The Film
A gun massacre survivor and a filmmaker form an unlikely bond as they slip down the rabbit hole of paranoia and conspiracy in a desperate search for solace and truth.
Watch
OFFICIAL TRAILER
The Film
SYNOPSIS
In an era where conspiracy theories threaten the scaffolds of society like never before, Aftermath is a fearless psychological portrait of two lives intertwined by trauma and obsession.
When massacre survivor Wendy Scurr meets filmmaker Jared Nicholson, she is already deep into her decades-long pursuit of truth after being silenced by authority. What begins as a testament to survival becomes an immersion into memory, belief, and the fragile scaffolding of reality itself.
Spanning decades of archive, late-night calls, and intimate confessions, their connection deepens both redemptive and ruinous. As Nicholson documents Wendy's quest for answers, he too becomes entangled in a web of misinformation. As the world around them fractures under the weight of fear and paranoia, their bond becomes a mirror to a larger reflecting of collective trauma, revealing that every conspiracy hides a betrayal.
Part confession, part elegy, Aftermath is a raw exploration of paranoia, and devotion that bears witness to the harrowing effects of trauma and illuminates the dark world of alternative facts, where even the most unlikely of people can be ensnared … and where truth is no longer a refuge but a battleground.
THE TEAM
JARED NICHOLSON
Writer & Director
Jared is a director, cinematographer, and co-founder of Run Wild Productions, with a career spanning commercial, documentary, and factual television. He is a self-taught filmmaker drawn to conviction, obsession, and the fault lines of truth and reality — a storyteller who emerged from the margins and keeps returning to them.
His documentary credits include cinematographer and editor on Ballkids (Netflix) and DOP and editor on Stackorama! (ABC). His instinct for narrative has made him a trusted shooting-producer on some of Australia's biggest reality formats, including Australian Survivor. As a cinematographer, his factual series credits include My Kitchen Rules, For the Love of Pets, and Australia's Sleep Revolution with Dr Michael Mosley.
BEN LAWRENCE
Writer & Director
2026 AACTA Award winner for Best Director for a factual TV series — Ben's films have screened at festivals including Toronto, Busan, Sydney, Edinburgh, Clermont-Ferrand, Sheffield, DocNYC, Palm Springs, Sitges and Sao Paulo.
In 2022 he was nominated for Australia's most prestigious documentary film journalism award — The Walkley Documentary Award. He is a four-time Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award nominee and four-time Australian Writers Guild Award winner across feature film, documentary and podcast categories.
In 2020 he was awarded the Australian Directors Guild highest award and the AWG Best Screenplay Award for his feature film, Hearts and Bones — which starred Hugo Weaving and premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.
His 2018 documentary, Ghosthunter, won the Sydney Film Festival Best Documentary and was nominated for the prestigious Illuminate Award at Sheffield Doc Fest.
Ben has also directed factual series, including The People Vs. Robodebt, The Jury, Stuff the British Stole and the Four Corners true-crime investigative series, Exposed. Now on Netflix.
His latest documentary, Ithaka, was an AACTA Best Documentary nominee and opened both the Barcelona & Berlin Human Rights Film festivals — where it won the audience award and screened in competition at the Sydney, DocNYC, Sheffield and DocEdge Festival, where Ben was awarded Best International Director.
REBECCA BARRY SPA
Producer
Rebecca Barry is an internationally acclaimed producer, filmmaker and storyteller known for her award-winning, thought-provoking work across documentary and drama. Co-founder of Media Stockade, she has created celebrated series and films for National Geographic, ABC, SBS, Network 10, Netflix, Hulu, BBC and Al Jazeera, with premieres at major festivals including IDFA, SFF, CPH:Dox, Hot Docs and DOC NYC. Her credits include the multi-award-winning Mozart's Sister.
Rebecca holds a PhD (UTS), is a certified Mental Health First Aider, and is recognised for her collaborative, adventurous approach to storytelling.
SCOTT BASKETT
Producer
As a founder and co-director of Run Wild Productions, Scott is the consummate documentary slasher. Over the past 15 years he has developed a reputation that sees him trusted by broadcasters, streamers and long established production houses. Whether directing, producing or as a cinematographer, Scott brings a strong visual sensibility coupled with a passion for telling engaging stories with strong narratives and interesting characters.
Most recently he produced and directed Ballkids (2025), the ABC documentary Stackorama! (2021) which was nominated for best stand-alone documentary at the 2022 AIDC Awards, and was a development producer on the feature documentary, Mockbuster. Scott is a concept creator and producer on Aftermath.
CHRIS KAMEN
Co-Producer
Chris has a broad producer skillset spanning film and TV production, distribution, marketing, business affairs and legals. His feature documentary Franklin launched at the Melbourne International Film Festival, was nominated for Best Documentary at the AACTAs and Walkley Awards, and went on to become Australia's second highest-grossing theatrical documentary in 2022. Previously Chris pioneered crowdfunding and self-distribution methods on a number of feature-length documentaries including Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (2011), Small is Beautiful (2015) and Vitamania (2018).
Chris works part time in business affairs at leading Australian production company CJZ. He also works as an IP and entertainment lawyer at Hyper Legal.
DEANNE WEIR
Executive Producer
Deanne Weir is a producer, investor and company director. She is passionate about storytelling, change-making and gender equality. WeirAnderson.com and WeirAnderson Films invest in entrepreneurs and storytellers to help them change the world. Deanne is Chair of SeerData & Analytics, a civic tech start-up, and was Chair of Ai-Media Technologies Limited (ASX:AIM) for 14 years until February 2024. Film investments include I Used to Be Normal, Babyteeth, Miss Fisher & The Crypt of Tears, I Am Woman, Blaze, How To Please A Woman, Seriously Red, Run Rabbit Run, Addition and The Wolves Always Come at Night. New projects include Boss Cat and Sweet Milk Lake.
A board member of Screen Australia until 2016, Deanne was instrumental in the development of its Gender Matters program and recently retired as a member of the Gender Matters Taskforce. Deanne is Chair of For Film's Sake (Attagirl global film lab), and until November 2023, the Sydney Film Festival.
MADELEINE HETHERTON-MIAU
Executive Producer
Madeleine Hetherton-Miau is a multi-awarded director and producer. Inspired by the adage 'truth is stranger than fiction' her documentary filmmaking has taken her from diamond diving in Africa to wildlife trafficking in Burma and through the Australian outback.
In 2012 she co-founded the independent production company Media Stockade with Rebecca Barry. Their work broadcasts on National Geographic, Netflix, ABC, BBC, Discovery, Hulu, PBS and more. Previous work includes the award-winning 8-part series The Surgery Ship for National Geographic Channel, true crime series The Family Court Murders for ABC, and The Day We Saved the Zoo. Her feature documentary Mozart's Sister became Australia's 4th highest-grossing cinema documentary in 2024, has been nominated for international award Rose d'Or, and was recently longlisted for a Grierson Award.
