Rebecca is an Adelaide based producer with 10 years experience in
production, across film, series and TVCs. She is an Associate
Producer at KOJO Studios and their JV company with LA-based Stampede
Ventures, The Alliance, working in Development and Production across
both their slates. She is currently line producing KOJO’s SBS
Viceland project A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO GRIEF.
In 2019 she
was selected to participate in Screen Producers Australia’s One To
Watch initiative, mentored by GoodThing Production’s Head of Factual
Charlotte Wheaton, and received the Emerging Producer Award at the
South Australian Screen Awards.
In 2017, her two
documentary proposals were selected for production by ABC Arts’ Art
Bites initiative. UNBOXED, a portrait series profiling Australian
gender diverse artists produced with Epic Films’ Kirsty Stark, and
LESSONS FROM A MIDDLE CLASS ARTIST, about a struggling musician
travelling to America to learn from a novelty song performer, were
released on ABC iview in April 2018.
For six years
Rebecca presented and produced a 90 minute weekly live radio
programme called Behind the Screens focusing on the Australian
screens industry on community station Radio Adelaide.
Sebastian Angborn started his career as a screenwriter and
actor, having appeared in titles such as The Elephant Princess, Sea Patrol, and 500
Miles. A film graduate of Bond University, Sebastian also studied at the Atlantic
Theatre Company in New York City, and undertook an intensive screenwriting
mentorship with the Associate Chair of Film at Savanah College of Art and Design, Mr
Shawn Kasinger, focusing on Gnostic Philosophy in Western Cinema.
Previously he has also been employed as the Senior Academic
Manager at the New York Film Academy Australia, and has taught screen structure and
acting at the National Theatre Academy of Romania, at the Television Workshop in
Nottingham and at the Sydney Theatre School.
Khoa has worked in the Australian film and television industry since 2000, when he
wrote the multi-award winning half-hour drama DELIVERY DAY for SBS, and for which
Khoa received his first AFI Award nomination. His feature directing debut was THE
FINISHED PEOPLE in 2003, for which Khoa received multiple AFI Award nominations.In
2013, Khoa wrote and directed the mini-series BETTER MAN for SBS, a four-part
mini-series which earned him Best Director in a Mini Series at the Australian
Director’s Guild Awards. The series won a slew of awards including a Silver Logie.
In 2014, Khoa directed SCHAPELLE for Nine Network.
For the past six years Khoa has been a board director with a seat on the board of the
Australia Council for the Arts, the Australian government’s arts funding and
advisory body.
Gail manages Adelaide Film Festival’s programming department, responsible for film
submissions, selection and Awards alongside industry development, audience expansion
and AFF Youth. A prominent figure in the SA Screen Industry, Gail led the Media
Resource Centre and Mercury Cinema for 12 years as CEO, transforming its
professional program including introducing the Screen Makers Conference and
establishing the cinema as a vital part of the city’s cultural life via launching
programs such as Seniors on Screen. Gail graduated university with an on-going love
of American Literature and European History.
Dr. Alejandra Canales is an award-winning documentary
filmmaker with an extensive career in directing, producing, curating and
programming, and teaching and curriculum development. She holds an MA Hons from
AFTRS (2005) and a Doctor of Creative Arts from the renowned Institute of Culture
and Society at Western Sydney University (2011).
Alejandra is an experienced educator across documentary and
screen media, both practice and theory. She is currently Senior Lecturer in
Documentary at AFTRS. Previous teaching roles include NYU Sydney, Western Sydney
University, Sydney Film School, and The National Institute of Dramatic Arts, NIDA.
Alejandra has been an artist in residence at numerous
prestigious international programmes such as 5 Sur 5 in La Louviere, Belgium (2006)
and IDFAcademy in The Netherlands (2008). She has also been awarded multiple art
scholarships and prestigious grants including the Ian Potter Cultural Trust (2009).
As a grounded community educator, Alejandra is grateful and honoured to have had the
opportunity to designed and lead short training courses with aboriginal communities
in Australia, vulnerable communities in Chile, and refugee youth in Western Sydney.
More recently, she has been part of several mentoring programs such as Leading
Lights for the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC), MentorHer for
Women in Film and Television (WIFT) and Curious Women for Curious Works.
Her documentary film work as both director and producer has
been broadcast at the ABC and screened at several festivals worldwide including IDFA
(The Netherlands), Sheffield DocFest (UK), CPHDOX (Denmark), Cinema del Donne
(Italy), Vision du Reel (Switzerland). The International Documentary Association in
Los Angeles; Melbourne Film Festival and Sydney Film Festival. In 2006 she won the
Dendy Award at Sydney Film Festival and the ATOM award. She received a special
mention from the Film Critics Circle of Australia 2007 and was nominated for an IF
Independent Spirit Award 2007.
Alejandra was co-founder and co-Director of the inaugural
version of Antenna Documentary Film Festival (Sydney, 2010) and was part of the
programming team for several years.
She is currently working across virtual reality, immersive
storytelling and mixed realities and recently presented her work at Sheffield
Doc/Fest in the UK and NewImage Festival in Paris.
Josh McCarthy is the Program Director: Film and Television at
the University of South Australia, and oversees the Bachelor of Film and Television,
Graduate Certificate in Compositing and Tracking, the Graduate Certificate in
Dynamic Effects and Lighting, and the Graduate Certificate in Film and Television.
Josh teaches across a diverse array of disciplines, including film, photography,
digital media and visual effects.
Nicole is a skilled storyteller with credits in both narrative
and documentary projects. She has produced and directed The AFL Show, a 25-episode
series introducing AFL to a Chinese audience, and Power Dreaming, which explores the
power of football in Indigenous communities. She was a producer on series two of
Chef Exchange, which screened across QTV in China, Discovery SouthEast Asia and SBS
Food. Nicole recently directed a short documentary Deafinition, in partnership with
the SA Film Corporation and SBS, which aired on SBS’s Short Film Festival in early
September 2019. Her debut feature documentary This Is Port Adelaide was in cinemas
across Australia from April 2021.
Dorothy Staruchowicz is the South Australian Business
Development for Media Super: the $7b industry super fund for print, media,
entertainment and arts professionals, looking after the retirement savings for
members of our creative communities.
With extensive experience working in superannuation and
financial services, Dorothy has represented Media Super in South Australia for 20
years helping members engage in and understand their super better, ultimately
providing them with more choices surrounding retirement.
Justin Donoghue has over twenty years’ experience working in
film and television development, production and distribution. In London he worked on
projects for Hallmark Entertainment, Channel Four Films, Channel Five, Downtown
Pictures and Kudos Film and Television. He has worked on the development and
production of a diverse slate of feature films in the UK, Europe and South Africa.
In 2011 he returned to Australia and joined Screen NSW as a Development and
Production Executive and also ran the Aurora script development program. Justin
joined Screen Australia as a Development Executive in late 2014 and has worked
across drama development and initiatives for features, series, shorts and on-line.
One of Australia’s leading producers of television drama, with a list of highly
acclaimed productions to her name, her current series, The Tourist, is currently in
post-production with the Emmy and Golden Globe winning UK producers, Two Brothers
Pictures, and is the second outing for her newly launched South Australian company
Highview Productions. Highview’s first production was A Sunburnt Christmas, in
association with Every Cloud Productions, which premiered on Stan in December 2020.
Other recent productions include The Hunting for Closer Productions, SBS’s most
successful Australian drama to date, nominated for Best TV Mini Series or
Telefeature in the 2019 AACTA Awards and Best Drama Series Production in the 2019
Screen Producers Australia Awards, Pine Gap, a six-part geopolitical thriller for
Netflix/ABC, nominated for the 2019 TV Week Logie Award for Outstanding Mini Series,
and the second series of the Wolf Creek for Stan.
