SPEAKERS

With a career spanning almost three decades co-hosting The Movie Show on SBS and At The Movies on ABC with David Stratton and presenting Screen on Foxtel with Graeme Blundell for five years, Pomeranz is Australia’s most recognised, loved and highly respected movie critic.

Pomeranz has a Bachelor of Arts from Macquarie University and was selected for the Playwright’s Studio at NIDA after which she began writing for television, radio and film. She joined the newly established Special Broadcasting Service in 1980 as writer/producer which led to her being appointed producer for David Stratton’s movie hostings. Some years later, in 1986, they were able to get The Movie Show up and running. The duo moved to the ABC in
2004 to establish At The Movies which ran until December 2014.

Pomeranz has served as a member of the Advertising Board, is a past president of the Film Critics Circle of Australia and has been both president and vice-president of watch on Censorship.

She was awarded the A.M. (Member of the Order of Australia) in the 2005 Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for her services to the film industry as a critic and reviewer, promoter of Australian content, and advocate for freedom of expression in film.

Pomeranz is currently board member of Australian Film Institute/Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AFI/AACTA), and she was recently conferred with the degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa from Macquarie University.

Blair is an acclaimed film, television and theatre director, writer, actor and producer.

Blair’s feature film directorial debut, The Sapphires had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012, was the highest grossing Australian film of the year and won 11 AACTA Awards, including Best Director and Best Film. He directed Septembers Of Shiraz, launched at the Toronto International Film Festival, and co-produced and directed Cleverman series 1 and 2 – for Sundance TV / ABC-TV.

In 2019 Blair’s feature film Top End Wedding premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His most recent film is the feature documentary Firestarter (co-directed with Nel Minchin) and for TV his directorial credits include
Total Control; Mystery Road; Sea Change; Bite Club; Love Child; Redfern Now, Lockie Leonard, Australian-British children’s series Dead Gorgeous and the children’s series Double Trouble.

As an actor, Blair is known for his AACTA nominated work in Redfern Now. His other TV acting credits include The Broken Shore, Small Claims, Fireflies, Water Rats, All Saints, Wildside, Aftertaste, Mystery Road, The Letdown, Squinters, Wakefield and Black Comedy Series 3. On film he has appeared in Extraction, Emu Runner, The Turning – Family, Wish You Were Here, X, The Last Time I Saw Michael Gregg, Blessed, Mullet and Rams.

The multi award winning Mailman AM is one of Australia’s most highly respected actors on stage and screen.

Her feature credits include Radiance, Rabbit Proof Fence, Three Summers, Bran Nue Dae, Oddball and the internationally acclaimed The Sapphires. On television Mailman has created some of Australia’s most enduring characters including the award-winning portrayals in Mystery Road, Redfern Now, Mabo and The Secret Life of Us as well as voicing Big Cuz in the award-winning animation Little J and Big Cuz. Mailman has also been seen in the much-loved series Offspring, Cleverman and Jack Irish. Mailman plays the lead Alex Irving in Total Control and received generous critical appraisal for her performance in the first series.

One of Australia’s most celebrated theatre actors, and previously a company member of the Sydney Theatre Company, Mailman’s stage performances include the Matilda Award winning performances in Radiance and The Seven Stages of Grieving, the Helpmann Award Best Supporting Actress role in the STC production of The Lost Echo and the Helpmann Award nominated role for Best Actress in the theatre production of The Sapphires.

In 2017 Mailman received the Order of Australia medal for Services to the Arts and as a role model for Indigenous performers. She is currently a Trustee of the Sydney Opera House and was appointed to the board of Screen Australia in 2019.

Dale is managing director of Blackfella Films, Australia’s premier Indigenous production company. Founded with Rachel Perkins in 2000, Dale has produced award-winning film and television productions including the landmark history series First Australians, which broadcast on SBS to over 2.3 million viewers.

In collaboration with Emmy Award-winning UK writer Jimmy McGovern and Miranda Dear, Dale produced two 6 x 1 hour series of the ground-breaking Redfern Now, the first drama series on Australian television written, produced and directed by Indigenous Australians.

In 2019 Dale completed the AACTA Award winning Best TV Drama Series Total Control, produced with Miranda Dear, and starring Deborah Mailman and Rachel Griffiths. Series 2 is currently in production.

Dale’s productions have won major awards including the United Nations Media Peace Award, Logie, AACTA and Walkley Awards.

Dale currently serves on the board of ACMI, and the Sydney Film Festival. He was on the board of Screen NSW from 2011 to 2015, the Council of the Australian Film Television and Radio School from 2012 to 2018, with a term as deputy chair from 2014 to 2018, and the Sydney Festival. In 2012 he was the recipient of the prestigious AFTRS Honorary Degree.

Smallacombe is a member of the Maramanindji people, from the Northern Territory in Australia. She has completed a cadetship with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and has a Masters of Arts (Documentary Producing) from the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) in Sydney.

Between 2004 and 2005 Smallacombe worked in the Indigenous Programs Unit at the ABC. She was selected for Screen Australia’s Indigenous Department’s Producers Initiative in 2011, and also worked as a senior programmer for NITV, National Indigenous Television, a division of SBS.

Most recently head of the First Nations Department at Screen Australia, Smallacombe managed the department for 6 years overseeing a large slate of successful film and television including Total Control, Spear, She Who Must Be Loved, Sweet Country, We Don’t Need a Map, Grace Beside Me and Little J and Big Cuz. She also created numerous special initiatives which have provided development opportunities for some of Australia’s newest rising writing, directing and producing talents. In June she began her new role as a producer at Bunya Productions.

