Australian Directors' Guild News

Making Award-Winning Short Films: Lianne MacKeesy & David Robinson Smith - Directors' Deep Dive, Sydney, 1 April

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 23:11:08 GMT

Join Lianne Mackessy and David Robinson-Smith in conversation with Rowan Woods for a Directors’ Deep Dive on making award-winning short films, in conversation with Rowan Woods. From Tropfest success to festival and awards recognition, Lianne and David will cover the creative and practical choices that help a short film stand out — from developing the idea and directing performance to finding tone, building momentum and navigating the festival circuit. An honest conversation for directors at any stage, this session will explore what it takes to make short-form work that cuts through.

Lianne Mackessy is an Australian writer, director and actor, and the winner of Tropfest 2026 for her short film Crescendo. Her work includes the MIFF-premiering Not a Wallflower, the ABC iview documentary What Was It Like?, and Hopeful Romantic, which premiered at Flickerfest in 2023.

David Robinson-Smith is an award-winning Australian writer and director based in Budgewoi on NSW’s Central Coast. His short film Mud Crab (2022) earned him the ADG Award for Best Direction in a Student Film and Best Director at St Kilda Film Festival. He was later nominated for Best Direction in a Short Film at the 2023 ADG Awards for We Used to Own Houses, and has since been developing his first feature projects.

The Australian Directors Guild with the University of Technology Sydney present the Directors’ Deep Dive 2026 series featuring Australian screen directors in conversation, introduced by Associate Professor Alex Munt (UTS) and moderated by acclaimed director Rowan Woods (ADG).

As the ADG continues to advocate for sustainable careers and recognition of directors as co-authors, this session will provide insights for both established and emerging practitioners, not least on the need to protect directors’ creative rights amid shifting production models.

Free for ADG members, book here.

5pm Wednesday April 1st

UTS Bon Marche Studio

755 Harris Street, Ultimo, NSW

DIRECTORS' DEEP DIVE - NASH EDGERTON in conversation with Rowan Woods: MR INBETWEEN

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 11:00:46 GMT

NASH EDGERTON in conversation with Rowan Woods

Wednesday March 4, 2026, 5pm to 6-30pm

UTS Bon Marche Studio

755 Harris Street, Ultimo, Sydney

Nash Edgerton is a director known for propulsive, character-driven storytelling with a sharp edge. Mr Inbetween , created by and starring Scott Ryan, became a standout Australian series for its dark humour, emotional restraint and grounded violence, following Ray Shoesmith as he juggles work, family and a code of loyalty in Sydney’s underworld. Nash's direction and creative stewardship across the series helped shape its signature tone: intimate, unsentimental, and consistently surprising.

FREE FOR ADG MEMBERS! Register here.

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/nash-edgerton-with-rowan-woods-directors-deep-dive-mr-inbetween-tickets-1984279911631?aff=oddtdtcreator

ADG BOARD ELECTION RESULTS

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 10:58:09 GMT

Daniel Nettheim

Ordinary Director

I’ve been an ADG member for over 20 years and previously served on the board in 2007/2008. I’m also a member of Directors UK, the British equivalent of the ADG, as I’ve been working regularly in the UK for over a decade. I intend to focus on creating new opportunities for Director's attachments within our local industry, in a way that benefits both mentor and mentee. In an industry where the work load for Directors is very high and we don’t usually have the budget for Director’s assistants, I’ve learnt through experience that attachment schemes can be a mutually beneficial opportunity. These schemes need to be more readily available and easier to access for both parties.

Nadia Tass

Vice President Documentary

An acclaimed feature film director, second-time documentary director and long standing ADG board member with a passion for documentary, Nadia has been elected as VP Documentary.

I look forward to working with you all to represent the documentary community.

ADG President's Report

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 10:57:05 GMT

The past twelve months have been a formative period for the ADG. The union has faced a mix of financial and industry challenges, and as you would expect from directors, the board worked collaboratively to meet them head on. We put long term strategies in place while progressing a number of existing plans.

Our most significant achievement has been the introduction of the Rate Card for Scripted Series, determining new fees and conditions for Australian screen directors. Although this work began before I joined the board, it was driven with remarkable persistence by Jonathon Brough. The rate card is the result of extensive consultation with international and Australian directors, along with likeminded organisations. It is the first comprehensive fees and rights document to be adopted in more than twenty five years, and it sets a strong foundation for the future.

I also want to acknowledge the outstanding work of our Executive Director, Sophie Harper. We do not always make the headlines, but Sophie has ensured the ADG is present at every major meeting about streaming quotas, authorship, royalties, and rights. She has represented our position with care and enthusiasm, making sure directors have a seat at the table and helping to drive real outcomes. Sophie has also had to steer the organisation through periods of financial uncertainty, supported enormously by the tremendous work of Board Member Victoria Thaine.

The ADG has also been involved in a landmark legal case regarding a disputed director credit after a producer attempted to claim it. The matter could have serious implications for director rights moving forward. We have offered our full support to the director involved and will report in full soon.

As many members know, the ADG continued to face significant financial hardship during the year. This required a further cost reduction plan to lower overheads and streamline spending. Unfortunately, we had no choice but to make our ancillary staff redundant. Our situation was made more difficult by a lack of timely funding support from ASDACS.

ASDACS has always been intended as an adjacent organisation to the ADG. It receives funds from working directors to operate, while carrying the crucial responsibility of distributing our hard-earned royalties. Many in the ADG felt that ASDACS was not sufficiently meeting its broader constitutional obligations to directors, particularly in terms of funding and championing our rights.

This led me to run a ticket at the ASDACS AGM with the aim of populating the board with working directors. As a result, all but one board member was replaced by ADG members. In particular, ADG board members Jonathon Brough and I were elected as Chair and Treasurer respectively. While the ADG and ASDACS must remain separate organisations, this shift has created a stronger shared mandate that aligns the two organisations more closely in the interests of directors. This alignment reflects the original intention of the founding members.

Looking ahead, we have several goals for the coming year. A key priority is developing fees and conditions for Factual and Documentary directors for the first time. Our colleagues in this sector face significant disadvantages in credits, royalties, and working conditions. We also plan to review our feature film agreements and to produce new television director agreements.

On the cultural front, we aim to reinstate our awards ceremony. Additionally, Rowan Woods is coordinating plans for a much needed industry conference that will examine the director’s role in an ever changing landscape, particularly around AI. We’re also looking at ways to provide director attachments and opportunities for emerging creatives.

As we move into 2026, the ADG board is energised and determined to bring about meaningful improvements to our working conditions. We are committed to reframing the imbalance around authorship and addressing the unequal funding of guild organisations. As always, we welcome your feedback and look forward to serving the directorial and broader creative community with real vigour.

Darren Ashton

ADG President and working director

ADG Awards moving to later in 2026

Tue, 21 Oct 2025 23:40:03 GMT

We’re we’re moving the ADG Awards to later in 2026.

We’ll open entries and announce the event date soon. In the meantime, rest assured: any projects released since entries closed for the last awards will be eligible to enter

We can’t wait to see and celebrate your latest work! More soon.

DARREN ASHTON with Rowan Woods - DIRECTORS' DEEP DIVE: The making of AUSTIN

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 07:00:00 GMT

DIRECTORS' DEEP DIVE into the making of AUSTIN, the ground-breaking ABC series:

DARREN ASHTON in conversation with Rowan Woods.

The Australian Directors Guild with the University of Technology Sydney present the Directors’ Deep Dive 2025 series featuring Australian screen directors in conversation, introduced by Associate Professor Alex Munt (UTS) and moderated by acclaimed director Rowan Woods (ADG). This new series will focus on the working life of Australia’s screen directors in the face of rapid technological change and reconfiguration of the’ screenscape’, across film, streaming television and digital media.

UTS 'Rizzo' Theatre

702 Harris Street Ultimo

Building 6, Level 3, Room 022

Darren Ashton (ADG President)

Darren is a highly experienced award-winning director and producer across television and film. He is currenty a Creative Executive with Northern Pictures. Previously he was set up director for the hit series Here Come the Habibs! for Jungle and the Nine Network and associate script producer on Season 2. Other television credits include The Wrong Girl for Network Ten, Wonderland for Fremantle Media, Worst Year Of My Life Again for the ABC and BBC, and Rush and Offspring for Endemol and Network Ten. Darren co-wrote & directed the feature films Thunderstruck (Icon) and Razzle Dazzle (2007) which went on to compete in over 20 international festivals, and was EP on the feature film Not Suitable For Children starring Ryan Kwanten (True Blood) and Sarah Snook (Succession).

Darren joined Northern Pictures to direct Hardball which went on to win a number of prestigious international awards including an International Emmy. In his Creative role at Northern Pictures directed co created the Darren co-created and was the set up director on the hit comedy series, Austin, (now in it’s second series) and Spreadsheet (with Kala Ellis based on her original script) and went on to be set up director. He is currently developing several projects with the scripted team at Northern Pictures.

Rowan Woods (ADG Vice President Features)

DIRECTORS' DEEP DIVE into the making of AUSTIN, the ground-breaking ABC series: DARREN ASHTON in conversation with Rowan Woods.

Premium series for TV and streaming are increasingly led by directors who are also credited as creators and executive producers.

In UTS ADG Deep Dive 3, Rowan Woods is in conversation with Darren Ashton - creator, executive producer and director of Austin - a ground-breaking series in its second season on ABC TV.

Darren Ashton is the current President of the ADG. He has a distinguished career in TV and feature film as a director, creator, executive producer and writer. In this Deep Dive we explore his creative leadership in the series Austin with reference to the creation of unique and compelling screen language.

Click here for tickets

The Business of Directing - ADG Online Webinar

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

ADG Online Webinar Presentation

FRIDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2025

10:00AM – 12:30PM AEST

ADG MEMBERS FREE

Don't forget to join us and your fellow directors, as we explore some of the business, legal and industrial issues facing Australian screen directors today. Your rights, obligations and entitlements will be the focus of this Australian Directors’ Guild online presentation and discussion – free to our members! Contributing their expertise and insights to the discussion, and ready to take your questions will be:

Darren Ashton - ADG President and Working Director

Darren is a highly experienced award-winning director and producer across television and film. He is currently a Creative Executive with Northern Pictures. Previously he was set up director for the hit series Here Come the Habibs! for Jungle and the Nine Network and associate script producer on Season 2. Other television credits include The Wrong Girl for Network Ten, Wonderland for Fremantle Media, Worst Year Of My Life Again for the ABC and BBC, and Rush and Offspring for Endemol and Network Ten.

JONATHAN BROUGH –Director and ADG VP (Television)

Aotearoa/New Zealand-born Jonathan Brough is the director of Rosehaven, The End, Sammy J & Randy in Ricketts Lane, Ronny Chieng: International Student and, most recently, Playing Gracie Darling for Paramount+. He is also the VP of Television for the ADG.

MICHAEL FRANKEL AM – Partner, Frankel Lawyers

Michael Frankel BA, LLB, AM, has been practising law for 45 years. He works extensively in Intellectual Property, Film, Television, Theatre, Music, Media, Defamation, and Indigenous rights, Publishing and Public Interest law, and the firm litigates in those areas. The firm provides pro-bono assistance to the ADG. Michael is a member or director of numerous industry related committees and organisations. Michael was awarded Order of Australia AM in 2007 in recognition for service to the law, particularly in the areas of cultural and intellectual property rights, to film and performing arts organisations, and to a range of media industry associations. He was honoured with Life Membership to the Australian Society of Authors in 2003.

