Aden Shillito was born in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1973, he studied theatre at the Hagley Theatre School 1994-1995 and holds an Hons Degree in Art History (double degree with Political Science) from the University of Canterbury and a Degree in Screen Arts Writing and Directing from Unitec Auckland. His work experience began in sci-fi fans video and lead into professional pursuits as a video editor and director while studying. He worked on TVCs, promotional video and corporate videos creating projects of a more personal artistic line in his spare time, short films and some music videos. In 2002 he received a Creative New Zealand arts grant to create a short film "Coveting the Ark" (2005) on 16mm and later "Transmission" (2007) on HDV. Much of his time between 2000 and 2007 was devoted to work as chair of the Community Arts Council and as a founding trustee of the Canterbury Film Education Trust known as the Belladonna Film Trust. This trust curated Canterbury's only short film festival between 2002 and 2010 and provided courses for children and adults in film production, on which Aden was a frequent co-ordinator and tutor. Aden relocated to Auckland in 2008 to work and study further and is now permanently resident in this northern New Zealand city.