Julian Shaw is a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised filmmaker, writer and actor based in the United States, whose work is defined by a focus on documentary storytelling, human presence, and lived experience. Working across documentary and narrative forms, his films are grounded in observational realism and character-driven stories.

Julian’s filmmaking career began at age 15 with the one-hour documentary Darling! The Pieter-Dirk Uys Story, which won the Inside Film Independent Spirit Award and was Runner Up in the Berlin International Film Festival Panorama Audience Awards. A portrait of iconic South African entertainer Pieter-Dirk Uys, the film screened internationally, earned multiple audience and critic awards, and received a theatrical release in South Africa.

His next feature documentary, Cup of Dreams, chronicled New Zealand’s national Rugby Union team The All Blacks in the five years leading up to their 2011 World Cup victory. The film aired globally across all continents, including on NBC Sports in the United States.

Julian’s first narrative feature as writer-director, Use Me, won Best Editing at the Brooklyn Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize at the Sydney Underground Film Festival. The film holds a 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, was distributed globally by Gravitas Ventures, and became a trending title on Amazon Prime.

Across both fiction and non-fiction, Julian’s work has screened at Cannes Cinephiles (Cinema Des Antipodes), the Melbourne International Film Festival, FLICKERFEST, and numerous international festivals. For his short drama Clearing the Air, he was awarded Best Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year at the Byron Bay International Film Festival.

Julian holds a Master of Film and Digital Image from The University of Sydney, a Graduate Diploma in Directing from AFTRS, and a Master of Screen Arts (Directing) from AFTRS.

As an actor, his credits include San Andreas, First & Second, and the title role in Looking for Dr. Love. He performed in and produced the viral marriage-equality short It’s Time, which amassed over 16 million views on YouTube and received widespread international recognition, including being awarded the AdNews Viral Video of the Year and reshares from Madonna and Stephen Fry.

His modeling work includes national campaigns for Google, Squarespace, and Columbia Sportswear.