Groves is a Sydney-based freelance journalist who has covered the screen industries and the entertainment business for most his career. Since 2013 he has been Australasian bureau chief for C21Media, covering the broadcasting sectors in Australia and New Zealand: commissions, production, sales and acquisitions. He also contributes to Creative Content Australia’s Content Café blog. He spent more than 24 years with Variety newspaper as Sydney bureau chief and, for five and a half years, served in Variety’s London office as London bureau chief and chief European correspondent. His CV includes senior correspondent for Australia’s Inside Film; online film reviewer and film commentator for Showtime Networks Australia; online film reviewer for Foxtel; Australian correspondent for Deadline.com; and contributor to SBS Film. He co-wrote the book AHL: 100 Years of Entertainment, charting the history of the Greater Union cinema company (now Event Cinemas).

As ABC director entertainment and specialist, Carrington oversees commissioning and distribution of the ABC’s drama, comedy, Indigenous, music, children’s, entertainment and factual content across its television and national radio networks, plus digital services such as ABC iview and ABC listen. Entertainment and specialist also includes the specialist genres of arts, science, religion and ethics, education and society and culture.

Carrington is an award-winning broadcast executive who has worked across creative development, production management and commissioning of content in Australia, the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States. He joined the ABC in 2016 as head of children’s and education and in 2018 was appointed head of distribution, with responsibility for programming and programme acquisitions. In September 2018, he was appointed acting director entertainment and specialist. He was formally appointed as director in August 2019.

Carrington previously worked at Channel 10 and the Discovery Channel, before joining the BBC as channel controller and creative director of CBeebies. In a separate role as chief content officer at Turner Broadcasting, he was responsible for content on the Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Cartoonito. Before joining the ABC, Carrington was also chief executive officer of Zodiak Kids Studios.

Eagger is among Australia’s most experienced and successful television producers. With astute creative, entrepreneurial and production expertise, Eagger founded Every Cloud Productions in 2009 with Deb Cox and quickly cemented a reputation for high quality and popular TV drama and a policy to put more women in front and behind the camera, to foster diversity in production and casting and to mentor the next generation of storytellers. This included co-creating, producing and executive producing three seasons of the runaway international success, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, which has sold to more than 170 territories around the world.

Other Every Cloud productions Eagger has steered include legal-drama Newton’s Law, indigenous series, The Gods of Wheat Street, AACTA-winning youth drama Deadlock, Mss Fisher spin-off, Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, theatrical feature Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears, and ratings hit SeaChange. Most recently Eagger executive produced mystery drama, Eden, and comedy feature, A Sunburnt Christmas, for premium SVOD platform Stan. 


Widely recognised as an industry leader Eagger has received numerous accolades including the Jill Robb Award for Service to the Victorian Screen industry, the Natalie Miller Fellowship for Women in Leadership, and Business Export award from Screen Producers Australia. In early 2018 Eagger became an honorary Adjunct Professor in the School of Media and Communications at RMIT.

Deaner is the chief executive officer of Screen Producers Australia, a national organisation that unites the screen industry to campaign for a healthy commercial environment. Screen Producer’s Australia supports the interests of businesses, large and small, in their production of feature films, television programs, interactive content and games across all genres and formats.

Deaner oversees all aspects of Screen Producers Australia’s advocacy work, industrial negotiations, events and operational issues. He also works closely with our council to set the strategic direction of the organisation as well as identify and execute new business development opportunities. Deaner brings a wealth of knowledge to Screen Producers Australia with his experience as a lawyer in both Sydney and London and in senior policy and strategy positions with Screen Australia and the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association.

In July 2015 Deaner was appointed to the board of Media Super as an employer-representative director, nominated by Screen Producers Australia.

Maslin is one of Australia’s most successful screen producers with a track record of producing award winning feature and documentary films including the smash hit The Dressmaker, one of Australia’s all time highest grossing films.

Maslin is committed to engaging and empowering audiences with ideas that matter. Her innovative company, Film Art Media established in 2008 with Daryl Dellora, develops and distributes screen content across many platforms with a focus on blue chip documentaries including Jill Bilcock – Dancing The Invisible and The Show Must Go On which addressed mental wellbeing in the arts and entertainment sector. Her latest releases include Why Did She Have To tell The World? and the highly successful theatrical documentary, Brazen Hussies. Feature film credits include Road to Nhill and Japanese Story, Best Film at 2003 AACTA Awards.

Maslin’s outstanding 35-year contribution to the Australian screen industry has been recognised in numerous ways, most recently when she received the 2021 Chauvel Award. Reflecting her commitment to advocacy for women, Sue was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2018.

In 2019 Maslin was appointed as an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the Australian film industry.

Caplan has over 25 years of international experience in the screen production industry. She is a highly respected and seasoned senior executive whose roles have covered all aspects of financing, development, acquisition, production and distribution.

Caplan began her career as a solicitor specialising in entertainment law. In her most recent role before Screen Australia, Caplan was managing director of eOne International (eOne), where she oversaw its international film sales operations out of the UK.

Before joining eOne, Caplan headed the Premiere Fund of the UK Film Council for five years, where she was responsible for funding and overseeing the production from script stage of over 45 films, including titles such as The King’s Speech, Miss Potter and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.

Prior to joining the UK Film Council, Caplan was president of Icon Film Distribution UK and has held senior acquisition, distribution and production positions at PolyGram Filmed entertainment, Momentum Pictures and Universal Pictures International.

Marks was appointed as Ausfilm’s CEO in October 2019. As CEO, Marks leads the Ausfilm team in Australia and the USA and is responsible for developing international market strategies to ensure Australia is a globally competitive production location for international film and television projects.

Prior to Marks’s appointment as CEO, she was Ausfilm’s Los Angeles based executive vice president of international production, responsible for connecting Ausfilm members to international filmmakers and working closely with US development, finance, physical and post / vfx to help them bring their productions to Australia.

Marks also held the position of president of the Board of Australians in Film (AiF) for four years in Los Angeles. AiF is a Los Angeles based non-profit film, television and digital content foundation that supports, develops and promotes Australian screen talent and culture in the United States. Prior to Ausfilm, Marks worked with Film Victoria.