DEB JACKSON – Executive Director, ASDACS

Deb Jackson has led a decade of strategic growth, expanding international partnerships, increasing revenue, and modernising operations. Her leadership introduced a new membership model that boosted domestic income and streamlined members payments. Deb has held roles at Screen Australia, NFSA, and AFTRS, and brings industry knowledge across production, distribution, and governance. She holds a BA in Film Studies from Sydney University and serves on several international CISAC audio-visual committees, championing the rights and recognition of screen directors globally.

James Green – Education Specialist Media Super

James has an extensive background in the financial services and superannuation industry. He enjoys the opportunity to speak to members about all things super – wherever there is an audience, you’ll find James assisting members to help them understand how to make the most of their super to maximise their retirement outcomes, and make their hard work pay off.

SOPHIE HARPER – Executive Director, ADG

Sophie Harper was the senior fund manager at Screen Canberra, where she oversaw programmes including the A$5m (US$3.3m) CBR Screen Fund for the Australian Capital Territory government. Sophie has a European screen background having been based in Denmark from 2009 to 2015, holding a variety of roles at the European Film College. Prior to that she worked at both Screen Australia and the Australian Film Commission in various roles, including in governance and compliance. Harper is also a content creator, developing and hosting successful podcast Not By Accident.

Get your FREE ticket here

SCHEDULE

10:00AM – SESSION 1:DIRECTOR’S RIGHTS AND AGREEMENTS

This session will look at Directors Rights: contracts, moral rights, royalties, type of employment, liability, financial responsibility for the production and much more.

Directors’ rights & protections in Australia
Creative rights
Directors’ rates of pay
Contractual obligations as screen content platforms evolve
International production environment
The emergence of AI
Do I need a lawyer?
The steps in negotiating a director’s agreement

11:20AM – 10-MIN BREAK

11:30AM – SESSION 2: ALL THINGS SUPER

This session features Media Super’s Super Basics presentation, with Q&A to follow. Whether you’re working as an employee, contractor or self-employed, we don’t think you can afford to miss it!

Media Super / fund overview
How Super works
Contributions – how to contribute as a freelancer
Contractors vs Employees (carve out in the act for some creatives)
Taking your Super with you
Investments and Insurance
Ethical investment of your Super
Advice and support

Directors' Deep Dive - Wednesday 10 September 2025

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 08:00:00 GMT

PARTHO SEN GUPTA IN CONVERSATION WITH ROWAN WOODS

DIRECTORS' DEEP DIVE

Wednesday 10 September, 6pm - 7.30 pm, Sydney

UTS 'Rizzo' Theatre

702 Harris Street Ultimo

Building 6, Level 3, Room 022

Get your FREE Ticket here

Partho Sen Gupta

Partho Sen-Gupta is a film writer, director and producer. He worked as Art Director and Production Designer on feature films, TV series and commercials in India. He studied Film Direction at the FEMIS in Paris. After making short films and documentaries, he has made three feature films ‘Let the Wind Blow’ (2004), ’Sunrise’ (2014) and recently ‘Slam' (2018). His films have screened in major international film festivals like the Berlinale, Tribeca, BFI London, Sydney, Rotterdam, Tokyo, Busan, Munich etc, won awards and critical acclaim.
Website

Rowan Woods

Rowan Woods is an Australian screen director and Board Member of the Australian Directors Guild (ADG). He is also Coordinator of the Australian Coalition for Cultural Diversity (ACCD), ), consisting of major Australian screen organizations, guilds, and collection agencies. He recently completed a 6-year stint as Head of Directing at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) and is currently completing a PHD at the University of Technology in Sydney. Rowan Woods’ debut feature film THE BOYS premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival (1998) and won Best Director at the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards. His second feature film LITTLE FISH (2005) starred Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving and was nominated for 13 AFI Awards. Rowan Woods has also directed many TV and streamed series. Highlights include: an ADG Award for Best Direction in a Telemovie for THE BROKEN SHORE (2013); Special Jury Prize at Series Mania for THE KETTERING INCIDENT (2016); and a BAFTA for NOWHERE BOYS (2019).

ADG's Directors' Deep Dive with Lesli Linka Glatter - Melbourne

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 06:00:00 GMT

Join us for a special in-conversation event with Lesli Linka Glatter, President of the Directors Guild of America and legendary director of Homeland, Mad Men, The Morning Show, Twin Peaks, Gilmore Girls and Zero Day.

Lesli will be in conversation with acclaimed Taiwanese-Australian director Corrie Chen.

The ADG, DGA, VCA and VicScreen bring you this exclusive directing deep dive, offering ADG Members, industry and audiences a rare chance to hear from one of the most influential voices in contemporary television.

Together Lesli and Corrie will explore the craft of directing through Lesli's incredible body of work, and what it takes to lead creatively at the highest level in today’s global industry.

Refreshments 5.30pm to 6.30pm

Tickets available here

FED Hall, VCA.

ADG's Directors' Deep Dive with Lesli Linka Glatter - Sydney

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 06:00:00 GMT

Lesli will be in conversation with acclaimed Taiwanese-Australian director Corrie Chen.

The ADG, DGA, Screen NSW and AFTRS bring you this exclusive directing deep dive, offering ADG Members, industry and audiences a rare chance to hear from one of the most influential voices in contemporary television.

Together Lesli and Corrie will explore the craft of directing through Lesli's incredible body of work, and what it takes to lead creatively at the highest level in today’s global industry.

AUSLAN interpreted.

Drinks 5.30 to 6.30.

Tickets available here

Spaces are limited.

Directors Deep Dive Series 2025 - CHERIE NOWLAN in conversation with Rowan Woods (Sydney)

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 08:00:00 GMT

CHERIE NOWLAN

In conversation with Rowan Woods

Location: UTS ‘Rizzo’ Theatre 702 Harris Street Ultimo

Building 6, Level 3, Room 022

Tickets are for ADG members only, and available for FREE HERE

Cherie Nowlan is an awarding winning director and executive producer of film and television, working extensively in the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Cherie is an Executive Producer and Director of the critically acclaimed Netflix series, THE SURVIVORS (2025), produced by Tony Ayres Productions. The series reached #2 on the Netflix global streaming charts. Cherie’s career has spanned film and television in Australia and the USA. Her many credits include some of Netflix’s biggest hits – YOU, OUTERBANKS, and CLICKBAIT, as well as Amazon’s SNEAKY PETE and THE WILDS, which was nominated for a GLADD award, and Hulu’s REPRISAL and HELSTROM (Marvel). She also directed two US pilots including MISTRESSES for ABC as well as SUITS, ANIMAL KINGDOM, SEAL TEAM, HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, GREY’S ANATOMY, THE GOOD DOCTOR, LAW & ORDER ORGANISED CRIME, CHICAGO MED, CHICAGO PD, RIVERDALE and the comedy series, YOUNG ROCK, CLAWS and SPEECHLESS. Cherie’s Australian credits include the multi award-winning limited series, MARKING TIME, for which Cherie won an AFI (AACTA) Award for Best Director. Her 2007 feature, CLUBLAND (aka INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS), starring Brenda Blethyn, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for 11 AFI (AACTA) awards including Best Director and Best Actress. Cherie’s first feature, THANK GOD HE MET LIZZIE (1997), starred Cate Blanchett, Frances O’Connor and Richard Roxburgh, and was nominated for 5 AFI Awards.

Rowan Woods is an Australian screen director and Board Member of the Australian Directors Guild (ADG). He is also Coordinator of the Australian Coalition for Cultural Diversity (ACCD), consisting of major Australian screen organizations, guilds, and collection agencies. He recently completed a 6-year stint as Head of Directing at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) and is currently completing a PHD at the University of Technology in Sydney. Rowan Woods’ debut feature film THE BOYS premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival (1998) and won Best Director at the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards. His second feature film LITTLE FISH (2005) starred Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving and was nominated for 13 AFI Awards. Rowan Woods has also directed many TV and streamed series. Highlights include: an ADG Award for Best Direction in a Telemovie for THE BROKEN SHORE (2013); Special Jury Prize at Series Mania for THE KETTERING INCIDENT (2016); and a BAFTA for NOWHERE BOYS (2019).

In Conversation with Kate Woods (Melbourne)

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Presented by RMIT’s School of Media & Communication
in partnership with the Australian Directors Guild (ADG) & Women in Film and Television (WIFT Vic.)

RMIT Kaleide Theatre
360 Swanston Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Doors open 5:40PM | Conversation 6:00-7:00 PM

Free entry

Join us for an exclusive ‘In Conversation’ with acclaimed director Kate Woods, whose career spans decades of powerful storytelling across Australia and the U.S. Her debut feature Looking for Alibrandi celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and her new film Kangaroo premieres in cinemas this September.

From directing The Lincoln Lawyer, The Umbrella Academy, and The Good Lord Bird, to beloved Australian series like Changi, Farscape, and Wildside, Kate will share insights into her creative process, navigating international screen industries, and her return to feature filmmaking with Kangaroo—a heart-warming outback adventure with big laughs and big heart.

Moderated by:
Mark Poole, Chair of ADG Victoria, filmmaker and screenwriter

All directors, filmmakers, students, screen professionals, and film lovers welcome.

Bookings here

2024 ADG AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 10:33:10 GMT

Diverse voices and inclusive storytelling triumph at Australian Directors’ Guild Awards

The Australian Directors’ Guild (ADG) Awards has highlighted the extraordinary breadth and depth of talent among Australian screen directors, with this year’s winners comprising screen legends, emerging voices and innovative storytellers.

George Miller, one of Australia’s most celebrated filmmakers, added to his legacy with a win for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga in the Best Direction of a Feature Film (Budget $1.5M or over) category.

Tying for equal first with Miller for the top award were Paul Middleditch and Hamish Bennett for Uproar, a coming-of-age comedy-drama set in New Zealand during the controversial 1981 South African rugby tour that sparked nationwide protests against apartheid and racism.

Best Direction of a Feature Film (Budget under $1.5M) went to Haydn Butler for Home Kills, a dark comedy that follows a young butcher’s apprentice who gets entangled in a web of crime when she discovers a body in a meat chiller.

Australian Directors’ Guild Executive Director Sophie Harper said distinct voices and inclusive narratives were a recurring theme among the winners announced tonight at Melbourne’s Astor Theatre, reflecting Australia’s vibrant cultural diversity. In addition to best directing awards across 19 categories, two special ADG awards were presented in recognition of extraordinary contributions to directing.

Best Direction of a Debut Feature was won by Natalie Bailey for Audrey, a heartfelt drama about a young woman struggling to find her place after a personal tragedy disrupts her life. Annelise Hickey’s Hafekasi, which explores mixed-race identity, was recognised for Best Direction of a Short Film, while Best Direction of a Student Film went to Veniamin Gialouris for Gorgo, which follows a Greek bride set to marry a man in Australia she’s never met.

