Australia’s Bus Stop Films adds former Screen NSW head Kyas Hepworth to board

Australian not-for-profit social enterprise and producer Bus Stop Films has appointed former Screen NSW head Kyas Hepworth to its board.

Kyas Hepworth

Bus Stop Films also announced the departure of board members Jennifer Collins and Joanna Agius.

Hepworth is a seasoned advocate for emerging, under-represented and First Nations screen practitioners and drove the development of First Nations content while serving as SBS’s head of commissioning and programming at NITV.

When Hepworth joined Screen NSW in 2022, she was the first indigenous executive to be appointed as a head of a screen funding agency. She left Screen NSW last December after three years that saw New South Wales experience its highest level of screen production activity.

She has also served as head of indigenous at the Australian Film and Television School and at Screen Australia as an investment and development manager, in addition to holding board positions for AusFilm, Australian International Documentary Conference, the Screen Diversity Inclusion Network and NIDA academic board.

Hepworth joins as Bus Stop Films focuses on consolidating its national programmes and growing its employment and training services to the commercial arts, media and production sectors. The social enterprise is also preparing for the release of its first feature film, Boss Cat.

Hepworth said: “Bus Stop Films is doing work that is genuinely transformative not just for the participants it supports, but for the screen industry as a whole. Intersectional inclusion isn’t a box to tick, it makes our storytelling richer and our industry stronger. I’m honoured to join the board and look forward to contributing to the next chapter of this remarkable organisation.”