The lead producer of the internationally celebrated miniseries ANZAC Girls -
recipient of the 2014 Australian Writers Guild Award for Best Mini Series (Adapted)
and was nominated for both Best Series in the 2014 Screen Producers Australia Awards
and the 2015 TV Week Logie Award for Outstanding Mini Series. Internationally, ANZAC
Girls was also nominated for Best Mini Series in the 2015 Golden Nymph Awards held
in Monte Carlo.
Producer of three seasons of the acclaimed Janet King with Karl Zwicky, the first
season was nominated in the Best Television Drama Series category in the 2015 AACTA
Awards and was also nominated for Outstanding Drama Series in the 2015 TV Week Logie
Awards. The third season was the number one show on the ABC iView platform on its
debut. Lisa was again nominated in the Best Television Drama Series category in the
2017 AACTA Awards as well as being nominated for the Best Drama Series Production in
the 2017 Screen Producers Australia Awards.
Her other credits include Crownies, A Model Daughter: The Killing of Caroline Byrne,
The Cut, Always Greener, Water Rats, Bordertown and Police Rescue. During her
stellar career to date, Lisa was a Project Manager for the Film Finance Corporation,
and was also the Head of Literary at RGM, representing Australia’s leading Writers,
Directors and Cinematographers.
1:1 PITCHES –WHAT WE ARE LOOKING
FOR
Format: Episodic
I am looking for bold female-driven stories that could play as
a limited run or reoccurring series set in Australia but able to find an
international audience. I am more interested in drama that can play on ABC, SBS or
an SVOD services.
Not looking for procedural drama such as medical or police
series.
Michael McMahon is a screen content producer. He was a founder
and first Executive Chairman of Matchbox Pictures Pty Ltd. He is Professor, Film and
Television at Swinburne University of Technology and teaches at the University of
South Australia.
Michael’s documentary production and executive producing
credits include Sadness, Wildness, the Anatomy Series, Next Stop Hollywood and The
Coming Back Out Again Ball. His television drama credits include Call Me Mum, Saved,
The Slap and series 1 of Nowhere Boys. Feature film credits are The Home Song
Stories, Lou, Cut Snake and Ali’s Wedding.
He is an executive producer on the Netflix Original series
Clickbait. His company Big and Little Films has several projects in development.
Michael received the Screen Producers Australia Lifetime
Achievement Award in 2019.
Previously an award-winning filmmaker, Stephen is now
Manager of Documentaries at the ABC and oversees many of the national broadcaster’s
biggest hits, including Love on the Spectrum, Fight for Planet A, Big Weather,
Australia’s Ocean Odyssey, Revelation, Exposed: The Case of Keli Lane, War on Waste
and Employable Me. Stephen is passionate about telling stories with real world
impact. In 2020, Stephen headed up several ground-breaking shows and game-changing
impact campaigns around climate and the environment. Outside of work, he likes
tennis, mountain-biking, and dogs. Oh and his kids, he definitely likes them too.
1:1 PITCHES –WHAT WE ARE LOOKING
FOR
Format: Episodic, Documentary
We are looking for Bold documentaries (30 or 60 mins) or factual series of 30min or
60min episodes, hosted or unhosted, featuring diverse stories form a range of
perspectives.
Kingston was most recently the CEO of the Australian Directors
Guild and Australian Screen Directors Authorship Collection Society. THE ADG
represents over 600 Australia directors including BAZ LUHRMANN, GILLIAN ARMSTRONG,
PETER WEIR and PHILLIP NOYCE to name a few. He comes from a theatre and film
background working as a theatre director, film and television producer as well as a
consultant for screen organisations across Australia. He was the Film commissioner
for the state of New South Wales in Australia and has served on a number of boards
including the ASSOCIATION OF FILM COMMISSIONS INTERNATIONAL (AFCI). He currently
sits on the board of the AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY CONFERENCE (AIDC) and
the AUSTRALIAN COPYRIGHT COUNCIL (ACC). He has been a judge for the documentary
category of the Australian Walkeley Awards, the Australian Subscription Television
& Radio Association Awards and on the jury for the Oceania Film Festival . He
has produced a number of documentary programs for Australian television including
the series “TAXI SCHOOL” for SBS Television Australia and ‘A FRONTIER CONVERSATION’
and ‘KULKA’ for National Indigenous Television (NITV). He was also one of the
producers on the SBS drama “AFTERSHOCKS” about the devastating Newcastle earthquake
that was based on a verbatim account of events. This film won the Best Actor Award
at the Australian Film Institute Awards for its lead Jeremy Sims. He is currently
producing for his company WONDERLAND PRODUCTIONS and has a slate of documentary,
drama and comedy projects in various stages of development and production.
Richard Welch is an experienced documentary curator, lecturer
and filmmaker, with over 15 years’ experience in the screen media industry.
As Festival Co-Director and a founding member of the Antenna
Documentary Film Festival, Richard presided over establishing Antenna as one of
Australia’s premier film festivals dedicated to documentary cinema since its
inaugural year in 2011. The festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2022.
Throughout his tenure as Festival Co-Director, Richard drove
innovative industry programs, including the Antenna DocTalk and Horizons, forging
connections with some of the world’s leading festivals, broadcasters and OnDemand
platforms including Sundance, Berlinale, Hot Docs and BBC Storyville. Locally, he
has extensive and long-standing relationships with broadcasters, funders,
distributors, and documentary filmmakers.
With over ten years teaching experience, across media and
documentary, Richard has designed and delivered outstanding short, medium and
full-time courses for an array of institutions both in Australia and the UK. Prior
to becoming Head of Documentary, he successfully ran the Graduate Certificate in
Documentary at AFTRS for three years. Richard has also consulted and mentored on
numerous documentaries for television and festivals.
Richard has a Bachelors degree in Film; a Masters by Practice
in Documentary; and a Masters by Research. He is currently undertaking a Higher
Research degree candidacy at Macquarie University, in the Doctor of Philosophy
program, exploring the interconnectivity between national identity and sport, which
will include a feature archival-essay documentary as part of his thesis.
An experienced documentary director and producer, Richard’s
recent credits include The National Game and Tea for Two. Before moving to
Australia, Richard worked on numerous documentaries and produced over 50 films for
the Visionaries initiative, in collaboration with the British Film Institute.
Richard currently has several projects in development including a series and
long-form feature documentary.
Krista Jordan has over twenty years professional industry
experience in creative and commercial filmmaking. Her professional film credits
include The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, Rabbit- Proof Fence, Moulin Rouge and the
Academy Award-winning Happy Feet.
In recent years, Krista’s focus has shifted to learning,
leadership and strategic development. As Learning and Development Manager at Animal
Logic, Krista was a pivotal member of the leadership team and drove program and
curriculum development, mentorship, industry, education and government engagement.
Krista worked with the curriculum development team to establish the UTS Animal Logic
Academy Master of Animation and Visualisation degree.
Krista is an experienced and highly gifted presenter and
learning facilitator and has lectured, facilitated and run masterclasses for both
external professionals, students and internal employees. She has an extensive
professional network in the local and international industry and across educational
providers, government and corporate bodies.