Best Direction in Online Longform went to Jessica Smith for Videoland S1 E1 & E2, about 17-year-old Hayley, a video store clerk exploring her lesbian identity. Best Direction of a Documentary Series Episode or One-Off was awarded to Serge Ou for RUNN, chronicling Nedd Brockmann's remarkable journey as he runs across Australia to raise funds for homelessness.

Best Direction of a Feature Documentary went to Frances Elliott and Samantha Marlowe for Renee Gracie: Fireproof, which shines a light on former Supercars driver Renee Gracie’s unconventional career pivot, while Best Direction of a Drama Series Episode went to Emma Freeman for Fake S1E5.

The first of the Australian Directors’ Guild special awards, the Cecil Holmes Award, was presented to acclaimed Australian screen director, producer and writer Robert Connolly in recognition of his remarkable career and advocacy for Australian cinema.

“Robert Connolly has shaped the industry through groundbreaking works and relentless support for emerging talent. He has established a reputation as a brilliant producer and mentor to directors with ‘difficult to finance’, diverse Australian feature film projects,” ADG President Rowan Woods said.

“He is an important critical thinker and thought leader who has been able to cut through institutional, financial and creative blockages to the financing, development and production of Australian screen stories. This award is a very loud thank you to Robert for his bravery, generosity and advocacy for Australian screen directors.”

The inaugural Baz Luhrmann Pathfinder Award, celebrating a director who has carved out a unique creative path, was presented to Indigenous director Dylan River – known for his deeply personal and innovative work across scripted and documentary forms.

“From directing Mystery Road: Origin to co-creating Thou Shalt Not Steal, Dylan River’s mastery of cinematography and dedication to truth-telling have earned him widespread acclaim. As the first recipient of this award, Dylan embodies the spirit of finding new and exciting ways to tell screen stories,” said Mr Woods.

Ms Harper added that this year’s ADG Awards, supported by the Australian Screen Directors Authorship Collecting Society (ASDACS), showcased Australian directors’ versatility, whether creating heartfelt humour, gripping drama or innovative online stories that push the boundaries of interactive and immersive content.

“The winners demonstrate the incredible breadth of Australian directing talent, from seasoned icons to bold new voices, and the special awards for Robert Connolly and Dylan River highlight our industry’s dedication to nurturing creativity and recognising excellence at every stage of a director’s career,” Ms Harper said.

Full list of 2024 Australian Directors’ Guild award winners

Award	Winner
Best Direction of a Feature Film (Budget $1.5 M or over)	Paul Middleditch and Hamish Bennett Uproar (TIE)
Best Direction of a Feature Film (Budget $1.5 M or over)	George Miller Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (TIE)
Best Direction of a Feature Film (Budget under $1.5 M)	Haydn Butler Home Kills
Best Direction of a Feature Documentary	Frances Elliott and Samantha Marlowe Renee Gracie: Fireproof
Best Direction of a Debut Feature	Natalie Bailey Audrey
Best Direction of a Miniseries Episode	Bonnie Moir Exposure S1 E5
Best Direction of a Drama Series Episode	Emma Freeman Fake S1 E5
Best Direction of a Documentary Series Episode or One-Off	Serge Ou RUNN
Best Direction of a Short Documentary	Brietta Hague Compass S39 E10 - Not In My Name
Best Direction of an Animation	Alexs Stadermann 200% Wolf (TIE)
Best Direction of an Animation	Tania Vincent and Ricard Cussó The Sloth Lane (TIE)
Best Direction of a Short Film	Annelise Hickey Hafekasi
Best Direction of a Student Film	Veniamin Gialouris Gorgo
Best Direction of a Commercial Advertisement	Tim Bullock AAMI: Athletes In The Making
Best Direction of Commercial Content	Sarah Hickey Monster & Bear: The Perfect Brief
Best Direction of a Music Video	Mick Soiza Semiiré: Decisions
Best Direction of an Interactive or Immersive Project	Logan Mucha A Beat To Hold Back The Dawn
Best Direction in Online Longform	Jessica Smith Videoland S1 E1 & E2
Best Direction in Online Shortform	Kaius Potter Fluff - Before The Mirror
Best Direction of a Comedy Series Episode	Helena Brooks Population: 11 S1 E10 - Like Father, Like Son
Best Direction of a Children’s Series Episode	Rosemary Myers Beep and Mort S2 E2 - Today! The Musical
Cecil Holmes Award	Robert Connolly
Baz Luhrmann Pathfinder Award	Dylan River

A Special Thanks to ADG Awards Sponsors!

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 03:27:23 GMT

The ADG extends a huge thank you to all our Awards Sponsors for their incredible support in showcasing the amazing talent of Australian Screen Directors at the 2024 ADG Awards. We could not do this without you!

Vale Gregory Godhard (4 November 1966 – 25 October 2024)

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 05:58:06 GMT

Film director, animator, and artist Gregory was best known for his experimental award-winning animations. His career spanned three decades, starting with his first film, INFINITY, in 1992, which he made as a student of COFA at UNSW, and ending with his last, SUPERNOVA, in 2013.

Continuing the legacy of European and North American avant-garde filmmakers Jonas Mekas and Maya Deren and the more recent styles of Japanese and Czech animators Takashi Ito and Jan Švankmajer, Gregory’s in-camera effects and stop-motion techniques, not to mention his themes of the solace to the horror of the quotidian were highly influential for a new generation of experimental filmmakers.

His works were regularly featured on SBS’s Eat Carpet program, showcasing Australian short films from 1989 to 2005 and are part of ACMI and MUBI’s collections. Gregory was an active member of the local film community, advising on funding panels for Screen NSW and frequently contributing to the running of local arthouse screenings such as ‘Side On’ and exhibitions in Sydney’s Inner West. Gregory came into mainstream view when he became a Tropfest Finalist in 2006 with A ROOM WITH ASKEW.

Perhaps the best description of his filmmaking life is his own: “Born in Sydney, Gregory Godhard continues to (mis)spend his time as an animator, experimental film-maker and artist. He has produced, directed and animated twelve short experimental 16mm films. His films have screened in numerous festivals around the world, picking up the occasional award and funny-looking trophy.”(San Francisco Cinematheque 2010 https://www.sfcinematheque.org/)

Vale Director Bill Hughes

Sat, 06 Jul 2024 16:50:29 GMT

Vale Director Bill Hughes

Director Bill Hughes’ extraordinary career leaves a lasting legacy in the Australian screen industry. Bill died in Doonan Queensland on April 7th, just weeks before his 80th birthday.

We are reaching out on behalf of John Hughes to invite contributions to an obituary for his brother, who was known and admired by many of our members.

Bill’s professional life was extraordinarily prolific; he made an incredible contribution to the history of Australian television in particular. From Crawfords (HOMICIDE) in the 1960s through to producing and directing TV into the early 21st century. He won numerous AFI, AACTA and Logie Awards for shows he produced and directed. Bill produced PHOENIX, JANUS, CHANGI and A FORTUNATE LIFE, THE FARM and JACKAROO. Bill produced THE INTERVIEW (Craig Monahan 1998).

Over five decades, he directed episodes of nearly every notable TV miniseries and serial, including A COUNTRY PRACTICE,THE FLYING DOCTORS, THE SULLIVANS, HOME AND AWAY (30 episodes), WINNERS AND LOSERS, ALL SAINTS (Producer Director) and COP SHOP. He produced PACKED TO THE RAFTERS (Series 6), McLEOD’s Daughters, among others.

Bill was highly regarded throughout the industry with a ‘maverick’ reputation for very high standards and exacting work. Sadly, the people who might write about Bill’s contribution first hand like Michael Carson, Robert Casswell, Alison Nisselle or Jill Robb are mostly also no longer with us.

Bill is survived by his son Justin, grandson Maxwell, first wife Ellen, stepchildren Kia and Chris, and loving partner Tonia. Events celebrating his life and work will be announced soon.

You are invited to share your memories and insights about Bill’s contributions to our industry and culture. Please send your contributions to admin@adg.org.au .

Click here to read more

WE FAREWELL FOUR ESTEEMED BOARD MEMBERS

Mon, 13 May 2024 07:23:11 GMT

ADG Board and staff acknowledge and thank our four esteemed board members who are stepping aside: Stephen Wallace, Pearl Tan, Daina Reid and Anna Broinowski.

Stephen Wallace (Stir, Blood Oath, Turtle Beach) was a founding signatory of the Guild and has been a consecutive Board member for the past 33 years. He was President from 1991 to 2000 and has stewarded ADG finances in recent years as Treasurer. His work has been recognised with the Cecil Holmes Award, which acknowledged his advocacy for directorial rights and contributions to the community. Was awarded an Order of Australia in 2005. Stephen’s legacy includes not only his cinematic work but also his advocacy for directors' rights, which has helped shape the industry.

Pearl Tan (Minority Box, The Casting Game), as Vice President of New Media, has brought invaluable insight into the evolving digital landscape and pathways for emerging directors. Pearl is also a pivotal figure in advocacy for diversity and inclusivity in the Australian film and TV industry and has contributed to the ADG significantly.

Daina Reid (Run Rabbit Run, The Handmaid’s Tale) ADG Secretary, has been generous and thoughtful in her role on the Board. Beyond her directorial accomplishments, Daina has contributed to our work in advancing industry standards and actively worked at promoting diversity and inclusion within the screen industry.

Anna Broinowski (Forbidden Lie$, Aim High in Creation), as VP Documentary, has advocated for and offered the perspective of documentary directors to Board and staff of the ADG. Anna’s approach to documentary filmmaking is characterized by a willingness to tackle complex issues and this has carried across. Anna has provided invaluable guidance and advice to members and staff on their behalf.

We are immensely thankful to Anna, Stephen, Pearl, and Daina for their service, which has set a high standard for leadership and excellence.

Sophie Harper

Executive Director

THE ADG WELCOMES NEW BOARD MEMBERS

Mon, 13 May 2024 07:21:40 GMT

ADG elections have concluded and we are delighted to introduce you to the uncontested candidates now joining the Board.

Secretary: Victoria Thaine

Treasurer: Michael Rymer

VP New Media: Tony Walsh

(VP Documentary: vacant)

Victoria Thaine (VIC)

Secretary

Victoria is an award-winning actor, writer and director who has worked across film and television for over twenty years. She recently appeared in the mini-series Scrubland for Stan and BBC4. She wrote & directed the award-winning short film The Kingdom of Doug and the short-form series Sonia & Cherry. In 2023 she directed the short form series Plausible Deniability. She has a production company Cloudberry Films, with producer Naomi Mulholland. Victoria complements her creative roles with expertise in leadership and workplace culture. She has a Graduate Certificate in Business, certification as an Executive & Team Coach, is a Graduate of the Australian Company Directors course and is currently completing a Masters in Organisational and Social Leadership.

Michael Rymer (VIC/QLD)

Treasurer

Michael Rymer is a renowned Australian director, celebrated for his debut film Angel Baby, which secured three AFI Awards for Best Feature, Director, and Original Screenplay. He has directed several feature films including Queen of the Damned and Face to Face, the latter receiving extensive international festival acclaim. Rymer’s notable TV work includes directing and producing Battlestar Galactica, earning an Emmy nomination, and episodes for American Horror Story: Asylum, which brought him a DGA nomination. Recently, he directed the final two episodes of Picnic at Hanging Rock and the first two episodes of Fires. His career spans significant contributions to both film and television.