Munnich was appointed CEO of Screen Queensland (SQ) in October 2019, and has more than 25 years’ experience in film and TV distribution, development and financing.

Prior to joining SQ, Munnich worked as scripted sales and co-production executive for Seven Studios, senior vice president for Distribution Asia Pacific for Sonar Entertainment and director of drama and comedy for Sky Vision in London.

Munnich worked at Sony Pictures Television from 2005 – 2014 running distribution for ANZ. Then in 2011 she moved to London to become senior vice president UK, Ireland and Africa.

Previous companies Munnich has worked for include MGM International Television and Filmbank Distributors Ltd.

Brunsdon is a strategic leader in the creative industries with more than 25 years’ experience in the not for profit arts sector, tertiary education and the public sector.She has held roles in design education with TAFE and UNSW, in management and development with the Australian Design Centre and senior leadership roles in international cultural relations with the British Council.

Since 2010, Brunsdon has held several senior roles in Arts NSW, Create NSW and Screen NSW, including director of arts investment, director engagement and development and is currently head of screen NSW.

Formerly an award-winning film and television producer, Croser’s work has been nominated for and won Australian Academy Awards and screened at the world’s most prestigious international film festivals.

Croser has established successful independent production and distribution companies including Hedone Productions, nominated for Australian Screen Business of the Year at the 2015 Screen Producers Australia awards.

Croser is a member of the board of the South Australian Film Corporation and previously served for five years as a Councillor for Screen Producers Australia, the peak industry body for independent screen production in Australia.

Pitcher is the chief executive officer of Film Victoria, the Victorian Government agency that provides strategic leadership and delivers valuable support to the state’s screen industry, based in Melbourne, Australia.

A dynamic and accomplished leader, Pitcher has over 18 years’ experience in the screen industry. She has held management, marketing and business development roles in both the government and private sectors, including as general manager of post production at Deluxe Australia, chief executive officer of Ausfilm, and general manager of Film Victoria’s Melbourne Film Office.

Pitcher is a board member of Ausfilm and MediaRING, and served on the Board of Film Victoria from 2013 to 2017.

Riley is the head of drama, Entertainment and Indigenous for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Sally oversees the development and production of all scripted series for Drama, Comedy, Indigenous, and non-scripted series for Entertainment.

A proud Wiradjuri woman, Riley is a leading advocate for Indigenous and diverse perspectives which champion the shifting cultures and attitudes of Australia today.

In 2010, Riley was appointed as the inaugural Head of the Indigenous Department at ABC where she pioneered ground-breaking productions including Cleverman, Gods of Wheat Street, Black Comedy, 8MMM, The Warriors, and Redfern Now, the first series to be commissioned, written and produced by Indigenous Australians.   

Since her appointment to Head of DEI in 2016, Riley has presided over the production of a slate of premier ABC programming including AACTA-award winning Stateless; Mystery Road; Total Control; Aftertaste; Rosehaven; Frayed; Fisk and Wakefield.

The Newsreader, an upcoming 1980s period drama, starring Anna Torv and Sam Reid, and gripping six-part anthology, Fires, which chronicles the unprecedented Australian bushfires of 2019/2020, is slated to premiere later this year.

In the uphaul of our television infrastructure in the current times, Riley is driven to attract a unique audience to iView and strengthen partnerships with international exhibitors, across OTT services, linear and co-producer partners to advocate for Australian content with broad reach.

Walsh’s first major media executive role was with Sydney music station Radio 2SM, as promotions and publicity manager. This was followed by an appointment to Network TEN, where he held the role of national director of publicity for 6 years. In 1990, Walsh founded his own consultancy, The Promotions Department Pty Limited, a company that grew to become one of Australia’s leading publicity and promotions companies, specialising in media, entertainment, sports and event management.

From 1991 through 1995, Walsh was consultant to British Sky Broadcasting in marketing and publicity and Star TV, Asia where he launched the Channel [V] music channel through 53 countries. Walsh began his consultancy with Foxtel in 1995 and was a key member of the management team to launch Australia’s foremost subscription, cable and satellite television company. In his capacity as the senior executive overseeing entertainment content, Walsh oversaw the launch of the platform, programme acquisitions, the creation of the entertainment channels and the promotions, publicity and marketing of the Foxtel brand.

Now, as Foxtel’s executive director of television, Walsh is responsible for all of the company’s locally produced content and it’s FOXTEL Originals slate, across drama, entertainment, lifestyle, factual and international formats.

A television career that spans over 35 years, Maier’s responsibilities include the commissioning, scripting, production and post-production of Network 10’s drama, telemovies and event mini-series programming including Five Bedrooms, The Secrets She Keeps, Offspring, Puberty Blues, and the longest running serial drama in Australia, Neighbours.

In addition to scripted content, he has also overseen one of the most successful television franchises in the country, MasterChef Australia, for the past six years.

Prior to his time at Network 10, Maier was a freelance script writer and story producer in many genres working with major production companies in both commercial and public broadcasting.

Godfrey is head of SBS unscripted, overseeing documentaries, factual entertainment, food and entertainment across SBS channels and platforms.

Godfrey previously held the role of head of documentaries. Having joined SBS in 2008, he has been responsible for some of SBS’s highest rating and best-known programs, including Go Back to Where You Came From, First Contact, Struggle Street, and Filthy Rich and Homeless.

Godfrey has been in Australia since 2003, working in the UK prior to that for 10 years, series/exec producing for Channel 4 and BBC2.

