From Dublin to Banshee Hills: Two Decades of Storytelling in the Australian Film Industry

A little about my company and me.

10min Read

My name is Aaron McCann, and I’m a filmmaker and author. I started my creative journey in Dublin, Ireland before emigrating to Perth, Western Australia as a child, and forming my production company, Banshee Hills as an adult. It’s been a wild ride and a career built on storytelling, resilience, and a deep love for the craft, from cult features and award-winning music videos, to work in network television and globally successful online content.

For over 20 years, I’ve worked as a “multi-hyphenate” in the Australian film industry. I’ve mainly worked as an Assistant Director, but I also direct, write, produce, and even tried my hand writing a novel during COVID. My works have screened at SXSW, Fantastic Fest, and Sitges and I’ve been nominated for both AACTA and AWGIE Awards. Online my viral content has gathered over 38 million views. This is the story of where I’ve been, what I do, and the exciting future we’re building over at Banshee Hills.

The Early Years: From Dublin to the Duo

I was born in Dublin in 1983, it was a pretty middle class affair, and my family wanted a better life, so up we moved to the other side of the globe, to Perth, Western Australia. I always enjoyed creativity and writing, but filmmaking was something that seemed so out of reach. Then, in 2000, during my final year of high-school, a feature film rolled into town, Let’s Get Skase - I skipped out on my geography exam to be an extra, lied about my age (I was 17 at the time) and got onto a film set. That was it, I became hooked. I went off to film school from 2001-2003 and officially entered the industry in 2004, doing whatever odd jobs I could land and I’ve been immersed in every facet of production since then.

My on-screen career began in Perth, collaborating with my film school classmate, Henry Inglis - we acted together and started a comedy duo Henry and Aaron, mainly because no on was really making comedy in our sleepy little town. Our absurdist style earned us a cult following, starting with the Foxtel/Movie Extra series Henry & Aaron’s 7 Steps to Superstardom and continuing with our ABC iView and YouTube Christmas specials (Henry & Aaron’s Perfectly Adequate Christmas Special and An Xmas Quickie with Henry & Aaron ). This early work taught us how to connect directly with an audience, with videos like It’s a Snap! and Set Yourself Free collectively racking up tens of millions of views. It was a crash course in writing, performing, producing, and directing while while keeping hold of our DIY ethos.

The Long Road Through the Industry

My career hasn’t just about directing my own projects; it’s about understanding the entire machine, and also keeping a roof over my head. I do still wear many hats. I’ve served as an Assistant Director on features like the upcoming drama Twice Over, series The Twelve, and The Heights - the latter of which I was a writer on for season 2. I also colour graded the indie feature The Actress by WA local Zak Hilditch (who also directed some of our web-series) and continued acting where possible.

My short film Perished (2011), a zombie thriller I produced, co-wrote and co-directed alongside Stefan Radanovich. It was selected for both the Revelation Perth International Film Festival and the SXSW Film Festival in 2012, giving me my first taste of international recognition and proving our stories could travel.

Finding a Creative Partner and a Cult Hit

My most significant creative partnership has been with Dominic Pearce. Together, we’ve spent over a decade building an international cult following. Our feature film, Top Knot Detective, which we co-directed, co-wrote, and co-produced, is a prime example. It started as a crazy idea: a fake documentary about a fictional, terrible 1980s Japanese TV show and the “true” crime around the disappearance of its creator. It found a global audience, premiering at the Sydney Film Festival and Fantastic Fest, and selling out screenings worldwide. It became a genuine cult hit, released by Umbrella Entertainment in Australia, Third Window Films in the UK, and Vinegar Syndrome in the USA. It’s also available on Amazon Prime Video and on Tubi and YouTube (below).

We followed this up with another documentary, KOKO: A Red Dog Story in 2019 for Village Roadshow Entertainment, which earned us an Australian Writers’ Guild Award nomination for Best Documentary and is available to view now on Netflix.