Tony Walsh (QLD)

Vice President New Media

With over a decade of experience as a director across commercial, short form documentary & narrative, Tony’s work has redefined brands, championed NGOs, even brought a shift at the polls. Getting his start on sets directing EPK and ancillary content for companies including Matchbox Pictures, Hoodlum & Ludo, he has since co-founded the Brisbane-based production company Stranger Films as a platform to tell bold, curious and unexpected stories. Tony has a passion for pushing the boundaries of emerging formats and experimenting with new technology for creative applications. Two of his projects have received funding from Screen Queensland, with his latest premiering at SXSW.

The post-election report from the Australian Electoral Commission will be published on our website and available to members on request.

ADG BOARD 2024 ELECTION

Wed, 13 Mar 2024 01:36:51 GMT

Dear ADG Members,

The Australian Directors’ Guild is governed by an elected board that includes some of Australia’s most celebrated Directors. Four Board members are now nearing the end of their three-year terms, and the Australian Electoral Commission is working with the ADG to hold an election. I would sincerely like to acknowledge the work and commitment of all of our current Board members – but more on them and their work soon.

Here’s what you need to know today:

Close of Electoral Roll: Next Monday 18 March 2024.

Full Emerging and Full Established financial members are eligible to vote, and to stand for election.

The Roll of Voters includes all financial full members as of 18 March 2024.

Current board members may stand again.

Ensure your membership is active by next Monday 18 March to enable you to vote and/or stand.

The positions:

· Vice President - New Media

· Vice President - Documentary

· Secretary

· Treasurer

Note: ADG recognises that ‘New Media’ is dated terminology. Position titles are dictated by the ADG constitution and this title is expected to be changed after a revision of the constitution in the next year or so.

Nomination Period: Opens 25 March 2024, Closes 10 April 2024.

Important Details for Members:

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) will publish the Election Notice and Nomination forms on their website, as well as email them to all ADG members at the start of the nomination period. These documents will also be available on the ADG website.

Voting Process: Absentee voting applications (as required) close on 23 April 2024. Postal voting opens on 24 April 2024 and concludes on 22 May 2024. Election results will be announced within 14 days post-ballot closure.

Your Role: This election offers the opportunity to contribute to the ADG’s direction and leadership. We particularly encourage members from underrepresented groups and/or underrepresented parts of the country to consider running for a Board position.

Get in touch with me or President Rowan Woods if you’re thinking of nominating yourself or a fellow ADG member and would like to talk it through.

Warm regards,

Sophie Harper

Executive Director

sophie.harper@adg.org.au

VALE MICHAEL JENKINS CREATOR, WRITER, DIRECTOR 1946-2024

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 06:21:32 GMT

It is with profound sadness that we announce the death of Michael Jenkins, whose work has left an indelible mark on Australian television and cinema.

STATEMENT FROM ADG PRESIDENT

ROWAN WOODS

I didn’t know Michael Jenkins personally. But like many Australian directors and writers breaking through in the 90’s and 2000’s, Michael’s work on Australian TV was world changing. His creativity reared up and shouted to an Australian TV audience that had been held captive by a producer-centric model and network influence that employed filmmakers as functionaries.

Even the movie spirit of Kennedy Miller could not crack fast shooting TV schedules to any great cinematic effect. Australian TV Drama was visually and sonically constipated and light years behind the best of US and UK TV.

Then along came Michael Jenkins. His TV was faster and more visceral. Blue Murder says it all about where Jenkins came from and where he wanted to go as a creative force. He and his teams of actors, writers, drama coaches, brave 1^st ADs and amazingly skilled TV cinematographers found ways to shoot fast and beatifically, exciting us viscerally and psychologically. Streamed episodic series have long since moved on from Michael’s vision.

As a filmic form, the best streaming series now arguably go deeper than cinema into character and story. But no doubt, Michael Jenkins’ creative cannon was a seminal Australian TV milestone of the 80s and 90s.

Rowan Woods

ADG President

STATEMENT FROM DIRECTOR IAN BARRY

I was honoured when Mike’s long time partner Amanda asked me to write something about Mike, as I’d only interfaced with him sporadically throughout our lives; when he first appeared maybe just aged 20 at the ABC as a PA in late ‘66 or early ‘67, when I cut for him five years or so later on “Certain Women,” then editing his episodes of the 1976 series “Rush” and then when I directed episodes on “Young Lions,” one of the many series that he created… then sadly, the other day on the Northern beaches.

Launched into this world in 1946, Mike grew up in beachside Collaroy, Sydney. His grandfather introduced Mike to sailing on Narrabeen Lake and subsequently triggered a life long love of all things nautical, culminating in a 10-year boat-building project resulting in

‘Echo’ – a 42’ trawler-style boat. Horticulture was Mike’s other passion; he’d garden and landscape wherever he resided.Mike left Shore School in North Sydney at seventeen and after uni, where he majored in philosophy – doing his honours thesis on Plato, Mike worked for a couple of years as a cadet journalist with the ABC, living in Canberra and working in the press gallery.

In ’66 Mike transferred to the ABC studios at Gore Hill and worked on Alan Searle’s Gardening program before becoming production assistant in the drama division. ‘The Cottage’ housed drama preproduction and post where I worked as a sound editor and that was where I first sighted Mike – both he and Mike Carson, fresh faced, bursting with a zeal that portended careers of significance. Melbourne based “Bellbird,” the legendary ABC soap, was where Mike cut his directorial drama teeth. “CERTAIN WOMEN” and “RUSH” back in Sydney was where I again worked with Mike as his film editor.He met the actress Jenny Lee on the set of “Certain Women” and they later had two boys – Daniel Jack Jenkins in 1976 and Jack Raymond Jenkins in 1980 and now granddaughters, Sydney (12) and Vera (9).

Mike began his Writer/Director phase around ’73 with “Serpent in the Rainbow.” In 1980 as Writer/Director, he made “SPRING AND FALL” and reunited with Michael Carson who worked as his producer.Later that year Mike won a Writer’s Guild Award and the prize was a scholarship to UCLA. Mike completed a gruelling course in screenplay writing and structuring in the American idiom - One course demand was to turn out a production-ready feature film script, usually based on a front-page story from a newspaper, every 6 weeks. On his return he’d admit it was absolutely punishing, but he learnt skills that led to a huge slate of written/director projects.

In’83 he wrote the highly acclaimed feature, “Careful, he Might Hear You,” directed by Carl Schultz and for which Mike won the then AFI awards ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ category.“Robbery Under Arms” and “Rebel” followed – and on the set of the latter, Mike met assistant editor, Amanda Robson and they began their forty-year love affair. Amanda and Mike subsequently had a son and daughter, Tom and Matilda. Concurrently, Mike began the highly productive auteur phase of his career. In 1983 the landmark series “Scales of Justice,” hit home screens. As one critique put it; “one of the most controversial mini-series ever produced.” “Scales” examined corruption in all levels of law enforcement…” Then, as testament to Mike’s versatility he directed “The Leaving of Liverpool,” the moving story of children being shipped post WW2 from the Star of the Sea orphanage in the U.K. to far flung Commonwealth destinations

There followed the auteur feature “The Heartbreak Kid,” later spawning the internationally successful multi season series “Heartbreak High.” The hard-hitting “Blue Murder,” pulled no punches, likewise the gritty “Wildside” and “Young Lions” - it was a momentous decade for Mike. Another review at the time paid high praise to Mike - “Jenkins is one of the most highly regarded Australian directors of the 1990s, known for his distinctive, gritty style, particularly his use of multiple hand held cameras, and semi-improvised dialogue.” Themes of justice and humanity underlie pretty much every project Mike has been drawn to. Whether it traces back to influences from his QC father or his Plato based studies in philosophy, the notions of fairness and empathy remain consistent.

In an interview he gave in regard to “Blue Murder,” he talked about not judging characters, “no matter how corrupt or evil they outwardly appear.” When he set about making “The Wrong Girl,” a tough, based on fact project about a pack rape in the early 2000s, he collided with power figures and narrower minds.

Speaking with the press, Michael said of the victim, "The journey of this young girl is a heroic journey. It's an enduring and determined fight for personal justice." He said The Wrong Girl would treat victims with sensitivity while looking at why such horrific crimeswere committed. The film's writer, Nicholas Hammond had spoken extensively with one gang rape victim. "She was the first one to say, 'This movie is the only good thing I've had in my life in the last four years when I've been going through these trials.”

The planned film had been inspired by Mike seeing one girl give evidence. The title came from her answer when asked how she had coped with the court case. She replied: "They picked the wrong girl to rape" alluding to her determination and tenacity to speak out. The then State Premier found the subject matter too hot to handle and sadly, on this occasion, Mike’s mission to speak justice and dignity for a young victim was shut down.Misfortune also struck his ‘Bali bombing project’ shortly after it went into production for the ABC. In 2005 writer Peter Schreck conceived a two-parter about the terrorist attack in Kuta in October 2002 in which 202 people, including 88 Australians, were killed.

The first part Mike wanted to make from the point of view of the Australian victims and covering the police operation. The second part, though, took the position of the bombers. It was to be filmed entirely in Indonesian, and screened with subtitles. The show was about four days into production

when it fell apart – two more terrorist bombs were detonated in Kuta, killing 20. "They blew up a restaurant, and we heard the explosion, it was so close to us," Mike recounted. "And then the whole country went into panic mode. We had about 30-odd permissions [to film] and they were progressively withdrawn." The Balinese feared that the production would foster further extremism and so the Indonesian military finally shut the show down. "So we just had to abandon that project," Mike said on his return. "It was a fantastic idea but we had very bad luck." Mike and Amanda left Sydney around 2006 to take up retirement in Tasmania.

They bonded with the people and extensively toured the state. It was a bucolic existence just outside Hobart where they gardened, landscaped and Mike sailed, ultimately leading to several years creating his own 42’ vessel – “Echo.”

But his highly awarded “Blue Murder” of the mid nineties hadn’t finished with Mike. When Roger Rogerson was arrested for the murder of Jamie Gow in May 2014, the Seven network contacted Mike. It seemed an obvious opportunity for a follow-up series given the notoriety of Rogerson and the success of the original show. “Killer Cop” was shot in 2016, and aired the following year with audiences, ratings and press all white hot for “Jenkins’ knife edge directing.”

Early signs of movement problems started the same year. By 2020 they were significant and Mike received a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease. During 2021 & 2022 Mike had some dreadful falls resulting in multiple breaks and hospital stays. It became obvious Mike and Amanda couldn’t easily manage the property, and the distance from family in Sydney necessitated their move back. Mike passed away in the late afternoon of the 4th (March 2024) with his long time partner Amanda and close family by his side. The industry will always remember him as a master Film maker, but beyond the passionate and driven personality, Mike will always be remembered as a warm, fair and empathetic friend and of course a tender and loving husband and father.

