Making space and taking care of yourself

Hear from filmmaker Christopher Amos on his many film projects, the screen hub that will help foster growth in his local community, and why creatives always need to look after themselves.

Christopher Amos is a Gold Coast based filmmaker with decades of media experience, both in Australia and internationally.

Among his many accolades, Christopher wrote, directed, and produced the critically acclaimed, Hating Peter Tatchell, starring Ian McKellen and Stephen Fry. This earned him nominations for Best Director at the Australian Directors Guild Awards and Best Documentary at the Screen Producers Australia Awards.

Riding high on this success, his upcoming projects include the factual series Coalspiracy and feature film Motorhome, which Christopher describes as a motorhome thriller.

Making space for new stories to shine

It was during the planning stages of Motorhome that Christopher formed the idea for another one of his projects, Chrysaor Studios, a Gold Coast screen hub he’s hoping to launch towards the end of 2025.

“I was looking around the Gold Coast for a studio to do a proof of concept virtual production shoot. When I got the quotes, it just wasn't going to be possible to do it on the Gold Coast. I would have had to ship things in at a big expense. The alternative was lots of travel to Brisbane or Sydney. It was frustrating,” Christopher says.

Chrysaor Studios is supported by Screen Queensland's Capital Grant and will foster local industry growth. While anyone will be able to rent space, Christopher hopes that it becomes a place where Gold Coast based filmmakers create intellectual property from start to finish: scripted TV shows, short films, longer films, webisodes, games and commercials.

“The advantage to me is that I get to collaborate more regularly with local crew and we all get to participate in each other's projects more,” he laughs.

Super advice for creatives

Christopher is an advocate of Media Super and the work it does supporting the Australian media industry.

Building a career as a creative means many jobs and often, many super accounts. His advice for younger creatives in the industry is to consider consolidating super accounts, and to make sure their super savings aren’t eroded by multiple sets of fees.

Christopher also highlights the importance of extra super contributions, particularly for those working and earning a living where it feels like feast and famine.

“Each time you get paid, you can actually save on your taxes by putting some money aside to invest in your super.”

“It doesn’t get talked about enough, but if you’re a creative, you’ve got to look after yourself: your mental health, your life work balance, your money and your bank account.”