The Tinny Rally — Murray River Edition
The brief.
Seven days. 726 kilometres. 180 people in tinnies running the Murray from Mildura to Mannum with no guides and no support crew. Dan brought me on to document all of it — a recap reel cut and out the door every night, a short explainer for anyone who’d never heard of the Rally, and a full-length event film built to fill the next one.
Client — The Tinny Rally
Industry — Events & Adventure
Services — Videography, Photography, Social Content
What Dan Needed
Dan needed content that could do two things at once — show the world what the Tinny Rally actually is, and make people feel like they absolutely had to be on the next one.
That meant daily recap reels from the river every single day, a short explainer video for people who'd never heard of it, and a full-length event film that would live on YouTube and do the heavy lifting for future registrations.
How It Worked
I was out there for the full 7 days. No safety net, no second unit, just me, the gear, and the river.
One of the best parts of this job was getting to bring my old man along. He captained the boat while I shot, meaning he drove, and I hung off the side of a tinny trying to get the frame right. It was a great week. Getting to show him what this job actually looks like out in the field, and having him be part of it, is something I won't forget.
We moved with the fleet every day. Cliffs, sandbars, remote bush camps, lock crossings, riverside pub stops. Every day had its own character, and every day needed a recap reel turned around to keep the audience following along in real time.
What Got Made
5-minute YouTube video — a collaboration piece explaining what the Tinny Rally is, built for people discovering it for the first time
20-minute YouTube event film — the full story of this rally, from launch at Mildura to belt buckle presentations at Mannum
7 daily recap reels — one per day, published as the rally unfolded, showing the highlights and the chaos
Additional bonus reels — not in the original scope, but the footage was too good to leave on the drive. I made them anyway.
Photography — stills across the full 7 days covering the people, the landscapes, and the moments in between
What It Did
Over the 7-day rally period and the weeks following, the content generated over 844,000 views and 11,000+ interactions across Facebook alone — with cross-posting to Instagram pushing individual posts well beyond that.
The numbers weren't even across the board, which is what made it interesting. A few posts broke out significantly:
A reel capturing what happened when a lock closed mid-rally hit 277,000 views and 2,800 interactions — the kind of unplanned moment that only happens when you're there every day with a camera
A highlight reel posted during the rally reached 121,000 views across Facebook and Instagram with 2,500 interactions
First day content alone pulled 52,700 views and 1,100 interactions before the rally had even found its stride
Hundreds of enquiries came in from people wanting to get on future rallies. For an event that already sells out every run, that's not just reach — it's a waitlist with real momentum behind it.
The Takeaway
This is the kind of project that reminds you why location-based content is so powerful. You can't fake 726km of river. You can't manufacture 180 people who all chose to spend their week living out of a tinny with strangers. You just have to be there, stay ready, and make sure you get it.
That's what we did.
Want to see what it looked like? The videos are on YouTube — search Tinny Rally and you'll find them.