Unequivocally, Mike has been a prodigious creator of excellent and groundbreaking film and television spanning five decades. “Creator, writer, director” is a tag that appears over and over in Mike’s lengthy filmography…”Scales,” “Heartbreak High,” “Blue Murder,” “Wildside,” “Young Lions,” and more – Time and time again the industry recognised Mike’s work in awards; AFI ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ for “Careful…” along with the Premier’s Literary Award. ‘Best writer and director’ for “Scales,” ‘Best Screenplay and Director’ for “The Heartbreak Kid,” an AFI and Logie for ‘Best Mini-Series’ for “The Leaving of Liverpool,” again ‘Best Mini-Series and Director for “Blue Murder,” little wonder he’s been written of as one of “the most important and innovative film makers of the 80’s and 90”s.”

I’d long marvelled at Mike’s talent as a film maker and his ability for capturing truth in performance and to achieve startlingly realistic visual styles and I clearly remember one day in preproduction when we were having a coffee rave about movies we admired and the process of maintaining a truthful and distinctive style and Mike said, “when I first arrive on a location, I decide upon the hardest place to shoot the scene from and that’s where I put the camera.” And though I got the wisdom of it and was maybe drawn to applying it to my own shooting, conventions of symmetry and the perfect frame would always be there to seduce me. But that was the innovative tenacity and the magic of director Mike.

Ian Barry

Director

Colin and Cameron Cairnes Highly Commended for Best Direction, Feature Film (over $1m) for Late Night with the Devil, which was filmed at Docklands Studios Melbourne. Docklands is a Gold Sponsor of the ADG Awards 2023

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 05:31:18 GMT

When it came to shooting Late Night With the Devil, Australian writer-directors Colin and Cameron Cairnes weighed up a number of locations.

The brothers looked at converted warehouses and spaces around Melbourne but soon set their sights on the Gravity Media Production Centre Melbourne located in Stage 5 at Docklands Studios.

It may be an obvious choice for a story based around a live TV talk show, but it needed a stroke of timing luck to happen.

That’s where DSM’s Client Services Manager Rosey Cullinan reached out to Gravity Media’s Account Executive, Media Services & Facilities, Marcus Doherty to accommodate Late Night’s June 2022 shooting schedule along with pre-production, costume and storage.

Late Night stars David Dastmalchian as talk show host Jack Delroy filming a Halloween special to boost flagging ratings. Things soon grow horribly wrong under a demonic presence.

The choice of filming location gave the production a head start given the space was equipped with standard television infrastructure such as a shiny floor, lighting rig and audience seating.

Production Designer Otello Stolfo masterfully completed the retro feel, with a 1970s talk show set that included a brown and orange backdrop and vintage television cameras.

As Colin Cairnes puts it: “Everyday it felt like walking into a time capsule. It felt like we actually were in TV studio in downtown Manhattan in 1977. It really helped bring the film to life.

“For cast and crew to have a sense of what it would have been like, to get that extra layer of verisimilitude if I can use that word, was fantastic.

“It was also the fact that we had all those facilities there for the art department, for hair and make-up, for wardrobe, the star rooms. All those facilities were first class and I know that our cast loved working there. The fact we were all in the same building and we were all a one minute walk from each other, it just made our lives that much easier.”

The central city location kept everyone happy too, says Cairnes. “You’ve got so much accommodation nearby and the city too, it just makes it so hassle-free to get people to and from the set on time. For cast and crew coming in from overseas that central location also means access to all the wonderful things the city of Melbourne has to offer.”

Meanwhile the critical and audience reception for Late Night With the Devil goes from strength to strength.

It was an instant hit on debut at SXSW in Austin, Texas in March with master-of-horror Stephen King tweeting that the film was “absolutely brilliant”.

It later screened at both the Sydney and Melbourne International Film Festivals and at the world’s biggest horror/fantasy film festival Sitges in Spain where it won the best screenplay award.

AGC International has recently snapped up international rights for a wider release.

Production companies: Future Pictures, Spooky Pictures, and Image Nation

Producers: Mat Govoni, Adam White, John Molloy, Steven Schneider, Roy Lee and Derek Dauchy

Main cast: David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Fayssal Bazzi, Ingrid Torelli, Rhys Auteri, Josh Quong Tart and Georgina Haig.

Colin and Cameron Cairnes received Highly Commended for Best Direction, Feature Film (over $1m) for Late Night With the Devil, which was filmed at Docklands Studios Melbourne. Docklands is a Gold Sponsor of the ADG Awards 2023.

How to support Ukrainian Filmmakers

Tue, 16 May 2023 05:29:50 GMT

In 2022, the ADG, ACS and WIFT Australia joined forces to run a webinar in Solidarity with Ukrainian Filmmakers.

Here is a recording of the webinar.

UKRAINE SOLIDARITY WEBINAR.mp4 on Vimeo

Please watch and follow the many ways you can support Ukrainian filmmakers listed below.

Vimeo link: https://vimeo.com/786679627

Password: sunflower

Ways to support Ukrainian Filmmakers:

Hire and work with Ukrainian filmmakers. Many filmmakers are still open for business despite the war.

Ask Ukrainians to pitch for your projects.

Post jobs in the Filmmakers for Ukraine Facebook page.

Seek co-production with Ukraine filmmakers and production companies

Support Ukrainian filmmakers – seek them, follow their work and socials, share them.

Ukrainian Female Film Industry
Babylon 13 is an independent collective of Ukrainian filmmakers
Docu Days UA providing Ukrainian filmmakers with the most necessary filming equipment so they can continue filming and working
Organise residencies for Ukrainian writers so they can work in calm and safe places.
Create a special fund for Ukrainian filmmakers who are currently serving in the army so they are supported upon return.

Watch Ukrainian films

Sydney Ukrainian Film Festival (26-28 May 23)
Filmmakers for Ukraine have a rental online streaming set up. The revenue generated by the film rental is donated to the NGO Filmmakers for Refugees and forwarded directly to people in need in the Ukraine.

Program and support film screenings of Ukrainian films at festivals to ensure that Ukrainian filmmakers voices are not forgotten.

Donate and share

Elizaweta’s fund Donations | PORYAD (poryadukraine.com)
Filmmakers for Ukraine here.

Follow the panelists

Mitya Shmurak is a Ukrainian director working on commercials, music videos, TV and film. He directed Ed Sheeran and Antytila’s 2Step music video about the war. He is the owner of Manifest Production and Motanka Animation Studios.
Nikita Kuzmenko is a Ukrainian cinematographer. He was the DOP on Harry Styles 'As it Was' music video. He works closely with director Tara Muino creating music videos for some of the world’s top artists.
Elizaweta Mowshyna is a Ukrainian producer in peacetime, but is now co-owner of PORYAD a charity project in the Ukraine.
Kyryl Staselovych is a Ukrainian director and editor of advertising and travel shows. Before the war he edited the popular reality show “Heads and Tails”. He is now working on a documentary about the war.
Alice Ronkovich is a Ukrainian photographer and emerging cinematographer who moved to Melbourne after the first month of the war.
Karina Rezhevska is a Ukrainian sound designer and foley expert currently based in South Australia

Talk to other people about this webinar – it is recorded and is available to share.

SCREENWORKS Participants Announced - Career Pathways Programs

Thu, 22 Dec 2022 04:06:10 GMT

PARTICIPANTS ANNOUNCED FOR SCREENWORKS’ 2023 CAREER PATHWAYS PROGRAMS

Screenworks has announced the thirteen regional directors, producers and screenwriters from NSW and Queensland that have been selected for Screenworks’ 2023 Career Pathways Programs. As part of the three programs — Inside The Writers Room, Director Pathways Program and Regional Producer Elevator Program — the selected participants will receive invaluable support and guidance over the next 12 months from some of Australia’s most respected writers, directors and producers.

“Thanks to the support of the multiple production companies, mentors, industry guilds and state funding agencies, the Career Pathways Programs have now become one of our most important annual pinnacle programs,” said Screenworks CEO Ken Crouch. “All participants selected for these programs are talented and demonstrate great potential. Some of the past alumni have made their marks within the national and international industry, and I’m excited to see what the 2023 cohort will achieve in the future.”

Expanded to include regional Queensland for the first time, this year’s Career Pathways Programs are funded by Screen Queensland and Screen NSW with support from Fremantle Media. Inside the Writers Room opportunities are being provided by Goalpost Pictures, Fremantle Media, EQ Media, Tony Ayres Productions and Wooden Horse. The Director Pathways Program is supported by the Australian Directors’ Guild, with Screen Producers Australia supporting the Regional Producer Elevator Program.

Jahvis Loveday and Ela Furdas from the Northern Rivers region will be joined by Townsville-based Robert Crispe and Ashleigh Lawrence from Cairns as the four regional producers selected for Screenworks’ Regional Producer Elevator Program. They will each receive $3,500 to support their professional development, as well as attendance at the Screenworks Regional to Global Screen Forum in March 2023 and the 37^th Screen Forever to be held on the Gold Coast in May 2023.

For Screenworks’ Director Pathways Program, Bellingen-based Matty Hannon and Newcastle-based Claire Pasvolsky have been selected from regional NSW, as well as Angela Heathcote from Cairns and Aaron Lendon from Coes Creek in regional Queensland. Each selected participant will receive $3,500 to implement their unique career development programs and be supported by the Australian Directors’ Guild with guidance, advice and industry introductions.

Five regional NSW and Queensland screenwriters have been selected for Inside The Writers Room, with Kimberley Wells from Central Coast selected for EQ Media, Shane Salvador from Tamworth selected for Fremantle Media, Emma Myers from Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley selected for Goalpost Pictures, Ben Southwell from Townsville selected for Wooden Horse and Shideh Faramand from Toowoomba selected for Tony Ayres Productions. Each selected participant will observe a professional writing team working on a television drama production.

The selection panels for the three Career Pathways Programs were made up of representatives from program partners, industry bodies, guilds, and independent assessors.

For more information contact Louise Hodgson, Industry Development Manager

02 6681 1188 louise@screenworks .com.au

Read the full press release and participant bios here.

NATIONAL CULTURAL POLICY - ADG SUBMISSION

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 01:53:26 GMT

NATIONAL CULTURAL POLICY - ADG SUBMISSION

Our government is developing a National Cultural Policy for the decade ahead. To expedite this process, it used the Creative Australia policy developed by the Julia Gillard government in 2013 as its foundation.

The consultation process required respondents to reflect on 5 pillars or goals from the 2013 Creative Australia policy distilled as follows:

First Nations
A Place for Every Story
The Centrality of the Artist
Strong Institutions
Reaching the Audience

Our joint submission with ASDACS included calls for;

Greater funding and support for First Nations and Torres Straight Island screen stories and practitioners as well as more robust practices for Cultural Safety and protection of First Nation’s IP.
Removal of cultural barriers and improved support to enable practitioners from marginalised communities to create and prosper in fulfilling screen industry careers including more diverse leadership within our screen institutions and public broadcasters.
Better recognition of the creative contributions of screen directors including recognition that the principal director of a screen work is an author and has an unassignable right to remuneration as is the case in many European territories.
Improved conditions for screen directors to ensure that they operate within a sustainable employment framework that enables them to create and prosper over their entire careers within the sector.
Enhanced government broadcast regulation to ensure more Australian stories reach Australian audiences; including improved funding of our Public Broadcasters, restoring Australian content quotas for commercial FTA networks, new content quotas for Streamers and increased local content on Subscription TV.

