Filmmakers Making A Social Impact: Why & How Matthew Salleh and Rose Tucker of Urtext Films Are Helping To Change Our World
Don’t let a gatekeeper’s “NO” prevent you from creating work.
So many films never get made because the filmmaker was rejected by a funding body. Technology has evolved in such a way that films no longer require the huge budgets, equipment and crews they once did. If you are passionate about telling a story, find a creative way to get it made (and see point 4!)
As a part of our series about “Filmmakers Making A Social Impact” I had the pleasure of interviewing Matthew Salleh and Rose Tucker.
Australian-born, Brooklyn-based documentary filmmaking duo Matthew Salleh and Rose Tucker have collaborated for almost two decades. Their company Urtext Films has produced documentaries including the James Beard Award-winning Barbecue (2017), festival favorite We Don’t Deserve Dogs (2020) and their new release SLICE OF LIFE: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts. They work together as a two-person crew — Matthew as director and cinematographer, Rose as producer and sound recordist — and their films celebrate the craft of independent filmmaking, with a passion for telling intimate, portrait-style stories about community, inclusivity and humanity.
Thank you so much for doing this interview with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit. Can you share your “backstory” that brought you to this career?
Rose Tucker: Matthew and I are both from Adelaide, South Australia, where we met and started working together in 2006. Neither of us attended film school — we are both self-taught filmmakers. In the early days, we both had “day jobs” and worked on short film projects on the side to hone our craft. As our careers progressed, we began taking on commercial projects, and our boutique production company Urtext Films went on to work with some of Australia’s biggest brands.
Our passion for making documentaries grew over time, and the completion of our first feature length documentary Barbecue proved to be a pivotal moment in our career: we decided to pack up our lives and move to the US. We’ve been based in Brooklyn since 2016, and have continued to build both our business and our film careers, having produced another two features in recent years: We Don’t Deserve Dogs (2020) and Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts. (2024).
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Matthew Salleh: The biggest mistake we made was thinking we needed to do big things quickly. We rented a big studio when we started that we could in no way afford. It was a large space that we had to constantly rent out as a venue, and for a few years we spent more time dealing with bands skipping out on the bill than we did making movies. We learned that we had to become much leaner, and develop our skills rather than act like a big business. Nowadays we make our films out of our one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn.
Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?
Rose Tucker: Making documentaries all around the world has afforded us the opportunity to meet all manner of interesting and inspiring people. Our documentary Barbecue, filmed in 12 countries, explores BBQ culture across the world. One of the most memorable people we met during that shoot was a young man called Ahmed, who lived in the Za’atari Refugee Camp on the border of Jordan and Syria. Despite very challenging circumstances, Ahmed was running a small shawarma stand in the camp, providing his community with a gathering place and a taste of home.
Whilst making our second feature We Don’t Deserve Dogs, which examines the relationship between humans and dogs across cultures, we again met some amazing people. We filmed with an organization called The Big Fix in Uganda, who run The Comfort Dog Project, a program that teams former child soldiers suffering with PTSD with stray dogs in need of a home. Together, the lives of humans and their dogs are improved.
Matthew Salleh: With our most recent film, Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts., we filmed with people all over the United States that have started their own businesses. Having a similar life’s trajectory ourselves, it was fascinating to hear such amazing stories of “self-starting” from people with such diverse backgrounds. To top it off, we also got to sit down and talk with Dan Carney, the original founder of Pizza Hut — possibly one of America’s greatest classical success stories. One thing I remember is that he was as interested to quiz us on our lives as we were interested in his.
Which people in history inspire you the most? Why?
Matthew Salleh:
I have been somewhat inspired by a lot of earlier documentarians that adopted a very simple approach to their storytelling. Errol Morris, Les Blank, the Maysles Brothers, even photographers like Bernd and Hilla Becher and Ansel Adams had a very matter-of-fact way of telling their stories that I always loved.
Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview, how are you using your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share with us the meaningful or exciting social impact causes you are working on right now?