Paul Ryan is an Adelaide based Producer and Director whose
experience spans the last three decades, working across a range of projects from
documentaries, film and corporate projects. Early in his career, Paul produced some
of Australia’s most successful children’s programs for Channel
Nine. Independently, he has been an extremely active Producer, often drawn to
projects with a strong social conscience or health focus. In the early nineties,
Paul managed Foundation Studios, producing over 20 titles on Women and Children’s
health issues. He spent three years working for The South Australian Film
Corporation as Manager of Government Film, before moving back to an Independent
Producer/Director role working for various advertising agencies and local Adelaide
Production Companies. As Owner/Director of 57 Films, Paul works closely with
his team to ensure effective storytelling content that connects and engages with
audiences. Paul has tertiary qualification in media and education which has
underpinned his communication career Paul established 57 Films to produce
high-quality, story-driven content for television and factual series for national
and international audiences, including Chef Exchange, a food and wine show broadcast
across China and Australia. Paul managed the Australian component of the production
of Speed, a 40-part Chinese TV series. Paul facilitates international productions
seeking to film in Adelaide. His recent successes include CHS Media’s If Time Flows
Back, and Barefoot Through Australia for Berlin-based Schiwago Film. And Produced
the theatrical released feature “This Is Port Adelaide” in 2020
1:1 PITCHES – WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Format: Documentary
● Episodic series ● 20th century history with international appeal ●
Popular science and natural history (Human Animal, World’s Most Toxic, Baby
Animals ● Factual and factual entertainment with international appeal ●
Feature Docs
Nathan Anderson’s dual expertise in film production and
creative technology allow him a forward-looking approach to the evolving new media
landscape. He brings a futurist mentality to the VR industry, embracing immersive
technology as a tool for emotionally resonant narrative storytelling. After
beginning his career in the film industry, Nathan followed the dotcom explosion in
the late 90s, making a transition into digital.
He leveraged this tech startup background to dive into
multiplatform digital development and transmedia content creation. Nathan has
produced digital media content for all platforms, working with such top
international brands and companies, such as Foxtel, Disney, Viacom, ABC, BBC and
NBCUniversal.
Active in the VR industry since 2015, Nathan has
Produced and EP’d over 50 XR projects including critically acclaimed and awarded
projects such as Wentworth VR, Awake: Episode One and VR Noir.
Nathan is a member of the Producers Guild of America and
is also a participant and advisor to Screen Producers Australia. He is a regular
speaker at industry conferences and has graduated with a Masters by Research
exploring interactive narrative from the Australian Film TV and Radio School (AFTRS)
Aaron Smith is a freelance cinematographer, director and producer working across
documentary, drama, comedy and commercial productions. Aaron co-created, produced,
directed and shot the ABC’s ground-breaking series You Can’t Ask That,
winner of the prestigious Rose d’Or, AACTA Award, Walkley Media Diversity Award and
three United Nations Association of Australia Media Awards. The format, now in
production in over a dozen countries worldwide, is the ABC’s most successful format
ever with 47 international sales to date.
Aaron shot Sarah Ferguson’s AACTA and Walkley award-winning documentary
series Hitting Home, the Walkley and AACTA nominated investigative
documentary The Queen and Zak Grieve, the ABC’s
AACTA-winning Employable Me and the primetime arts
documentaries Matilda & Me and Making Muriel. In
2019/20 Aaron shot Sarah Ferguson’s groundbreaking documentary
series Revelation for ABC and Blackfella Film’s long-form observational
documentary series Addicted for SBS.
Aaron was the director of photography on the narrative
comedies Plonk, How Not To Behave and ABC’s Fresh Blood: Be
Your Own Boss. He directed the provocative documentary series Dumb,
Drunk and Racist and Head Firstfor ABC2 and entertainment
series The Checkout, The Hamster Wheel, Myf Warhurts’s
Nice and Hungry Beast for the ABC.
His work has been recognised with a Walkley Award, Australian Cinematographer Society
Awards, United Nations Association of Australia Media Awards and numerous Logie and
AACTA nominations. He was a finalist in the National Portrait Gallery’s National
Photographic Portrait Prize and has had portrait work circulated on an official
Australia Post stamp series.
My goal is to help people get the very best out of their creative
career, thrive in the freelance life and tell the very best stories
they can – about themselves and the world around them.
I
love stories. As a TV producer I’ve had the privilege to tell
stories all across the globe. I’ve seen TV shows change the way
people think, worked with world leaders in their field and witnessed
the power of personal transformation.
But I’ve also seen
people in the creative field flounder, struggle with where they’re
going or burn out. At the same time practical, industry focused
support for those wanting to come into the field was
limited.
I wanted to do something about it.
In
2020 I started post-grad study in Career Counselling and co-founded
Media Mentors. I’m using my decades of professional production
experience, and my new learning, to build a business that will
supports creatives to make content they love and thrive
professionally and emotionally in their chosen career. It’s
sometimes tougher than a tricky edit but it’s always satisfying to
see someone’s self-worth reflect their actual value.
Michael Drake is a development executive for ABC children’s
content where he manages the ABC Me slate for primary school aged children. Michael
looks after a vast slate of projects including live action drama and comedy,
animation and factual. He also works across the development slate for internally
produced series. Specialising in scripted narrative, Michael has worked on Hardball
S2, Itch S2 and MaveriX in the live action space, and Strange Chores, 100% Wolf and
Space Nova in the animated space, the latter of which he also executive produced. An
experienced writer and editor, Michael also developed and script produced The Wonder
Gang, ABC Kids’ new flagship pre-school series. He also co-created, produced and
script produced Mackaroy Uncovered Australia’s first scripted podcast for children
which received an AWGIE nomination for best writing in audio.
1:1 PITCHES -WHAT WE ARE LOOKING
FOR
Format: Children & Animation
We are looking for child led series that are reflective of
modern Australia that speak to the lived experience of our audience and told through
a child’s POV. We are looking for stories with stakes that are relatable to that
same audience. We want authentic stories that embrace diversity and inclusion. We
want strong stories, with robust characters that can generate and sustain a series
that asks big questions, make us think and feel but most of all is incredibly
entertaining.
We are looking for live action, half hour comedy and drama,
and we are looking for animated series that are half hour and quarter hour. We are
also looking for high concept factual shows which embrace exciting new formats and
storytelling devices.
We are not looking for feature films or shows that have
completed production. We are not looking for branded content or lifestyle series. We
are not looking for games.
Todd leads the commissioning and creative execution of the public broadcaster’s
narrative and scripted comedy programs across multiple platforms. He has produced
landmark television programs including the globally-lauded ABC series Please Like Me
with Josh Thomas and the iconic Olympic comedy series The Dream with Roy & H.G.
Other career highlights include reimagining Geoffrey Robertson’s Hypotheticals for
Seven, rebooting Rove for Ten in 2007, and producing Judith Lucy’s Spiritual Journey
for the ABC and the short-lived but fondly remembered Micallef Tonight for Nine. He
has produced comedy, entertainment, sport, current affairs and documentary content
for the ABC, Seven, Nine, Ten, Foxtel, Stan, Amazon Prime and Pivot, and prior to
joining the ABC he was Creative Director at Guesswork Television.
1:1 PITCHES –WHAT WE ARE LOOKING
FOR
Format: Episodic
Our number one aim is to find laugh-out-loud, half-hour comedy series of 6 - 8
episodes to appeal to the established audience of FTA viewers on Wednesday nights
and to build the rapidly-growing streaming audience on iview.
Not looking for short form or web series, and not looking for “the Australian version
of…” whatever is hot internationally right now. Be original, or have an original
spin on a well-known genre.
Susannah is a Lecturer of Game Design and Digital Media at the University of South
Australia. She is currently completing her PhD in game design and her research
interests focus on video games and digital media for education and social change.
Susannah is involved with several projects in this area, including ‘Hannah’ - an
interactive narrative game that helps family and friends provide support to those
experiencing Domestic Violence.
Susannah is committed to promoting diversity in the games industry and is an
International Women in Games Ambassador. As an Ambassador she helps to support and
encourage women and girls in understanding the games industry and the opportunities
there are within it.
During his childhood Stephen Murphy developed a fascination with film, television and
sound that has been with him ever since. On leaving high school he made this his
life work, commencing with study at the Australian Film Television and Radio School.