You can download and read our full submission here.

Make it Australian campaign launches new TVC

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 00:36:19 GMT

Make it Australian campaign launches new TVC

Today sees of the launch of another poignant Make It Australian campaign TVC, 'Serenity', inspired by the classic 1997 Australian comedy The Castle.

'Serenity' is the second of four specially made TVCs we had commissioned to support our campaign for more Australian stories on Australian screens, with others to be released in the coming months.

Please like and share the TVC via the link below and show your support for the campaign using #MakeItAustralian.

To find out more and join the campaign head here: Home — Make It Australian

Link to Serenity TVC: https://vimeo.com/736374820

ADG announces Director’s Cut conference

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 04:02:31 GMT

The Australian Director’s Guild (ADG) will hold a one-day conference in Sydney next month for directors and industry members.

Carrying the theme of Cutting Through The Noise, Director’s Cut will feature panels exploring the director’s role in a changed streaming landscape and how emerging directors can bridge the gap to paid work.

Delegates will also hear from internationally successful directors about opportunities outside Australia and have the opportunity to discuss the value of impact strategies for both unscripted and scripted productions, while also getting updates on their rights and representation.

Read the full Inside Film article here.

THE MONTHLY WRAP - JUNE 2022

Tue, 07 Jun 2022 00:26:26 GMT

MONTHLY WRAP - JUNE 2022

With a small break, we are back for another Monthly Wrap!!! This month we dive into the ocean with Barons (dir. Shawn Seet & Fadia Abboud), grab a ride with Dykes on Bikes (dir. Kate Cornish, Steph Jowett & Tilly Robba) and prioritise our mental health with Holding Out for Help (dir. Lucy Knox).

DYKES ON BIKES

Directed by Kate Cornish, Steph Jowett & Tilly Robba

Documentary Short

Dykes on Bikes is a motorcycle club with chapters all over the world. These days in Sydney it's about having a good time with friends and giving back to the community, but things weren't so recreational in the beginning. Dykes On Bikes emerged in response to gay hate crimes in the 1980s. They use to meet on weekend evenings and patrol the streets of Sydney and break up homophobic attacks that were happening.

From protectors of the streets to an Australian Mardi Gra Icon, we dive into present-day member’s accounts of their history, why they ride today and continuing on the legacy for future generations. A hybrid of a documentary and visual poem, this is a love letter to the Dykes on Bikes.

Watch on Youtube here.

Check out Kate's work here and Studio Antic (Steph Jowett & Tilly Robba) here.

BARONS

Directed by Shawn Seet & Fadia Abboud

TV Series

Seduced by the power of nature. Corrupted by the nature of power. As a group of surfers chase their sun-soaked dreams, they discover that even in paradise there is rivalry, greed and ambition. Set at a time of sexual liberation, protest, war and social change, Barons captures a unique moment of upheaval and opportunity as a new surfing counterculture and the spirit of enterprise collide. Two best friends, inspired by their love for the Australian beach, create what will become iconic rival surf brands. Little do they know that their success will tear them, and their world, apart.

Watch on ABC iView here.

Check out Shawn's work and Fadia's work.

AUSTRALIANS FOR MENTAL HEALTH: HOLDING OUT FOR HELP

Directed by Lucy Knox

In collaboration with grassroots advocacy organisation Australians for Mental Health (AfMH), the campaign, ‘Holding out for Help’, uses hold music to shine a light on the long wait times Australians face when waiting for mental health treatment.

Help millions of Aussies end mental health wait times, by signing the petition at: holdingoutfothelp.com.au.

Watch on here.

Check out Lucy's work here.

Guild's Submission to the Streaming Services Discussion Paper

Tue, 03 May 2022 03:24:57 GMT

Members of the Australian Screen Industry Group Submission to the Streaming Services Reporting and Investment Scheme Discussion Paper

The Government is seeking views on its proposed Streaming Services Reporting and Investment Scheme which it released in February. The release of its discussion paper followed ‘extensive consultation’ with industry stakeholders through its Media Reform Green Paper.

The ADG along with 13 other preeminent screen industry guilds and associations, representing the interests of thousands of Australian screen industry practitioners in front of and behind the camera, hold significant concerns with the Scheme’s design:

We are concerned that the Governments proposal includes an alarming degree of Ministerial discretion which brings with it untenable risk of inadequate and inconsistent regulatory action.
We oppose the Scheme’s proposed 5% threshold which will not deliver on well-established cultural public policy objectives. ASIG members remain united in their call for a swift introduction of a 20% Australian commissioned content expenditure requirement on global technology streaming businesses in line with other forward- thinking international jurisdictions.
The scheme does not include specific protections for critical genres of drama, documentary, First Nations, and children’s content. We believe this to be a substantial oversight which, in consideration of the Government’s deregulation of Australia’s Commercial Free-To-Air Networks last year, now urgently needs to be addressed
We oppose the proposed halving of the subscription television Australian drama obligation. The proposed cut will substantially harm subscription television audiences, who will lose access to high quality Australian narrative content. The proposal is without reasonable policy justification.
We believe that the scheme proposed in this Discussion Paper is weak, lengthy and one that creates an uncertain pathway to regulation. The policy conversation regarding these issues has been in train for a decade, the need for meaningful regulatory action has been clear for many years. We are concerned that further delay in regulation at this late stage is damaging to the industry, exacerbated by the weakness of the scheme proposed.

ASIG Members joined forces in a government submission filed today which addresses these commonly-held concerns. You’ll find the ASIG submission here.

THE MONTHLY WRAP

Wed, 13 Apr 2022 02:00:00 GMT

MONTHLY WRAP - MARCH 2022

Welcome to our March edition of our Monthly Wrap. A showcases some of our favourite features, docos, shorts, music videos, tv series & more created by our members.

This month we have some very important stories that we urge you to check out:

First Day - directed by Julie Kalceff
'Only One' by Ashli - directed by Chloe De Brito
All Good Things - directed by Simon Croker
More Than This - directed by Kate Gorman & John Sheedy

FIRST DAY

Directed by Julie Kalceff

Children's TV Show

In her second year at Hillview High, Hannah's run for Class Captain exposes an underlying level of transphobia among her classmates. She starts a group for LGBTQIA+ students but risks alienating her closest friends in the process.

Watch on ABC iView here.

Check out more of Julie's work here.

'ONLY ONE' BY ASHLI

Directed by Chloe De Brito

Music Video

A cosy night out to the local chicken shop is turned upside down when Ashli locks eyes with her ex. Ashli escapes to the comfort of her Uber where she drifts in and out of a daze, reminiscing on what was and what could be. Shot on Darug country in Western Sydney at the locally iconic Chicken Man.

Watch on Youtube here.

Check out more of Chloe's work here.

ALL GOOD THINGS

Directed by Simon Croker

Short Film

Road trips usually signify a beginning, but for Isaac and his partner Levi this is their last chance to spend time together before they part ways. As they drive towards to their destination, Isaac finds that maybe he isn’t as prepared for this breakup as he’d first thought.

Watch on ABC iView here.

Check out more of Simon work here.

MORE THAN THIS

Directed by Kate Gorman & John Sheedy

TV Series

A slice of life teen drama that explores the overwhelming, messy, difficult and beautiful issues surrounding teenagers' lives, as characters explore relationships, sexuality, grades, online social life, family pressures and taking risks.

Watch on Paramount Plus here.

MONTHLY WRAP - FEB 2022

Welcome to our February edition of our Monthly Wrap. A showcases some of our favourite features, docos, shorts, music videos, tv series & more created by our members.

This month we have a collection of work that aims to challenge, excite and capture you!

Araatika! Rise Up! - directed by Larissa Behrendt
Troppo - directed by Yolanda Ramke
Feels like a Different Thing by Confidence Man - directed by W.A.M. Bleakley

ARAATIKA! RISE UP!

Directed by Larissa Behrendt

Feature Documentary

Former National Rugby League (NRL) star Dean Widders is a man on a mission. After fellow Indigenous players Preston Campbell, Timana Tahu and George Rose devised their own pre-game performance to match the haka of their Maori counterparts, Widders began a journey to bring this dance – and First Nations pride more broadly – to the game.

Watch on SBS On Demand here.

TROPPO

Directed by Yolanda Ramke

TV Series

An eccentric private investigator with a criminal past recruits a disgraced ex-cop to help solve the disappearance of a Korean tech pioneer in the wilds of Far North Queensland.

Watch on ABC iView here.

Check out more of Yolanda's work here.

'FEELS LIKE A DIFFERENT THING' by Confidence Man

Directed by W.A.M. Bleakley

Music Video

Shot in Coober Pedy on 16mm film, this music clip features stunning red earth locations, high octane hoolagism and things blowing up.

Watch on Youtube here.

Check out more of W.A.M's work here.

MONTHLY WRAP - JAN 2022

Welcome to the 'Monthly Wrap', where the ADG showcases some of our favourite features, docos, shorts, music videos, tv series, online content etc. created by our members.

We’re so excited to share with you our first Monthly Wrap featuring four nuanced, thoughtful and intricate works...

Love Me - directed by Emma Freeman
St Augustine - directed by Thomas Wilson-White
The PM’s Daughter - directed by Julietta Boscolo, Erin White & Alana Hicks
Safety by Kat Edwards - directed by Gabriel Morrison

LOVE ME

Directed by Emma Freeman

TV Mini Series
LOVE ME is a story about love, loss and the complexity of family relationships experienced by three different family members at distinct times of life.

Watch on Binge here: Love Me

ST. AUGUSTINE

Directed by Thomas Wilson-White

Short Film

While staying by the sea, a young man becomes aware of a third person in his floundering relationship.

Watch on Film Shortage here: St Augustine - Drama, Suspense // Featured Short Film (filmshortage.com)

THE PM’S DAUGHTER

Directed by Julietta Boscolo, Erin White & Alana Hicks

Political Drama for Kids

Cat is like any other teenager, with one difference: her mother is the new Prime Minister of Australia. Along with her new friends, Cat navigates life in the spotlight, while tracking down a hidden threat to her mum.

Watch on ABC iView here: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/pm-s-daughter

SAFETY by Kat Edwards

Directed by Gabriel Morrison

Music Video

A surreal narrative following a young woman trying to navigate the end of a long term relationship, shot in the remote southwest hydro dams in Tasmania.

Watch on Youtube here:Kat Edwards - Safety (Official Music Video) - YouTube

HAVE YOU WATCHED SOME GREAT AUSSIE CONTENT RECENTLY?

We’re always on the lookout for great new Australian content to feature on next month’s wrap! Remember we are looking for recent work that is available to watch now! Whether it's a hit new show you're loving or a tiktok series, the Monthly Wrap is here to introduce and celebrate Australian work!

SUBMIT TO ADG MONTHLY WRAP HERE.

Partner News: Media Super and Cbus are preparing to merge

Wed, 16 Feb 2022 06:30:00 GMT

Partner News

February 2022

Media Super and Cbus are preparing to merge

Media Super is planning to merge with Cbus, the industry super fund for those who build Australia.

Media Super Limited (the trustee for Media Super) and United Super Pty Ltd (the trustee for Cbus) have signed a merger agreement, which is an important milestone in the merger journey. While there are still some approval processes that need to happen, both funds are working towards completing the merger process before the second quarter of 2022.