Rose Tucker: The focus of our documentaries has always been about elevating everyday people and their stories, highlighting our cultural differences, whilst celebrating all that we have in common. Our first films achieved this on a global scale, filming across 23 different countries. Our new film Slice of Life takes on a similar lofty goal, but the story is contained to the US. We wanted to present a positive portrait that celebrates the diversity of the US, particularly in this time of incredible division.
Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions, but never manifest it. But you did. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up and take action for this cause? What was that final trigger?
Matthew Salleh: I guess our “cause” is to bring the stories of everyday people to life, to elevate daily life to the extraordinary through documentary cinema. Originally, I thought I would make fictional films, but it was in listening to random people tell me stories that I realized real life stories are far more interesting and inspiring than anything I could write. I guess that was the moment that my passion to make documentary films was born.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
Matthew Salleh: As filmmakers, it can be hard to always know who is positively impacted by our work, as most of our films are consumed by people in their homes. We’ve been lucky enough to have film festival screenings where we engage with our audiences, and they are often positively moved by our work. Sometimes we get lovely emails from people who say that our films have had a positive impact on them as well, which is the greatest compliment you can receive as a filmmaker.
Are there three things that individuals, society or the government can do to support you in this effort?
Matthew Salleh: It’s interesting, over the years we’ve developed a sustainable model whereby we do work for hire to raise money to make our own films. It’s grueling, but it affords us the creative freedom we need. It means that I’m a lot less focused on organizations that can support us. Instead, I try to focus my efforts in finding new audiences for our work whenever I can — I think that direct link to our audiences is the greatest support we can receive.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
Rose Tucker:
1. Understand your finances and taxes.
Working in a creative field can be challenging and unstable. Being financially literate is incredibly important to a sustainable career in the arts.
2. Even when things are going well, there will always be the next hurdle or challenge to overcome.
I remember watching a very successful documentarian explain about the time their film was selected for the Sundance Film Festival, a huge honor. They described the feeling of not really being able to celebrate, as suddenly they were concerned with getting a good screening time slot and managing a sales strategy.
3. Nobody cares about “your baby” as much as you do.
Particularly in the world of low budget indie filmmaking, you must always remember that your project is not necessarily the highest priority for those who might be working with you. Always treat your cast and crew with respect.
4. Upskill: learn a little about the various technical roles in your industry.
Matthew and I have both spent a lot of time learning the technical aspects of our craft. Matthew is a self-taught cinematographer, and over the years I have learnt the craft of location sound recording. We edit and handle all post-production on our films. This means that we can operate as an entirely self-sufficient team, but also, our technical understanding really helps us when communicating with other crew and technicians.
5. Don’t let a gatekeeper’s “NO” prevent you from creating work.
So many films never get made because the filmmaker was rejected by a funding body. Technology has evolved in such a way that films no longer require the huge budgets, equipment and crews they once did. If you are passionate about telling a story, find a creative way to get it made (and see point 4!)
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
Matthew Salleh: I think young people who want to make a positive impact on society will find a way to do it. It might be in a small way or a big way. I guess one thing I always hope people focus on is a way to make it sustainable. You want to be able to make a lifetime of positive contributions to society — that means planning things so that you can sustain that energy throughout your life.
We are very blessed that many other Social Impact Heroes read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would like to collaborate with, and why? He or she might see this. 🙂
Matthew Salleh:
This is an interesting question, as Rose and I have become very headstrong in our small and independent approach to filmmaking. It means that I don’t really take the opportunity to imagine collaborating with others. I could see us being more collaborative in future projects, though, working with technicians and creatives that could bring a unique perspective to our work. But I imagine that the people we collaborate with won’t necessarily be ‘famous’ but rather emerging in their careers. So long story short, I probably don’t even know their names yet!
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Matthew Salleh: When we were making our film We Don’t Deserve Dogs, we came across the quote “Be the person your dog thinks you are.” I think of that quote often…
How can our readers follow you online?
instagram.com/urtext
facebook.com/urtextfilms
X/urtext
This was great, thank you so much for sharing your story and doing this with us. We wish you continued success!
Filmmakers Making A Social Impact: Why & How Matthew Salleh and Rose Tucker of Urtext Films Are… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.