Daley Pearson

Pearson is a 2001 Old Boy of Marist College Ashgrove.⁠[1]

Pearson created and directed the comedy series The Strange Calls, based on his 2011 short film; it aired on ABC2 in 2012 and was conceived as a multiplatform show inviting audiences to interact with the characters via Twitter and the show’s website.⁠[2]

He has said he grew up in Brisbane and that The Strange Calls, made when he was 24, was the first thing he made “properly,” drawing on his time living in Coolum Beach.⁠[3]

Pearson co-founded the Brisbane-based Ludo Studio with Charlie Aspinwall and Nick Boshier.⁠[4]

In 2013 Ludo launched the multiplatform series #7DaysLater, in which the online audience chose the ingredients for a new adventure each week that aired seven days later; Pearson directed, co-wrote it with Nick Boshier and was one of its producers.⁠[5]

The U.S. network ABCABCABC (American Broadcasting Company) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It grew out of NBC’s Blue radio network, took its name after becoming independent in 1943, developed into a national television network after merging with United Paramount Theatres in 1953, was acquired by Capital Cities in 1985, and has been owned by The Walt Disney Company since 1996. With CBS and NBC it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks, and it is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry gave a cast-contingent pilot order to Strange Calls, an adaptation written by Donick Cary; the Australian original then premiered exclusively on HuluHuluHulu is a U.S. subscription streaming service offering series, films and original programming from the major television networks and studios, along with Hulu + Live TV, which includes live channels. It was founded in 2007 as a joint venture between NBCUniversal and News Corporation and opened to the public in March 2008; after a series of ownership changes, The Walt Disney Company took operational control in 2019 and full ownership in 2025, and is integrating Hulu into Disney+ as Disney’s global general entertainment brand.Open the full entry.⁠[2]

In January 2015 NBCNBCNBC (National Broadcasting Company) is an American national commercial broadcast television network. It was founded by RCA in 1926, began as a radio network and later developed television. With ABC and CBS it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks; it passed to General Electric with RCA in 1986, merged with Universal to form NBCUniversal in 2004, has been controlled by Comcast since 2011, and is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry commissioned a pilot of Strange Calls; the earlier ABC project had not proceeded after difficulties casting the lead.⁠[6]

#7DaysLater won the International Digital Emmy Award for best digital program, fiction, at the MIP-TV market in Cannes. Financed without a pilot by Screen Australia’s multi-platform drama fund and ABC TV, it ran for eight weeks on ABC2. Pearson called the win “a testament to the massive talent and dedication” of the team.⁠[7]

Doodles, Ludo’s interactive animated comedy that turned real people’s drawings into animated micro movies, ran from 2015 to 2017; Pearson directed it with Benjamin Zaugg and was among its producers and writers.⁠[8]

In August 2016 a video showed Thor sharing an apartment with a hapless Australian roommate named Darryl while the other Avengers were fighting.⁠[9]

Pearson was later described as “memorably, Thor’s flatmate.”⁠[10]

Doodles series 3 aired on ABC ME. Pearson wrote a Doodles activity book released with Allen and Unwin and encouraged children to snap and share their original drawings, saying their characters “might just end up on TV.”⁠[11]

Doodles won the International Emmy Kids Award in the Kids: Digital category in Cannes.⁠[12]

Ludo was producing all 52 episodes of Bluey at its South Brisbane base for broadcast on the ABC and BBCBBCThe BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is the United Kingdom’s public broadcaster. Its predecessor was the British Broadcasting Company, formed in 1922, and since 1927 it has been established under a Royal Charter. It provides television, radio, and online services in the UK, is funded mainly by the television licence fee, and broadcasts worldwide in multiple languages through BBC World Service.Open the full entry from 2019. Pearson said, “We really don’t see why it couldn’t happen more, doing bigger projects under one roof.”⁠[13]

In July 2018, speaking at an Australian Film Television and Radio School event, Pearson said, “I’ve dedicated myself to this, to telling stories to kids, about kids, and this is my second act.”⁠[3]

Content, Australia’s first vertical video comedy series, follows Lucy, who becomes a worldwide meme after a car crash; Pearson directed it with Walter Woodman and was one of its executive producers. It received a 2020 Emmy nomination for Short-Form Series.⁠[14]

Pearson was creator and showrunner of Ludo’s animated series The Strange Chores and had pitched it at the Asian Animation Summit with producers Colin South and Chris Rose. He said, “we didn’t want to make a series the audience would think was ‘for kids’.”⁠[15]

Ludo won four awards at the Screen Producers Australia Awards in Melbourne, including Screen Production Business of the Year. Accepting, Pearson said, “Even when we’ve been rejected, it was a good thing; we learned a lot from it.”⁠[16]

Bluey won the International Emmy Kids Award for best preschool program, Ludo’s third Emmy. Pearson said he was proud of Joe BrummJoe BrummJoe Brumm is an Australian animator, writer and director, the creator and writer of the preschool animated series Bluey; he worked in children’s animation in London for about ten years, co-founded Studio Joho in Brisbane in 2011, and is writing and directing the Bluey film scheduled for 2027.Open the full entry and “the whole gang of beautiful artists at Ludo.”⁠[17]

Ludo was preparing to deliver Bluey’s 100th episode on July 10. Pearson planned to make his feature writing and directing debut on Petey, a live-action sci-fi comedy supported by Screen Australia and inspired by E.T.⁠[4]

Pearson worried that scrapping local content sub-quotas would make life tough for new Australian producers: “This means less Bluey and more Lassie and other American made shows for Australian kids to grow up watching.”⁠[18]

Pearson and Charlie Aspinwall joined an AACTA Screenfest 2020 panel on making content for children. Pearson said producing in Australia helped Bluey stay true to its roots after Disney acquired global rights, whereas some bigger shows overseas “can sometimes be put on a conveyor belt in terms of production.”⁠[19]

Content won the Rose d’Or for best Social Media and Video Series. Pearson said, “We didn’t know if a vertical video screen life series would be taken seriously by anyone.”⁠[20]

Bluey won the international prize at the BAFTA Children & Young People Awards. Pearson called Joe Brumm an “artist who has put his life on his sleeve” and said, “We’re an independent Australian studio.”⁠[21]

Michael Philippou said the horror film Talk to Me began with a comedy horror short script that Pearson sent him, asking whether he wanted to direct it; he made the tone more serious while rewriting it and said, “shout out to Daley.”⁠[10]

Ludo was named one of TIMETIMETIME is an American newsmagazine and media brand founded by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden, which published its first issue on March 3, 1923; it is headquartered in New York and known for its Person of the Year selection and the TIME100 list. Since 2018 it has been personally owned by Marc and Lynne Benioff; its current Chief Executive Officer is Jessica Sibley, and its Editor-in-Chief is Sam Jacobs.Open the full entry’s 100 Most Influential Companies of 2024. Pearson said Bluey had spread through “parents talking to other parents” and added, “We’d love to do a movie.”⁠[22]

Ludo began production on Allen (working title), its first locally filmed live-action feature, set in a Queensland coastal town and launching globally on Netflix. Pearson created it, co-wrote the script with Sophie Miller and shares directing duties with Jeffrey Walker; Pearson, Miller and Charlie Aspinwall are executive producers.⁠[23]

Ludo Studio: Official website: https://www.ludostudio.com.au/ (opens in a new window)⁠[24]