The Creatives
Taysha McFarland
Producer/Director/Writer/Actor and Founder of Toprock Productions.
Taysha McFarland is an award-winning film producer and founding director of Toprock Productions. Since starting her career as a producer in 2017, Taysha has gathered multiple credits to her name for short films, music videos, promotional content and web series. Her most ambitious production to date, “Zarephath” saw her taking a team of 17 cast and crew members across the state border to film in an abandoned, rural property.
As a passionate visual story teller, Taysha enjoys exploring narrative constructs to bring forth her vision and entertain audiences on multiple platforms. She is inspired to tell the stories of people, who don’t have a voice.
Over the years, she has formed many creative collaborations and is proud to have a strong production team behind her. This team work is evident in the awards and recognitions Toprock Production’s films have received globally; winning awards for Best Film and Audience Choice.
Although completing a Bachelor’s Degree in Science, Taysha has always been driven to pursue a career in the film industry. She has previously gained over 20 years’ experience training as an actor in Meisner, Strasburg and Chekhov techniques and has performed within Australia as well as the renowned Walt Disney World in the United States.
Tristan Braines
Producer/Director/Writer/Actor
From a young age, Tristan became fascinated with film and cinema. His passion has lead him to posses a great deal of knowledge when it comes to filmmaking.
After having had a taste of making films in High School, Tristan took a gap year studying a Foundation Course at the VCA, completing several short films. Soon after that he studied for three years at Swinburne Faculty of Design, undergoing the Bachelor of Film and Television Production, where he worked on numerous projects and productions, in a variety of genres and creative roles.
He has since gone on to become an award winning producer, having his films, "If Only", "A Song for You" and "Shop Your Values" taking home awards for best film and audience choice awards.
Cindy Pritchard
Producer/Singer/Actor
With over 35 years professional experience, Mornington Peninsula local, Cindy Pritchard was an original cast member of many Australian musical theatre productions, including 1200 performances of “Les Miserables”, and 60 performances as Mrs Potts alongside Hugh Jackman in Disney’s “Beauty & the Beast”.
With extensive television credits in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Cindy has recently broken into the film industry. She not only been recently credited as an actor, but has also stepped into the producer role. Her recent film credits include associate producer on AACTA nominated feature film, “Book Week”, which is also currently streaming on Stan, and executive producer on up and coming film, “Zarephath”, produced by Toprock Productions.
Other professional credits include “The Sound of Music” alongside Lisa McCune, “Showboat” directed by the legendary Hal Prince, “Me & My Girl”, “Sweet Charity”, “Oliver!” and the role of Fruma-Sarah with Topol in “Fiddler on the Roof”. She has also toured all over the country playing Earth Mother in “Menopause the Musical”. Just to name a few.
Cindy is looking forward to working on the hilarious comedy series, “Galactic Circus” alongside the creative team.
Nicholson Ren
Producer/Director of Photography/Colour Grader
Nicholson is an experienced and in-demand cinematographer who specialises in narrative, fictional filmmaking. Through his films, he aims to create a very natural look with a preference to a low key lighting style to create the most appealing images. He believes in making the best out of what is available.
With each shot, he takes pride in working out the finer details to enhance the overall story of the production. He has a vast knowledge on cinematic production.
With many years of experience in colour grading films around the world, Nichoslon is always ready for the next steps and challenges in the film industry.
For updates on his new projects follow his page on Instagram.
Samuel Vella
Cinematographer
Samuel is a cinematographer with an extensive background in the camera & lighting department; having worked on a variety of projects ranging from music videos, corporate branding & feature films.
Samuel graduated from RMIT, where he studied Screen & Media and contributed to over 15 different projects, where he worked on various styles including documentary & short film narratives.
Since graduation Samuel has continued to expand his knowledge of film & cinema by working with veteran members of the Melbourne film community, where he met & worked with Toprock Productions on several projects.
Samuel’s style is contemporary, eclectic & emotionally-driven. Drawing on a wide range of inspirations; old and new, Samuel can adapt to fit the needs of any story or project.
You can view some of Samuel’s previous work on his Instagram.
Chris Tuazon
Sound Design/Composer/Musician
Chris has a great ear for music and sounds and is a key member of the garage, grunge, psychedelic band, Mojo Pin. Being with the band for over 8 years, Chris wanted to learn more about recording to help the band.
He studied Studio Engineering where he learned about the possibilities and other avenues for creativity in the field of audio. This is where he also found a passion for film and live events. He sees this as a new medium for his musical expression, broadening his sights.
Between gigs, Chris enjoys working on set and perfecting the audio in post production.
Will Chan
Marketing Director/Videographer/Photographer/Producer
Will Chan's passion for capturing the best moments and images that tell a story is why he is a highly sought-after videographer and photographer. He is experienced in creating promotional content for small businesses, corporate videos, events and narrative productions.
Will has a strong ability to connect content to audience and brings this approach to help market and promote brands, projects, films and tv series. He enjoys working closely with his clients to understand their vision. This inspires him to present their passions in a way that will influence and inspire their target audience.
Being constantly up to date with the latest camera technology and social trends, Will is able to ensure that the projects he works on are not only of a high quality, but are also marketable in an adapting climate.
As a behind the scenes videographer and photographer, Will has a keen eye for anticipating important moments on set. His latest credits include Long Night in Pexington, Rage, Zarephath and most recently, The Surrogate and Galactic Circus.
With the aim to bring fellow film-makers together, Will began the fast-growing "Behind the Scenes Community" live-streaming talk show.
Check out Will Captures on Instagram and his photography work here.