SPAA Conference 2008

SPEAKERS

International Guests

Chris Adams, Partner: Accelerant, Founder: Orbit Media Group
Lee Bartlett, Managing Director, ITV Global Content,
Marc Buhaj, Senior VP Programming, Jetix Europe
Steven DeNure, President, Decode Entertainment, CAN
François Deplanck, Directeur du Pôle Jeunesse, Canal Plus, FRA
Johnathan Dorfman, Co -founder, ATO Pictures, US
Suzanne French, VP of Children’s and Family, Shaftesbury, CA
Eric Garnet, Producer, GO-N Productions, FRA
Andres Vincente Gomez, Chairman of FIAPF
Mark Herbert, Producer, Warp Films
Lenora Hume, EVP of Production and Programming, Hit Entertainment
Drew H Lesser, Executive Producer, Sept Films
Neil Nightingale, Head of the Natural History Unit, BBC, UK
Jonathan Olsberg, Chairman, Olsberg I SPI, UK
Eva Orner, Producer
Chris Rose, Director, Programming & Development, HIT Entertainment
Bill Schultz, Co CEO, Taffy Entertainment and CEO, Kabillion
Josh Selig, President & Founder, Little Airplane Productions

Local Guests

Stay tuned for more information!

Chris Adams, Partner: Accelerant, Founder: Orbit Media Group, US
Chris Adams is an internationally recognized new media pioneer, entertainment industry executive and social entrepreneur with nearly twenty years of experience in creating partnerships, programming and relationships between and to the benefit of media, entertainment and online brands. As a media strategist, Chris works with clients to create and execute on initiatives that have deep impact and measurable outcomes. To achieve greatest possible success, Chris focuses on the intersection of media and audience - helping to bring brand visibility to consumers, reach the greatest audience possible and create multi-platform programs that engage and inspire individuals. Clients range from Facebook.com, for which he helped to create and Produced Facebook Diaries, the first-ever hybrid user-generated video/reality TV show distributed on Facebook.com, Ziddio.com, Comcast VOD and the IFC Channel, to HBO to Comcast Cable and Interactive, to Glam.com, the number one site for women in the world, to View2gethe.com, a 'social viewing' platform where he is CEO and President.

Prior to launching his own company, Chris co-founded Participant Productions in 2004 with Jeff Skoll, eBay's first President. Participant's vision is to create entertainment that inspires audiences to make social change. In this capacity, Chris developed and executed on the business plan and managed the company overall. Participant's first slate of movies -- Syriana, starring George Clooney and Matt Damon; North Country, starring Charlize Theron; Good Night and Good Luck, starring David Strathairn and George Clooney, and the documentary Murderball - were nominated for an unprecedented 11 Academy Awards. Chris is also proud to have identified and helped develop former Vice President Al Gore's Oscar-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth that, along with Gore's work, participated in his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition to the above-mentioned films, Chris developed and executive produced Participant's first feature: American Gun starring Marcia Gay-Harden, Forrest Whittaker, Donald Sutherland, Linda Cardelini and Tony Goldwyn.

In addition to his work in media, Chris provides his clients with years of experience as a nationally lauded filmmaker, marketer, writer and business/strategic development executive. Straight out of film school at the age of 25, Chris wrote, produced and raised money for the short film, The Middle Passage, which went onto win 9 Best Picture Awards at various film festivals around the country and was in competition for the 1995 Academy Award nomination. As a writer, Chris has been published in The Washington Post, The Denver Post, Triathlete Magazine, SPORT Magazine and wrote on Columbia TriStar's hour-drama The Net (distributed by USA Network). He leveraged this experience into a robust consulting career performing business development and marketing services for Amazon.com, Lycos.com, Pop.com and other online companies in the late 1990's. He went on from there to help start wireless application development company, Xpherix that sold to Remoba in 2005. Chris serves on the Board of Directors for The Young Storytellers Foundation, which is dedicated to developing literacy, self-expression and self-esteem through the art of storytelling.

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Chris graduated from the University of Denver with a double major in English literature and mass communications. He received his MA from USC's School of Film and TV and his MFA/PhD from USC's School of Professional Writing where he pursued his degrees concurrently. Chris lives in Los Angeles with his wife Sharon and their son, Cooper and is an avid surfer.