From Screenplay to Novel

In 2019, Dominic and I achieved a career highlight: our sci-fi/comedy screenplay Big Red became a semi-finalist for the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. This put us on the map in Hollywood, but when the COVID-19 pandemic stalled its financing, we refused to let the story die.

We adapted the screenplay into our debut novel, Big Red, was published in 2023. Described as “A rollicking Sci-Fi ride that hits all the right notes, with a touch of horror, and a barrel-load of laughs along the way” by author Amanda Bridgeman, the experience taught me that storytelling isn’t confined to just one medium. It’s about finding the right form for your story, whether on screen or on the page.

Television and the Music Video Years

My work has also been deeply rooted in Australian television. I contributed episodic writing to the acclaimed ABC/BBC series The Heights and ABC’s At Home Alone Together where I once again reunited with Henry Inglis.

I was also a cast member on the International Emmy Award-winning ABC2 series #7DaysLater, a wild and inventive live show created by Daley Pearson (Bluey) where I got to act alongside some of my absolute heroes like Colin Mochrie from Whose Line is it Anyway?

My directorial style was also heavily shaped by the world of music videos. I’ve directed and produced clips for a range of Australian artists, from the genre-bending hip-hop of Downsyde and Mathas to the raw energy of rock artists like Abby May and Peter Bibby. My video for Mathas’ “Stone Cold Sober” was not only nominated for an Australian Director’s Guild Award but also won Best Music Video at the West Australian Screen Awards. This medium taught me how to tell a story visually, quickly, and with maximum impact, skills I use on every project.

Back to Online Comedy

During lockdown, I was itching to get back behind the camera, and this time with my good friends Aunty Donna. Through their production company Haven’t You Done Well Productions, and alongside writers and performers Xavier Michelides and Ben Russell, we created Hug the Sun for their new platform GrouseHouseTV. It earned me a nomination for Best Direction Online Comedy at the Australian Director’s Guild Awards and an AACTA Award nomination for Best Short Form Comedy.

Enter Banshee Hills: A New Chapter

All of these experiences, from the chaos of a film sets, to the solitary focus of the writing desk led me to starting my own company. So, in 2020, I founded Banshee Hills, as the home for the stories I want to tell. Based in Banshee Hills is a creative hub dedicated to developing and producing distinctive, character-driven content with a broad appeal. We’re focused on a slate of exciting new projects that blur the lines between genre and heart.

Right now, I’m deeply engaged in development and production on several upcoming feature films as well as a documentary about screenwriter David Webb Peoples (Blade Runner, 12 Monkeys, Unforgiven). The documentary is called The Peoples Jugger and we’re currently raising funds to finish the project.

Here’s a sizzle:

We’d love it if you could donate to this project so that we could complete it here:

https://documentaryaustralia.com.au/project/the-peoples-jugger/

Because of this project, we assisted Umbrella Entertainment in re-releasing David’s film The Salute of the Jugger in a brand new 4K remaster with a new colour-grade by original cinematographer, David Eggby.

NOW…

I continue to work with Harrison at Haven’t You Done Well Productions as well as Umbrella Entertainment, Monster Pictures, and Scullface Productions, the latter of which will be producing my upcoming film Jonesy which was a finalist for the AACTA Pitch and was selected for the prestigious Frontières Co-Production Market.

The Road Ahead

So… why this blog? Well. Filmmaking on a budget is difficult and I think it’s only right to take people through the process of making these films from start to finish (after all, we don’t have huge marketing budgets here in Australia).

So, I’ll do my best to take anyone who wants to go on this journey with me along for the ride. As much as I can (there will be times I have to keep things secret of course) I shall try to share as much about the projects I’m working on with you all. I might not reply to comments, and maybe there will be a paywall for some parts, but when I can I will share the process. The highs and the lows. The lessons learned along the way, and also any news I can here on this page.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy all the things still yet to come.

Watch my latest work on my 2025 Showreel.

Visit my production company: Banshee Hills.

Follow my journey on IMDb for updates.

To support The Peoples Jugger, please visit our Documentary Australia page.