Entering the industry he first worked on commercials, corporates and short films,
and within a few years moved on to telemovies, mini-series and feature films. He has
worked on location and in post-production, and has also spent many years teaching
and training others. For 16 years Stephen worked for Dolby Laboratories as a sound
consultant, and he has taught at TAFE NSW, was Head of Teaching and Post-Production
at International Film School Sydney, and Head of Film and Animation at International
Screen Academy.
Stephen is currently the President of the Australian Screen Sound Guild, and Head of
Sound at the Australian Film Television and Radio School.
Stephen is a producer/director who has made more than 20 narrative films. Throughout
his career, he is privileged to have worked with some of South Africa and
Australia’s top actors, including Ian Roberts (Tstosi), Sean Cameron Michael (24,
Black Sails) and Socrates Otto (Wentworth).
An alumnus of the directing program at AFTRS, his most successful narrative film to
date, ‘Super Sounds’, screened at over 50 festivals, winning awards and nominations
at many, including San Francisco International FF, Giffoni, Flickerfest, and was
selected by Virgin for their in-flight entertainment. His broadcast credits span
documentary and drama and he is currently in active development on his first
feature, with equity finance secured from the private sector.
In a commercial capacity, Stephen has been directing for all screens full time for 12
years, with his work taking him to over 20 countries on five continents.
He recently directed a half-hour broadcast documentary about the life and legacy of
Australian war hero and sporting legend, Bob Quinn and has recently completed his
latest short, Butterfly, which he co-directed wth his wife, Chloe Gardner and which
is scheduled to premiere at the world’s largest Children’s film Festival, Giffoni.
Samantha is the Founder and CEO of Femflix, an SVOD subscription service dedicated to
bringing audiences the very best curated content created by women from Australia,
New Zealand and around the world. The service is focused on ensuring fair,
transparent & accelerated revenue streams for rights holders while aligning with
UN Women’s goal to achieve economic empowerment by closing the gender pay gap.
Samantha was recently nominated as a Top 3 Finalist for the Women’s Agenda
Leadership Awards 2021 as an Emerging Entrepreneur.
Prior to launching Femflix in 2020, Samantha worked with Screen Queensland as a
Content Director and in 2019 was appointed (Acting) Executive Vice President -
Content, responsible for overseeing the management and operations across all funding
programs which apply to film, TV, multi-platform and games projects. Samantha has
previously worked as a Producer, Creative Executive, and in physical production in
the Australian and North American film and television industry.
She produced a feature documentary “Built to Fail” documenting the history of
streetwear in America which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival. She has
produced multiple short films including “The Boggabilla Bus” winning festival awards
and securing international distribution through Flickerfest, most recently being
screened throughout ASEON (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) within a program
initiated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She’s previously
volunteered as proxy to the Chair of WIFT Australia and was also a member of the
steering committee of WIFT Queensland advocating equality for all women in the
Screen Industry.
Sam Matthews is a director who established her career in the film industry in
post-production. She is co-owner of creative production agency Beyond Content and
works across a variety of projects as a director, editor, colourist and animator.
Projects aiming to increase the diversity of characters on our screens often consult
with Sam. These are opportunities for her to raise greater public awareness of queer
and transgender identities. In 2017, Sam directed ‘Unboxed’, an award-winning 6-part
documentary series about trans artists for the ABC’s Art Bites initiative.
Her recent post credits include My Name is Gulpilil (2021, colourist, dir. Molly
Reynolds), The Rover of Tobruk (2021, editor/animator, dir. Stephen de Villiers)
Aquaphobe (2020, editor/colourist, dir. Melanie Easton), Yer Old Faither (2020,
colourist, dir. Heather Croall), Damage (2020, colourist, dir. Madeleine Blackwell),
Getting Their Acts Together (2020, colourist/animator, dir. Richard Jasek) and Lucy
& DiC (2019, colourist, dir. Jeremy Kelly-Bakker).
An AWGIE winning playwright, Sally is also a screenwriter, children’s author and
producer, and is a member of the National Executive Council for the Australian
Writers Guild. Originally trained as a screenwriter at RMIT, Sally has worked as
script consultant and concept developer for SLA Films and KOJO and produced a
documentary with Red Wall Films in 2019. In theatre she has worked with such
companies as Brink Productions, Slingsby, Patch Theatre, State Theatre Company,
ActNow, Ink Pot Arts and the True North Youth Theatre Ensemble. Her plays have been
published by Australian Plays Transform (APT) and Trinity College London, and have
featured in the DreamBIG Children’s Festival (2019 & 2017), World Festival of
Children’s Theatre (Canada, 2016), Come Out Children’s Festival (2015), Adelaide and
Melbourne Fringe Festivals, as well as featuring on the VCE Playlist (2006). As a
Dramaturge she has worked on shows in the Adelaide Festival (2018) and Adelaide
Cabaret Festival (2018). In 2016 she won an AWGIE (Youth & Community Theatre)
for A Kid Like Me, and in 2014 she won the Trinity College London International
Playwriting Award for her play Gone Viral. She has received multiple grants,
including from Arts South Australia, the Australia Council for the Arts, the
Adelaide Festival Trust, the City of Adelaide Cultural Fund and Mt Barker District
Council. Recently Sally was the 2020 Artist in Residence for Slingsby Theatre
Company, where she wrote her play Night Light with funding from Arts South
Australia. Also in 2020, Sally was a core writer for the State Theatre Company /
ActNow digital co-production Decameron 2.0, writing for all 10 episodes. Her work as
a teaching artist has seen Sally work with students from preschool age through to
elderly citizens and has taken her to Primary Schools, Kindergartens, High Schools,
Universities, youth theatre companies and community arts organisations, throughout
Adelaide and regional South Australia.
Ruth has been a professional writer in the screen industry for over ten years. She’s
worked across a wide range of genres and formats including feature film, television,
multi-media projects, podcast and animation. Ruth’s work has been funded by state
and national agencies, and she has been commissioned for international projects.
Almost all of her original projects have been optioned and had funded development.
For the past seven years, Ruth has been writing with Pete Monaghan, in the ‘Word
Ninjas’ partnership. They currently have two major feature films in late development
and three television series gaining traction in the marketplace. Ruth is keen to
share what she has learned about pitching along the way. She reckons if an introvert
like her can do it, you can, too!
Dr. Pieter Aquilia is a scriptwriter, script editor and director, who has combined
her creative practice with a career in academia. Formerly an Associate Dean and
Associate Arts Professor for NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia, she was also
Associate Professor and Head of Program at UNSW Asia and University of Newcastle.
Pieter completed her Doctor of Creative Arts in Scriptwriting at University of
Technology Sydney in 2000. Her research publications cover International Television
Drama, the Globalization of Screen Education, Ethnic and Gender Representation on
Screen, and the Media in Asia. Dr. Aquilla graduated from the BA Program at the
Australian Film Television and Radio School in 1988.
Pete is a South Australian-based writer and comedian. A multi-talented
ex-anthropologist, he wrote music for and performed in Rolf de Heer’s iconic film
‘Bad Boy Bubby’.
Pete is a content creator and scriptwriter for original features, TV concepts,
animation, and podcasts. His writing skills also include FM Breakfast Radio, TVC
copywriting, solo comedy shows, and more improv songs than you can poke a stick at.
He has exceptional problem-solving abilities, story nous, and high creative output.
Pete seamlessly turns his hand to any format or genre/genre-mix and has a direct
line to ‘left field’ which gives his ideas an impish, zany edge.
Pete and Ruth Estelle established Word Ninjas in 2013 and many of their projects are
highlighted on their website www.wordninjas.com.au. They have animation and podcast
content pushing forward as well as commissioned work with local and interstate
producers.
