Lisa O’Meara – Chief Executive Officer
Lisa O’Meara has been instrumental in building the regional screen industry and is a committed advocate for regional screen practitioners.
Prior to her role as CEO, Lisa was Programs and Operations Manager for Screenworks where she was responsible for initiating Career Pathway Programs, Industry Forums and Professional Development Opportunities that launched the careers and projects of hundreds of regional practitioners.
Before her career with Screenworks, Lisa designed national and international strategies to take a broad range of screen productions to buyers and audiences around the world. She launched the SBS TV series Under the Skin (Tony Ayres, Belinda Chayko) and the Network Nine children’s series Spellbinder (Ron Saunders) to national audiences and international markets. As a Marketing Manager in the distribution of games, Lisa designed national strategies for games including Diabolo (Blizzard) Riven (Broderbund) as well as launching the Disney, Barbie and Hasbro CD rom brands in Australia.
Her roles have included Marketing Executive at Film Australia, Marketing Manager at Tech Pacific, Programs and Operations Manager at Screenworks and National Manager for Careers and Enterprise at SAE Creative Media Institute.
Rachel Smith – North Queensland Projects Manager
During her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Design at JCU in Townsville, Rachel discovered her passion for film and production. In 2003, she began working at Channel 10 as a work experience student and eventually became their Senior Producer/Editor.
Rachel has gained extensive experience in various fields, including television, radio, and newspapers, over the past 19 years. She relocated to Atherton Tablelands in 2007, where she worked for Southern Cross Austerio, News Limited, private businesses, and government-funded organisations. Rachel created micro-documentaries and promotional videos for Terrain NRM while working in the Natural Resource Management space.
She is excited to have the opportunity to be a part of bringing more opportunities in the production industry to the region.
Emily Hutchinson – Communications Coordinator
Emily has over 10 years of experience in content production and communications.
She has worked for some of the biggest online publishers in Australia including Broadsheet, realestate.com.au and Domain. She moved to Byron Bay in 2021 from Melbourne and fell in love with the natural surroundings and thriving creative community. She is passionate about screenwriting and had her first short film ‘related’ premiere at the Byron Bay International Film Festival in 2023 and screened at St. Kilda Film Festival 2024.
She is thrilled to be working at Screenworks where she can help other regional filmmakers find life changing opportunities and encourage them to pursue their own creative dreams.
Alexander Wardrop – Project Assistant
Alexander (he/him) is a young filmmaker living and working on Bundjalung Country. He boasts a growing list of credits and expanding recognition with a body of work across narrative shorts, music videos and film criticism.
Between 2014 to 2021, he authored hundreds of film reviews for the Barrier Daily Truth, Broken Hill’s only newspaper, published weekly. His most recent short HIRATH screened as part of the 2023 editions of the St Kilda Film Festival and the Byron Bay International Film Festival. That same year, Rage awarded two music videos he directed with their Wild One badges. His music videos have also been programmed on MTV and received international publicity.
Nerida Groth – Industry Programs Coordinator
Nerida has a wealth of talent and experience in film, television and the live performing arts arena spanning two decades. Her start in television came as an in-house Production Coordinator for Essential Media, working across lifestyle, documentary and drama. She found a passion in drama and left to pursue a career as a freelance Assistant Director. Since then she has developed strong relationships and continually built her skill set to become one of the most in demand Assistant Directors in the country, working on large scale Australian and International productions including: Pirates of The Caribbean, Wolverine, Top of the Lake, Aquaman, The Great Gatsby, and ELVIS.
Nerida is based on the Gold Coast and has her own company called The Big Kids Production House, which is creating original content ideas across television and events. Nerida enjoys sharing her skill set across different mediums and is passionate about providing opportunities and training for regionally based crew to find long lasting careers in this thriving industry.
Sara Khan – Project Manager
Sara Khan (She/Her) is a proud Wailwan, Gomeroi, Pakistani woman. Currently writing for television, she has a strong background in story telling within a range of industries. Working across education, museums and radio, Sara’s work focusses primarily on platforming First Nations and People of Colour’s voices. As a programs officer at the Australian museum, Sara ran tours that centred around dismantling false narratives of First Nations People. Writing for television, Sara earned her first credit as script editor for season one of the international Emmy nominated series Heartbreak High (Netflix). Beyond Heartbreak High she has written for Gold Diggers (ABC), Paper Dolls (Paramount+) and Erotic Stories (SBS). Her episode for Erotic Stories, was selected for a worldwide premiere at SXSW Sydney. In addition, she became an episodic writer for the second season of Heartbreak High. Alongside writing for television, Sara hosted and produced The Brekky Show on Koori Radio from 2019-2021. This extended into FBi radio where she co-hosted the award-winning program Race Matters from 2018-2022.
“First Nations People have a lens on this world that is invaluable, intentional and deeply honest. Having the tools to shape our stories into a format that’s accessed globally greatly benefits all audiences. This program is vital in ensuring the longevity of First Nations People’s stories and careers as writers,” she said.
