The son of American draft dodgers, Aubrey Nealon was born in British Columbia's remote Slocan Valley, where he was raised free of such modern contrivances as telephones, electricity, and regular meals. At age fifteen, he headed to Vancouver and embarked on a career as a youth actor, highlighted by his turn as Olaf the Finnish Exchange Student on the teen soap opera Fifteen. Aubrey's interest soon moved behind the camera, where he observed that people seemed to be having a much better time, and in 1995 he enrolled at the Vancouver Film School. Upon graduating he worked as the assistant to director Jonathan Tammuz on the feature Rupert's Land, and soon after made his first short film House Arrest. With his follow-up film Abe's Manhood, Aubrey won a 2000 Shavick Award, recognizing the best emerging directors in Western Canada. The film debuted at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival before going on to screen at over 20 international festivals, and its broadcast on the CBC's Canadian Reflections garnered the highest ratings in the program's history. Aubrey was accepted into the Canadian Film Centre's directing program in 2000, followed by the Short Film Program in 2001, where he co-wrote and directed In Memoriam. Debuting at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival, the film received
rave reviews, and was later selected for inclusion in the Roger's Video compilation Made in Canada: The Best of the CFC. Aubrey directed three episodes of the Comedy Network series Patti. In 2004 he won the inaugural Don Haig Award, a ten thousand dollar prize given annually to a promising Canadian filmmaker. Aubrey has two feature scripts in development, The Motherland and A Timely Demise.
Film Movement