A writer, producer and executive producer for a many national and international
companies, among them Crawford Productions, PBL Productions, Taffner Ramsay, Beyond
International and Granada, Peter began his career writing and producing for
television classics such as Cop Shop, The Sullivans, The Flying Doctors, The Comedy
Company and Acropolis Now. He produced the inaugural Comedy Festival Charity Gala in
1992 and created The World Comedy Tour in 2000. He also produced The 34th Annual TV
Week Logies, and he has created or co-created a number of series, among them Skirts,
The Comedy Sale! The Agency, Parties, FAQ, and The Big Wig for Sky1 in the UK.
Working with Caroline Aherne of The Royle Family, he co-created, co-wrote and
produced the BBC2 comedy series, Dossa and Joe. Other credits include the Network
Ten production, Unreal TV, a sitcom Sit Down, Shut Up, as well as the tonight show,
The Big Schmooze and a number of other productions at thecomedychannel for Foxtel,
and script editing on the Lindy Chamberlain mini-series, Through My Eyes and the
feature Perfect Victim. Peter has taught at a number of universities in screen
business, creative industries and producing. He is currently Head of Screen Business
and Producing at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS).
Nicole Coventry is a Sydney based producer and story developer committed to creating
and supporting thought provoking projects that cross disciplines and celebrate
diversity.
Between 2018 and 2020, Nicole worked as production supervisor within the scripted
commissioning team at Australian broadcaster, SBS managing the development and
production of SBS’s critically acclaimed drama slate including series such as The
Hunting, Hungry Ghosts, On The Ropes, New Gold Mountain, The Unusual Suspects, The
Tailings and Robbie Hood.
Prior to joining SBS, Nicole worked in various capacities on a wide range of drama
series, feature films and documentaries including Top of The Lake, Undercurrent, The
Good Cop, Safe Harbour, Ali’s Wedding, Hunters, Wonderland, Tangle and Love My Way.
She has also produced movie review and long form interstitial programs for Showtime
Australia and worked for 6 years at the Australian Film Commission.
Nicole’s personal slate includes a diverse catalogue of award-winning short films and
music videos including Sherbert Rozencrantz, You’re Beautiful and the Lexus Short
Film Fellowship funded How The Light Gets In.
Under the banner of Cosmic Pollen, her development and production company, Nicole’s
latest work as producer is Dreamer Awake – an audio fiction/ proof of concept for
screen series in development with ABC Audio, and she is a producer of Deity, a
digital screen series selected to participate in Screen Australia, SBS and NITV’s
2021 Digital Originals initiative.
Michela Carattini is an Intimacy Coordinator (IC) and Company Director at Key
Intimate Scenes (KIS). Her IC screen credits include “Nine Perfect Strangers”,
“Blaze”, “Le Prelude”, “Learning the Curvature of the Earth” and “This River.” She
co-created and co-instructed the first Intimacy Coordination Workshop for Directors
at AFTRS, was a member of the panel which drafted MEAA’s Australian Intimacy
Guidelines for Stage & Screen, and created the first Australia-specific training
curriculum for ICs. She has been a expert speaker/interviewee on Intimacy
Coordination for IF Magazine, Cinema Femme Magazine, ABC News, WIFT, SFAA, and
co-founded the Australasian Intimacy Coordination Network.
Marion Pilowsky is a writer/director/producer. Her debut feature film, The Flip Side
starring Eddie Izzard was released by 20th Century Fox in 2018. She has held senior
positions in both London and Australia in production, financing, sales and
acquisitions before shifting her focus to writing and directing.
Marcus Gillezeau [Jillezo] is best known for creating and producing high profile
projects for film, TV and digital media.
He has won some of the industries’ most prestigious awards including the AACTA Award
(Australian Academy of Cinema Television Arts), Best Feature Documentary for “STORM
SURFERS 3D” and the International Digital Emmy® Award and Australian Directors Guild
Award for the all-media drama “SCORCHED”. He was twice honored by Screen Producers
Australia for Best New Media and Interactive Producer of the Year.
Recently, he produced theatrical feature documentaries Own the Sky and Living
Universe and was EP on Motorkite Dreaming. He executive produced the feature drama
NERVE that screened at Sydney Film Festival and Shanghai Film Festival. He has
written, directed and produced prime time television in Australia and for major
international networks in Asia, North America and Europe.
Marcus is also a successful author of two books “Hands On - Tips and Experiences in
All Media Producing”, and “Hands On - A guide to production and technologies for
film, TV and new media.”.
Specialising in all-media development, production and delivery across all platforms,
he has built a reputation for being at the forefront of digital innovation,
production and distribution.
1:1 PITCHES –WHAT WE ARE LOOKING
FOR
Format: Features, Documentary
Open to giving feedback and hear your fantastic ideas! Mainly interested in hearing
feature docs and features.
Madeleine directed Emmy-award winning Hannah Gadsby: Nanette for Netflix and began
her career directing award-winning documentaries Murder Mouth, in which she killed
her own food for the first time (Best Film – Cineglobe, Bondi FF), Meatwork (Best
Standalone Documentary - ADG) and the Maddie Parry series (Nominated, Best Series -
ADG). She is currently writing scripted feature The Storm with the SAFC/AFF/Mercury
CX Film Lab: New Voices program, and was a recent recipient of the SAFC’s Lottie
Lyell Award.
Partner at Australian production and distribution company, ARCADIA, Lisa produced
2067 (XYZ/RLJE Films/Netflix), starring Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ryan Kwanten and Deborah
Mailman, which debuted as the No 1 movie on Netflix (ANZ) and No 2 on iTunes (US),
following its theatrical release. Lisa also produced the critically acclaimed
Killing Ground that premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2017 (IFC Midnight) with Joe
Weatherstone; The Furies (Sitges Film Festival, 2019, Shudder/StudioCanal); AACTA
award-winning series Hipsters (SBS, 2015), hosted by Samuel Johnson; Black &
White & Sex (IFF Rotterdam 2013, co-producer) and ASC award-winning documentary
Slammin’ Sam (Foxtel, 2013). She is currently in post-production on Sissy (XYZ,
LevelK & Arcadia), that stars The Bold Type’s Aisha Dee, and co-stars Hannah
Barlow who co-writes and co-directs with Kane Senes.
1:1 PITCHES –WHAT WE ARE LOOKING
FOR
Format: Features & Episodic
Arcadia are looking for projects across feature and TV that stand out in the crowd,
are bold and present new ideas from authentic voices. We’re genre agnostic, but we
love clever horror, sci-fi and thriller concepts. And rom coms!
We are not looking for projects that are derivative of other projects in the
marketplace (especially in the horror, sci-fi and thriller space), or the
“Australian version” of something currently or recently successful in the
international market. We’re also not looking for takes on hospital, crime or cop
dramas.
General Manager Lauren Hillman leads the team at C44 with over 16 years of industry
experience. Lauren has had an exciting and varied career in the South Australian TV
and media industry working for ABCTV, Channel Nine, and as an independent freelance
producer. In 2014, Lauren wrote, directed and produced ‘The Daters’ for ABC which is
currently still streaming on iView. Lauren also produced two award winning sold out
Adelaide Fringe shows with Annabel Crabb in 2016 and 2019. In 2018 Lauren was named
one of Adelaide’s ‘Top 40 Under 40’ business leaders. In 2021, Lauren and her team
were responsible for lobbying and successfully securing Channel 44’s free to air
licence for three years until 2024. Recently, in collaboration with C31 in
Melbourne, Lauren has also spearheaded the rollout and launch of the new national
Community TV streaming platform, CTV+.
Channel 44 and CTV+ are looking for short and long form series with ideally a minimum
of 6 episodes. We are on the hunt for high quality, locally produced, excellent
story telling series. The content can be niche- that’s what Community TV is for.
Open to all ideas! Excellent opportunity to test a series on local broadcast TV and
online.
Not looking for branded content - Community TV has strict guidelines around
sponsorship. We would still encourage local sponsors but not branded content pieces.
