MEDIA RELEASE: Screenworks Announces Second Round of Guest Speakers for Regional to Global 2025 and One-on-Ones Open for Applications

7 May, 2025 – Screenworks is thrilled to announce the second wave of guest speakers confirmed for Regional to Global 2025, taking place in Lennox Head from 18–20 June, 2025. This special 25th anniversary edition of the event is shaping up to be one of the most inspiring and compelling forums yet for regional screen creatives.

Joining the previous 10 guest speakers announced are another 12 celebrated voices from across the screen industry including the big screen agency heads, trailblazing producers and visionary creatives with more still to come.

Newly announced guest speakers:

These esteemed guests join our first announced speakers, who include:

With this announcement, one-on-one bookings with guest speakers are now live through Regional to Global Connections, and tickets are now at full price. This year’s event will include insightful panels, case studies and networking opportunities, creating invaluable space for regional creatives to connect with key industry decision-makers from broadcasters, streamers, production companies and more.

Full speaker bios follow below.

Deirdre Brennan has extensive experience as an executive in the domestic and international screen sector. Prior to joining Screen Australia in 2024, Deirdre was the Chief Operating Officer of WildBrain, a global independent media entertainment company spanning content production, distribution and brands licensing. Previously, Deirdre worked at BBC Worldwide Australia as the Director of Television, General Manager and Director of Content. Her former roles include Head of Children’s Television at ABC TV and General Manager of Universal Kids at NBC Universal.

Kyas Hepworth is an accomplished industry leader known for authentic collaboration and agility, ability to bring cultural change and strong stakeholder relations, negotiation skills and execution of government policy.

As the Head of Screen NSW, Kyas spearheads the state’s film and production strategy and advances NSW’s position both in digital games and as one of the leading national and international screen and post-production destinations. Kyas leads a dedicated team to deliver innovative funding programs, services and initiatives that champion storytellers and creative workers in the screen and digital games industry.

Her extensive creative expertise spans across feature films, documentaries, television series, and web series. Prior to joining Screen NSW, Kyas served as the Head of Commissioning and Programming at NITV working within SBS, and has worked with esteemed organisations including the Australian Film Television and Radio School and Screen Australia. Kyas currently sits on the Board of AusFilm and has held positions as a board member for MediaRing and the Australian International Documentary Conference. She was an inaugural member of the Screen Diversity and Inclusion Network (SDIN) and was previously an ambassador for the Natalie Miller Fellowship.

In 2021 Kyas was honoured as an Official Competition Jury Member for the 68th Sydney Film Festival, and in 2023 she was selected as a Featured Speaker at the inaugural SXSW Sydney. Her well attended fireside chat ‘Burn it to the Ground- Creative Leadership’ was facilitated by Holly Ransom.

Jacqui Feeney commenced as Screen Queensland CEO in late July 2023. Previously she held senior management roles at leading national and global media and entertainment companies including Fox Networks Group, National Geographic, Foxtel, SBS World Movies where she led major commissions and growth initiatives.

Jacqui is experienced in innovation, strategic partnerships, balancing commercial and creative imperatives for large enterprises. Through her business Zinn & Co, she’s been an advisor, executive coach, and consultant to business founders across start-ups and the independent production sector — with a strong focus on supporting the next generation of innovation champions. Jacqui has held a range of board responsibilities — including directorships with start-up incubator Fishburners, Foxtel joint-ventures Nickelodeon and XYZ, the ASTRA industry association, plus NFPs Documentary Australia and the Sydney Film Festival where she was the chair. She strongly believes in fostering great storytelling as a powerful force for positive change in society. Jacqui holds a Bachelor of Arts from Macquarie University, a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from UTS and a GAICD from Company Directors.

Holly Trueman Holly’s journey into the TV/Film industry began as a distraction while completing her PhD in Malaria Research in London. She has been working in the industry in the UK and Australia for over 20 years. Not surprisingly she was drawn to documentary productions and spent time working at the Specialist Factual unit at the BBC headquarters at White City and was head researcher at the ABC flagships weekly Science TV show, Catalyst.

Prior to joining Screen Canberra, Holly served as Head of Production and Executive Producer at Wildbear Entertainment, where she managed people, as well as film and television projects across multiple offices in Australia and New Zealand. Her TV producing credits include Ride: A brutal fairy-tale (Adelaide Film Festival, Boulder Film Festival and ABC), Animal Bushfire Rescue (PBS Nature, ARTE), Human Animal (ARTE, ZDF), Great Australian Stuff with Tony Armstrong (ABC), Reefshot (STAN Original), Australia after War (ABC) and Building to the Sky (Discovery Science, Red Arrow).

Holly started her tertiary education in Canberra, graduating with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from the ANU and completed a Doctor of Philosophy at Imperial College London.

She is passionate about managing teams and good governance, having done various professional courses to extend her skills in these areas. Holly brings a holistic approach to Screen Canberra looking to support both the incredible emerging talent and the amazing practitioners who are living in Canberra.

