About

Bethany Bruce is an independent producer and co-founder of Staple Fiction, working across documentary and drama in development, financing, and production. Her most recent project, Make It Look Real, is now streaming on Netflix Australia. Directed by Kate Blackmore, the feature documentary premiered at the 2024 Adelaide Film Festival before having its international debut at SXSW in Austin. The film was featured in Variety’s SXSW ‘Highs’ list of standout titles, and described by RogerEbert.com as “essential viewing.” It was funded by Screen Australia and the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund, and co-produced with Projector Films and producer Daniel Joyce.

In 2023, Bethany was recognised by Inside Film as a rising talent in the producer category. Her producing work spans both short drama and documentary. Her short film credits include The Butter Scene (2021, Sydney Film Festival) and Broken Line North (2019, Sydney Film Festival), which was financed by the Lexus Short Film Fellowship with writer and director Sunday Emerson Gullifer. Other short works include the AACTA Social Shorts-nominated Wolf (2016) with writer and director Liz Cooper, and Tinseltown (2016, Melbourne International Film Festival) with writer and director Corrie Chen.

As an executive producer, Bethany’s credits include Birdie (2018, Toronto International Film Festival) with writer and director Shelly Lauman. She also co-produced Selina Miles’s debut feature documentary Martha: A Picture Story, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival.

For the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), she has produced three arts documentary series with director Kate Blackmore: The Glass Bedroom (2016), Video Becomes Us (2018), and The Art of Collecting (2021), all commissioned by and streamed on ABC iview.

From 2014 to 2016, Bethany was mentored by acclaimed producer Bridget Ikin (Sherpa, An Angel at My Table, Look Both Ways) at Felix Media as part of Screen Australia's Enterprise People funding. During this time, she worked in production on the BAFTA-nominated Sherpa (TIFF, Telluride), directed by Jennifer Peedom, and The Rehearsal (TIFF), directed by Alison Maclean.

Her current feature slate includes A Cup of Tea with writer/director Dee Dogan and Felix Media, which won the Attagirl global feature film lab development prize supported by Telefilm Canada, Screen Australia, and Screen NSW. The project was also shortlisted for the Sundance Institute Development Track, alongside several other titles currently in development.