Debra Allanson, Managing Director, Ish Media
Managing Director of Ish Media Debra Allanson co-founded Ish Media in 2006, initially to produce award-winning online comedy series, Girl Friday. The company specializes in multiplatform production and digital distribution. Debra has over 20 years experience in the business of production financing, distribution and media content strategy. After a decade in the UK working for groups including media upstart Meridian and distributor ITC Entertainment, Debra returned to her hometown Perth in 1994, to head up the newly established ScreenWest. As the founding CEO, she led the expansion and diversification of the Western Australian screen industry before leaving in 2001 to join internet start up Media World Broadcasting and shifting focus to digital media.

Lee Bartlett, Managing Director, ITV Global Content
Lee Bartlett is a senior media executive with over 15 years experience in managing business affairs and production matters including negotiation of high level production deals and content acquisition. He was appointed Managing Director, ITV Content in June 2008. In this role, Bartlett is responsible for overseeing ITV plc's UK and international production and distribution businesses, including ITV Productions, one of Europe's leading commercial production companies. Bartlett joined ITV as Chief Operating Officer, ITV Global Content in April 2008, from US broadcaster FOX where he served as Executive Vice President for Business Affairs since June 2005. In that role, Bartlett managed the network's business affairs and production departments while overseeing a programming budget of about $1 billion. In addition to negotiating all entertainment related deals for FOX, he was largely responsible for overseeing the business relationship with the partners involved in "American Idol", FOX's most important television asset and America's top programme. Bartlett spent close to ten years at News Corporation-owned FOX. Prior to joining Fox Broadcasting Company, he was Executive Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs for Fox Networks Group working with all entertainment cable networks. During his five years at FNG, Bartlett helped launch four new digital cable channels for the group, while innovating new economic models for the cable arena. He negotiated programming and talent deals for FX's award winning dramas The Shield and Nip/Tuck; Damages; and Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominated dramas Rescue Me and The Riches. He also negotiated deals for all of the critically acclaimed programming on National Geographic Channel.A Los Angeles native, Mr. Bartlett received a Master of Law degree (LL. M.) in Tax and Finance from Georgetown University and a J. D. from Case Western Reserve University. He is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and has lectured on the impact of new media on traditional television, television business practices and the practical aspects of buying and selling television programming.

Barrie Barton, Creative Director , Right Angle Publishing and Rooftop Cinema
A brief biography of largely unsubstantiated fact and conjecture.

Having watched an episode of LA Law at the age of 12, Barrie Barton foolishly told his parents he would be a lawyer. Not wanting to let them down, he completed a bitter five years of study and graduated before telling them in firm terms that the legal game was for dogs.

Throwing caution to the wind Barton entered the marketing and media industry. After working as Editor of Australia’s largest free-press title Large Magazine, he moved to Moonlight Cinema as National Marketing Manager – a position that quickly defined everything he did not want to be in the corporate world.

A brief sabbatical later, Barton established Right Angle Publishing which, via it’s flagship title ThreeThousand.com.au delivers sub-cultural snapshots of Melbourne via email to an audience of inner-urban dwellers. The immediate success of the title led to commissioned work for The City of Melbourne and Tourism Victoria, as well interstate iterations of the publication in Sydney and Brisbane.

Right Angle Publishing now produces seminal ‘underground’ guides to Australia’s largest cities, delivering assiduously researched content across film, art, reading, dancing, drinking, letching, listening and other monkey business. The company’s monthly audience reaches up to 100,000 people, which explains in part why Barton was selected by The Age Melbourne Magazine as one of the city’s top 100 most influential people.

Barton’s current portfolio of work includes his publishing endeavours, owner and Creative Director of Melbourne’s Rooftop Cinema, trend reporter for leading global networks such as Future Laboratory and general facilitator of interesting things by clever people.

Vincent Beasley, Executive Producer, Factual Entertainment, SBS
Vincent has nearly 20 years experience as a television producer in the UK, USA and Australia. He has worked for many of the major independent companies in the UK such as Hat Trick Productions, Tiger Aspect, TalkBack Thames and World of Wonder in the USA. He spent 10 years at the BBC working in a number of genres including entertainment, factual entertainment, comedy and arts. Vincent was editorial policy advisor for BBC drama, entertainment and children's advising on all editorial policy matters for both internal and independent productions.

