Nina Oyama

Nina Oyama is a comedian, writer and actress who scored her first TV writing job at age 19, after a producer saw her performing stand-up in a dodgy pub - which makes her the comedy equivalent of international model Giselle Bundchen, whose career started when a scout spotting her working at McDonald's as a teen.

As a stand-up comedian and on-screen presence, Nina is known for her charming, quick witted persona and extremely average face (this is where the comparisons to Giselle Bundchen stop). She is best known for playing ditzy receptionist Courtney on Utopia, doing comedic reporting on Tonightly with Tom Ballard and The Weekly, playing Abby Matsuda on Deadloch, being a contestant on Taskmaster Australia, and performing stand-up on Just for Laughs Sydney. In 2021, Nina's sophomore stand-up comedy show Nina Oyama is "Doing Me" Right Now sold out its entire season at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, which led to appearances on The Project, Australia Debates and Win The Week. As an actress, Nina has worked on shows such as Kinne Tonight, Dom and Adrian 2020 and Mikki Vs The World. Nina is also part of the main cast of Deadloch, a crime comedy which premiered on Amazon Prime in 2023.

But Nina is not just an average looking face, she has also racked up an impressive amount of writing credits including You're Skitting Me, The Chaser's Election Desk, Squinters, Love Me and Yolo Crystal Fantasy. Nina also served as a story editor for the first season of Koala Man, for which she won the 2023 AWGIE Award for Best Animation. Alongside collaborator Angus Thompson, Nina co-created ABC Comedy's The Angus Project, a comedy series which she also wrote, directed and starred in, and was subsequently nominated for an Australian Directors Guild Award. In 2022, Angus and Nina teamed up with journalist Emma Myers to create the SBS Digital Originals series Latecomers, a groundbreaking disability lead rom-com. Latecomers has been described as "quietly revolutionary" by The Guardian and won the AACTA Award for Best Online Drama or Comedy in 2024. In the same year, Nina also received AACTA nominations for Best Acting in a Comedy for Deadloch and Best Comedy Performer for Taskmaster Australia.

Nina recently directed a pilot for ABC TV titled, Urvi Went To An All Girls School, which is set to air in 2025,and is currently shooting on the next season of Deadloch.