Damon Van Der Schuit, Writer, Director

Damon van der Schuit is a writer, director and musician born and raised in Alice Springs. He is passionate about telling stories that both entertain and resonate on a humanistic level. Whilst completing a bachelor’s in psychology he began taking classes in screenwriting as a way of instilling some creativity to the science-heavy curriculum. This grew into a passion that eventually led him to study Filmmaking at AFTRS in Sydney. The pandemic made finishing the course in person untenable and he left after a year with a diploma determined to complete his education with real-world film work. First Drop is his directorial debut and he feels extremely grateful for the opportunity and team around him that has supported him.

Emma Smith, Producer

Emma is an emerging film producer and actor. She grew up overseas in several different countries such as Pakistan, Thailand, France and Fiji before moving to Central Australia at age 13. This upbring instilled a love of people, culture and the natural world. After completing a degree in Environmental science, Emma embarked on studies of acting and creative writing. She has various experience both in front and behind the camera, and loves combining her interest in acting, writing and producing. Her short film series Bear Pause has won several awards and was highly commended at the Sydney Phone Film Festival in 2022. She hopes to continue telling stories that matter and use her various skillsets to produce engaging and impactful screen content.

Bridget May, Producer

Bridget May is the founder of Nora & R.D Productions.   Bridget has worked on productions with Brindle films, including ‘Finke: There and Back’, ‘The Song Keepers’ ‘Uluru & the Magician’, ‘History Bites Back’, and ‘MaveriX’ a children’s television drama series for ABC and Netflix.   Bridget also worked on ‘Oceans Apart: Art and the Pacific’ with James Fox,; ‘Utopia Generations’, ‘Lost Flowers of Alice Hart’, drama series for Amazon, and produced under Nora & R.D. Productions, Award Winning documentary, ‘When the River Runs Dry’, and ‘Touch the Sky’ online series. Bridget works as a Producer, Production Manager and Post-Production Supervisor.