Get to Know Us
WHAT WE DO
Mountain of Youth empowers and trains young storytellers through our hands-on, immersive film mentorship programs, fostering authentic perspectives and amplifying diverse voices in the film industry. We aim to improve young people's mental health and well-being, harnessing storytelling's transformative power to provide a supportive platform for self-expression and meaningful connections.
Through creativity and collaboration, we encourage positive mental wellbeing in young people.
Fostering connection amongst young people, reducing social isolation through a safe and nurturing environment.
​Equipping youth with transferable skills to become strong storytellers and filmmakers.
Connecting the wider community through celebration of authentic shared stories on screen.
Developing confidence and resilience in young people through teamwork and community engagement.
Investing in the development of future storytellers from diverse life experiences.
Empowering young people to become bold storytellers.
Helena Zadro-Jonesis an award-winning actor, producer and writer.
In 2020, Helena graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) with a Diploma of Stage and Screen Performance. Since graduating, she has built a multidisciplinary career across acting, writing, producing and filmmaking, alongside a passion for mentoring young people through film and theatre.​
In 2022, Helena co-founded Mountain of Youth, an empowering film mentorship program in the Blue Mountains, where she currently serves as Chief Operating Officer. In 2024, she expanded her work with emerging artists by founding her own acting school.
​
Helena’s recent screen credits include producing, writing and starring in a commercial for Netflix, producing a music video for Australian electronic duo Hermitude, and working across major commercial productions for Canva and Modibodi. She starred in the feature film The Ninth Order opposite John Jarratt and worked as Extras Coordinator on Bosscat, Australia’s first inclusively made feature film, shot entirely in the Blue Mountains.
Most recently, Helena was selected for a highly competitive masterclass with internationally renowned acting coach Ivana Chubbuck. With a growing slate of projects in development, she continues to focus on acting, writing and producing while championing emerging voices and the impact of storytelling within her community.
Kalani Gacon was born and raised in Katoomba, a misty mountain town in Australia, and began making films at seven years old.
As a teenager, he travelled to Nepal in the midst of the 2015 earthquakes, an experience that altered the course of his life.
Since then, he has learned the language and lived and worked between Australia and Nepal as a filmmaker, social worker and youth mentor, developing a cross-cultural voice exploring migration, memory, past lives and the meeting point between East and West.
​
In the aftermath of the earthquakes, Kalani founded The Bhukampa Project, an NGO supporting earthquake survivors through small business and anti-human-trafficking initiatives. During the COVID-19 lockdowns in Kathmandu, he organised and led an emergency food-relief cooking program. He has been a collector of unique life experiences, from working as a taxi driver, disability support worker and tour guide, to crewing on Hollywood productions including Riverdale and Disney’s Upside-Down Magic.
​
Kalani’s films have screened at Clermont-Ferrand, Melbourne International Film Festival, Busan International Short Film Festival, LA Shorts, Rhode Island International Film Festival, Aesthetica and Encounters. His short Family Man, produced in a remote Himalayan village, was recently acquired by NOWNESS.
​
His feature Home Before Night has received development funding from Screen Australia and Screen NSW, and was selected for the NFDC Film Bazaar Co-Production Market and the JETS program at the 2026 Berlinale.