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Cancelled (2026)

Max, the leader of the hot new Aussie boyband 'Red Riot' has discovered his band is blowing up online, and now faces the threat of getting cancelled, thanks to a foolish livestream from his supposed best friend, Jake. Max decides to threateningly confront his bandmates about their pasts, all whilst running from his own.

  • Heidi Kaye
    Producer
  • Isabelle Bray
    Producer
    Strings Attached (2025), The Bridges We Burn (2024), Indigo (2023)
  • Grace Clinton
    Writer
  • Mitch Bain
    Director
    Promoter (2022)
  • Lane Thomas Davis
    Key Cast
    "Max"
  • Jackson Bliss
    Key Cast
    "Jake"
    Fraser from 'Head South' (2024)
  • Ethan Lamb-Kelly
    Key Cast
    "Noah"
    Teen Dave Campbell from 'Last Kings of the Cross', Season 1
  • Lucas Stace
    Key Cast
    "Freddy"
  • Emerson Cracknell
    Key Cast
    "Sadie"
  • Tadhg Clinton
    Key Cast
    "Billy"
  • Grace Clinton
    Director of Photography
  • Felix Dupuy
    First Assistant Director
  • Clifford McBride
    Sound Recordist
  • Abigail Wu
    Gaffer
  • Annika Kumar
    Production Design
  • Isabelle Bray
    Editor, Sound Mix
    Strings Attached (2025), The Bridges We Burn (2024), Indigo (2023)
  • Clint Owen Ellis
    Composer
  • Luke Dunning
    VFX Artist, Title Animation
    Strings Attached (2025), The Bridges We Burn (2024)
  • Zain Ayub
    Executive Producer
    Sahela (2023)
  • VillainSounds
    Dialogue Mix
    Sting (2024)
  • The Australian Cultural Fund
    Supported through
  • Project Type:
    Short, Television, Other
  • Genres:
    Australian, Drama, Proof of Concept, Pilot, Music Industry
  • Runtime:
    9 minutes 9 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 6, 2026
  • Production Budget:
    6,500 AUD
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Full Frame, Sony FX6
  • Aspect Ratio:
    Changes
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Mitch Bain

Mitch is a creative individual who thrives at the intersection of ideas, story, and vibe. He has been actively shaping culture since 2008, when he picked up a pair of headphones, burnt some CDs and decided other people would like to listen to his musical selections.

He graduated from Australian Film Televisions & Radio School, specialising in writing and directing. He wrote and directed his graduation film, PROMOTER, a short crime flick set in the music industry. He also produced the short suburban mystery Sticky Beak, which was selected for the Flickerfest International Short Film Festival in 2023.

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Director Statement

For me, Cancelled began with my fascination with musicians and the strange, powerful loyalty they can inspire. To be successful, musical acts have to build cult followings, not just through great songs, but through storytelling, mystique (or lack of it), and by generating a feeling in fans that they are part of something bigger.

But the internet loves to watch something burn. I wanted to explore what it would look like to have a band on the precipice of cult success face off against the volatility of internet culture. Online outrage can be necessary, but it can also become reactionary, reductive and hungry for collapse, especially in Australia.

In Cancelled, our band, Red Riot, is forced to confront a public controversy that threatens to reveal a hidden trauma they have spent years avoiding. What begins as a crisis-management conversation slowly becomes something more dangerous: a room full of mates realising that their closets are filled with skeletons.

I am interested in the collision between performance and truth, especially in celebrity culture, where authenticity is the buzzword of the moment. Bands often survive on image and bravado, which brings with it a shitload of denial. But when all that gets stripped away, the rehearsal room becomes a pressure cooker, where loyalty, guilt, ambition and buried violence all take centre stage.

Being a DJ for more than 15 years meant I could draw on my experiences across music, club culture, large-scale festivals, advertising and film to help shape the world of Cancelled. The energy of grungy indie bands, the ego around creative scenes, and the pressure to keep the show going, even when everything underneath is falling apart, all fed into the film. This film gave me the chance to direct that tension: funny, grungy, fast-moving and human.

“Cancelled” is about what happens when the story people create about themselves finally breaks.