Catherine Nebauer has had over 25 years of experience in the media space in a wide range of roles including channel management, distribution and as an Executive Producer.

Since joining the Northern Pictures team in September 2014, she has had a slate of over 600 episodes commissioned in both Australia and internationally including preschool and factual entertainment series and a large slate of original programming commissioned by Nat Geo Kids Latin America.

In 2018 Catherine led the team for the scripted comedy drama series Hardball, commissioned by the ABC – the series went to air in April 2019 to stellar audience numbers and numerous award nominations and wins including and International Emmy for best youth fiction, The Japan Prize, the prestigious Fiction award at Prix Jeunesse and numerous others. Season 2 of Hardball went on to be selected and win further awards. Catherine Executive Produced the comedy series Spreadsheet, starring Katherine Parkinson, for Paramount + and UK’s Channel 4.

More recently Catherine Executive Produced Austin for ABC, BBC and ITV Studios. The series stars Ben Miller (Professor T, Bridgerton,) Sally Phillips (Veep, Bridget Jones Diary) and Michael Theo (Love on the Spectrum) in his debut screen role. The show has just gone to air on the BBC and is the number one comedy series across the genre. Season 2 of Austin is now in post-production. She is currently Executive Producer and Head of Scripted at Northern Pictures where she oversees a slate of original fiction projects.

Lisa Shaunessy is a multi-award-winning film and television producer with over two decades of experience across both independent and studio productions. She has held executive roles at the helm of production companies for Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe during the making of THE WOLVERINE and THE WATER DIVINER, and was the co-founder of Arcadia, a leading Australian production and distribution company.

Lisa’s work spans critically acclaimed and commercially successful projects, including the AACTA-nominated sci-fi feature 2067, starring Oscar nominee Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ryan Kwanten, and Gold Logie winner Deborah Mailman.

The film set Australian streaming records on Netflix and topped charts on Hulu and iTunes in North America. She also produced the SXSW hit SISSY, pre-sold globally to Shudder and nominated for Best Film at both the AACTA and SPA Awards. Her television credits include the Berlinale-selected WHILE THE MEN ARE AWAY (SBS), nominated for multiple national awards and winner of Best Music at the APRA AMCOS Screen Music Awards.

Her other productions include the features IN VITRO (Madman), starring Ashley Zukerman and awarded runner-up in the Audience Award at the Sydney Film Festival; KILLING GROUND (IFC), starring Harriet Dyer, which premiered at Sundance; THE FURIES (Shudder/StudioCanal), which won Best Australian Film at Monster Fest following its international premiere at Sitges; and the provocative BLACK & WHITE & SEX which premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Her television work also includes SLAMMIN’ SAM (Foxtel), winner of the Australian Sports Commission Media Award, and the AACTA Award-winning series HIPSTERS (SBS), starring Gold Logie winner Samuel Johnson.

Lisa is a graduate of AFTRS, an alumna of TAP, and a Small Giants Fellow. She is based between Orange, NSW and Northern Tasmania.

Julie Hanna Commissions include The Assembly, The Piano, I Was Actually There, Maggie Beer’s Big Mission, The Role of a Lifetime, Old People’s Home for 4 year olds, Old People’s Home for Teenagers, Magda’s Big National Health Check, Great Southern Landscapes, The ABC of…, The School that Tried to End Racism, Knowing The Score, Finding the Archibald, Brazen Hussies, Reef Live, Further Back In Time for Dinner, Anh’s Brush with Fame, Shaun Micallef’s On the Sauce, Aftermath: Beyond Black Saturday, Australia Talks, Restoration Australia, Brazen Hussies and Tick F**king Tock (the story of the Doug Anthony Allstars).

Julie has worked extensively as an Executive Producer, Series Producer and Director across a wide range of genres. Before starting at the ABC, Julie worked in the independent production sector at KEO Films Australia as Head of Development, ITV as an Executive Producer and at the Seven Network and at SBS.

Julie works across a broad range of programmes including factual, lifestyle, entertainment, comedy and long form documentaries. Julie is passionate about exploring stories that examine social issues and push the boundaries with innovative storytelling techniques.

Melanie Rowland is a Melbourne-based drama producer specialising in young adult, coming-of-age stories. Most notably, she has produced the hit Australian teen drama series ‘Flunk,’ which has amassed a global audience of over 200 million views on YouTube, is streamed on platforms including Peacock, Amazon, Tubi, and Plex, and is broadcast in the US, Europe, Africa, and Australia. In addition to seven seasons of the show, ‘Flunk’ has spawned 6 movies set in the cinematic universe, as well as a New Zealand spin-off.

Prior to launching her own production company, Lilydale Films, in 2018, Melanie worked as a producer and production manager across a number of digital series, including ‘Neighbours vs Time Travel,’ ‘Footballer Wants A Wife,’ and ‘LOL.’ Other film and TV production credits include ‘Neighbours,’ ‘Holding The Man,’ ‘Please Like Me,’ ‘Get Krack!n’,’ ‘Ronny Chieng: International Student,’ and ‘Significant Others.’

