Josh Lawson

"...It is clear that Lawson has developed a unique and strong style, which carries the whole evening. The acting is most talented but the real star here is Lawson’s writing..." (Australian Stage Online)

Josh Lawson is a writer, director and actor.

THE ELEVEN O’CLOCK was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film in 2017. Josh wrote, starred in and produced the film which screened at Cinequest, Flickerfest, Valladolid International Film Festival, Toronto Short Film Festival and LA Shorts Fest where it won Best Comedy.

Josh wrote, directed and starred in feature film THE LITTLE DEATH, which had its world premiere at the 2014 Sydney Film Festival and played at Toronto International Film Festival and the SXSW Festival. The film was nominated for 6 AACTA awards and an AWGIE award for Best Original Screenplay and won the Audience Award for Narrative Spotlight at SXSW film festival.

THE LITTLE DEATH has been remade in Spain as KIKI, EL AMOR SE HACE where it placed #1 at the box office. The film has been optioned for a further seven foreign language remakes. The Hollywood Reporter described the film as “a deviant Antipodean version of LOVE, ACTUALLY… It’s quite a trick Lawson has pulled off… [and] shows both his funny bone and his heart are in the right place.”

His follow-up feature LONG STORY SHORT starred Rafe Spall and was written, directed and EPed by Lawson.

AFTER THE CREDITS, a short film written and directed by Josh, won the Best Comedy at the LA Shorts Fest, Best Narrative Short (Comedy) at the Fargo Film Festival and Best Achievement in Screenplay at St Kilda Film Festival. The screenplay was nominated for an AWGIE award by the Australian Writers Guild. AFTER THE CREDITS was featured on Funny Or Die.

Josh wrote six comedy sketches for the Jungle series THE ELEGANT GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO KNIFEFIGHTING for ABC, and episodes of comedy programs STUPID, STUPID MAN, COMEDY INC, TV BURP, TWENTY FOUR SEVEN and MY NEW BEST FRIEND.

Josh won Naked Theatre Company’s Top Shorts playwriting competition in 2005 with his play SHAKESPEARLIALISM, which was subsequently produced as a radio drama by ABC radio’s Airwaves program and enjoyed a return season at the Old Fitzroy Theatre in Sydney alongside THE 11’O’CLOCK and a new short play, WORK IN PROGRESS. THE 11’O’CLOCK won best comedy script in the Short and Sweet theatre competition in 2006 which he directed and which toured through Australia and Asia. These plays resulted in Josh being shortlisted for the Phillip Parsons Award at Belvoir theatre in Sydney.

As an actor Josh stars or appears in ST DENIS MEDICAL, MORTAL KOMBAT, HOUSE OF LIES, COBRA KAI, ANCHORMAN 2 among many others.