Film Victoria Australia

Film Victoria is the State Government agency that provides strategic leadership and assistance to the film, television and games sectors of Victoria. We invest in projects and people, and promote Victoria as a world-class production destination nationally and internationally.

Website:
film.vic.gov.au
Jeni McMahon
Jeni McMahon
Development and Investment Manager 
Profession
Bio

Jeni McMahon joined Film Victoria as Development and Investment Manager in July 2013. Prior to this she was Managing Director of Rebel Films where she produced a diverse range of highly successful, award winning documentaries with a uniquely Australian focus.  Jeni has worked with several of Australia’ s most established documentary filmmakers as well as nurturing several award winning emerging directors.

Recent  credits include  "Then the Wind Changed" winner of the 2013 AACTA Award for Best Documentary under one hour and the 2012 Walkley award for Documentary and Coniston, winner of the 2012 ATOM award for best dramatised documentary. 

Screen Australia Australia

Screen Australia is the key Federal Government direct funding body for the Australian screen production industry. Its functions are to support and promote the development of a highly creative, innovative and commercially sustainable Australian screen production industry. In addition Screen Australia administers the Government's Producer Offset and International Co-production Program to increase the commercial sustainability of production in Australia.

Screen Australia was created under the Screen Australia Act 2008 and from 1 July 2008 took over the functions and appropriations of its predecessor agencies: the Australian Film Commission (AFC), the Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) and Film Australia Limited.

Sam Griffin
Sam Griffin
Investment/Development Manager, Documentary 
Profession
Bio

Sam Griffin is an investment manager at Screen Australia who works across the International (IDP) , General (GDP) and Signature Funds. She has worked in film and television for the past 15 years. With a background in print journalism she moved from Sydney to the U.S. in 1996 where she worked as a director/producer for a New York production company. Prior to leaving the U.S. she was the supervising producer for a suite of cable TV lifestyle series. Sam has also produced and directed documentaries and theatre productions, as well as documentary for public radio.

Alyssa Orvis
Alyssa Orvis
Industry/Development Manager, Documentary 
Profession
Bio

Alyssa Orvis is an Investment / Development Manager in the Documentary Unit at Screen Australia. Prior to that she divided her time between Sydney Film Festival and the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, where she ran guest and industry teams for both events and advised on programming. She has also worked at Tribeca Film Festival, the New York Film Festival and the Bicycle Film Festival.

Elena Guest
Elena Guest
Project Manger, State and Industry Partnerships 
Profession
Bio

Elena has worked in a variety of roles within Screen Australia since 2009. Her work has included, as part of the Marketing Department, building audiences and profiling Australian films within Australia and internationally. More recently Elena has joined the State and Industry Partnerships team, working with Senior Manager, Chris Oliver, on the Enterprise Program and on building an increased Australian film and TV presence in Asia and facilitating business opportunities in new Asian markets. These strands converged in 2013 with the staging of the inaugural two- day Australia-China Documentary Forum in Beijing, a part of the Enterprise Asia program. Elena has a broad knowledge of the screen industry in Asian countries and has attended various festivals and markets including Busan International Film Festival, FICCI Frames, Asian Side of the Doc and the Sichuan TV Festival. Elena is interested in talking with you if you want to learn more about the screen industry in Asia.

Pru Donovan
Pru Donovan
Assessment Manager, Producer Offset and Co-production Unit 
Profession
Bio

Pru recently joined Screen Australia as an Assessment Manager to assess provisional and final certificate applications in the Producer Offset and Co-Production Unit (POCU). Prior to joining Screen Australia she worked for five years with the POCU as an independent film production consultant. Pru has worked extensively as an independent production accountant, financial controller, production manager and line producer in the Australian film and television industry. Her more than 20 years' industry experience includes documentary and factual series - BrightSparks for Beyond Productions, A Current Affair - Summer Edition and Michael Willesee's Street Stories for Channel 9 and on one-off documentaries - Cenotaph for the ABC and Bull Sharks in the Backyard for Nat Geo Wild. She has also worked on numerous feature films and drama mini-series including Parer's War, A Heartbeat Away, The Wolverine and Remote Area Nurse.