Holden has a dynamic track record working in both the independent sector as head of production, creative producer and writer/director, as well as within the national broadcaster as commissioning editor and head of factual for ABC TV. Holden has been a key creative and executive on break out series such as Go Back to Where You Came From, Redesign My Brain, Luke Warm Sex, Changing Minds, Employable Me and Love on the Spectrum. Her role as head of factual at Northern Pictures has allowed her to oversee content creation for broadcast television, as well as director her own films. The crux of her creative work is to create change, truth tell and find unlikely heroes who challenge our perceptions. Holden has been the head of factual at Northern Pictures, Australia for the last 7 years.

Murray has a unique and very broad background in TV – as an indie producer and formerly as network executive in cable and free-to-air.

He is managing director and co-founder of CJZ, the biggest locally owned production company in Australasia which produces more than 20 primetime series every year. Its shows have won Logies, AACTAs, the Rose d’Or for both Go Back to Where You Came From and Gruen as well as an Emmy for Go Back….

A former radio producer and lapsed network lawyer, Murray’s past experience includes: general manager (and sometime producer) at Artist Services (now ITV Studios Australia) and founding CEO of cable TV network the Comedy Channel. He set up his own indie production company Jigsaw Entertainment in 1999 which morphed into CJZ.

Murray is a former resident of the Screen Producers Association of Australia and looks after the fish tank at the CJZ Sydney office.

His most recent productions are narrative comedy Mr Black, the one hour drama series My Life is Murder and the upcoming new season of Gruen.

Dalton is an Australian documentary producer and director, celebrated as one of the central women who have, and continue to, shape the face of natural history filmmaking in Australia. She is passionate about stories that resonate globally and that shift the dial on social and environmental issues. Many of her projects are borne from discovery and reimagining of little known film archives.

As executive producer and principal of WildBear Entertainment, an integrated factual entertainment company with 5 offices across Australia and New Zealand, Dalton has produced and directed diverse genres of award-winning content for audiences around the world, including for theatrical release and for National Geographic, ZDF, ARTE, NDR, BBC, PBS and Discovery Channels internationally, amongst others, and Australian broadcasters including ABC, Seven Network, Nine Network, SBS, Foxtel.

Her recent feature documentary Playing With Sharks about Australian icon, conservationist and filmmaker Valerie Taylor, was acquired by National Geographic Documentary Films following its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. A woman ahead of her time, Valerie Taylor was a true pioneer in both underwater filmmaking and shark research, whose life’s work has become the basis for much of what we know about sharks today.

Zachariou joined Bunya Productions as CEO of Bunya Entertainment in January 2019. Prior to joining Bunya, Zachariou was the director of Screen at Screen NSW and Create NSW.

During her time there, she commissioned award-winning productions such as Warwick Thornton’s, Sweet Country, Rachel Perkins’ Mystery Road, Nash Edgerton’s Mr Inbetween, Bruce Beresford’s Ladies in Black and Jeffrey Walker’s Riot. She has an extensive history of creating high quality television in her time as an executive producer and also deputy head of entertainment at the Australian national television network ABC TV.

Zachariou has over thirty hit television titles under her belt, including the Gruen franchise, The Chaser, Kitchen Cabinet, Adam Hills Tonight, Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell and Judith Lucy’s Spiritual Journey.

Zachariou is currently executive producer on a 6-part sketch comedy The Moth Effect for Amazon while also overseeing the extensive development slate of high end TV drama and comedy programs.

Edwards is a senior television executive with two decades of industry experience. In 2016 Edwards joined forces with his father John Edwards and Roadshow Films to form Roadshow Rough Diamond. In 2018, he co-created and produced Australian Gangster and Romper Stomper, which broke viewing records for Australian SVOD service Stan, winning two Logie awards, and one AACTA Award. In 2019, produced Les Norton, for the ABC, then in 2020, produced Bump, breaking all previous viewing records for Stan.

Prior to launching Roadshow Rough Diamond, he was vice president (ANZ/Japan) at ITV Studios Global Entertainment. Also in the Asian market, Edwards spearheaded the 2009 set up of Endemol Worldwide Distribution’s office in Hong Kong following the merger with Southern Star where Edwards was sales director for seven years across Canada, Middle East, Africa, Greece and Asia.

Roadshow Rough Diamond’s shows have been acquired internationally by CW, Starz in the United States, BBC2 in the UK, HBO Max in Latin America, CBC in Canada and AMC Networks across Pan Central Europe; to name just a few.

Rickard is a partner, chief operating officer and executive producer at Jungle Entertainment. She has been integral to the company’s growth, innovation and success over 13 years. Jungle are responsible for a raft of internationally acclaimed comedies, including No Activity in its fourth season for CBSAA with the all-star cast including Will Ferrell, Amy Schumer, Amy Sedaris and JK Simmons; Mr Inbetween in its third season with FX, directed by Nash Edgerton; and A Moody Christmas in its second season with Fox and starring Dennis Leary and Elizabeth Perkins – making Jungle one of the only companies globally with three comedies concurrently on air with three different US networks/streamers.

Rickard’s recent executive producer credits include the premium drama Wakefield (ABC/BBCS) and Bad Mothers (Nine Network/Sundance Now).

Rickard oversees many of Jungle’s international format sales which span a range of titles and territories including the US, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Asia and the Middle East.

Rickard holds a Masters of Screen Arts & Business from AFTRS, in which she was awarded the Foxtel New Media Innovation Prize and the Wake in Fright Prize for best thesis. Rickard is the chair of the Screen Tasmania Advisory Board (STEAG).

Bowden’s most recent production The Secrets She Keeps is based on the international best-seller by Michael Robotham, and stars Laura Carmichael (Downton Abbey), Jessica de Gouw and Michael Dorman. It was the first Australian drama to sell to BBC1 prime-time in over 25 years and its premiere was the highest Monday night launch for the BBC of 2020. The series also sold to AMC in the US and to many other major international territories. A second season is in development and will shoot later this year.

