Board Members

Dustin Clare is known to audiences as an award-winning and internationally renowned Australian actor, recognised for his roles on TV in McLeod’s Daughters, Underbelly, Satisfaction, ANZAC Girls, Strikeback, Tidelands, Reef Break, Wolf Creek, Glitch, Rosehaven and recently Doctor Doctor, Eden and Pieces of Her. He is well known internationally for his starring role as Gannicus alongside Lucy Lawless and John Hannah in the US series Spartacus: War of the Damned, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, and Spartacus: Vengeance. On the big screen, Dustin has made his mark in Fred Schepisi‘s The Eye of the Storm, action thriller Pacific Rim: Uprising, musical feature Goddess, opposite Ronan Keating and Magda Szubanski, and features Seriously Red and Sunday, on which he was also a writer and producer.

Dustin was named one of Screen Producers Australia’s emerging producers of 2015, and his producing credits include documentaries The Meaning of Vanlife and Shelter’s original Inspired Architecture series, and as executive producer on Australian docs Fish Out of Water and In Bob We Trust, Canadian documentary A Time for Making and the US feature A Fighting Season.

Dustin is the director of global streaming service Shelter, focusing on home, architecture, design and lifestyle, and also heads up NSW Northern Rivers based independent production, distribution and sales company Fighting Chance Films. Dustin also serves as a member of the Equity Screen Committee and is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).

www.shelter.stream
www.fightingchancefilms.com

Richard is an experienced commercial lawyer based in Brisbane. Richard studied law and commerce degrees at the University of Otago and holds a Masters degree from the University of Oxford in Environmental Policy.

Up until the end of 2018, Richard lived and worked in London for 14 years as both a private practice lawyer with international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and then as a General Counsel with FTSE 100 listed telecommunications company BT.

Richard has experience as an independent non-executive director serving on the board of a not-for-profit tenant management organisation in London.

Outside of work Richard enjoys spending time with his young family and has a passion for TV and Film.

Neil is a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA) based in Coolangatta, QLD. Prior to postgraduate study, Neil completed his Bachelor of Business at the Southern Cross University in Lismore, NSW.

Specialising in Tax and Compliance for small-medium enterprises, his firm also assists charities and not-for-profit organisations across regional Queensland to comply with Australian Securities and Investment Commission, Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission and Department of Fair Trading.

Bringing 20 years’ worth of accounting experience to the boardroom, Neil is keen to assist Screenworks to advance and inspire its members across the regional Australian screen sector.

Growing up in Ballina, Neil is a graduate of Ballina High School. Neil also spent time in Coffs Harbour before settling on the southern Gold Coast where he resides with this wife and daughter.

Rosemary Blight is a founding partner of Goalpost Pictures and one of Australia’s most experienced producers. Rosemary’s credits include THE SAPPHIRES, which premiered at Cannes; TOP END WEDDING, co-written and starring Miranda Tapsell which premiered at Sundance, both films directed by Wayne Blair; I AM WOMAN, the story of Australian international singing superstar Helen Reddy, directed by Unjoo Moon and the internationally acclaimed drama series CLEVERMAN.  Rosemary Executive Produced Leigh Whannell’s UPGRADE and the worldwide box office hit THE INVISIBLE MAN both co-produced with US independent production powerhouse Blumhouse.  FELONY, directed by Matthew Saville and starring Joel Edgerton & Tom Wilkinson and the Julien Temple-directed opera THE ETERNITY MAN. She is the Executive Producer of HOLDING THE MAN; THE TREE starring Charlotte Gainsbourg which was the closing night film at the Cannes Film Festival; and the drama series FIGHTING SEASON.

Rosemary is Executive Producer of the drama series NEW GOLD MOUNTAIN for SBS & All3media.

Peter studied Chemical Engineering at the University of NSW (University Medal) and has a PhD in Systems Engineering from Lancaster University in the UK. His working career was with CSR, and in the later years was Managing Director of New Zealand Sugar, General Manager of the Australian Sugar Refining business and Managing Director of Monier PGH.

Peter retired from CSR in 1994, had a consulting business for a number of years and has been a director of companies including Adelaide Brighton Cement. He moved to the Byron area in 2001 and served the community through director positions in the Northern Rivers Community Foundation and Envite, as Chair of the Rising Stars Scholarships program at Southern Cross University, and has mentored local businesses.

He lives in Bangalow with his wife of 48 years and has 2 children Jessica and Andre, both of whom also call Bangalow home.

Chris Oliver-Taylor started his career at the BBC in London, before emigrating to Australia in 2000. He worked in various senior production roles at ABC TV before becoming Head of Production in 2005 and then Head of Business & Operations in 2008.

In 2011, Chris moved to the independent production sector as Managing Director of Matchbox Pictures. During this period, Matchbox produced a highly acclaimed slate of programming, garnering numerous Australian and international awards. Chris’ Executive Producer credits include THE SLAP (NBC/ABC Australia), THE HEIGHTS (ABC Australia), GLITCH (Netflix/ABC Australia) and WANTED (Netflix/Seven Network Australia). Chris was also the Lead Executive in Australia for CAMP (NBC) and HUNTERS (Syfy).

In 2018, Chris was appointed Fremantle’s CEO Asia Pacific. Chris leads Production right across the region with a focus on Australia, New Zealand, India and Indonesia. Chris also holds a position on the Fremantle Global Operating Board.

