Beyond Acting Mastery: Benjamin and Holly-Anna Mathews Are Building Their Own Future in Australian Film

When Tropfest announced its return, Benjamin and Holly-Anna Mathews had little reason to believe they would be entering a film. With a four-month-old daughter, a growing acting studio and a slate of projects already in development, the Sydney-based couple had more than enough on their plates.

Yet their decision to produce the ambitious science-fiction short Project Hourglass would prove a defining moment in their filmmaking careers.

The film went on to win the Tropfest People’s Choice Award, while cinematographer Josh Flavell received Best Cinematography. The couple were also selected for the inaugural Tropfest Runways Career Acceleration Award, powered by the Motion Picture Association, providing opportunities for industry meetings and professional development in Los Angeles.

For Ben and Holly, the recognition represented more than a successful festival outing. It offered tangible momentum for their ambitions as filmmakers.

“We had a small window to write, prepare, shoot, edit and deliver a very ambitious action/adventure/sci-fi short while caring for a baby and running a company,” Ben recalls.

“It allowed us to stop talking about what we wanted to do and demonstrate what we could do together.”

Holly admits she initially rejected the idea of entering Tropfest, with the couple’s daughter Indi only months old. Encouragement from Flavell, following a podcast recording with director Kriv Stenders, eventually persuaded them to reconsider.

The resulting success has opened new possibilities, including the development of Project Hourglass as a potential action-adventure feature.

“For the film to win the People’s Choice Award was especially meaningful because we want to make ambitious, accessible work that reaches a broad audience,” Holly says.

The recognition has also given the pair an opportunity to pursue their broader filmmaking ambitions internationally, with the Tropfest Runways programme including two trips to Los Angeles and meetings with major studios.

For Ben, the path to filmmaking began with acting.

After training with the Australian Theatre for Young People, he studied at New York’s Atlantic Theater Company before building a career across theatre and television. His Australian credits include productions with Sydney Theatre Company and Belvoir, alongside an early television appearance in Love My Way.

His experiences in the United States eventually led him to reconsider his creative direction.

Returning to Australia, Ben studied directing and screenwriting at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, where his graduate short Emily earned a Student Academy Award nomination.

Further projects followed, including the MTV-backed pilot Deadbeat Dads and the ABC iview series BedHead, developed through the broadcaster’s Fresh Blood initiative.

Holly’s career followed a similarly varied trajectory.

Having trained and worked as an actor, she later gained experience as a talent agent, developing an understanding of both the creative and commercial realities facing performers. Her production experience included work on The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart.

She also made the decision to turn down a production coordinator opportunity on Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes to focus on building Acting Mastery alongside Ben.

That combination of experience has shaped the couple’s professional partnership.

Ben largely leads their creative development and teaching philosophy, while Holly brings a producer’s approach to organisation, strategy and business operations.

Together, they have transformed Acting Mastery from a small class in Ben’s living room into an established Sydney studio and international online training platform.

Central to their approach is the Breakout Actor Roadmap, a six-step methodology developed from more than 20 years of combined industry experience. The programme is designed to help actors strengthen their craft, develop a resilient mindset, identify their individual strengths and take greater ownership of their careers.

The studio has also brought internationally recognised acting coaches and industry professionals to Australia for workshops, including Ivana Chubbuck, Gerry Grennell, David Rapaport and Miranda Harcourt, providing performers with opportunities to learn from established figures in the international entertainment industry.

Built around the principles of craft, mindset and opportunity, Acting Mastery reflects the couple’s belief that actors need more than technical ability to sustain careers in an increasingly competitive industry.

But while the studio has become an important part of their professional lives, the couple’s ambitions extend well beyond actor training.

Through their production company, SquireRose Studios, Ben and Holly are developing a varied slate of film and television projects designed to reach audiences both in Australia and internationally.

Among the most advanced is a comedy series in development with Easy Tiger and Ronde Media.

The project arrived at a particularly memorable moment in their lives.

“We actually got the initial offer from the production companies the same day we found out Holly was pregnant,” Ben explains.

“Got the offer in the morning, did the pregnancy test in the afternoon.”

The couple are also developing a psychological thriller for which they say financing has already been raised, alongside a true-story natural disaster drama set during Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas.

Ben has spent approximately seven years working on the latter screenplay, describing it as a personal project whose themes have become increasingly relevant.

Other projects include the potential Project Hourglass feature adaptation and a romantic comedy in the early stages of development.

The diversity of the slate is intentional.

Rather than positioning themselves within a single genre, the couple are interested in creating emotionally grounded, commercially accessible stories with international potential.

Ben has also renewed his commitment to performing, reporting two substantial acting bookings this year, including a role in the Netflix feature The Big Fix, directed by Baltasar Kormákur and starring Mark Wahlberg and Riz Ahmed.

His continuing work as an actor, writer and director remains central to the philosophy behind Acting Mastery.

For Ben, participating in the industry while preparing others to enter it provides an important perspective on the challenges performers face.

That experience has also informed his views on the future of Australian filmmaking.

While acknowledging the benefits of international productions shooting locally, Ben believes Australia must become equally ambitious about developing its own filmmakers and original stories.

He argues that greater investment in Australian-led productions would provide opportunities for emerging directors, writers, producers and performers while helping establish a more sustainable domestic screen industry.

“I am not arguing against bringing international production here,” he says. “I would like to see equally bold investment in Australian-led work alongside it.”

He is similarly passionate about creating pathways for performers who have developed their craft outside traditional institutions.

“We do a very good job of training talent in Australia. I would love us to become equally ambitious about discovering, nurturing and betting on it.”

For Ben and Holly, those ideas are closely connected to their own ambitions.

Through Acting Mastery, they hope to create meaningful opportunities for emerging performers. Through SquireRose Studios, they intend to put that same philosophy into practice by developing and producing their own work.

And following the response to Project Hourglass, the couple have fresh evidence that their creative ambitions can translate into audience connection.

“I don’t think Tropfest changed our ambitions,” Ben says. “Those ambitions were already there, but it has definitely added fuel to them, given us momentum and, quite literally, helped us hit the accelerator.”

For the Mathews, the next chapter is about turning that momentum into a lasting body of work.