Other recent credits include: Lambs of God starring Ann Dowd, Essie Davis and Jessica Barden (which received a record-breaking 18 nominations and nine wins at the 2019 Australian Academy – AACTA – Awards); UK/Australian co-production Upright starring Tim Minchin; On the Ropes starring Keisha Castle Hughes; and Wake in Fright starring David Wenham.

Bowden was a founder and the foundation managing director of Matchbox Pictures, which formed in 2008. The company enjoyed a spectacular rise and was sold to NBCUniversal in early 2014. In 2015 Bowden formed Lingo Pictures with Jason Stephens (ex Fremantle). She is the managing director.

Oliver-Taylor is the CEO Asia Pacific of Fremantle, where he leads development and production in all genres across Australia, New Zealand, India and Indonesia. He sits on the Fremantle Global Board as well as on the Boards of Film Victoria,, Screenworks, MediaRING and the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS).

Formerly the managing director of NBCUniversal’s Matchbox Pictures and head of business and head of production at the ABC, Oliver-Taylor has held directorships at Screenrights and Screen Producers Australia where he is also a past president.

McKinnon is the managing director of Matchbox Pictures, the multi-award winning Australian production company responsible for a diverse slate of programs including acclaimed dramas Stateless, The Heights, Safe Harbour, Glitch and Secret City and the forthcoming Clickbait for Netflix and Class of ‘07 and Things I Know To Be True for Amazon. Matchbox Pictures is owned by NBCU.

 
Prior to this McKinnon was the head of content investment and planning at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) where he was responsible for overseeing content production, business and planning activities across all genres and platforms for ABC’s entertainment and specialist division.  Whilst at the ABC, McKinnon also served as the deputy head of production for ABC TV, executive producing popular drama Harrow, starring Ioan Gruffudd and the supernatural drama Glitch. McKinnon also oversaw production on the Logie and AACTA award winning drama series Mystery Road.

As part of the Netflix Australia and New Zealand content team, Legha leads film and television licensing and co-productions for the market, and is a creative exec on the local originals slate. Before joining Netflix, Legha was in business and legal affairs at the ABC where he worked on commissioning, development, talent and acquisitions deals across scripted and factual/entertainment projects. He has worked closely on Screen Australia’s comedy initiatives At Home Alone Together and Fresh Blood and the ABC’s diversity and inclusion strategies. Prior to this, Legha was a lawyer specialising in media and entertainment law and intellectual property.

Franks writes daily news, features and perspective pieces for C21Media, the UK-based provider of breaking news and industry analysis to the international entertainment community. Prior to becoming editor of Channel21 International in 2021 he was editor of C21 Kids magazine since 2016 and is also part of the team that organises C21Media’s award-winning conference Content London. He joined C21Media in 2012 following stints writing for the BBC online and music magazine Clash.

Lawley started her career in distribution in London and then moved to Australia to manage distribution for Asia-Pacific. After moving to ABC Commercial, she was promoted to manager, content sales and managed the merger of all commercial departments within ABC Commercial. During Lawley’s time as manager she achieved annual budgets, refreshed the catalogue with premium titles across each genre. These included ABC Commercial’s commissioned Thai Street Food with David Thompson and The Flying Winemaker. The Children’s catalogue grew to include A Cautionary Tail, narrated by Cate Blanchett, The WotWots by Weta Workshop. The Factual genre was supported by high profile docos and the first ABC Commercial commissioned feature documentary, Stop At Nothing, which remains one of Netflix’s Top 5 sports documentaries.

In 2013 Escapade Media was formed, a company that focuses on global distribution of content as well as a development service where Escapade works with creatives to develop, co-produce and sell content globally. Lawley’s executive producer roles across non-scripted projects such as feature documentary Stop At Nothing, Chasing Chaos and In Your Dreams and lifestyle series Food.Sail.Love. In the scripted genre the projects include series Art of Killing, The Best Kind of Beautiful, and Comedy series Alantown. Lawley is responsible for running Escapade and overseas global sales.

With a career that spans 30 years in international TV content sales and marketing, Gilroy joined the late John Caldon and Lyndey Milan in 2011 to establish Flame Distribution, a specialist factual distributor.

With a catalogue consisting 4,000 hours of factual and documentary content from over 180 producers worldwide, Gilroy spearheads all aspects of the international distribution activities across the Sydney, London and New York offices. This also includes assisting producers in securing presales and commissions through initiatives like the Flame Coproduction Alliance and Flame Distribution Productions. Flame also works in TV, VOD, inflight and educational markets.

Prior to Flame she ran her own consultancy working with producers to maximize commercial opportunities for their content. Throughout the course of her career key positions included content sales manager for public broadcaster SBS, and sales and marketing operations manager for Film Australia. She was also staff elected director on the Film Australia Board (1992 – 1996).

Gilroy has served as board member of the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) from 2014 to 2020, (Co-Chair for 5 yrs during this period), and was a member of the Advisory Committee for the 2021 conference.

Chau is the founder and CEO of LGI Media (formerly Looking Glass International). Established in 2006, Chau’s overall commitment to strengthening LGI’s presence within the international market has strategically shaped key relationships with both broadcasters and producers around the world. Since LGI’s inception, she has successfully secured co-productions and presale with a number of international broadcasters including CBC (Canada), Discovery Channel, ARTE (France/ Germany), Viasat and NHK (Japan). Chau’s broadcast clients include Netflix, Amazon, National Geographic, BBC and Discovery Channels.

Chau has served as a jury member for the BANFF 2012 World Media Awards and an editorial board member in 2015 for The World Congress of Science & Factual Producers. She has recently extended her creative skills by working as an executive producer on a number of projects for the international market including Yohji Yamamoto: Rebel in Black (with NHK), Unlocking Einstein’s Brain (with NHK), Spiky Gold Hunters (Pango productions for A&E Networks), Plane Resurrection (sold to Netflix).