While growing up in country NSW, the opportunity to pursue a career in the arts,
screen or cultural industries was never really an option. Sadly, that hasn’t changed
much over many decades which now drives me to get out of bed each day and to put
blood, sweat and tears into creating more opportunities and jobs in regional
Australia.
One month after starting at Screenworks, the Federal Government announced budget cuts
which led to the loss of government funding for the organisation. Faced with the
potential failure of the organisation, that situation kick-started my
entrepreneurial journey to converting Screenworks from a small Northern
Rivers-focused association to the national non-profit charity that it is today,
delivering programs, initiatives and workshops in regional areas across every state
and territory of Australia.
Since starting in 2014, Screenworks’ revenue and memberships have both grown by over
500%, it has delivered over 250 events across regional Australia attended by over
12,000 people. Screenworks is now Australia’s premier regional screen industry and
talent development organisation recognised for the quality of its programs and
workshops, along with the strong relationships and collaborations it builds with
others in the screen industry.
Some of Ken’s greatest achievements at Screenworks include the creation of the
Regional Screen In LA program – a two-month international internship providing
unparalleled access to Hollywood for an undergraduate or recent graduate from
regional Australia – and the Career Pathways Programs that provide tailored
professional development opportunities for emerging regional practitioners in the
screen industry.
In this role (and roles before this one), Ken has gained a reputation for creating
and maintaining strong relationships with a diverse range of industry stakeholders
including producers, broadcasters, industry guilds and funding bodies at state and
federal levels. In fact, it’s only because of the mutually beneficial partnerships
that he has created that so many opportunities for regional Australians have been
created.
Outside of Screenworks, Ken has been on non-profit executive boards and advisory
groups, and has also mentored many others to help them achieve their success. He has
consulted with business leaders and helped provide strategic plans and visions for
industries and small businesses in the film & TV sector. He’s also guilty of
spending too much time with his dogs.
Katherine is the Scripted Development Manager at Matchbox Pictures. She was
previously the Fiction Development Manager at Film Victoria and has worked as a
Production/ Development Executive at Screen NSW, Screen QLD and Screen Australia.
She was Head of Development at Arenamedia/Footprint Films when the company developed
projects including ‘The Turning’ and ‘Paper Planes’, produced the feature film
‘Balibo’ and distributed four feature films including ‘Samson and Delilah’ (winner -
Camera d’Or). She was Script Consultant at Waking Dream Productions and during her
time developed projects including ‘The Babadook’, ‘The Daughter’ and ‘Babyteeth’
(Official selection, Venice Film Festival, winner 9 ACCTA Awards). She Produced the
short film ‘Family’ (‘The Turning’ – MIFF) and the two-part doco-drama television
series ‘Stories I Want To Tell You in Person’ for Matchbox Pictures (MIFF, ABC TV).
1:1 PITCHES –WHAT WE ARE LOOKING
FOR
Format: Episodic
We are looking for scripted television - all genres (30 min. 45 min, 1 hr format).
Returnable or limited seasons.
Not looking for animation. Also not looking for period especially, although never say
never…!
Julie Ryan is an Australian film producer who has produced 15 feature films over her
20+ year career. Her recent achievements include “H is for Happiness” which received
a Special Mention by the Children’s Jury in the Generation Kplus section of the
Berlin International Film Festival 2020, and won the prestigious 2019 Cinefest Oz
Film Prize; Hotel Mumbai, the most successful Australian film to release
internationally in 2019; Ten Canoes, the Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize winner
at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2006; and the Australian box office
smash hit Red Dog in 2011. She has received eight Best Film nominations at the
AFI/AACTA awards over her 20 plus career including nominations for “H is for
Happiness” and “Hotel Mumbai”, and won for “Red Dog” and “Ten Canoes”. Julie began
working at the South Australian Film Corporation as Production Executive in 2020.
Julian Cress has worked as a television producer for 30 years starting in 1988 on
Beyond 2000. His background is in investigative journalism and he was a senior
producer at 60 Minutes for a decade before moving into reality television as
co-creator of The Block in 2003. He has worked for all three commercial networks and
been Executive Producer of 17 series of The Block winning 5 Logie awards along the
way. Working alongside business partner David Barbour, he is a co-creator of several
other successful formats both in Australia and the US. Julian is also the founder
and managing editor of online content site themotorists.com.au, e-commerce site
theblockshop.com.au, charity app shout and a founding investor in influencer
marketing app tribe digital.
Jasmine is the head writer and general manager for Glitch Productions, an independent
Sydney animation studio that makes their own programs for Youtube. With experience
in plays, online programs, and fantasy D&D books, Jasmine brings a unique
melange of backgrounds to any writing project she is on.
Jasmine is also a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community as an openly bisexual trans
woman.
Janelle Landers is President of WBMC, a creative production company with offices in
Perth and Sydney, working across narrative and documentary projects for features,
television and other screen content. She recently completed Rams, directed by Jeremy
Sims and starring Sam Neill, Michael Caton and Miranda Richardson. Other credits
include Ben C. Lucas’ feature film OtherLife, and Julius Avery’s Son of a Gun,
starring Ewan McGregor and Alicia Vikander. She also produced Lucas’ debut feature
Wasted on the Young. With a background in visual arts and First Class Honours
degrees in Law and Media Arts Production, Janelle worked as a lawyer and producer in
Sydney before joining WBMC in 2006. As President, Janelle oversees development and
production for all of the company’s screen content.
1:1 PITCHES –WHAT WE ARE LOOKING
FOR
Format: Features, Episodic, Documentary
WBMC is open to all kinds of ideas striving for excellence, with a clearly defined
target audience and a realistic pathway into production. Ideas that are made
for cultural entertainment. From environmental series to sports documentaries.
Shorts about artists or films about humans and our natural world. Would love to
develop ideas that tell a story of a subculture and how we can create an emotional
connection for a wider audience. Personally, I love humble human stories about
people who are moving mountains or anything about the ocean. Anything with heart and
soul.
WBMC is not likely to be interested in horror or low-budget genre projects.
With a career that covers Film, TV, Online, VFX, VR, Game development, Animation, and
a brief stint in state government, James is now helping CDW Studios expand into
Animation and Games Production. He is also Managing Director of Golden Age Studios
and serves on various advisory panels and boards across education and industry
advocacy groups.
Previous roles include Head of Learning and Development for Technicolor, Senior
Producer at Start VR, Transmedia Producer for Yahoo!7, Chief Creative Officer at
Mudita Games, and various others.
Ian founded 113 Partners in 2012. 113 Partners is a strategic advisory firm that that
assists businesses in the creative industries to grow, seek investment, and realise
their value. They are strategic advisers to Australia’s most cutting edge creative
businesses and bring a wealth of insights, access to strategic partnerships, and on
the ground experience to his clients.
Ian is an experienced, hands-on media expert who has had senior executive roles in
both public and private businesses including COO of the branded content business
Brand New Media and COO of the television production company Freehand Productions.
He uses his in-depth commercial experience to assist creative businesses to plan
robust and achievable strategies to achieve domestic and international growth,
financial stability, sustainable resourcing, and streamlined operations. He has
advised many of Australia’s top television production, broadcast, music, design,
advertising, media and entertainment companies as well as working directly with
several government agencies.
Ian sits on numerous advisory boards and has a passion for all things digital.
Georgia Humphreys is a creative producer with CTPA where she is developing a slate of
film and television projects for local and international audiences. After graduating
high school, Georgia started out in Italy’s tourism industry managing guided tours
and eventually owned Europe’s largest and Rome’s longest running pubcrawl – The
Colosseum Pubcrawl.
On her return to Australia she opened Rockefeller, a beachside café where she met her
producing partner, Marion Pilowsky.
