We're thrilled to bring you an incredibly insightful conversation with one of Australia's most exciting writer-directors, Yolanda Ramke.

Yolanda first captured international attention with her short zombie film, 'Cargo', which she co-wrote and co-directed with Ben Howling. That short film, originally made for Tropfest, went viral and was praised by the likes of Simon Pegg. It went on to become a feature-length Netflix original film, starring Martin Freeman.

‘Cargo’ was nominated for 5 AACTA awards, including Best Film and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film was recognised by the Australian Film Critics Association (AFCA) with 5 award nominations, three Film Critics Circle of Australia award nominations, and 2 Fangoria Chainsaw award nominations (including Best First Feature). Yolanda went on to win her first Australian Writers' Guild (AWGIE) award for ‘Cargo’ in the Feature Film - Adaptation category. 

Following the success of 'Cargo', Yolanda was tapped by the creator of ‘The Haunting of Hill House’, Mike Flanagan (‘Midnight Mass’, ‘The Fall Of The House Of Usher’), to direct pivotal episodes of his follow-up series for Netflix, ‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’. She also went on to create the ABC TV series, ‘Troppo’, inspired by the novel Crimson Lake, by New York Times best-selling author, Candice Fox.

In this episode, recorded during one of our Industry Talk Nights in Sydney, we discuss how Yolanda broke into the industry, what it was like pitching to Hollywood, working with actors like Martin Freeman, her own creative process, and why creating your own work might just be the most powerful move an artist can make.