In 2019, Chau was given the great honour of commencement speaker at the Queensland University of Technology (QuT) for the School of Communication graduation ceremony.

She holds a Bachelor of Economics Degree from the University of Sydney.

Azzopardi began her career at Southern Star in the features’ division, launching Australian independent films such as The Well and Head On to the international market and supporting them in competition at leading festivals. She then moved over to Southern Star’s TV division, where she sold iconic Australian series such as Home & Away, The Secret Life of Us, Packed to Rafters and The Block to broadcasters around the globe. Azzopardi loves the energy of working in independent distribution and has been with Beyond since 2009, representing such high profile shows such as Love It or List It, MythBusters, Deadly Women and Backyard Science to the entire Asia Pacific region.

McVay is director of content for TikTok Australia with a focus on the creator and publisher ecosystem. Prior to this McVay led the development of content strategy and partnerships for YouTube in Australia and New Zealand, working with rights-holders, original content creators and technology platforms across the music, sports, television and film industries. She was also on the team responsible for launching Google Play Movies & TV in Australia & New Zealand and led this business for the Asia Pacific region. She started her career at Fremantle Media in Sydney and New York, extending its TV franchises, like #1 rated TV Show American Idol, off-air and in the distant past was a lawyer at Mallesons.

O’Connell is an International Emmy® award-winning and nominated producer. She’s the company director at Unless Pictures where she co-created, wrote and produced Retrograde for ABC TV, co-produced with Orange Entertainment Co. O’Connell is part of Screen Australia’s Talent USA delegation for 2021.

O’Connell was the development manager on the Logie and International Emmy® award winning Ludo Studio series Bluey. During her time at Ludo, O’Connell produced the International Emmy® award-winning Doodles for ABC ME, the AACTA award-winning Robbie Hood for SBS On Demand, and Content for ABC iview. Content won a Rose d’Or was recently nominated for an International Emmy®.

O’Connell sits on the Screen Australia Gender Matters Taskforce. Unless Pictures is currently developing a slate of original work, supported by Screen Queensland Enterprise funding, and through 2021 will executive produce eight short films developing talent from diverse backgrounds.

Chang joined SBS in October 2020 as a development executive in the SBS Scripted team, which oversees and develops SBS’s pipeline of original scripted fiction projects, including drama and comedy.

As well as working across long form event series, Chang supports the development and production of SBS’s short form and feature initiatives which provide opportunities for emerging talent from often underrepresented backgrounds, to share their unique stories of contemporary Australia.

Prior to joining SBS, Chang was head of development at Lingo Pictures from 2018, working across a range of TV projects including The Secrets She Keeps (Network Ten). She has worked for many years as an external assessor for Screen Australia, and was a development executive there in 2018. Chang was previously a production executive at Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Films in London; her role encompassing production, business affairs, and film development. For Scott Free, she co-produced the feature documentary India in a Day (TIFF, Sheffield Doc/Fest), was the production executive on Mindhorn and The Aftermath, and worked as a programme associate for the TV series Taboo. At Felix Media, Chang produced the William Yang documentary trilogy (ABC), co-produced Sydney Opera House documentary Autopsy on a Dream, and supported a slate spanning feature drama, documentary, and moving image art. She has produced independently, with credits including the Ash Wednesday short in The Turning anthology (Berlinale, MIFF) and The Crossing (Annecy, winner at Sydney Film Festival, AACTA-nominated).

Naimo is a professional writer, actor, comedian and government employee. As one third of musical comedy troupe The Axis of Awesome he has toured the world and written songs and sketches that have achieved hundreds of millions of views online. Over their ten year history the Axis of Awesome built an army of fans worldwide, in part due to their hugely popular Four Chords song, which itself has over 110 million hits on YouTube.


Naimo is an accomplished solo performer and writer, having recently been the head writer on Whose Line Is It Anyway? Australia as well as writing several solo sketch shows that have toured Australia. He is also the co-creator and Creative Producer of Insert Coin, an online sketch comedy series about video games with over 2 million views. Since 2018 he has worked for Screen Australia as a senior investment manager in the online department, where he has worked across hundreds of successful titles and established partnerships with Snapchat, SBS, YouTube, ABC and more.

Ayres is an award-winning Australian showrunner, writer and director. He was founding member of internationally renowned production company Matchbox Pictures, but now runs his own production company Tony Ayres Productions (TAP).

Ayres was the showrunner on International Emmy and BAFTA nominated series, The Slap and an EP on its US remake. He co-created multi-award winning series Glitch (3 seasons), EP on International Emmy nominated Wanted (3 seasons), The Devil’s Playground, Old School, Underground: The Julian Assange Story, The Straits and comedy series’ The Family Law (3 seasons), Bogan Pride and Maximum Choppage. He produced miniseries Barracuda and the multi-award winning Seven Types of Ambiguity. He created and executive produced the International Emmy and BAFTA award winning Nowhere Boys and directed the multi-award-winning TV movie, Saved.

In feature films, Ayres directed Cut Snake (2015), The Home Song Stories (2007) winner of 24 international and Australian awards, and Walking on Water (2002), which premiered at the Berlinale. He was the EP on Ali’s Wedding and Lou.

Most recently, Ayres was the showrunner on US Netflix series Clickbait, and co-created and EP’d refugee detention centre drama Stateless alongside Cate Blanchett and Elise McCredie.

Scanlen appeared as Amma Crellin opposite Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson in the critically acclaimed HBO series SHARP OBJECTS, based on the novel by Gillian Flynn. Airing in 2018, Eliza was included as one of The Hollywood Reporter’s “10 Rising Television Stars” that year.

In 2019 Scanlen filmed Greta Gerwig’s Little Women alongside Meryl Street, Emma Watson, Saoirse Ronan, Laura Dern and Timothee Chalamet, in The Devil All The Time with Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska and the leading role in Australian feature Babyteeth alongside Ben Mendelsohn and Essie Davis, for which she won the AACTA for Best Lead Actress.