Her first production, the short crime fable Yia Yia was invited to the AFF,
Australian Greek Film Festival and Fort Lauderdale (USA) in 2015. Her next short
film Frida and Diego – The Australian Years starring Tiriel Mora was funded via a
successful Kickstarter campaign and premiered at the Sydney Film Festival in 2016.
Georgia produced Indigenous writer/director Edoardo Crismani’s short film 440,
funded by the South Australian Film Corporation’s 2017 Aboriginal Short Film
Initiative and is the co-producer of The Flip Side, starring Eddie Izzard, for 20th
Century Fox, released in 2018.
In 2020, together with Marion Pilowsky, Georgia co-created, directed and produced the
lifestyle format series for Channel 44, Recipe For Love. With writer/director Peter
Ninos, Georgia was selected as one of three teams in the SAFC’s 2021 Film Lab: New
Voices, where they are developing Greek LGBTQI+ horror, The Mati.
She is looking to work with new and emerging creatives who speak with authentic, bold
and noisy voices.
1:1 PITCHES –WHAT WE ARE LOOKING
FOR
Format: Features, Episodic, Documentary, Lifestyle/Entertainment, Children’s and
Animation
Not looking for anything particular but must-have elements of
diversity. Female-led stories are especially appealing.
Ester Harding is a screen producer and Head of Drama, at Sweetshop & Green. Her
focus is on Australian and New Zealand narrative features and series with
international co-production and financing potential. Developing from both underlying
IP and original ideas, her ambition is to bring talent-driven, culturally diverse
and thematically relevant stories to global audiences.
As a development executive for Screen Australia, Ester oversaw narrative features,
episodic and extended reality projects, and the fostering of emerging talent. Prior
to this, for See Pictures she co-produced feature SWINGING SAFARI (Edinburgh 2018),
produced television pilot REMEMBERING AGATHA (ABC 2018) and served as production
executive on Simon Baker’s BREATH (TIFF 2017). Ester’s earlier career was in feature
and interactive documentary projects, including I AM A GIRL, THE SURGERY SHIP and
CALL ME DAD for Media Stockade; STORM SURFERS 3D for Firelight Productions / 6ixty
Foot Films; and AFTER 6/4 for Freehand Productions and SBS.
1:1 PITCHES –WHAT WE ARE LOOKING
FOR
Format: Features, Episodic, Documentary
Sweetshop & Green is an Australian and New Zealand production company that
develops, finances and produces narrative and documentary film and series projects
for identified domestic and international audiences – local for global. Our
sensibilities lie with culturally diverse stories that have something to say; we are
open as to genre and period.
We are not looking for reality or factual formats; features with budgets less than
AU$1.5M; fantasy, horror, westerns, comedy (unless the storyworld and point-of-view
reflect an under represented voice in the Australian and New Zealand market);
projects that feature violence against women, or mass murder.
A versatile filmmaker, Enzo is recognised among his peers as a prolific and
innovative Producer, Director, and Writer.
Enzo’s varied body of work ranges from viral horror feature film The Tunnel - which
amassed over 20 million views and downloads around the world - to the hit indie
feature documentaries Food Matters & Hungry For Change and the Sydney Film
Festival Audience Award Winning theatrical feature documentary The Crossing.
Enzo joined forces with Julian Harvey to write and produce The Tunnel – a project
whose innovative approach to funding and distribution saw it hit international
cinema screens despite being crowdfunded and simultaneously given away for free
online. In addition to reaching a massive global audience, the film garnered Enzo
and Julian the Screen Producers Association of Australia Award for Breakthrough
Independent Producers Of The Year.
As a Director, Enzo made his theatrical feature film debut with conspiracy thriller
Event Zero and was also a co-creator of A Night Of Horror Volume 1. He was an
Executive Producer on Megan Riakos’ Dark Whispers Volume 1.
Enzo created the multiple award-winning online conspiracy thriller series Event Zero
(upon which his feature film directorial debut was based), science fiction series
Airlock, as well as Producing several productions for the Blackpills mobile
streaming platform including Skinford, Skinford Chapter Two. His ongoing commitment
as a Creator in the web series space and his work within that community earned him
The Michael Ajakwe Jr Lifetime Achievement Award from Melbourne WebFest.
Enzo is the Showrunner of the Shudder Original Series, Deadhouse Dark, which screened
at the prestigious CANNESERIES in 2020 and premiered on the platform in 2021.
In 2010 David co-founded the production and post-production company Projector Films,
which has worked on numerous national and international productions, including the
AACTA and KidScreen New York award winning series THE ADVENTURES OF FIGARO PHO (ABC,
BBC), the ABC series TOUGH JOBS, as well as feature films MARTHA: A PICTURE STORY
(Tribeca, Sydney) and the James Beard Award winning documentary BARBEQUE (SXSW,
Netflix).
Recently David produced the critically acclaimed feature films ONE EYED GIRL (Austin
Film Festival: Winner - Best Picture) and RABBIT (Sitges Film Festival,
FantasticFest), starring Adelaide Clemens, Alex Russell and Veerle Baetens,
which won David the Melbourne International Film Festival’s Best Producer Award.
He is currently in production on the controversial documentary series NEVER GET
BUSTED!, directed by Stephen McCallum (Outlaws) and Executive Produced by John
Battsek (Searching for Sugarman) and Chris Smith (Tiger King), about the Texan
narcotics officer that flipped the script on law enforcement and started busting his
fellow police.
Dan has over 35 years in industry as a creative practitioner, first as a comic book
writer/editor at DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics in the U.S., then transitioning to
digital storytelling on his arrival in South Australia. From 2001 to 2019, Dan
produced a large portfolio of video games and other digital projects for major brand
partners such as Atari, LucasArts, Disney and LEGO.
At Flinders Dan manages Flinder University’s motion capture and virtual production
stage The Void. This stage has hosted over a number of private industry partner
collaborations in the past year, including both of the Epic Game funded Unreal Short
Films shot in SA. The Void is the focal point of Flinders acclaimed screen and
performance education programs aligning with state-of-the-art industry technology to
explore the future of immersive culture and narrative.
Carolyn Johnson is an award-winning producer of documentaries and dramas.
Her films include Tanna which was nominated for an Academy Award® in 2017. Carolyn’s
films have won awards and screened in festivals throughout the world including
Venice, Berlin, Busan, London, Hong Kong, Rotterdam, and many others.
Carolyn’s credits include A Sense of Self, A Law Unto Himself, Stumbling in Hillary’s
Footsteps, First Footprints, Son of a Lion, and The Last Goldfish.
Carolyn is the Australian Producer of Life in Colour.
Chloe has a varied background involving performance, teaching, business management,
entrepreneurship, travel, film production, directing and motherhood. Completing her
MBA at the Laureate recognised – Torrens University Australia, in 2019, and winning
the Winnovation Award for Creative Entrepreneurship in 2016, Chloe has been wearing
many hats for the last 20 years.
Chloe launched Kids Camera Action (a film school for youth) in 2010 and has seen it
rise to become the most successful film school for youth in Australia, with
contracts in UAE, USA, NSW, Victoria and of course SA. In 2011 Chloe launched
Adelaide’s first film festival for youth, the Adelaide International Youth Film
Festival which was acquired by the Adelaide Film Festival in 2019.
Chloe joined the team at Beyond Content in 2018 has been expanding her expertise in
the film and corporate sector as a valued producer, production manager, line
producer, and Business Development Manager. Chloe became a Company Director in 2020.
Award winner whose screen experience spans 30 years. He is an accomplished composer
and orchestrator of music for film and television, with credits that include
Spider-man: Homecoming (2017), Zootopia (2016), Jurassic World (2015) and Inside Out
(2015) amongst many, many others. Cameron is also an accomplished violinist and
violist, with an extensive list of credits in the film, television, theatre and
recording industries.