Media Super’s planned merger with Cbus is driven by our objective to improve outcomes for our members. The focus remains on supporting members in the print, media, entertainment and arts industries, as we have for more than 30 years.

After the merger, the Media Super brand and industry focus will continue, and members will be part of a much larger and growing combined fund.

We’ve found the right partner to continue our proud legacy

Media Super is proud of our heritage and industry focus, and we have been performing well for our members, with strong long-term returns and competitive fees. Our sole objective is to provide strong outcomes for our members in retirement. However, we’ve realised that the increasing complexities of superannuation and rising costs mean the best outcome for our members is to find a merger partner.

We are always looking after our members’ best financial interests, and that is why we have found a like-minded merger partner in Cbus. The super fund for those who build Australia, Cbus has more than $65 billion in funds under management and 775,000 members (as at 30 June 2021).

Cbus has a history of low fees, strong investment performance and excellent service.

We share the same mission

Media Super and Cbus share the same mission: better retirement outcomes for members. Being industry super funds, both Media Super and Cbus have a similar culture and shared values.

Increased scale and growth also benefit members by providing access to more investment opportunities, greater scope to manage fees effectively and access to products and services, including for those approaching or currently in retirement.

What happens next?

The merged fund will have more than $70 billion in assets and manage the retirement savings of around 850,000 hardworking members.

Media Super members and employers will still benefit from products and services tailored to their industries while also gaining access to the benefits of size and scale that come with belonging to a larger fund.

Those benefits include access to more investment opportunities, greater scope to manage fees effectively and access to innovative products and services, including for those approaching or in retirement.

Media Super and Cbus are now focused on transition planning to integrate investment, administration, and operations. This is a comprehensive process, with both funds ensuring the plan will deliver a result that’s in the best financial interest of members.

Our focus is squarely on delivering strong long-term investment returns and retirement outcomes for Media Super and Cbus members.

Download the PDF of this press-release here.

If you have any questions, please call our Helpline on 1800 640 886 or get in touch with your Business Development Manager.

This communication provides general information only, and does not take into consideration your personal objectives, situation or needs. Before making any financial decisions you should first determine whether the information is appropriate for you by reading the Product Disclosure Statement and/or by consulting a qualified financial adviser. The Target Market Determination is at mediasuper.com.au/TMD. Investment returns are not guaranteed, and past performance gives no indication of future performance. Issued by Media Super Limited (ABN 30 059 502 948, AFSL 230254) as Trustee of Media Super (ABN 42 574 421 650).

Vale Michael Thornhill

Mon, 14 Feb 2022 01:45:57 GMT

Vale Michael Thornhill (1941-2022)

A wake will be held for Michael at The Lord Wolseley Hotel, 265 Bulwara Road, Ultimo on Monday February 28th from 3pm to 6pm. All are welcome to attend.

Photo: John Flaus and Michael Thornhill (right)

Michael Thornhill was, and is, an important Australian director, film critic, film and TV producer as well as a rather contradictory character. To my eyes he was both a poet of the cinema, a political loudmouth sitting yelling at me in the corner of a pub and a loyal friend. He was talented, intelligent and verbose; a much loved personality.

As a director the ground he covered breathed working class underdog, intelligentsia rebel, sexual underworld observer and criminal underworld storyteller. His film tastes, as he said himself, were “catholic”. Though not always commercially successful his films were unreservedly down to earth Australian, something that other filmmakers didn’t achieve because it’s either in your bones or it’s not.

His major features, “Between Wars”(1974) and “FJ Holden” (1977) were ground breaking ventures in the early days of Australian cinema. His short film “The American Poet’s Visit” (1969) was the best short film ever made from a Frank Moorhouse story. His influence on the Australian film industry was huge, especially when he was a generous and astute executive at the New South Wales Film Corporation (later the NSWFTO) where he, David Roe and Jenny Woods were instrumental in funding films like My Brilliant Career, Bliss, Stir, Newsfront and many others.

Michael was born in Paddington on March 29, 1941 to Mr and Mrs Frank Thornhill. His mother was English, she came from Sale in Cheshire. The family moved to Tasmania where she died when he was four. Michael lived with his father till his late teens when, without doing the leaving certificate and with nothing but a passion for film in his head, he travelled to Melbourne.

There he met filmmaker Tim Burstall, who encouraged his film interest. He then moved to Edgecliff, Sydney to live with his aunt, artist Dorothy Thornhill and her husband, artist Douglas Dundas. Dorothy became his surrogate mother who loved, spoiled and supported him financially. She was a very fine artist herself and Michael adored her.

Michael’s first job was as an ABC projectionist. Producer Richard Brennan remembers meeting him at the ABC in 1959 when he was a rake-thin 19.

In the early 1960s he started attending the WEA film study group run by Ian Klava (then director of the Sydney Film Festival). There he met writer Frank Moorhouse, a fellow film enthusiast who worked at the WEA and film teacher John Flaus.

Gillian Burnett and Sandra Grimes, both runaway, rebel young girls then, were working in the WEA library at the time. They invited Michael, who had become good friends with Frank, to come to the Newcastle hotel with them on Friday nights.

This was his introduction to the “Push” (or “baby Push” as film producer Margaret Fink describes them). The “baby Push” was a loose group of intellectuals, would be writers and artists developed from professor John Anderson’s original Libertarian Society of the 1950s. They met at the Royal George Hotel in Sussex Street or the Newcastle Hotel in George Street. After the six o’clock closing they would often go to Lorenzini’s wine bar in Elizabeth Street.

This introduced Michael to a like-minded, mildly seditious young underclass of male and female artists and intellectuals. It strengthened his radical ideas and secured his relationship with Frank Moorhouse.

He began to write articles for the WEA’s Film Digest and in 1965 he and Ken Quinnell, who he met at the Newcastle, started publishing the Sydney Cinema Journal. He also worked as a film editor.

He became a film critic for “The Australian” and “The Sydney Morning Herald” between 1969 and 1973. Richard Victor Hall invited him to the “literati“ Friday luncheons at Tony Bilson’s Bon Gout.

In 1969 he made two documentaries for the Commonwealth Film Unit; Stainless Glass Screens and The Esperance Story. He then made a 16 minute drama The American Poet’s Visit, based on a short story by Moorhouse and co written with Ken Quinnell. Filmed over two weekends by Russell Boyd in Bill Bonney’s house where the original event had taken place, it had a miniscule self-raised budget of $900. Michael kept as close as he could to the spirit of Frank’s writing and the result is a wonderfully truthful, chaotic document of those times and those people. It launched Michael’s directing career.

In 1970 the Australian government starting funding short films and he followed up with The Girl from the Family of Man 1970 (budget $4000) and The Machine Gun 1971 (budget $5000). After two documentaries for the CFU in 1974 (Mister Fixit My Dad and Kevin and Cheryl) he made the feature Between Wars, written by Moorhouse. It starred Corin Redgrave and was Australia’s first serious political film, examining Sydney society between the wars through the eyes of a psychiatrist. It was a bold, elegiac venture. He followed this with FJ Holden in 1977, a film set in Bankstown, an apparently ”formless study of a group of kids living in Sydney Western suburbs”. Written by Terry Larson it was not the usual “ocker comedy” or a “gentle romance” but a “value free look” at the lives of these kids. It had a mixed reception, was roughly directed (Michael was occasionally insecure with film grammar) but was an example of Michael’s inherent poetic understanding of the core of Australian life.

In 1979 he directed The Journalist. In 1983 he produced the excellent documentary Who Killed Baby Azaria (1983) with Errol Sullivan. His last film was The Everlasting Secret Family (1988.)

He was a staunch supporter of the Australian Directors Guild, of which he was a founding member. He never married but his most sustaining relationship was with writer Thea Welsh, who predeceased him.

The memory of his work, both in directing and writing, the power of his personality and ideas, still plays strongly into our industry. His tenacity and poetic outlook is an inspiration for Australian filmmakers.

In his last months he was assisted and cared for by Errol Sullivan, Gillian Burrell (nee Burnett) and Tom Jeffrey from the MPIBS (Motion Picture Industry Benevolent Society) to which ASDACS contributes.

Isolated by Covid rules he died peacefully under care at St Basils Aged Care in Annandale on January 22.

by Stephen Wallace

ADG End of Year Message 2021

Fri, 24 Dec 2021 04:45:49 GMT

ADG End of Year Message 2021

Well, 2021 has been an extraordinary year in so many ways, one where our members and our organisation’s resilience has been well and truly tested.

But challenging though 2021 was, I’m incredibly proud of what our members and our team have been able to collectively achieve.

Of course,  innovation and determination in the face of adversity is part of a Directors’ DNA - and nowhere was this more evident than in the very public Make it Australian campaign in the face of some particularly regressive media reform announced by our government at the end of 2020.

With strong lobbying collaboration across the sector and the support of the ALP, Greens and the cross-benchers we achieved some great policy outcomes in Canberra:

Retention of the 40% feature offset as well as the lower qualifying thresholds and the Gallipoli Clause,
Increase of the TV offset from 20 to 30%, and,
Retention of the NEDE scheme for subscription TV

This means more employment opportunities for our members, more opportunities for Australian stories to be told and great outcomes for Australian audiences with a proven appetite to watch them.

However on the negative side of the ledger, this government watered down long running Australian content quotas for Free to Air Commercial Networks and removed any obligation for Australian networks to produce Australian Kid’s content  - SPA modelled a decline of $100m in production spend annually resulting from these changes.

And unlike other progressive international governments, our government has been tortoise-slow to regulate Australian content minimums on Streaming platforms that have exponentially increased their reach, influence and financial returns in Australia during the pandemic.

So, we look forward to continuing the fight for Australian stories on Australian screens in 2022.

With the pandemic continuing to wreak havoc with our in-person events and workshop calendar, we’ve innovated new ways to connect with our members.

Our weekly ADG-40 First-Hand on-line mentoring sessions have connected hundreds of our members to our established member brains trust, Mentors have generously shared their tips, their methods, their wisdom and lived experiences.

The productions for our Annual Diversity Showcase with the AWG, Screen Australia and the Equity Foundation were due to be shot in-Sydney but covid knocked that on the head.

Our five very talented Directors were able to innovate new ways of remote working to tell stories that were screened to a packed auditorium in Sydney on the 3rd of December.

And our Awards had the highest number of entries by a considerable margin this year, the stories never more entertaining, engaging, and diverse.

We live-streamed the nominations for the first time and the live-streamed Awards ceremony hit a fittingly celebratory and inclusive note to cap off an incredibly challenging year

A couple of hundred joined us in the audience in Sydney and many more attended our pop-up in-cinema live awards events in Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne.

We continued to expand our Learning and Development Partnerships with two intakes of the Director Pathways program with Screenworks providing bespoke Career Development for early-career directors living in Regional NSW.

We launched the Talent Gateway partnership with Australian’s in Film with an aim to bring Australian voices and stories to international audiences and provide access and connections to key US decision makers.

And with the conclusion of our DirectOne Shadow Directing program funding from Screen Australia, we’ve taken all the learnings from a very successful program into a very exciting new program called Local2Global.

We think it’s an industry game-changer, as for the first time it ties together all our workshops, attachments, shadow and mentoring programs into a cohesive annual curriculum.