Erica Glynn
Erica Glynn
Head, Indigenous Department 
Profession
Bio

Erica Glynn is the Head of the Indigenous Department at Screen Australia. The funding programs of Screen Australia's Indigenous Department support creatively ambitious projects and people, and imaginative, resonant stories authored by Indigenous Australians. We aim to assist the career development of talented writers, directors and producers who have the potential to make a significant contribution to screen culture and the national cultural life by actively engaging at all stages with key creatives in the development and production of their works.

Screen Queensland Australia

Screen Queensland's role is to develop and support the local screen industry, attract production to Queensland, and celebrate an active screen culture across the State. Locally, the State is a growing force in Australia's film industry landscape and a key contributor to the creative health of our nation. Globally, Queensland is known for its stunning locations, talented crew, and attractive financial incentives.

Catherine Nebauer
Catherine Nebauer
Production Investment & Business Development Executive 
Profession
Bio

Catherine Nebauer is the Investment and Business Development Executive for Screen Queensland, where she overseas investment across television, film and multi-platform for the State Agency.  Prior to joining Screen Queensland she set up TaleFinn Entertainment. Established in 2008 TaleFinn Entertainment offers Consultancy and Executive Production services. Clients include Movie Network Channels, Studio Ish, SBS Television, Fremantle Entertainment, Foxtel and Vision Plus Entertainment (Malaysia.) Catherine was previously General Manager, SVP for Nickelodeon Asia where she oversaw distribution, ad sales, marketing and programming. Catherine was responsible for launching new channels in Korea, New Zealand as well as an 8 hour block on Free TV network Global in Indonesia. Before moving to Asia, Catherine was the Managing Director for Nickelodeon Australia where she was responsible for launching Nick Jr. as well as delivering the # 1 Channel and on line portal for kids. 

Screen Tasmania Australia

Screen Tasmania is the Tasmanian Government agency responsible for developing Tasmania’s screen industry through the production of films, television drama and documentaries and digital media. Screen Tasmania staff provide a bespoke service to industry with a clear aim of increasing production activity to create jobs and attract investment to Tasmania. It supports a broad range of productions and strives to be innovative and flexible in a rapidly changing screen industry.  In particular, Screen Tasmania’s Digital Media Fund provides investment for games, web content and animations.. Screen Tasmania is also committed to funding factual entertainment productions and has a proud history of supporting successful documentaries.

Ms Karena Slaninka
Ms Karena Slaninka
Director 
Profession
Bio

Karena has a background as a writer, producer and script developer and has worked across film and television in Australia and the UK. She has successfully run her own production company Pagan Films, developing and producing drama and and documentaries including the award winning Orientations: Chris Doyle, Stirred Not Shaken. For the past ten years she has worked as a development and production executive for various funding agencies including the former FFC and Screen NSW. She is currently the Director of Screen Tasmania, positioning the local industry for growth in online content creation, championing the voice of regional Australia and driving increased production activity to underpin long term industry sustainability.

Andrew McPhail
Andrew McPhail
Business and Production Investment Manager 
Profession
Bio

Andrew joined the Screen Tasmania team with over 25 years experience in the industry as an Executive Producer, Producer and Writer.

Andrew produced some of the most acclaimed music videos of the 1980s and Alex Proyas' debut cult feature film Spirits of The Air - Gremlins of the Clouds. In 2001 Andrew co-produced the award winning feature film He Died With a Felafel in his Hand.

Andrew has also developed a variety of projects, writing several film treatments and screenplays including co-writing the feature film adaptation of the book Leftovers, which was selected for the prestigious scriptwriting workshop Aurora 2005 working with Gus van Sant and John Sayles.

Always passionate about the screen industry, Andrew continues to relish the opportunities for innovation in this exciting and ever changing field.

Screen West Australia

ScreenWest is Western Australia's screen funding and development agency, committed to working in partnership with the screen industry to develop, support and promote film, television and digital media production in Western Australia.

Ryan Hodgson
Ryan Hodgson
Productions Investment Manager 
Profession
Bio

Ryan has worked in the Australian screen industry for 18 years.  His drama producing credits include the feature films BLAME (Melbourne, Toronto and Chicago international film festivals and Cannes Cinephiles) and JUSTICE (Marcus Graham, Kerry Armstrong, Simon Westaway).  He has also produced over 80 advertising campaigns totalling over 170 commercials.  His commercial work has been a finalist and winner at the Campaign Brief Awards (Best TV Advertisement, Best TV Campaign) and Perth Advertising and Design Club Awards (Gold, Silver, Bronze Awards), a finalist at the AWARD Awards and featured on www.bestadsontv.com.

Ryan has previously worked as a Project Officer at ScreenWest (twice managing the agency's Screen Industry Partnership Fund) and was the Western Australian Chapter Head of Screen Producers Australia (SPA) for a three and a half year period between 2008-2011.  Ryan has been in his current role at ScreenWest for 18 months.

South Australian Film Corporation Australia

The South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC)is the state Government agency responsible for Adelaide Studios and for the state’s thriving screen industry.

Established in 1972, we have continuously been at the forefront, pushing the boundaries and remaining open to innovation and change.

South Australia's reputation as Australia's home of independent filmmaking has been built on our state’s stunning locations, award winning crews, and legacy of successful film titles that have resonated with audiences worldwide for more than 40 years.

Our aim is to empower the South Australian screen production industry to achieve success. We do this by working closely with South Australian practitioners, businesses, industry bodies and other stakeholders to create a sophisticated, dynamic film and television industry that prospers in a rapidly changing world and which makes a significant contribution to South Australia’s cultural and economic wellbeing.

Sarah Lancaster
Sarah Lancaster
Business Development Executive 
Profession
Bio

Sarah’s role at the SAFC is to deliver the Seed and Production Attraction Grant programs for IDP.  

Previously Sarah spent several years at the Sydney Film Festival covering countless miles as the Travelling Film Festival Manager.  In 2013 she was Conference Manager for AIDC’s inaugural DocWeek and in 2012 produced the Industry Conference at Hot Docs in Toronto. In other lives she has worked at TIFF, the Adelaide Film Festival, Worldwide Short Film Festival and the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.

Sandy Lepore
Sandy Lepore
Development Executive 
Profession
Bio

Sandy’s role is to deliver the SAFC's development investment programs and programs delivered through Screen Culture organisations. Sandy Lepore is a passionate industry professional with over twenty years’ experience in screen content creation. Seven of those years have been with the SAFC where she has worked across many programs including Drama Development, Documentary Development and Production, the Short Film Fund, the IDEA fund and the Attachment Scheme.  Previous to the SAFC Sandy worked as a freelance writer and director whose award winning films screened at international film festivals including Berlin, Aspen, Palm Springs and Sydney.  Her projects have been broadcast on SBS and ABC as well internationally in the USA, Italy, Israel and the Czech Republic.  She also worked as a university lecturer teaching screen writing, directing and acting for screen.  She is a Directing graduate of the AFTRS and has an honours degree from Flinders University

Andrada Tudor
Andrada Tudor
Special Projects Executive 
Profession
Bio

As Special Projects Executive, Andrada delivers special projects for the SAFC including all Special Initiatives, the Indigenous Initiative, Short Film Fund, FilmLab, Digital360Lab and projects focused on the continual systems improvement of IDP. 

After completing a Bachelor of Creative Arts at Flinders University she worked at the Australian International Documentary Conference, in freelance video production work, and on a number of emerging short film productions and a low budget feature. Following that, within the SAFC Andrada has mostly worked within IDP as a project officer, managing professional development, travel and attendance grants and workshops. She has also worked in Communications and Marketing, and with IT as the Information Systems Analyst, and has been involved in two program reviews, the relocation to the Adelaide Studios, two FilmLab workshops, and many funding initiatives, giving her a strong knowledge of the organisation, local industry activity, and stakeholders.

Melissa Juhanson
Melissa Juhanson
Production Executive 
Profession
Bio

Melissa’s role is to deliver the SAFC production investment programs across what was previously divided amongst documentary, digital media and drama projects. 

Melissa is an award winning filmmaker who has worked in the film and arts industries for over twenty years.  Melissa has managed various SAFC programs and overseen SAFC investment interests in hundreds of Documentary, Drama & Digital Media projects as well as numerous special development and production initiatives. Prior to working at the SAFC Melissa’s work as a filmmaker includes award winning short films and broadcast documentaries as producer, director and editor. Melissa is a graduate of Swinburne film school in Melbourne (now VCA) and her films have screened at  film festivals internationally including Venice, Oberhausen, Cork, Melbourne, Sydney, Clermont-Ferrand International and Edinburgh. She has taught film production and theory at the University of Melbourne and Bachelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education.