Messer works as an Australian director/producer of film, television and theatre and holds a
Doctor of Philosophy from the
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. During his doctorate he was awarded the
Edith Cowan University's Vice Chancellors award for Community Engagement, and produced and directed a 60-minute observational documentary film called
It’s Not Just Me as the creative component of his practice-led research, taking four years to make. The film explores female to male gender transition, providing a complex narrative that investigates the rich life of four transgender men and those around them. ''It's Not Just Me'' won best LGBT documentary feature at the
Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival in 2017. The film aired on
SBS Viceland in Australia and
SBS VOD and was rated 4.5 stars by The Curb and 5 Stars by Lezly Herbert from Out in Perth. The film screened at the
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Film Festival, Brisbane Queer Film Festival,
Revelation Perth International Film Festival and was also screened as part of the
History Trust of South Australia, History Festival. Messer's professional theatre productions include
Tejas Verdes by Fermin Cabal in 2006 with
Red Stitch Actors Theatre following the successful run of
Vincent in Brixton by
Nicholas Wright. In 2005 Messer went to
New York City where he was invited to The Sloan Film Summit at the
Tribeca Film Institute, where he screened his short film
Joshua Tree starring
Taylor Dayne. Messer also worked as the
Assistant Director to
Jim Sharman in the production of
Three Furies at the
Sydney Opera House. He has also directed and produced
music videos for the bands
Tiltmeter, Nokturnal and
67 Special. Messer trained in
Los Angeles for three years, and developed his film making skills and experience studying film direction at the
American Film Institute. He then worked as
production assistant for the Kennedy-Marshall Company producing feature films such as
Seabiscuit and
The Bourne Supremacy. Before graduation from the MFA program in directing at the
American Film Institute (AFI) in 2002, Messer underwent an
internship at
Killer Films in
New York, working in pre-production on the
Todd Haynes film
Far from Heaven and the release of
John Cameron Mitchell's film
Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Messer also received a
Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (Australia) and an
Ian Potter Foundation Grant to pursue his MFA (directing) at the American Film Institute. He is also a graduate director from the
National Institute of Dramatic Art, in
Sydney, and has also worked and in
London at the
BBC as an assistant director and Floor Assistant in both
Drama and
Light Entertainment on the shows
Absolutely Fabulous,
Top of the Pops,
Blue Peter,
The Hello Girls and
Later… with Jools Holland. He also trained in single and multi-camera drama at the BBC. ==Personal life==