Jon Bell is one of the most experienced Indigenous Screenwriters in Australia. His feature horror-film, The Moogai, debuted at the 2024 Sydney Film Festival (SFF) and won the Audience Award for Best Feature. Nashen Moodley, the director of SFF, praised Jon’s film for its ability to intertwine elements of psychological horror with disturbing history. Jon developed the script from his short film The Moogai with Causeway Films and No Coincidence Media, with funding from Screen Australia.

His television credits include The Warriors (ABC); Cleverman (ABC), which won a Screen Producers Australia Award for Best Drama as well as being nominated for an AACTA for Best Television Series in 2017; Ready For This, which earned an International Emmy Kids award nomination, won a Logie Award for Most Outstanding Comedy Program and won an AACTA for Best Children’s Television Series in 2015.

Jon created and wrote the 2014 drama series The Gods of Wheat Street which won a Screen Producers Award for Mini-Series of the Year, as well as wrote for both seasons of Redfern Now, which earned a Silver Logie Award for Most Outstanding Drama series in 2013. Jon wrote an episode of the 2021 Endemol Shine/Seven series RFDS, nominated for a Logie Award for Most Popular Drama Series, and nominated for a TV Week Silver Logie Award for Most Outstanding Drama Program.

Jon has written and directed several short films including The Moogai. The Moogai won the Midnight Shorts category at SXSW 2021, Best Horror Short at the LA International Shorts Festival 2021 and the Erwin Rado Award for Best Australian Short Film at Melbourne International Film Festival in 2020. The Moogai was nominated for an AWGIE award and won Best Director (shorts) at the Brooklyn Horror Festival. It was supported by Screen Australia. The Chuck In screened at the Sydney Film Festival and the ImagiNative Film Festival in Toronto. His other short film credits include Two Big Boys and And Justice for One. Jon wrote short film Jarli in 2021 for Like a Photon.

Jon is currently in development on a number of feature and television projects as both Writer and Director. He’s currently writing Pemulwuy for That’s-A-Wrap Productions with Stan Grant and Phillip Noyce as Executive Producers.

For a full CV please contact info@rgm.com.au.