Credits include 'Have I Got News For You' 'The Clive James Show' 'Ruby Wax Round Table', 'Ruby's American Pie' 'That Gay Show' 'Vicar of Dibley's 40 Greatest Moments''The End of the Year Show' 'Night of a 1000 Faces with Dame Edna Everage' 'The Big Read' as well as numerous documentaries.

In Australia Vincent spent 2 years as a senior producer at the ABC in the factual entertainment department and most recently worked as a development producer for Essential Media and Entertainment.

Brian Beaton, Producer, Artemis International
Brian is the Executive Producer and Producer of Artemis International, an award winning producer of documentaries for national and international markets for the past 15 years. In addition to producing a wide range of documentaries Brian was also the AFTRS representative in WA from 1987 – 1997. He was Chair of the AIDC ( Australian International Documentary Conference) held in Perth in 2001, was the SPAA Documentary producer of the year for 2002 and is was a Documentary Councillor on the national SPAA committee and past Chair of SADC. He is passionate about the Australian film and television industry and a strong supporter of its agencies and organizations

John Berenyi, Managing Director, Bergent
John Berenyi has been researching movies and movie marketing since the recruited audience test of a double-head for Mad Max in 1978. Since then he has worked continuously in movie and entertainment marketing, advertising, and research in Australia and overseas. In 1987, John and Katy Nugent launched Bergent; which specialises in all aspects of entertainment research from concept development and product testing through to performance tracking. As a qualified psychologist and accredited member of the AMSRS, John’s unique methods have gained industry acclaim for returning the highest quality data. His proven techniques have helped companies in all entertainment industries build audiences by precisely clarifying what ticket buyers want and how they like to see and hear messages about movies.

Trevor Blainey, Producer, Retro Active Films
In 2007 produced the highly acclaimed feature Noise, written and directed by Matthew Saville. Nolse premiered at Sundance in early 2007, played at 14 other major international film festivals, ran for 21 weeks in local cinemas making it the longest running Australian feature this year, garnered 9 AFI and 5 IF Award nominations and was awarded peer assessed prizes for Direction, Cinematography, Sound and for the Producer. The local Award nominations covered all craft categories. Trevor is currently financing a feature called Scratch the Surface which he will co-produce with Jannine Barnes. The script was written by Grant Scicluna and the film will be directed by Tony Ayres.

Rosemary Blight , Principal Partner, Goalpost Pictures
Rosemary is a principal partner of Goalpost Pictures. Recent credits include The Eternity Man with UK director Julien Temple and as Executive Producer of Elise starring Natalie Imbruglia, due for release in mid 2009. Rosemary is the producer of the 2007 Sundance hit Clubland (released as Introducing The Dwights by Warner Independent Pictures). Goalpost Pictures television credits include the 26 part series Lockie Leonard, and Scorched a TV and cross platform event for Australia’s Nine Network and Granada. In 2009 Lockie Leonard series 2 heads into production with Nine and the BBC. Goalpost Pictures recently joined forces with UK international film sales company Goalpost Film run by well known sales agent Tristan Whalley.

Michael Bodey, Journalist, The Australia
Michael Bodey is a journalist with The Australian. He was, at various times, media writer, showbiz and arts editor for The Daily Telegraph, film critic for The Age and research executive at AGB McNair. He also co-authored the book Aussiewood.

Cherrie Bottger, Head of Children’s TV, Network 10
As Head of Children's Television for the TEN Network, Cherrie presides over a multi-million dollar slate of production and responsibility for policy, programming, commissions, acquisitions and program development.

Cherrie began her television career in the 70s, and has gone on to produce many memorable television series, documentaries and 'specials', including the acclaimed children's television series Totally Wild which today is screened in 13 countries. Many of her programs have won local, national and international awards.

She has held senior production roles with the Seven Network, Grundy’s and the Nine Network.

She joined Network Ten in 1991 as consultant to the children's production unit with a brief to expand its children's programming. Cherrie is also a children's book author and oversees the Network's documentary unit.

This executive position takes a broad overview of all commissioned works, acquisitions, scheduling, all in-house productions, the international and local co-productions and responsibility for the Network's compliance with the Children's Television Standards and the FTA’S Code of Practice.