Scanlen made her main stage debut alongside Mia Wasikowska in the Sydney Theatre Company’s The Lord Of The Flies followed by her Broadway debut in To Kill A Mockingbird opposite Ed Harris.
In 2016 Scanlen played a recurring role in Home & Away and filmed the title role in Grace, an award-winning short film for Causeway Films which has screened at numerous festivals around the world.

Scanlen has just completed filming M Night Shyamalan’s Old, due for release in 2021.

Page-Lochard will next be seen in Stan’s Eden, Daniel Askill’s Lunacy and Tyson Wade Johnston’s Streamline.

Page-Lochard starred as Cleverman in the ground-breaking series Cleverman, which premiered at the 2016 Berlin Film Festival and aired on SUNDANCE TV in the US.

Page-Lochard made his feature film debut in Rachel Perkins’ Bran Nue Dae. His other feature film credits include Spear, which premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, The Sapphires, which screened in Official Selection at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and Around The Block which screened at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

Television credits include Harrow, Les Norton, Soul Mates, Wentworth, Tidelands, Water Rats, SBS’ East West 101, and Shadow Trackers.

Page-Lochard has appeared on stage with Belvoir; the Bangarra Dance Theatre; the Sydney Theatre Company; the Queensland Theatre Company; and Company B.

Short films include Adrian Wills’ Arcadia and Wayne Blair’s Black Talk and The Djarn Djarns, which won the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival.

Page-Lochard wrote, directed and starred in the short film Djali which premiered at the 2018 Sydney Film Festival. He directed ABC’s family show Thalu, has written and directed for Playschool and is in development on several television and feature film projects as writer and director.

Carrera has worked in the screen and arts industry for over fifteen years with some of Australia’s most renowned actors, creatives, musicians and media personalities across screen projects locally and internationally. She is the director of PR company Carrera Press Agency and a founding partner of Dollhouse Pictures, a production company with an ethos to produce female lead creative projects alongside Rose Byrne, Shannon Murphy, Krew Boylan and Gracie Otto. Previous to this she was in-house publicist at leading Australian theatrical agency, Shanahan Management. In 2015, Carrera was a finalist in The B&T Women in Media Awards. Carrera was a recipient of Screen Australia’s Enterprise People funding as she transitioned across producing and was named by Screen Producer’s Australia as ‘One to Watch for 2018’ She received an ACCTA nomination for the short film Chlorine directed by Melissa Anastasi and has produced work with a number of award-winning directors including Shannon Murphy ( Eaglehawk) , Goran Stoleveski ( My Boy Oleg) , Phoebe Tonkin and her short directorial debut Furlough and Desert Dash ( Gracie Otto). She was an associate producer on feature documentary The Last Impresario, and Executive Producer on Morgana and Under The Volcano.

Most recently Carrera produced the feature film Seriously Red, a bold dramedy set to a Dolly Parton soundtrack, executive produced by Rose Byrne under The Dollhouse Pictures banner. Dollhouse Pictures has a growing slate of film and TV projects with partners including Aquarius Films.

Sandler is an award-winning screenwriter whose credits include all three seasons of Matchbox Picture’s Glitch (ABC, an AWGIE-nominated episode of Grace Beside Me (Magpie Pictures for ABC), A Place To Call Home (Seven Productions for Foxtel) and Ready For This (Blackfella/Werner for the ABC). Along with David Hannam, Giula script produced the second series of NBCU/Matchbox’s Nowhere Boys, which won the 2015 Logie for Most Outstanding Children’s Program and has been nominated for an International Emmy as well as an AACTA. Her other credits include Wentworth, Love Child, McLeod’S Daughters and Rescue: Special Ops.

In 1996 Darcy-Smith co‐founded the successful Australian Filmmaker Collective Blue-Tongue Films. In 2010 the group was awarded The GQ Award for ‘Creative Force of the Year’, and In 2013, in Los Angeles, they were honoured with the prestigious AIF/Fox Studios, Orry-Kelly International Award’ for services to the Australian film industry.

Darcy-Smith’s debut feature film as director and co-writer, Wish You Were Here, starring Joel Edgerton, Teresa Palmer, Felicity Price and Antony Starr was selected as the opening night film for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize. The movie subsequently enjoyed a successful three month theatrical release in Australia and was released theatrically in the US the same year by Eone entertainment. Awards and nominations for WYWH include a Best Original Screenplay Award and Best Supporting Actor Award at the 2013 AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY AWARDS (AACTA’s) as well as nominations in all remaining categories, bar one. The film took out Best Film and Best Screenplay at the prestigious Australian Film Critics Circle Awards for 2013 and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2012.

Darcy-Smith’s sophomore feature, By Way of Helena (released in USA as The Duel), starring Woody Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth, Emory Cohen and Alice Bragga was released theatrically by Lionsgate in June 2016, opening across the United States to positive reviews.

Darcy-Smith’s television directing credits include Jack Irish series 1 (as series set-up director; eps 1 & 2) for Easy Tiger Productions & ABC TV, Wolf Creek series 2 (eps 3 & 4) for Stan and Reef Break (eps 3, 9 & 10) for ABC/Disney Studios America.

As an actor Darcy-Smith’s feature film roles include – Two Hands (1999), The Cave (2005), September (2007), The Square (2008), Animal Kingdom (2010) and The Reef (2010). He has over 30 acting credits in television and film. Darcy-Smith can currently be seen in the role of Vinnie ‘The Prez’ Williams, in Mr Inbetween (season 2) streaming internationally.

Fennessy understands what it takes to produce consistently high quality, high performance content. The former CEO of production and content powerhouse Shine, Fennessy has overseen an extraordinary portfolio of television franchises and super brands that cross genres – from blockbuster unscripted hits to critically acclaimed (and wildly popular) scripted series.

