Pearl Tan is the founder and director of Pearly Productions, a creative boutique creating content with a focus on diverse stories. She is the Discipline Lead in Directing for the Masters of Arts Screen: Directing at AFTRS. Prior to this she was the Senior Lecturer in Directing at AFTRS, leading the Directing stream of the Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production.
In 2020, Pearl was listed in the 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australian Awards and was named the most influential in the Arts and Culture category. In 2017, Pearl was invited to deliver a TEDx talk entitled Reimagining Diversity. In 2016, Pearl was named a Woman of Influence by the Australian Financial Review and Westpac. She has been on the AFTRS Council and the Screen Australia Gender Matters Taskforce. She was Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Equity Diversity Committee within the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) and held positions on the MEAA Board and the National Performers Committee (NPC) for Actors Equity. She was on the board of the Australian Directors Guild (ADG) as Vice President in New Media, after serving as the NSW Chapter Head.
Pearl is a graduate of NIDA with a Bachelor of Dramatic Art (Acting). She also holds a Bachelor of Communications (Media Studies) from Edith Cowan University and a Master of Commerce (Strategy, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship), which she completed on a Business Leader Postgraduate Scholarship from the University of Sydney. Pearl is completing her PhD in Creative Practice at the University of New South Wales, where her research focus is on the experience of diverse creatives in the screen industry. As part of her PhD, she has released a fictional podcast entitled Diversity Work which has won multiple awards at the Webby Awards, New York Festivals Radio Awards and more.