Governance, strategy, oversight and risk management – the VicScreen Board sets the direction for VicScreen and steers the organisation to success.
Board members are selected on the recommendation of the Minister for Creative Industries and appointed by the Victorian Governor in line with the Film Act 2001.
The Board meets regularly and, in addition to providing appropriate corporate governance the Board approves funding decisions recommended by our committees and panels.
Board President since November 2022
George has worked in the not-for-profit community services sector and government.
An experienced industry leader he has spent much of his 40-year social work career in leadership roles.
George was the longest serving Chairperson of the Victorian Multicultural Commission having held the role from September 2001 to January 2011. He also served as the Chief Executive Officer of the New Hope Foundation and Fronditha Care and was an Executive Director at the Victorian Department of Business and Innovation.
Most recently George chaired the board of the Victorian Interpreting and Translation service, and Multicultural Arts Victoria.
George has also been a member of many other government and non-government boards and committees in executive roles.
Since July 2018
Mitu is the Director of Mind Blowing Films (MBF), a film production and distribution company that specialises in the distribution of Indian films in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. The company also provides local production support to Indian films shot in Australia and New Zealand.
MBF’s sister company, Mind Blowing World, specialises in the distribution of quality local content to Australian, New Zealand and Fijian audiences.
Mitu is the Founder and Director of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne and also curates Australian films for various international film festivals in India.
Since September 2020
A business and communications strategist, Louisa founded consulting firm The Big Picture Strategic Services in 2006.
She is passionate about working on the things that make a difference – for people, organisations and the wider community. Louisa is regularly called in by not-for-profits and government agencies to help with sensemaking – to set a new strategic direction or when there is a need to turn challenging content into something the world can easily understand.
She is a former head of the Melbourne Film Office and was Secretary of the Association of Film Commissioners International for several years.
Since July 2018
An experienced creative and executive producer, Andrea is Head of Development for Tony Ayres Productions. Her credits span over 100 hundred hours of drama, comedy and documentary content including premium drama series Fires, International Emmy® nominated Wrong Kind of Black, innovative screen opera The Divorce, multiple seasons of popular comedy series How to Stay Married and It’s A Date, ground-breaking Indigenous comedy 8MMM Aboriginal Radio, and landmark documentary series Sporting Nation with John Clarke.
Her other producing credits include Tripping Over, SeaChange, After the Deluge, CrashBurn, Worst Best Friends and Outland. She was also co-creator and writer on Tripping Over and a co-writer of several episodes of SeaChange.
Andrea began her career as a corporate and finance lawyer, and has been a principal and a senior executive in leading independent local and international production companies. Andrea is Deputy Chair of the Australian Children’s Television Foundation.
Since September 2019
A chartered accountant and a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Liz provides consultancy services to a wide range of public and not-for-profit organisations in the areas of strategy, governance, public sector funding and financial management.
She has held executive roles at Deloitte in London and in the Federal and Victorian public sectors. Liz is a former Board member of Craft Victoria and Arena Theatre Company, and is currently a director of the Melbourne Recital Centre, The Mission to Seafarers Victoria Inc. and Geografia.
Liz has also served as an external member on the Audit and Risk Committees of Victoria Police, Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust and Film Victoria.
Since September 2018
Greg is a writer, director and producer whose filmmaking career began when he created the horror smash hit Wolf Creek, which premiered at the Sundance and
Cannes Film Festivals. This was followed by the thriller Rogue and Wolf Creek 2, the sequel to his breakout film which was selected to screen at the Venice Film Festival.
In 2014 Greg directed the supernatural thriller The Darkness for Blumhouse Productions. In 2015 he directed The Belko Experiment for MGM, followed by Jungle, a thriller feature based on a reallife survival story starring Daniel Radcliffe.
In 2016 Greg was the creator and showrunner of a six-part Wolf Creek spin-off series for Stan, followed by a second season in 2017. In 2019 he directed four episodes of the ABC International television series The Gloaming. Recently Greg was set up director for the second season of award-winning series Bloom, for Stan and Sony TV, and in 2021 he directed the final season of the beloved series Jack Irish for the ABC.
Since September 2017
As well as a Film Victoria Board member and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, Blake is a director and co-founder of Melbourne-based game development studio, League of Geeks.
Blake heads the studio’s business unit and the game design department as the studio’s Design Director. League of Geeks is best known for their debut title Armello, and the studio now has several unannounced titles in development. The studio is the anchor tenant in The Arcade, Australia’s premiere games industry co-working hub, and was the host studio for the international IGF Awards in 2020.
Blake was a serving Board member of the former Game Developers Association of Australia, shepherding their merger with the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association in 2020. Prior to League of Geeks, Blake worked in several Melbourne games studios in various design roles, as well as working in property development and industrial design for a Swiss oil company.
Since September 2016
Leonie works across the private sector, for government and in the not-for-profit sector in Australia and the Asia Pacific.
An experienced Board director and consultant, Leonie’s focus is gender equality, mentoring and good governance. She is recognised through the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll and nationally through Membership of the Order of Australia for significant services to women, in particular equitable political representation.