Ranked No.1 in the Australian Financial Review’s Cultural List, Fennessy sits at the top of the mountain when it comes to creators and suppliers of premium content. A respected producer and entrepreneur, Fennessy has an enviable record of steering independent production groups to enormous success. From boutique indie label Crackerjack to the formation of Fremantlemedia to launching Shine with Elisabeth Murdoch and then overseeing the local merger of Endemol and Shine – it’s an extraordinary story of accomplishment.

Beyond his achievements as chief executive, Fennessy is an active producer and executive producer of premium scripted content. Recent credits include Lambs of God, Wake in Fright, Mystify, RFDS, Sisters, Blue Murder/Killer Cop, Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door, Catching Milat, The Beautiful Lie, Offspring and INXS: Never Tear Us Apart.

Earlier in his career, Fennessy spent more than 10 years as executive producer at both Nine & MTV Networks becoming Head of MTV Australia at the age of 26.

In 2017 Fennessy was awarded an Order of Australia recognizing his significant service to the broadcast industry as an entrepreneur, innovator and production executive.

McMillan is an accomplished formats expert with over 20 years in the international television industry and a proven track record of selling formats and completed shows globally across all genres and platforms.

As a senior sales manager for ABC Commercial – Content Sales, McMillan is responsible for licensing current hit ABC formats such as You Can’t Ask That, The Great Australian Bee Challenge and Review, she has a career stretching back to formats such as Grumpy Old Men and Women and Don’t Drop the Baby.

In her current role, she leads the ABC’s formats business, representing ABC-commissioned and independently acquired content particularly drawing on the ABC’s strengths in factual, children’s, drama, comedy and lifestyle. Previously McMillan was the senior sales executive at ID Distribution in the UK, where she was responsible for launching and selling a cross genre catalogue of formats and completed programming internationally. Prior to that she was commercial executive at the BBC in the UK responsible for BBC co-productions across multiple genres. McMillan has extensive experience in content distribution and a keen eye for spotting world leading formats.

Williams established his prolific career during a golden period of entertainment and reality programming and has spear-headed many of the shows that have driven the UK’s “water cooler moments” of the past 23 years such as Big Brother, Celebrity Big Brother, Dragons’ Den (Shark Tank), Stars in Their Eyes and You’ve Been Framed. He’s given 10 people a million pounds to give away on Unanimous and in Space Cadets convinced a group of people that they were in space, rather than in Ipswich.


Before founding Interstellar, Williams was the creative director of BBC Entertainment North, and has produced and executive produced at indies including Fox Television Studios UK, Endemol and ITV Studios. Williams also spent six years in commissioning at Channel 4 as a commissioning editor in both the Entertainment and Factual Entertainment teams and as the Editor of E4, where he commissioned shows including Made In Chelsea, Playing It Straight, and Tool Academy.

Katz has been a content editor in KAN-IPBC specializing in music and entertainment for the last 4 years. The role includes overseeing the production of all You Can’t Ask That seasons that KAN has acquired so far.
Katz was also the Head of Israeli delegation to the Eurovision Son Contest from 2017 to 2020.
From 2010 to 2016, Katz was producing the Eurovision Song Contest broadcast at the IBA (the previous Israeli public broadcaster). In addition Katz was a Content editor and producer of original programs in the IBA.

Chayko is an award-winning writer and director of film and television.

She was the showrunner on Safe Harbour which won the 2019 International Emmy for best TV Series and The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Awards for best screenplay.

Writing credits for television include the mini-series Stateless (ABC), which earned her an AWGIE award nomination for Best Series, an AACTA Award nomination for Best Screenplay in Television and a C21Media Award Nomination for Best International Miniseries; Secret City (Foxtel), Barracuda (ABC), for which Belinda won an Australian Writers Guild (AWGIE) Award and Fighting Season (Foxtel).

Chayko’s 2010 feature film Lou starring John Hurt screened in competition at a number of international film festivals, including Busan, Rome and Palm Springs. Lou also won the Audience Award for Best Feature at the Festival International de Films de Femmes de Créteil, and the Grand Jury Prize at the St Tropez Film Festival.

Her first feature, City Loop, premiered at Toronto International Film Festival. Chayko has also made a number of award-winning short films, and wrote the AWGIE award-winning telemovie, Saved (SBS).

Swift is Nine’s Head of content production & development working across the 9Network’s broadcast and digital video businesses. His role involves working with internal teams and external production partners to commission and develop shows that embody the 9Network’s brand and attract audiences on any device. He works across on-air, digital and social media to ensure our program brands reach the biggest possible audience wherever they are.

Behrendt is an award-winning filmmaker, novelist and writer with a passion for telling the stories of Indigenous Australia. Appointed Distinguished Professor at the University of Technology Sydney, Behrendt has a legal background and is an experienced researcher. She also won the Australian Directors Guild Award for her documentary After the Apology in 2017. Behrendt also wrote and directed the Walkley-nominated documentary, Innocence Betrayed that aired on NITV in 2014. Her short film, Under Skin, In Blood (2015) screened at Sydney Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival.

Her short film Clan won Best Documentary at both the Canberra Short Film Festival and the Shorts Film Festival in Adelaide in 2015. Her short film, Barbara, was been nominated for an AACTA award and a Dendy Award in 2018. Her short documentaries Syrons Call (2014), Who’s Afraid of Jason Wing? (2014) and Djon Mundine: In the Spirit of Bungaree (2015). Behrendt wrote and Directed Rosemary Valadon: A Sensual World (2017) for ABC Arts. She wrote and directed Maralinga Tjarutja which aired on the ABC in 2020. Most recently, she wrote and directed Araatika! Rise Up which was selected for MIFF, Sydney Film Festival and Cinefest Oz. She is the host of Speaking Out on the ABC National Radio network.