Current programs that come under her leadership as Head of Children’s Television are Totally Wild, Scope, TTN, Toasted tv, Puzzle Play, Children’s drama: Elephant Princess, Dex Hamilton, Sumo Mouse, Pearlie, Animalia and in development H2O Just Add Water Series 3. Cherrie also oversees the Network's Documentary Unit, located at the Queensland Studios of Network Ten.

Tait Brady, Executive Director, Marketing Support & Promotions
Tait Brady is the newly appointed Executive Director of Marketing Support and Promotion at Screen Australia. From August 2004 to July 2008 he was one of two Feature Film Evaluation Managers at the Film Finance Corporation (FFC). Prior to his appointment at FFC, he was General Manager of the independent distribution company Palace Films for 7 years.At Palace, Tait oversaw the development and acquisition of new films and all marketing campaigns for Palace Films releases, both Australian & international titles. Local features handled by Palace Films in recent years include Chopper, Erskineville Kings, Bigger Than Tina, Head On, The Goddess of 1967, Yolngu Boy, Silent Partner, The Sound of One Hand Clapping, Lantana, Australian Rules, The Rage In Placid Lake, Alexandra's Project, Japanese Story, Love's Brother and Tom White. Prior to joining Palace in 1996, Tait was Director of the Melbourne International Film Festival for 8 years (1988- 96). Tait has also worked as a National Exhibition Manager at the AFI, an indie distributor, film publicist, cinema manager, and an occasional writer on film and music.

Deirdre Brennan, Director of Programming, Nickelodeon Australia
Deirdre Brennan joined Nickelodeon Australia as Director of Programming in February 2007 and is responsible for content development, programming, acquisitions and the delivery of compelling entertainment for Australian kids. Deirdre has represented the Australian children's industry as an invited speaker at the Kidscreen Summit NY and MIPCOM Jr since 2002, been a founding member of the international jury for Canada's Shaw Rocket Prize 2005-2006 and is a member of The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. From 2001-2007, Deirdre Brennan was ABC Kids Programmer for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She became one of Australia's first female television announcers when she joined ABC TV in 1986 whilst studying Economics/Law at Sydney University. She extended her on-air experience with radio broadcasting, as well as becoming a director, stage manager and choreographer. With a television career that spans 22 years, Deirdre had a proven track record including three years as ABC TV Marketing Planner.

Tim Brooke-Hunt, Executive Head of Children's Television, ABC Tim Brooke-Hunt, one of Australia’s leading producers of children’s television content, was appointed to ABC TV’s newly created position of Executive Head of Children’s in September 2007. In his twenty-year career as a producer, Tim has produced some of Australia’s most loved children’s programming including Blinky Bill, Yakkity Yak, Old Tom and L’il Horrors. Tim has worked with leading Australian production companies including Yoram Gross, Beyond International and Burbank Films, and recently as an independent children’s TV producer/ executive producer with Sticky Pictures. His background includes a Master of Business Administration and he has substantial knowledge of financing production from both local and international sources and working within creative partnerships.

Geoff Brown, Executive Director, SPAA
Geoff has been in the business of broadcasting and film and television production for 16 years and in key operational, project management and senior management roles. For the period 1995 and 2000 he was SPAAs Commercial Affairs Manager where he oversaw the conduct of all commercial and industrial matters affecting the independent film and television production sector. Between 2000 and 2002 he led his own film and TV consultancy company working on major briefs for state government and on offshore productions for Australian production services companies. Geoff returned to SPAA in early 2002 and was appointed Executive Director in April 2002.

Martin Brown, Producer, Martin Brown Films
Martin started out managing theatre shows and events. He then produced television commercials and music videos before becoming an art director in film, most notably on Strictly Ballroom. He was co-producer of William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and lead producer of Moulin Rouge for which he was awarded Producer of the Year in 2001 by the Producers Guild of America. Since then his credits include: Mermaids, a feature length pilot for Viacom in 2003. The One Percenters, a theatrical documentary in 2006. A Sister's Love, a documentary for the ABC in 2004. The View From Greenhaven, the Project Greenlight feature in 2007.

Marc Buhaj, Senior Vice President of Programming , Jetix Europe

Marc Buhaj was appointed Senior Vice President of Programming, Jetix Europe, in April 2007. In this capacity, he oversees all aspects of Jetix Europe’s content, including production, development, acquisitions, scheduling, on-air promotions, multi-media programming and administration. He reports to Jetix Europe’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Taylor.