Chris is currently a Board member of Film Victoria, AFTRS and MediaRing, and former Board member and Deputy Chair of Screenrights and President of Screen Producer’s Australia.

Lois Randall is an award winning Screen Producer with a passion for distinctive voices and stories. Most recently she was Co-producer on the Dollhouse/RKP feature SERIOUSLY RED (now in post). In 2019 she was Producer of the 8 episode drama series SEACHANGE, an ITV and ECP co-production that premiered on Nine as the highest rating TV drama for the year. Through her company Magpie Pictures she was Producer and EP of the internationally acclaimed 13 episode live-action children’s series GRACE BESIDE ME, that has screened on NITV, ABC, CBC and Disney, and awarded Children’s Series of the Year at the 2018 SPA Awards. She was also Producer of THE GODS OF WHEAT STREET, Miniseries of the Year, 2014 SPA Awards, and a Development EP on the 2018 AACTA Award winning web series DEADLOCK, both ECP Productions for ABC. Lois has also produced several acclaimed short films, and previous credits include line producing the ABC drama series EAST OF EVERYTHING and John Weiley’s Imax documentary feature SOLARMAX. Lois is a creative producer with a background in arts development. She has a Masters of Fine Arts degree (COFA/UNSW), and BA Communications (UTS).

Head of First Nations Programming, Sydney Opera House,
Creative Director Parrtjima Festival, Alice Springs
Festival Director, Boomerang Festival
Associate artist: Northern Rivers Performing Arts (NORPA)
Vivid Opera House Sails Projection, Creative Director
Events Consultant /creative : Imagination Australia.

A Widjabul woman from the Bundjalung territories, Rhoda is an experienced motivated and versatile arts executive, with a diverse range of international and national industry practice within commercial, community and non-profit organisations. Rhoda was the founder and Festival Director of the Dreaming Festivals (1995-2009).

As an actor/producer and director, she continues to work as a consultant, is a sought after speaker and performer in theatre, film, television and radio. She was the Co Founder the Aboriginal National Theater Trust and Creative Director, for the Awakening Segment Sydney Olympic Games 2000 Opening Ceremony. Rugby World Cup 2003, Athens handover ceremony, The opening ceremony of the Musee Du Quay Branley, Paris, Japan Expo, World Youth Day events, Artistic Director of Sydney Dreaming Festival and Australia Day events where she developed and directed the Woggan ma Gule annual ceremony for ten years.

Di’s interest and career in film and TV began in her early 20’s while working as a production assistant at Scottish Screen Locations and being exposed to films such as Braveheart, Shallow Grave and Trainspotting.

Upon her return to Australia Di worked for several years at Flicks Australia first as a PA and eventually as a producer where she gained experience in all areas of production.

Over the next few years Di worked as a Production Manager on the documentary Waves of Change in Indonesia (aired ABC, director Bill Leimbach), Producer for SBS Croc Eisteddfod Festival in Northern Australia, as a Producer for the pilot program for Channel 9, What Do you do? and as the Art Department Coordinator for the US feature film Airtight.

Di was then invited to join Cherub Pictures by Executive Producer Michele Bennett (Chopper, 2000) as an in-house Producer. During her 10 years at Cherub Pictures Di worked with some of Australia’s top directors including Luke Shanahan (Rabbit), Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, Macbeth, Assassin’s Creed) and Samantha Lang (The Monkey’s Mask, Carlotta, The Killing Field). Her production skills were honed through producing dozens of award winning TVCs’ for some of the world’s largest brands, music videos and short films as well as script consulting on numerous features. Highlights were script editing and producing the highly acclaimed dark comedy short It Takes Two to Tango, which screened at Palm Springs, LA shorts festival, MIFF and The News which was a finalist at Tropfest 2010. Both shorts went on to be selected for numerous festivals screening worldwide. During this time Di was attached as script editor and producer on the feature Talk Fast (in development).

Di has worked as an associate producer and script consultant on the feature film Rabbit (Director Luke Shanahan) which premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August 2017 and has begun an International tour including FantasticFest, Sitges, GrimmFest UK and Toronto After Dark.

Working alongside Writer/Director Hattie Dalton (Third Star), Di recently produced Summer’s Day for ABC ME and Screen Australia. She currently resides in Byron Bay NSW and is aiming to further support the creation and production of projects within the region

J’aimee has worked extensively across all areas of Film/TV Production both in the UK and Australia – from pre-production to post – as well as exhibition and audience development.

As Director of the Byron Bay International Film Festival (BBFF) J’aimee Skippon-Volke has a growing reputation for cutting-edge curation and developing of rich and diverse programmes of entertaining, inspiring and thought-provoking films of all lengths and genres, VR experiences and events which enhance our worldview and collective social dialogue. BBFF’s unique culture and flourishing international reputation see both emerging and esteemed international filmmakers/Creators vying for a place in its programme. 2018 was the second year she curated a selection of Australian-made VR for Cannes Film Festival’s NEXT program – seeking to provide audiences with meaningful screen culture experiences.

The rise of the new Realities medium(s) provides J’aimee with the opportunity to bring all that she’s learned across her career together. In 2017 she established Collective Reality, a Production Company developing multi-platform projects for global audiences utilising Virtual Reality to enhance the human experience.

She is passionate about ensuring that first-time VR audiences are exposed to truly interesting content made with best practice and purpose whilst they explore the new worlds and possibilities VR creates.