Day throws Hugo Weaving, Contessa Treffone, Helen Thomson and more into pure chaos for our enjoyment at this year’s St Kilda Film Festival.
There really aren’t that many Australian actors who have seen the longevity that Matt Day has.
He has worked in film, television and theatre for over 40 years, from his early days on A Country Practice to his big-screen breakout in Muriel’s Wedding. He has nominations for a Film Critics Circle Award and an AFI Award for Best Actor, and is a TV staple in series like Rake, Tangle, and Paper Giants.
Even as we chat with him about his latest directorial output, he’s currently on set in Perth filming Two Birds for ITV and Stan. The guy works hard.
St Kilda Film Festival 2026
- When: 4–14 June 2026
- Where: various venues across St Kilda (Palais Theatre, Astor Theatre, St Kilda Town Hall)
- Tickets here
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This impressive career has enabled him to do some pretty cool stuff. Stuff like writing a fun script and bringing together some of Australia’s finest talent to turn it into a short film.
That project now lives as Baby Shower, 13 minutes of humour and chaos, which you can see as part of the mind-boggling 200 short films at the St Kilda Film Festival.
If you’re wondering how easy it is to get a short film made when you are Matt Day, he kindly explains it.
“I was speaking to Martin McGrath, who is the Director of Photography on the film, and I sent him Baby Shower, and he said, ‘I love it, let’s do this.’ And then he showed it to Heather Mitchell, who is his wife, and she said, ‘And I’ll produce it.’ She said, ‘Okay, choose a date.’ So I picked a date. And she said, ‘Right, who do you want to be in it?’ And I gave her a list of actors. And then we sat there and called everyone up. And they all said yes.”
And that’s how easy it is to get a short film made when you are Matt Day.
It’s also worth noting that Day’s “list of actors” included the great Hugo Weaving, who isn’t exactly in everyone’s Rolodex.
“We sent him the script, and he texted the next day and said, ‘I love it’,” explains Day.
“He doesn’t have to do anything. There’s nothing in it for him. But he rocked up first thing, 6:30am, and brought his A-game. His character is a bit of a reflection on a particular father type that’s very recognisable, particularly to Generation X. I think to my generation, there were a lot of fathers who were like this.”
The entire film was shot in one day.
“I hate asking people to work for nothing for longer than one day,” explains Day.
“I forgot to do any storyboards or shot lists. We just go for it. I kind of design it around that. We have to be able to shoot it in one day, and then I cut it all myself. If I do another one, and I do want to do another one, I’ll probably shoot for maybe two days and might actually put some money into it.”
Baby Shower will be one of the many short films at the mecca for the art form, the St Kilda Film Festival. As Day explains, this is one of, if not the main outlet for this kind of cinema.
“There aren’t that many platforms for short films, particularly like this one, where you get such a great opening night and so many people turning up for it.”
He continues, “I feel like we’re in this moment in our industry not dissimilar to what they were in before the first new wave in the 70s. I don’t think it’s in a great place. We need a kind of recalibration.”
“When I was a kid, I would hear older actors talk about, ‘We used to just be like a service industry for Hollywood until we started making our own films.’ I feel like we’re that at the moment. I do look around and see a lot of people out of work. A lot of Australian films just not connecting with audiences. And I don’t think it’s down to lack of talent behind the camera.
“We don’t have a kind of ecosystem where people are going out on the weekends and going to see Australian films and connecting with them in the way that we used to have. Storytelling now, however, can be bolder than what it was when it was just network television. That’s a big thing.”
See Baby Shower along with the most comprehensive overview of the national short film industry at the St Kilda Film Festival from June 4 – 14.
For more information, head here.
This article was made in partnership with St Kilda Film Festival.