Marc previously held the position of Vice President of Programming and Scheduling at Cartoon Network and Boomerang in the U. S. from 2004. He directed all aspects of programming for both networks and was part of the core team driving Cartoon Network’s multiplatform initiatives, including the broadband networks CN Video and Toonami Jetstream. Marc was also the Executive in Charge of Production for Cartoon Network Japan Productions.

He has also worked as executive director of programming and acquisitions for Turner Entertainment Networks Asia (TENA) in Hong Kong. Prior to joining Turner Broadcasting’s Sydney office in March 2001, he worked for the Seven Network Australia.
Ewan Burnett, Managing Director, Burberry Productions

Ewan Burnett has worked in the Australian film and television industry for over 28 years. With an Arts Degree in Cinema Studies and Philosophy he embarked on a career in drama television for adults and children. His extensive credits include the series Last Man Standing, mini-series Kangaroo Palace, Bootleg and The Farm and the children’s series Animalia, The Wayne Manifesto, Eugénie Sandler PI, Short Cuts, Fergus McPhail and Sleepover Club. His productions has won many Australian and International awards. He has also successfully produced stage productions and has served on a number of boards and committees.

Graham Burrells, Head of Entertainment, Foxtel
Graham Burrells has had more than 20 years experience in the television industry. He started his TV career as a promo producer for Channel 10. Subsequently he has filled the role of Creative Director for Network TEN, FOXTEL and Sky One in the UK. In his current role at FOXTEL's Head of Entertainment and Group Channel Manager Graham is responsible for the channel management of The Comedy Channel, Fox Classics and W as well as the original productions for FOXTEL's owned and operated channels - Fox 8, Arena, Bio, CI, The History Channel, W, Fox Classics and The Comedy Channel. Graham's recent commissions include Australia's Next Top Model, The Singing Office, Confidential, CD Live, Runway to LA and An Aussie Goes Barmy for Fox 8, From Here to Maternity with Antonia Kidman for W, The Power of One and Stand up Australia for The Comedy Channel, as well as the award winning documentaries Fish Out of Water, The Battle of Long Tan and He's Coming South.

Helen Campbell, Director, Zealot Productions
Helen established Zealot in 1999 with her business partner Shaun Farrington. Today Zealot has offices in Sydney, London and New York.

Zealot is a specialist marketing business for the film and broadcast industries. The Zealot team work alongside sales agents, distributors and producers to create the marketing materials for feature films and television programs. In the past 12 months they’ve worked on a diverse range of films including the UK, Australian and International campaigns for CONTROL and THIS IS ENGLAND, to THEN SHE FOUND ME, THE COUNTERFITERS, UNFINISHED SKY and NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD. In recent years their Film & TV work has been nominated & won numerous awards in the UK & US most recently for Best Foreign Drama Trailer at the 2008 Golden Trailer Awards for WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR FATHER.

Matt Campbell, Director of Content, Television and Online, SBS Television
Matt Campbell was appointed to his current role as Director of Content in April 2006. For two years prior to his appointment he was Head of Programming at SBS-TV. The Content Division comprises of Programming, Commissioning, Sport, Online, Program Purchasing and Subtitling. In this position Matt is responsible for all content with the exception of News and Current Affairs. Prior to his appointment at SBS Matt lived and worked in France for 20 years creating independent production and distribution company Wallaroo in 1994.

Richard Cohen, Acting Manager of Co-productions, Screen Australia
Richard Cohen is the Acting Manager of Co-productions and a lawyer for Screen Australia. Prior to joining the AFC four years ago, Richard held roles in the UK with the BBC, the Hearst Corporation/National Magazines Corp and a London record company. In addition to his co-production and legal work, Richard is a freelance film and television score composer.

John Collie, Writer
A former doctor and journalist, John Collie is a Sydney-based screenwriter best known for his work on 'Master and Commander' and 'Happy Feet'. His published novels are 'Kingsley's Touch', 'A Paper Mask', and 'The Rig'. While working mainly for Hollywood-based producers and directors he has acted as rewrite guy and script consultant on a number of Australian movies such as 'Candy' and 'The Man Who Sued God.' His latest film 'Creation' is currently filming in the UK.

