We are proud to announce the highly anticipated UNTAPPED 2025 Masterclass Speakers, featuring a powerful line-up of four industry trailblazers, shaping the future of film and television.
The esteemed speakers — Michael Shanks (Together), Megan Park (My Old Ass), Ryan O’Connell (Special), and Jet Wilkinson (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) — will bring their unparalleled expertise to Australia’s premier artist development program, UNTAPPED, which continues to break boundaries by nurturing undiscovered and emerging writers and directors.
Megan Park
Filmmaker | Producer | Actress
Megan Park is a DGA and WGA nominated filmmaker, producer and actress known for telling compelling stories that highlight heartfelt human experiences.
Park’s sophomore film, My Old Ass, produced by LuckyChap and Indian Paintbrush, had its world premiere at Sundance, and was scooped by Amazon Studios in a competitive bidding war. It was released in 2024 and was nominated for a Critics Choice, GLAAD Media, DGA, WGA, and Independent Spirit Award.
Park will be teaming up again with LuckyChap for the Prime Video series Sterling Point as creator, executive producer and co-showrunner, alongside Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage.
Park’s directorial debut The Fallout, starring Jenna Ortega, won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival and was released on Max in 2022, where it was a New York Times Critic’s Pick. Ahead of the film’s release, she was also included in Variety’s “10 Directors to Watch for 2022.”
Her career as a filmmaker began with her short film, Lucy in my Eyes, which premiered at the 2017 Austin Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Short. Her short films Listen to Me and Medically Speaking both won Bronze Lions at the Cannes Film Festival in the Not-for-profit/Charity categories.
Park has also written and directed campaigns and music videos for artists such as Billie Eilish, Gucci Mane, and Janelle Monae, which have grossed upwards of 500 million views.
Ryan O'Connell
Writer | Producer | Actor
Ryan O'Connell is an Emmy-award winning writer, producer and actor. He starred and wrote Netflix's critically-acclaimed comedy, Special, which is based on his memoir, I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves.
In addition, he's written for The New York Times, Vice, and Vulture, as well as for television, including MTV’s Awkward, Will & Grace, Netflix's The Baby-Sitters Club and Peacock’s Queer as Folk reboot, which he also stars in.
He's won a GLAAD award, an HRC award, and any other award you can get for being gay. He was also on the list of the Time 100 Next as one of the rising up-and-coming artists who is shaping the future of their industry.
Michael Shanks
Writer | Director
Michael Shanks is a Melbourne-based Writer and Director whose high concept films balance character with spectacle.
His debut feature film Together (starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie) premiered and was the biggest acquisition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. NEON are distributing the film to cinemas worldwide in August 2025.
He has won multiple awards for writing, directing, editing, and for his work as a VFX artist and composer.
His script Hotel Hotel Hotel Hotel was featured on the 2021 Black List.
Jet Wilkinson
Director | Producer
Jet Wilkinson is a 2020 NAACP nominee for Outstanding Direction in a Drama Series and a two-time nominee at the Australian Directors' Guild Awards for Best Achievement in Direction for a Television Drama Series.
Since 2015, Wilkinson has built a robust career in the U.S. directing shows such as Jessica Jones, The Punisher, Daredevil, and Truth be Told, and Avatar the Last Airbender.
She was the Executive Producer and Director of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, for which she is nominated for a Children’s Emmy; Executive Producer and Director for the Apple TV series Before, starring Billy Crystal; Executive Producer and Director of Lena Waithe's The Chi; Co–Executive Producer and Director of How to Get Away with Murder starring Viola Davis; and Director and Consulting Producer on season one of FX’s The Old Man, starring Jeff Bridges.
She directed the pilots for the upcoming Ballard, starring Maggie Q, and Copenhagen, starring Simu Liu. She will also be directing on the Apple TV series Lucky, starring Anya Taylor Joy and Annette Bening, The Handmaid’s Tale spinoff The Testaments, and Imperfect Women, starring Kerry Washington and Elisabeth Moss.
