Stephen Packer is an Australian-based Writer & Director whose work has screened at festivals around the world. His film Alpha Test won the Audience Award at the Adelaide Film Festival and the Screenplay Award at Flickerfest and his short Unprompted played live in front of 35,000 people as a finalist at Tropfest 2026.

Stephen is currently deep in development on his debut feature.

On this episode, we dive into:

• Why completing the film can matter more than external success

• How directors keep a production moving through setbacks

• What it takes to build resilience as a filmmaker

• Why collaboration is central to a director’s role

• How filmmakers balance creative vision with audience expectations

• What makes a film commercially sustainable

• How streaming and niche audiences are changing distribution

• Why outsourcing creative decisions to AI can dilute your voice

• How AI can support filmmaking without becoming the creator

• What lower barriers to entry mean for independent filmmakers

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Follow Stephen on Instagram: @sphillipe

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