Yianni Rowlands is an Australian writer and director working across narrative, commercial, music videos and video art. His work draws from abstractions in the world around him, attempting to reveal the layers of connective tissue underpinning what makes us human…

In 2021, he founded his independent production company Persistence Productions as a way to support his practice, producing and directing short films.

In 2023, Rowlands joined forces with creative content agency GUILTY, directing work for clients including Stihl, Clothing The Gaps, The Melbourne International Film Festival, The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, amongst others. Rowlands has also collaborated with a range of musical and visual artists including the ARIA award-winning punk rock band Amyl and the Sniffers and conceptual artist Marco Fusinato.

Rowlands’ has a background in stop-motion animation. As a teenager he received the runner up and top prize at the prestigious globally renowned short film festival Trop Jr (2012, 2016) for his stop-motion shorts. He is currently in development on a 2D adult animated sitcom.

With some short films under his belt and more in the making, his aim is to write and direct feature films and limited series. He has a handful of projects in various stages of development – spanning from original narrative work to adaptations.

He is a graduate of the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television) at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA).