WHO IS THIS EVENT FOR?

This event is intended for women already working in the Austalian screen industry and looking to move forward into leadership and senior roles within the industry. 

OUR SPEAKERS

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: PEGGY O’NEAL AO

Peggy has been president of the Richmond Football Club since October 2013, having served on the Club's board since 2005. She is the first woman to be president of an AFL club and, in 2017, the Richmond Football Club won the premiership for the first time in 37 years. Peggy has specialised in financial services law for more than 25 years and has been a consultant to Lander and Rogers since 2011.

In 2018, she was made an Honorary Doctor of Laws by Swinburne University for her work in gender equality and developing sport leaders and in 2019 Peggy was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for her services to Australian rules football, financial services law and women in leadership roles. In September 2014 Peggy was named as one of the Financial Review/Westpac 100 Women of Influence and as one of the Women's Weekly 50 Most Powerful Women in Australia.

PANELLIST: DEANNE WEIR, Media Entrepreneur, Company Director and Philanthropist

A media entrepreneur, company director and philanthropist, Deanne Weir has more than 25 years’ experience in media and communications. Deanne chairs the boards of two private companies in which her company WeirAnderson.com is a significant investor: Hoodlum, an Emmy and BAFTA award-winning production company, and Ai-Media, a technology and social innovation company.  In 2017 Deanne was appointed chair of the Sydney Film Festival. Deanne was a board member of Screen Australia for eight years until 2016 and was instrumental in the development of its Gender Matters program. She remains a member of its Gender Matters Taskforce.

PANELLIST: CHRIS OLIVER-TAYLOR, CEO Fremantle Asia Pacific

Chris started his career at the BBC in London. He emigrated to Australia in 2000 and worked at the ABC, before being promoted to Head of Production in 2005. In 2011, Chris moved to the independent production sector as Managing Director of Matchbox Pictures. Matchbox won 20 AACTA Awards, an International Emmy, 9 TV Week Logie Awards and 9 Screen Producers of Australia Awards, including 3 times Producer of the Year whilst Chris was at the helm. In 2018, Chris was appointed Fremantle’s CEO Asia Pacific. He leads the development and production of the company’s scripted and unscripted programming.

PANELLIST: GENEVIEVE BAILEY, Filmmaker

Genevieve Bailey’s films have screened in 50 countries winning over 30 awards to date. I AM ELEVEN (2011), her ambitious first feature documentary, was shot in 15 countries and in 12 languages. It received critical acclaim and a theatrical release in Australia spanning over 8 months including a record 26 weeks at Cinema Nova in Melbourne. Her other recent directing credits include THE FUNNY ONES (ABC TV, 2017) and JUDGING THE GATWICK (Premiered St Kilda Film Festival 2019). HAPPY SAD MAN (2018) is her second feature length documentary and will be released theatrically in Australia in October.

FACILITATOR: MIM BARTLETT

Mim Bartlett is a highly successful keynote speaker, facilitator, executive coach, collaborator and connector, with more than 19 years’ experience delivering career development programs that increase executive’s confidence, success and optimism for clients such as Suncorp, NAB and Aesop. Mim is one of the 2015 winners of the Australian Financial Review and Westpac 100 Women of Influence Awards. She is also deeply involved in social justice work as an advocate, fundraiser and mentor with several organisations including the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and the Human Rights Art and Film Festival. 

OPENING ADDRESS: LISA FRENCH

Lisa French is a senior member of academic staff in the School of Media and Communication. She has taught in undergraduate and postgraduate Cinema Studies, Media, and Communication courses and consulted to industry organisations such as The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), The Australian Film Institute (AFI), and the Australian Writers Guild (AWG). Since 2013 Lisa has been working with UNESCO and has contributed to the writing of several of UNESCO’s action plans on media and gender, including the plan for the Asian Pacific chapter of the Global Alliance on Media and Gender (GAMAG) written in Bali (2014).

PROGRAM DIRECTOR & EVENT MC: SANDRA SDRAULIG AM

Sandra Sdraulig AM is an Executive Coach at Through the Roof: Executive Coaching Women. She is a lawyer with more than 25 years of experience as a film and TV executive in both the commercial and cultural sectors of the screen industry. Previously, she was the CEO of Film Victoria; Director of the Melbourne International Film Festival, Film Distribution Manager for Palace, Producer and Presenter of Friday on My Mind, a weekly live interview program for screen practitioners. In 2012 she was awarded an Order of Australia for her leadership and contribution to the Australian film and TV industry. She is currently the Chair of the Adelaide Film Festival and Deputy Chair of Screen Canberra.

CLOSING ADDRESS: SUE MASLIN AO

Sue Maslin AO is one of Australia’s most successful film, television and digital content producers with a track record of creating award winning feature and documentary films. Her most recent is the smash hit The Dressmaker, starring Kate Winslet and Judy Davis. It grossed more than $20 million at the box office and garnered the highest number of nominations at the 2015 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards. 

Location

RMIT Cinema Theatre
RMIT, Building 80, 445 Swanston Street, Melbourne Victoria 3000

Contact Details

Contact Event Organiser