes included.
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Email me tdm@tdmfilm.com for enquiries.
Testimonials
Follow
I respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country on which we live and work, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
(C) copyright 2023, Timothy Despina Marshall