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SON OF A GREYHOUND TRAINER
 

DAVE MA

INFO

BIO

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Dave Ma is the moniker of director David Ma who was born the son of a Chinese greyhound trainer and an Australian maternity nurse.

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His favourite books as a kid were his mother’s obstetrics journal and an anatomy textbook. 

At 14 he got a Nikon FG-20 and began rolling Ilford HP4 through that badboy like there was no tomorrow.


Like all good Chinese sons, Dave was expected to pursue medicine. But he wasn’t smart enough (or as his father would say ‘Didn’t apply himself’). Instead, he embarked on a Psych degree, developing a fascination with the field's attempt at understanding the human condition (something he sees synonymous with the pursuit of film and art). This desire to explore and celebrate humanity is at the heart of Dave's cinematic work.
 

While studying, Dave got a job at a petrol station and learnt important life skills like: breaking down cardboard boxes, rotating drink stock, emptying mechanic workshop bins, and squeegee'ing car windscreens for elderly ladies (he'll still do this if you ask). Dave also joined Blockbuster and became obsessed with European cinema (see 'Les Amants Du Pont-Neuf').

 

Eventually escaping to London, Dave spent countless nights chasing indie bands around dank, sweaty basement bars in the East End, armed with a stills camera and a desire to create cinematic music videos laced with magical realism. London quickly became home and one cloudy summer's afternoon in Hackney Town Hall, Dave swore allegiance to Elizabeth the 2nd and all her heirs and successors, despite having never tried jellied eel.

 

Since then, he has made some stuff for bands and brands (Foals, Flight Facilities, Jagwar Ma, Bastille, Nike, O2, Honda, Rebel Sport, Nokia, Converse, Forest Swords).

And some of those things have been socially validated (LAFilmFest, Camerimage, Atlanta FF, Ad Week, Axis, UK MVAs Best Director nom, ARIA Awards Best Vid nom...plus a few likes here and there on the ol’ insta).

 

But more importantly, how weird is it to have to big yourself up in the third person?
I mean seriously, I'm sitting here writing this shit literally rolling my eyes at myself. Must be that disapproving 'Asian-Dad voice' in the back of my head? Or perhaps that wintery British self-deprecation at my core? I won't mention 'tall-poppy syndrome'. Can't help but think I should've used more words like GRAVITAS and CINEMATIC WORLD BUILDING...I think you get it.

Anyway...if you’ve read this far then maybe you’d like to collaborate and create something beautiful to put out into the world. I'm down with that. As the Beastie Boys once said about someone else once saying: “...And she said: dark is not the opposite of light. It's the absence of light. And I thought to myself, she knows what she's talking about. And for a moment I knew what it was all about...".


Let's Dance.

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