Jennifer Collins, Manager of Development for ABC TV Arts, Entertainment & Comedy Department
As Manager of Development for ABC TV Arts, Entertainment & Comedy Department, Jennifer Collins is the first point of contact for independent producers with Arts, Entertainment or Comedy ideas, for ABC1, ABC2, online and mobiles. She has been at the forefront of cross platform production for ABC TV – as Executive Producer she was a key player in the set-up of the digital youth channel Fly TV and later brought this experience to the set-up of ABC’s multiplatform production triple j tv. With over 20 years television experience, Jennifer was ABC’s Executive Producer for The Chaser’s War on Everything, The Glasshouse, Mondo Thingo, Schools Spectacular, Strictly Dancing and Good Game.

David Court, Founding Director, AFTRS Centre for Screen Business
David is an experienced industry practitioner who has been involved in the financing of more than a dozen film and television productions (including Strictly Ballroom, The Bank and the IMAX film Antarctica) and was the publisher of the authoritative industry newsletter Entertainment Business Review. He is also a director of the licensed film investment company Content Capital Ltd. With KPMG, David conducted the feasibility study that led to the development of Fox Studios at the Sydney Showgrounds. As author of Film Assistance: Future Options (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1986), he was the policy architect of the Film Finance Corporation, established by the Australian Government in 1988.

Ellenor Cox, Producer, Firelight Productions
Ellenor Cox is one of the producers and original concept creators behind Scorched, a feature-length television event broadcast on the Nine Network which also included the most comprehensive online experience yet created for an Australian drama. Over the past 14 years Ellenor has produced more than 20 programs for both domestic and overseas broadcasters. Her films have sold to over 30 countries and have won several prestigious domestic and international awards. Ellenor has an acute understanding of the new media environment and the importance of multi-platform projects within the current screen content landscape. As a founding director of prolific Sydney production company, Firelight Productions, she is at the cutting edge of new media creativity in Australia.

Kim Dalton, Director of TV, ABC
Kim has worked in the Australian and international film and television industry as a producer, investment manager and distributor. From 1999, as Chief Executive of the Australian Film Commission, Kim was responsible for overhauling its development programs, expanding its screen culture programs and ensuring the agency's and industry's engagement with digital and online technology, production and distribution. As CEO Kim led the policy debate around Australian content on television and was a spokesperson for the industry and a key advisor to government on the audio visual industries during negotiations on the Aust/US Free Trade Agreement. Since joining the ABC as Director of TV in 2006 Kim has made a major contribution to the policy debate around Australian content and the role of the public broadcaster in the digital era as well as effecting significant reform within the TV Division in these areas. In 2007 Kim was awarded an OAM for service to the film and television industry in policy, in assistance to Indigenous producers and in the promotion of emerging visual technology.In 2008 Kim was appointed Chair of Freeview. Freeview is a major initiative on the part of all key Australian television broadcast networks - ABC, Seven, Nine, Ten, SBS and the regional broadcasters Prime, WIN and Southern Cross. Freeview will aggressively promote the digital free to air platform.

Anthony Danna, Programming Director, Disney Channel Australia/New Zealand
Anthony Danna is Programming Director for Disney Channels Australia/New Zealand, a role he was appointed to in December 2006. He oversees programme planning and scheduling for three linear television platforms that reach over 2 million households in Australasia. Mr. Danna is also responsible for Disney's local programming, consumer and brand research efforts. Prior to arriving in Australia, he served as Senior Manager, Programming Strategy, Disney Channels Worldwide where he provided consultative services to Disney Channels in the Asia-Pacific region. Seconded to India in 2004, Mr. Danna oversaw the programming department during the successful launch of Disney Channel India and Toon Disney India in December of that year. Mr. Danna joined The Walt Disney Company in May 2002 as Programming Coordinator for Disney Channel in the United States.

Carla DeJong, Commissioning and Development Editor for ABC Children's Television
Carla is currently the Commissioning and Development Editor for ABC Children's Television. Before joining the ABC, Carla spent two years at the BBC creating new content for the BBC Children's digital channels and left with five projects in production. Two of which are Australian co-productions and are being shot in Australia this year. Prior to her career in the UK Carla produced a number of Award winning programmes for Network Ten including Totally Wild and SCOPE. Her work has been recognised both locally and internationally as a finalist in awards such as the Logies, The Prix Jeunesse Awards, The United Nations World Environment Day Awards and the BANFF World Television Awards.

