Yianni Rowlands

Yianni Rowlands is a director, writer and producer from Melbourne, Australia. A graduate of the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and Television at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), he works in both live action and animated mediums. His animated short film Chess People (2016) won Trop Jr 2016, and received best animation at the East Coast Film Festival in the UK and Audience Choice at the Los Angeles Cinefest, as well as an official selection for the Anchorage International Film Festival that same year. His short film, Bugged (2019) was featured as part of the National Gallery of Victoria's Top Screens 2019 showcase. His following psychological horror short, Heat (2021), won Best Student Short at the Sydney Indie Short Festival 2021 and had its Victorian Premiere at Monster Fest 2021 in December. Rowlands' has collaborated with a range of musical and visual artists including the ARIA award-winning punk rock band Amyl and the Sniffers and renowned conceptual artist Marco Fusinato. He is currently working with Melbourne-based animation studio Studio Moshi on an animated sitcom concept. In 2021 Rowlands' launched his independent film production company Persistence Productions with three short films slated for release in 2022.