is an award winning writer, director and dreamer. Recognized for her unique eye and poetic visual language, her work has garnered numerous awards, played at prestigious festivals worldwide from the Berlinale to the London BFI to the Sydney Film Festival and sold across streaming platforms and network Television.
With two awards at the Berlin International Film Festival, an Australian Writers Guild Award, and an Australian Academy (AACTA) and Directors Guild nominations under her belt, Billie made the leap to long form creating and directing the original youth focused high-octane drama series DEADLOCK commissioned by the ABC and Screen Australia. DEADLOCK premiered to great acclaim taking home the 2018 AACTA Award and Billie winning the 2019 ADG Award for Best online drama series.
Billie won the coveted role to create a youth drama series after being selected from over 200 applicants Australia wide to participate in a writers room with UK SKINS creator Bryan Elsley. Out of the six emerging writers, Billie won the series pitch and went on to not only create and write but directed this breakthrough series.
Billie began her career studying Photography, English and Film at the College of Fine Arts and the University of NSW. A natural storyteller, Billie’s photography of staged cinematic worlds, capturing a story within a frame won the Graduating Student Award. Billie’s interest in visual story telling grew into a unique visual style, which encapsulates her work.
A Directing graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, Billie rose to prominence when her graduate film B I N O premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2012, winning two major prizes; Best Short Film by the International Jury and Special Mention by the Children's Jury. B I N O went on to be nominated for Best Film and Best Screenplay at the Australian Academy (AACTA) Awards, Best Student Director at the Australian Director's Guild.
BILLIE PLEFFER
BABY BABY funded by the Screen NSW Emerging Filmmaker Fund won the 2014 Australian Writer's Guild Award (AWGIE) for Best Short Film, Best Cinematography at the St Kilda Film Festival and was runners up in the national, inaugural and highly prestigious 2016 Mona Brand Emerging Writer Award. BABY BABY had its Australian premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival and was selected to screen as the Flickerfest Opening Night film.
Billie was mentored by award winning commercial and drama director Garth Davis (LION) for her Screen Australia funded short film FYSH. FYSH premiered in 2017 In Competition at the BFI London International Film Festival and had it’s hometown premiere at Melbourne International Film Festival. Currently it can be viewed on Virgin Australia’s in-flight entertainment and on SBS.
Billie has been fortunate awardee of multiple Screen Australia grants and funded placements including the inaugural Talent USA Campus where 13 of Australia’s best and brightest were flown to the US to partake in high-level networking and professional development opportunities. She also had the opportunity to undertake a funded Director’s Attachment with Australia’s leading TV drama director Glendyn Ivin (THE CRY,) on the ABC mini-series THE BEAUTIFUL LIE, which further honed her skills and passion for storytelling.
Billie’s work has been described as captivating, cinematic, imaginative, stylish, rebellious, bizarre and beguiling. She is driven to create emotively charged work, which subverts the familiar in striking and surprising ways.
Billie works across Film, Television and Commercials. She currently has a slate TV and feature projects in development nationally and internationally.
Billie is represented by HLA Management and Exit Films in Australia and Circle of Confusion in the US.