Kim Mourdant “The Rocket” (Produced by Sylvia Wilczynski) Kim’s debut drama feature as writer/director, won over 45 awards, including ADG Best Director, Best Original Screenplay at the AACTA and AWGIES, major awards at Berlin, Tribeca, American Film Institute, Sydney & Melbourne festivals and touring with Sundance Film Forward. It has 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and sold to over 40 countries. Kim directed on the 8×1 hour ABC drama series “Wakefield”, which premiered to 5-star rave reviews, named “Best Australian Drama of 2021” by The Guardian and was nominated for 8 AACTA Awards including Best Drama Series and Kim as Best Director. It sold to Showtime US.

Following this he directed on the ABC/NBC miniseries “Fires”, EPs Belinda Chayko, Tony Ayres and Liz Watts. It received rave reviews and won the AACTA for Best Miniseries and the Silver Logie. Kim then directed on “Boy Swallows Universe” produced by Brouhaha Entertainment for Netflix, produced by Andrew Mason and Troy Lum, EP’s Sophie Gardener and Joel Edgerton. It reached number 1 on Netflix Australia, number 2 on Netflix US and UK, & number 3 globally with a 5-star review from the Sydney Morning Herald. “Boy Swallows Universe” won Best Mini Series at both the Logies and AACTAs. Kim grew up in the Northern Rivers and has now moved back to the area. Kim’s mother was Indian Mauritian and his father English. His extended family are Fijian Indian, Indonesian, Chinese, English and Polish.

Kirsty Stark is an Emmy award winning producer whose screen credits include children’s series First Day (8 international awards including an Emmy), 13x AACTA award winning drama series Stateless (co-producer for Matchbox Pictures), and groundbreaking ABC iview series, Wastelander Panda. Having come to producing via five years in the camera department, she has a strong commitment to change behind the scenes, particularly in areas that promote crew wellbeing, career sustainability and industry diversity.

In 2023, Kirsty launched CrewHQ, an online platform to support freelance crew across their careers. Bringing together her experience in production and camera department, as well as her history of coaching and mentorship, the site combines a nationwide hiring marketplace for freelancers with an annual conference, CrewCon. Kirsty is also Co-Chair of The Mercury, and co-host of the We Interrupt This Broadcast podcast.

Clare Sladden is a Meanjin/Brisbane-based writer with a passion for female-driven stories. Her television credits include Good Cop/Bad Cop (Jungle Entertainment & Future Shack for Stan, Roku & The CW), NCIS: Sydney (Endemol Shine AU for Paramount+) and Eden (Every Cloud Productions for Stan). Most recently, Clare wrote an episode of Sunny Nights (Jungle Entertainment & Echo Lake Entertainment for Stan), which is set to premiere in 2025. In the audio space, Clare wrote on the Wentworth spin-off podcast (Fremantle Media for Audible), and she wrote, directed and co-produced Winding Road, a narrative podcast funded by Audible and Screen Queensland that stars Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things) and Yael Stone (Orange is the New Black). Clare has also been awarded Screen Australia development funding for her debut feature Sophie Next Door, which she’ll write, direct and co-produce.

Michael Theo is an actor and voice over artist. Most recently he has been seen in the leading role of the ABC comedy series Austin (Northern Pictures), and more recently completed filming series 2 of this hugely successful series. As reviewed by David Knox/TV Tonight ‘Theo nails his scenes alongside more experienced performers, with all the required comic timing’. His exceptional performance in the show earned him recognition as one of the CGA’s Rising Stars in 2024. Additionally, he was nominated for an AACTA Award for ‘Best Acting in a Comedy’ at the 2025 Awards.

Previously Michael was the break-out star of the ABC/Northern Pictures documentary series, Love on the Spectrum 1 & 2. LotS was a heart-warming hugely successful series which followed Michael and other young adults on the autism spectrum as they explored the unpredictable world of love, dating and relationships. Michael captured the hearts of viewers with his dapper style, unintentionally hilarious one liners, big heart and warm personality. He quickly became a fan favourite not only in Australia but around the world, and appeared on many interview shows including his favourite, Ellen, in the US.

Prior to Austin, Michael made his professional acting debut in the Emmy award-winning kids drama, HardBall, also produced by Northern Pictures for ABC Television. He is especially keen to work on comedies, animations and other voice roles in film and television projects and he has an array of character voices up his sleeve!

Michael also recently recorded a voice role for an Australian animation series; as well as also having been the subject of an Australian Story episode for ABC. On top of this he has also appeared as a guest on Alice Zaslavsky’s A Bite to Eat with Alice (ABC).

A passionate animal activist, nature lover, avid railway enthusiast, Michael is a strong believer in ‘it’s our differences that make us all special’. He has used both his online platforms and widely successful podcast, Mr A+ (DM Podcasts) to create a safe space to express & celebrate these differences and continues to invite many fascinating people from all walks of life to come forward and share their interesting stories with the world.

Outside of the creative world, Michael is an Ambassador for Wable (an app designed to help neurodivergent people facilitate connections for friendship). He also works at Aspect Autism as a consultant.