Steven Denure, President, Decode Entertainment
Steven is responsible for overall operations at DECODE, as well as for the financing and development of new projects. Steven serves as Executive Producer on Decode's shows and is a member of the board of directors of Decode's parent company, DHX Media Inc.. Prior to co-founding DECODE, Steven was at Alliance Communications Inc. for more than 10 years and served in a number of senior positions including President, Alliance Productions and President, Alliance Multimedia. During his tenure at Alliance, Steven was involved in the development, financing and production of all feature film and television projects and was responsible for the animation division, music-publishing division (TMP) and for merchandising and licensing.

François Deplanck Head of Children Programmes and Channels, Canal Plus
François Deplanck holds a Business Degree from ESC Lille, a Master's Degree in Broadcast Communication from the Université de Valenciennes and a Master's Degree (MS) in Television, Radio and Film from Syracuse University (New York, USA).François Deplanck started his career at Communication Development as Marketing Manager of the cable operator owned by Caisse des Dépôts from 1987 to 1990. From 1990 to 1994 he was Manager - Network Development Southern Europe for MTV Europe.He was then Head of Programmes for the New Markets at TF1 from 1994 to 1996.He joined TPS in 1996 to launch TeleTOON, the satellite platform's kid channel. As Head of TPS Jeunesse, he then launched TeleTOON +1 (September 2002), EUREKA! (April 2003) and Piwi (December 2003).Until the merger between TPS and CANAL+, François Deplanck was also in charge of TPS's HD Programming as well as Corporate Relations with the CSA (French TV Authority).Now Head of Children Programmes and Channels of CANAL+ Group, in addition to the kids and tween channels, he handles CANAL+'s youth programming on CANAL+ and CANAL+ FAMILY.

Johnathan Dorfman, Founder, ATO Pictures
Johnathan Dorfman is a founding member and has been a managing director of ATO Pictures since 2003. He is also the vice president of the Manager and a member of the board of managers of The 12th Floor Film Fund. Most recent producing credits include CHOKE (2007 - distributed by Fox Searchlight) directed by Clark Gregg, starring Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Huston. (CHOKE won the Special Jury Prize for Best Ensemble Cast at Sundance in 2007 and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize) ; JOSHUA (2006- distributed by Fox Searchlight) directed by George Ratliff, starring Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga. (JOSHUA won the Cinematography Award in Sundance 2007 and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize) ; AMANDLA! A REVOLUTION IN FOUR-PART HARMONY (2003 – distributed by Artisan) directed by Lee Hirsch, (AMANDLA won an Emmy Award with 11 other wins including the Audience and Freedom of Expression Award at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival). Most recent Executive Producing credits include SAVAGE GRACE (2007 – distributed by IFC Films) directed by Tom Kalin, starring Julianne Moore (SAVAGE GRACE was an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival 2007 in the Directors’ Fortnight section) ; HIGHWATER, directed by Dana Brown (STEP INTO LIQUID). Before joining ATO and relocating to New York, Mr. Dorfman was a producer in South Africa with over 15 years of experience in film, television and radio production. Mr. Dorfman graduated from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa with a Degree in Law and completed an additional Honors Degree in Comparative Literature and Film.

Amanda Duthie, Arts, Entertainment and Comedy, ABC TV
Amanda Duthie is Head of ABC TV’s Arts, Entertainment and Comedy department which commissions a broad range of programs from observational documentary series and arts performance to studio entertainment programs and comedy series with an emphasis on cross platform potential.

Debi Enker, Chief Television Writer
Debi Enker is the chief television writer for The Age’s Green Guide section. Debi joined The Sunday Age as the TV columnist when it was launched in 1989. In 1994, she became the editor of Sunday's TV magazine, View. In 1998, she became the deputy editor of Green Guide and now works as a senior writer for the section, specialising in program reviews and opinion, feature and profile pieces. Debi is also the TV critic of Jon Faine's morning show (ABC, Radio 774) and regularly hosts public events relating to the television industry. Debi has contributed to many books about the Australian film and television industries, most recently a chapter in Lounge Critic: The Couch Theorist's Companion (ACMI, 2004).
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