Hayley Cloake

Australian Hayley Cloake began her career by studying architecture, receiving a Bachelor of Design Studies from Queensland University. Acknowledging her true love for film, she pursued her passion by receiving a Bachelor of Film and Television from the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne University. In Australia, Cloake directed performance based television commercials and the hard-hitting documentary MUCK UP DAY which received a Special Commendation for Education at the 2001 Atom Awards. Her comedic short films TEASE, THUMP and TAKEN explore the dynamics of people's emotion in the face of desire. THUMP won a Special Commendation at CIAFF, the Chapman Student Jury Prize at the Flickerfest Short Film Festival, and was a finalist for the Dendy Award at the Sydney Film Festival. Collectively her short films have appeared in over twenty-five film festivals in the USA, England, Canada, Germany, Italy, Russia, Romania, Spain, Chile, New Zealand and Australia. Based in the USA since 2001, Cloake has honed her craft directing music videos. She was nominated by the Music Video Producers Association for best directorial debut in 2002. In 2005 Cloake directed her debut feature film, the atmospheric THE HOUSE OF USHER, a contemporary reworking of the classic short story by Edgar Allen Poe from a female perspective. USHER won the Best cinematography at the Boston Film Festival.