Leonie holds a Masters of Education, is a director of Holmesglen TAFE Institute and is a former SYN Media Board member.
Since October 2022
Tiriki Onus is a Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung artist, academic and Head of the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development at the University of Melbourne and co-director of the university’s Research Unit in Indigenous Arts and Culture.
He is a successful visual artist, curator, performance artist and opera singer. His first operatic role was in the premiere of Deborah Cheetham’s Pecan Summer in October 2010. He received the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust’s Harold Blair Opera Scholarship in 2012 and 2013.
In 2014 Tiriki was awarded the inaugural Hutchinson Indigenous Fellowship at the University of Melbourne, working with numerous Indigenous communities to revitalise traditional technologies of Biganga (possum skin cloak) creation.
Most recently, Tiriki co-directed the feature documentary Ablaze which premiered at the 2021 Melbourne International Film Festival to great acclaim. The documentary uncovers a film made 70 years ago by Tiriki’s grandfather, William Bill Onus, an important leader in the Aboriginal rights movement.
Our people on the ground, who draw on extensive industry experience and business expertise to oversee effective and efficient delivery of our services, programs and business objectives every day.
CEO
A dynamic and accomplished leader, Caroline has over 19 years’ experience in the screen industry.
Caroline has held management, marketing and business development roles in both government and private sectors, including as Marketing and Business Development Director at Omnilab Media, Chief Executive Officer of Ausfilm, and General Manager of the Melbourne Film Office at VicScreen (then Film Victoria).
Most recently Caroline was the General Manager of Commercial and Marketing at Federation Square. Prior to this she led Deluxe Australia’s post-production businesses, DDP Studios and StageOne Sound, as their General Manager.
Caroline is a Board member of Ausfilm, and served on the Board of VicScreen (then Film Victoria) from 2013 to 2017.
Caroline also has extensive destination marketing experience which was developed over a 10-year period working in organisations such as Parks Victoria and Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.
Director, Governance & Operations/COO
Liahn is a member of CPA Australia and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Prior to joining VicScreen in 2017, he held various senior finance and leadership roles within the screen industry, including with leading production company Endemol Shine, and the higher education and hospitality sectors.
As Head of Corporate Services, Liahn is responsible for ensuring the effective, efficient and responsive internal operations across the organisation in addition to the oversight of all financial, accounting and governance requirements.
Liahn is also the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and provides strategic advice to the CEO and the Board on all finance, audit, risk, governance and compliance matters.
Liahn ensures achievement of operational and strategic objectives, maintaining a strong focus on identifying and implementing improvements to business efficiency.
Director, Content & Talent
Ross has enjoyed a substantial career as both a senior executive within screen industry development agencies and as an independent screen producer. Having not only designed and managed a raft of industry assistance programs, but also driven significant change across two separate state funding bodies, Ross has a wealth of experience in reconciling the needs of industry with the objectives of Government.
A former partner with Australian production company Media World Pictures, Ross’ diverse range of producing credits include prime-time TV drama, children’s animation series, and feature films (both drama and documentary). His productions have garnered international acclaim winning the Silver Hugo for Best Miniseries (twice), a Human Rights Award, and a total of seven Australian Film Institute (now AACTA) Award nominations, including twice for Best Television Series.
Originally trained at AFTRS, Ross has also directed series drama for television.
Director, Marketing & Engagement
Kirsten has over 20 years’ experience spanning marketing, communications, corporate strategy and business development across various sectors, including the screen industry.
In addition to a prior brand and marketing role at VicScreen (then Film Victoria), Kirsten also previously held the position of General Manager, Melbourne Film Office, representing Victoria’s screen industry overseas and attracting international productions to the state.
Since re-joining VicScreen in 2018, Kirsten has managed the strategic direction and operations of the Marketing and Screen Production Attraction division.
Kirsten leads VicScreen’s work in promoting Melbourne and regional Victoria as a world-leading destination for screen production, visual effects, games, animation and post-production – capitalising on the state’s diverse locations, world-leading screen practitioners and outstanding facilities. Kirsten and her team also manage VicScreen’s incentives program and provide on the ground production and locations support to both local and international productions.
Director, Economic & Industry Development
Starting his career as an intellectual property lawyer, Michael has accumulated more than 20 years’ experience in industry and economic development roles in the State Government. He joined Creative Victoria in 2015 and, as Director, Strategy, Screen and Design, led the development of Victoria’s screen industry strategy, VICSCREEN (2021-25) and first creative industries strategy, Creative State.
Michael was the State Government’s lead screen industry executive for more than ten years, overseeing development of the Filming Approvals Act, which passed into law in 2014, the approval and construction of sound stage six at Docklands Studios Melbourne and the establishment of Melbourne International Games Week.
He has managed funding programs supporting technology adoption and innovation, worked with the VET and higher education sectors on industry skills pathways and placements, and taken a lead role in projects to secure international investment in the State.
Michael leads VicScreen’s Economic & Industry Development team across industry and skills development, production attraction and capacity building and locations support.
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