Cameron is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s film scoring program
and was an instructor in the UCLA Extension’s Film Scoring program from 2015 to
2017. He has been involved with the Queensland Music Festival for the past six years
in partnership with the Griffith Film School and conducted and presented education
concerts with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in 2019. Cameron is a professional
member of the Australian Guild of Screen Composers, the Society of Composers and
Lyricists (US), the American Federation of Musicians (US) and Broadcast Music Inc.
(US).
Kirsty Stark is a television producer based in Adelaide, South Australia, and the
owner of independent production company Epic Films.
She has worked in the film industry since 2007, initially as a freelance camera
assistant and cinematographer before moving into production in 2012.
Kirsty’s recent work includes producing the acclaimed children’s series
First Day,winner of
multiple international awards including a Kidscreen Award and aRose d’Or.She
alsoco-produced the 13x AACTA award-winning
Stateless with Matchbox Pictures, now screening
internationally on Netflix. Her other credits as Producer include
Goober, Unboxed and Wastelander Panda:
Exilefor ABC
iview,First Dayfor
ABC ME and the feature filmA Month of
Sundays.
Kirsty has presented at SXSW and TEDxAdelaide, and received multiple awards for her
work. Epic Films was named the Screen Producers Australia “Breakthrough Business of
the Year” in 2016.
Rebecca is a producer and is co-owner of the award-winning screen production company
Closer Productions. Her feature film credits include break out low budget feature 52
TUESDAYS, which won the directing award for World Cinema at Sundance and the Crystal
Bear at Berlinale, and feature documentary SAM KLEMKE’S TIME MACHINE which premiered
at Sundance and in Official Selection at HotDocs and Rotterdam. Her most recent
feature, ANIMALS, is an official Irish/Australian co-production based on the
acclaimed novel, which premiered at Sundance 2019.
For television, Rebecca has made numerous documentaries including Dendy Award-winning
I WANT TO DANCE BETTER AT PARTIES and 3-part Arts series HANNAH GADSBY’S OZ. Her
television drama credits include the 6-part online series F*!#ING ADELAIDE, which
premiered at Series Mania and was the most watched ABC iView Original in 2018. She
also produced THE HUNTING, a 4 x 1 hour drama series which premiered on SBS
Television in August 2019 and was SBS’ most successful commissioned drama ever.
Rebecca recently completed AFTERTASTE a new 6 x 30 comedy drama for the ABC which
premiered on ABC TV in February 2021. Rebecca also sits on the Board of the South
Australian Film Corporation.
Matt Vesely is a South Australian writer/director. He works with award winning
creative collective Closer Productions. Often combining his love of science fiction
with a sincere view of human relationships, Matt has directed a number of successful
shorts and worked as a writer across TV & film.
Matt has worked in writers’ rooms with Closer Productions, Matchbox Pictures, Bunya
Productions, the ABC and SBS. He was a part of the writing team for the ABC’s
flagship iView series, the post-apocalyptic sci-fi WASTELANDER PANDA, and wrote an
episode and was a staff writer across the entirety of Closer’s award-winning comic
drama for ABC, FUCKING ADELAIDE. In 2014, Matt was the recipient of the Colin Thiele
Scholarship for Creative Writing. In 2018, his feature script OVERHEATER – a
dystopian romantic comedy – was shortlisted for the Australian Writer’s Guild’s John
Hinde Award for best unproduced science fiction screenplay.
Matt works as Closer’s Development Manager under the mentorship of Sophie Hyde and
Rebecca Summerton, and was the script producer for Closer’s 4 part series THE
HUNTING (SBS), starring Asher Keddie and Richard Roxburgh. In 2021, he script
produced and wrote for Closer’s comedy series AFTERTASTE (ABC), starring Erik
Thomson.
Matt continues to lead Closer’s writers’ rooms and develop his own television
projects, including a series based on OVERHEATER, supported by Screen Australia and
the South Australian Film Corporation. SYSTEM ERROR, his new proof of concept short
for OVERHEATER, was selected to have its world premiere at the prestigious Tribeca
Film Festival in New York.
Belinda Dean is a producer and founder of independent production company unko. She is
equally passionate about the comedy genre, as she is diverse and inclusive
storytelling.
Her credits as producer include the multi-award winning Create NSW & SBS funded
short film Joy Boy, documentary The Funny Ones for ABC ME celebrating aspiring young
female comedians, the provocative online series, Cloudy River, which premiered at
the Queer Screen Mardi Gras Film Festival and is now available on SBS On Demand, and
most recently, the short film Weather Girl, one of the top 5 films in the Epic Games
Unreal Engine Short Film Challenge. Belinda is in active development on several
projects, including the short form series she created, Freewheelers, one of three
projects selected from over 600 applications for development in the inaugural SBS
& Screen Australia Digital Originals Initiative.
She is a foundation member of the all-female producing network Screen Vixens, and in
2019, was selected as a Screen Producers Association ‘Ones to Watch’.
1:1 PITCHES –WHAT WE ARE LOOKING
FOR
Format: Features, Episodic, Web Series
We are looking for low-mid budget/contained features with some kind of social
awareness at their core. Genre agnostic, though we tend not to pick up horror or
supernatural thrillers.
On the TV side, same understanding of social issues with characters and a story world
that help shed light on taboo subjects, and/or provide interesting and unexpected
forms of representation. Drama or comedy/drama preferred.
Creators with something to say, not necessary drawn from their immediate experience,
but with an understanding of the impact a good story can have on culture at large.
Not looking for period pieces, and this includes the recent past.
In her role as CEO at Co-Curious, Annabel has been instrumental in designing,
implementing and delivering a number of industry development programs. This includes
the Behind Closed Doors program which resulted in feature film anthology, Here Out
West, which she produced with Sheila Jayadev from Emerald Productions and Bree-Anne
Sykes. She has extensive screen industry experience and a successful history in
creating proposals for key arts and film funding bodies. From 2017-2018 she was the
Partnerships Manager with CuriousWorks and prior to CuriousWorks, Annabel spent
seven years with the Australian Writers’ Guild, where she played a key part in
developing their Pathways Program. She also helped lead the establishment of
Scripted Ink, which provides world first development opportunities to Australian
writers. Annabel has also worked as a Script Department Manager across a number of
Australian and international drama products.
Anna Hodge has managed Rising Sun Pictures successful educational program with UniSA
for five years. Prior to this, she worked in vocational education for over 17 years.
Anna has experience in developing, managing and growing educational initiatives in
the screen and media area to reflect the changing and diversifying industry,
education and training market.
With a proven record in securing both training and employment opportunities for
students, Anna is focused on building strong and secure partnerships between
education and industry for the purpose of developing job ready graduates.
Alexandra joined Mr. X in April 2020 as Head of Studio, bringing with her over 17
years of VFX production experience. Previously, as the Senior Production Supervisor
at Rising Sun Pictures, she managed the production team, and was instrumental in
delivering projects such as X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Dumbo and Thor: Ragnarok. During
her time there she was also the Senior Producer on Captain Marvel, Ford v Ferrari
and Tomb Raider.
Alexandra’s career began at Framestore, London, where she progressed to the role of
VFX Producer. During her 13 years there, she contributed to the successful delivery
of many major projects, including Guardians of the Galaxy, Paddington, Wrath of the
Titans, Sherlock Holmes, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Golden Compass and
a number of the Harry Potter films.
In her role as Head of Studio at Mr. X, Adelaide, Alexandra is responsible for all
the projects in production, as well as the effective day to day running of the
studio, ensuring alignment to the greater Mr. X global framework and strategy;
including managing financial and operational risk and driving business strategy.
1:1 PITCHES –WHAT WE ARE LOOKING
FOR
Format: Features, Episodic, Animation
We are looking for people who are interested in working in VFX or are currently
working in VFX.
