Keynote and Public Speaking
BIOGRAPHY
Isaac Elliott grew up in the red dust of Alice Springs where his entire life was dedicated to the creation of one dream. A dream that in 2007 would lead him to Australia’s ultimate desert race; The Finke Desert Race. During that race Isaac came off his bike in a near fatal accident that left him in the confines of a wheelchair.
Despite the subsequent shock of this event, despite all odds Isaac continued to dream up a new story for his life. He was going to finish that race, and ride another day. In the months and years to follow he faced the struggles that go with adapting to living with a disability, but at the same time he focussed on honing his craft as a filmmaker.
His passion for filmmaking led him to Melbourne in 2011 to study film. By 2013 Isaac was winning nationally and globally recognised awards for his graduating short film, A Silent Waltz. He followed this up in 2016 with his Honours level film, A Static Wind, which was awarded Best Tertiary Short Fiction at the 2016 ATOM awards, and a finalist position in the 2017 lexus Australia Short film fellowship.
Despite his success in film making, his desire to get back on the bike never left him, so he fused both of his passions into one, inadvertently taking centre stage in his own documentary . The film ‘Finke:There and Back’ premiered at the Sydney International Film Festival in 2018. Today, Isaac continues to work on a variety of film projects, in addition to teaching filmmaking at Deakin University. As a speaker he shares a story of courage and grit, with a core focus on what it takes to write a story for our lives, and literally ride that story into reality.
Awards and Accomplishments
2020. Finalist, best direction in a children’s television or special, AUSTRALIAN DIRECTORS GUILD
2017, Finalist, LEXUS AUSTRALIA SHORT FILM FELLOWSHIP
2016, Best Tertiary Short Fiction, ATOM AWARDS
2011, John Hawkins Memorial Scholarship ROTARY CLUB AUS
2009, Aus Day Award - Young Citizen of the Year ALICE SPRINGS TOWN COUNCIL
2008/2009. NT Young Achiever - Sports Award (Finalist) AWARDS AUSTRALIA