biography

Michael Leonard started experimenting with cinema in 2008, creating his own DIY films and screening them throughout the city of Melbourne with other artists and musicians under the banner, Beg, Scream and Shout. These events were committed to screening DIY film with live music and ran from 2009 - 2014.
Michael met Jamie Helmer working at a Melbourne arthouse cinema where they bonded over a common passion for film, leading them to create Golden Moss Films, a production house dedicated to cultivating cinematic ideas through a strong vision of image and sound.
Together they have created 3 short film’s; LATE OCTOBER (2015), THE KNIFE SALESMAN (2017, Official Selection 74th Venice Film Festival) and THE DIVER (2019, Offical Selection 76th Venice Film Festival, Winner Flickerfest Best Australian Short Film 2020)
He is an alumni of both MIFF Accelerator program and Berlin Talents and is currently in development of he and Jamie’s first feature film, CALM with French production partners Les Valseurs.