We look forward to sharing more news on this exciting initiative with you in the new year.

Hopefully you’ve also noticed a major improvement to our member experience and digital content following the long-awaited launch of our new website in November. www.adg.org.au

If you haven’t done so already, we’d encourage you to log on, update your member information and take advantage of the resources exclusively available to members in the Members Hub.

You’ll find a host of useful information there including recommended rates, contract advice, recordings of the ADG-40 First-Hand sessions and of our Annual Awards.

And in some very exciting news, something we think will be quite transformative for both our members and the wider industry, we launch our searchable member database - THE DIRECTORY – in February next year.

This, for the first time, provides our members opportunity to showcase their work and be found - we’d love you to update your information and opt in.

The end of 2021 saw the end of an era with our formidable president Samantha Lang, stepping down after serving twelve years on the ADG board and six years in the role of president.

Sam oversaw an exponential growth in the number and diversity of ADG members, championed the Gender Matters program, expanded the range of professional development opportunities for ADG members and raised the Guild’s industrial influence and standing.

We thank Sam for her enormous contribution.

And we’re thrilled that Rowan Woods agreed to stand as ADG President and was duly elected as our new president in November.

We also welcome new board member Partho Sen-Gupta to the board.

Lastly, if you’ve not done so already, do make sure to renew your membership. Please click here to renew.

With our new member portal it’s never been easier and your fees are absolutely critical to funding all our advocacy, career development and industrial relations initiatives.

They are critical to us being able to support your careers and fight for your rights.

On behalf of everyone at the ADG, I wish you a safe and happy festive season and a wonderful and productive 2022.

Alaric McAusland

ADG Executive Director

New ADG Board Announced!

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 06:30:00 GMT

We are so excited to announce that Rowan Woods has been elected ADG Board President, Samantha Lang having stepped down at the end of her term. Congratulations Rowan and a massive thank you to Sam for her formidable leadership over the last 6 years!

The ADG would also like to welcome newly elected board member, Partho Sen Gupta, who will also be joining Nadia Tass and Jonathan Brough who were elected for further terms in their respective roles.

Read the full press release here.

2021 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 03:33:01 GMT

NOTICE OF RESCHEDULED

2021 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Full Members of the Australian Directors' Guild are invited to attend the 2021 Annual General Meeting and to consider and vote on the following agenda items:

1. Minutes of the Previous Annual General Meeting in 2020;

2. Presentation of the 2021 Audited Accounts;

3. Report from the President;

4. Report from the CEO;

5. Other Business

Current ADG Directors:

Samantha Lang (President) (NSW)
Daina Reid (Secretary) (VIC)
Stephen Wallace (Treasurer) (NSW)
Anna Broinowski (Vice President Documentary) (NSW)
Pearl Tan (Vice President New Media (NSW)
Nadia Tass (Vice-President Feature Film) (VIC)
Jonathan Brough (Vice President Television Drama) (VIC)
Rowan Woods (Ordinary Director)(NSW)

Meeting will be held Via Zoom Video Conference:

Topic: ADG AGM Zoom - Rescheduled from 23rd Nov

Time: Dec 10, 2021 11:00 AM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/93641967231?pwd=Mzk0RmYxYTBSTFptdGt0cVN5d2hKZz09

Meeting ID: 936 4196 7231

Passcode: 110487

One tap mobile

+61871501149,,93641967231#,,,,*110487# Australia

+61280156011,,93641967231#,,,,*110487# Australia

Dial by your location

+61 8 7150 1149 Australia

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+61 7 3185 3730 Australia

+61 8 6119 3900 Australia

Meeting ID: 936 4196 7231

Passcode: 110487

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/abKyXA4K5i

Minutes of the 2020 AGM and 2021 Audited Accounts are available to Full ADG Members.

Please email the ADG office at admin@adg.org.au if you wish us to send you any of these documents prior to the AGM.

Members planning to attend are encouraged to email an RSVP to admin@adg.org.au with the subject: AGM RSVP

Big Boost for Screen Sector

Wed, 01 Dec 2021 09:22:13 GMT

MEDIA RELEASE - 1 December 2021

BIG BOOST FOR SCREEN SECTOR

Australia’s screen sector today warmly welcomed the passage through Parliament of measures to increase the level of support for screen content provided through vital tax incentives. That is the message from the ‘Make it Australian’ coalition, supported by the Australian Directors’ Guild (ADG), the Australian Writers’ Guild (AWG), the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) and Screen Producers Australia (SPA).

The Parliament today passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 5) Bill 2021, which includes the much-anticipated increase in the Producer Offset for television productions from 20% to 30%.

Read the full media release here.

ADG 2021 Awards - Livestream Link

Tue, 30 Nov 2021 10:58:49 GMT

Join us for the

ADG 2021 AWARDS LIVESTREAM

at 1pm (AEDT) on Friday, 3 December 2021

The 2021 ADG Awards are nearly here.

With twenty categories presented by some of the biggest names in the Australian film industry and livestreaming internationally,

you don’t want to miss out.

The awards will be held at the Actors Centre Australia in Sydney but we’re also holding screenings in cinemas

around Australia (QLD, WA & VIC).

However, if you’re unable to attend in person,

you can watch the livestream here:

adg.livestreaming.com.au

Don’t miss out and please use the hashtag #ADGAwards

Also here is a link to the event on Facebook.

Facebook: Australian Directors Guild

Instagram: @australiandirectorsguild

For any ADG Awards related enquiries, please email Claudia.

ADG Awards 2021: nominees announced!

Fri, 05 Nov 2021 22:00:00 GMT

The Australian Director’s Guild has announced nominees for the 2021 ADG Awards.

Nominations include directors for Wakefield, Mr Inbetween, Halifax: Retribution, Mystery Road, The Unusual Suspects, Rosehaven, Bluey, Hardball, and Hating Peter Tatchell.

ADG Awards recognise works by guild members regardless of whether productions were filmed in Australia or internationally, hence Line of Duty, Killing Eve and The Good Lord Bird are also noted.

“The ADG Awards received a record number of nominations this year from our members – up 50% on the previous year. It’s thrilling to see the breadth and depth of Australian directorial talent across such a range of productions,” said Alaric McAusland, Executive Director of the ADG.

Winners will be announced at a gala luncheon ceremony on Friday December 3 at the Actor’s Centre in Leichhardt, Sydney.

Read the Film Ink article here.

ADG ELECTION NOTICE

Thu, 04 Nov 2021 04:33:11 GMT

Australian Directors Guild Limited

ELECTION NOTICE - E2021/146

Scheduled Election

Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009

Nominations are called for:

- President (1)

- Vice President - Feature Films (1)

- Vice President - Television (1)

- Ordinary Director (1)

Only Full Members who have been financial Full Members for the six (6) months immediately preceding the date of the election shall be eligible to nominate. Nominations must be in writing and may be made at any time from 15/11/2021. Nominations must be signed by the candidate and endorsed by two other financial Full Members of the Guild. No Member shall nominate for more than one office.

A full Election Notice can be found here.

A Nomination Form can be found here.

ADG ‘First-Hand’ sessions to start again this week

Mon, 11 Oct 2021 23:00:00 GMT

Members of the Australian Directors’ Guild have had the chance to hear from some of the country’s most established filmmakers over the past five months as part of the ADG-40 ‘First-Hand’ sessions.

Consisting of 40 weekly one-hour webinars fronted by industry mentors, the initiative is due to start again this week following a short break, with Claire McCarthy (The Turning) to share insights from her career on Thursday.

It comes after contributions from Gillian Armstrong, Rachel Perkins, Rolf de Heer, Samantha Lang, Corrie Chen, Ben Lawrence, Ana Kokkinos, Megan Riakos, Josephine Mackerras, Robert Connolly, Garth Davis, Sally Aitken, Jub Clerc, Kriv Stenders, Tom Zubrycki, Anna Broinowski, Peter Andrikidis, Jasmin Tarasin, and Glendyn Ivin.

The sessions are moderated by ADG strategy and development executive Ana Tiwary who is responsible for collating questions from those tuning in.

Make it Australian campaign

Mon, 04 Oct 2021 03:54:00 GMT

The Australian screen industry has led the way in getting back to work and rebuilding the national economy during the pandemic. But the government announced changes to tax incentives last year that will make it much harder for certain genres to be financed and it relaxed content rules for traditional TV platforms which will lead to fewer productions across the board and most alarmingly, there is now no regulatory obligation for any Australian commercial TV station to produce or show Australian children’s content. Documentary has been undervalued in these changes too. Screen Producers Australia modelling estimates an overall annual decline in production from this partial deregulation of $100m.

The ADG and other guilds took to Canberra in March under the Make It Australian banner demanding government reconsider its position and that it also looked to ensure the big streamers made a fair contribution to Australian stories by regulating their levels of investment in Australian content. Read more here.

Whilst this united advocacy ultimately lead to the government walking back its decision to reduce the feature film offset and its decision to halve PAY TV’s obligation for new Australian drama, the government still plans to move forward with other detrimental offset reforms and is slow in implementing obligations on the streamers in spite of their incredible growth in reach and influence.

According to Deloitte’s latest Media Consumer Survey, four out of five Australian households now have at least one digital entertainment subscription, most have more than two, with an estimated 70 per cent of Australians subscribing to at least one SVOD service. Research from Kantar found a staggering 1.4million Australian households added at least one new video subscription service in the three months to June 2021.

We want to see a robust and sustainable Australian screen industry and we want to see high-quality, commercially viable and internationally competitive Australian content on ALL our screens. It is vital that Australians continue to see themselves and their stories on the platforms they are flocking to, and to secure a stable future for the industry that creates and makes that content.

The government issued a Green Paper on a number of proposed media reforms including regulation of streamers and our full submission can be found here.

Our submission included the following proposed reforms:

Streamers to be required to reinvest 20% of their Australian-sourced revenue into commissioning new Australian content.
The investment obligation should apply to all types of SVOD, AVOD and broadcaster video-on-demand (BVOD) services with no exemption for services owned by a corporate structure that also owns a broadcasting licence.
Eligible service providers must comply with genre sub-quotas for drama, children’s television and documentary and these quotas must come with promotion and discoverability requirements.
Eligible service providers should be required to spend 80% of their expenditure obligation on the local independent sector.
An increase in the direct funding of the public broadcasters who have been left with the sole responsibility of programming vulnerable genres such as children’s television for local audiences.
Regulation of the streaming platforms to be implemented by 1 January 2022.

Creatives announced for Screen Diversity Showcase

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 00:10:47 GMT

Creatives announced for Screen Diversity Showcase

Directors: Tin Pang, Andrew Lee, Kauthar Abdulalim, Luis Bran, and Rhianna Malezer.

------

The 23 creatives for this year’s Screen Diversity Showcase have been unveiled after being selected by a panel of independent industry judges.

Hosted by the Equity Foundation, the initiative is designed to promote a platform for diverse voices across writing, directing, and performing.

More than 450 applications were received for this year’s program, which is the second of its kind to be held. Read more here.

ADG-40 First-Hand Mentoring Webinars

Thu, 20 May 2021 03:00:00 GMT

Each week from April 8, the ADG will host 40 short/sharp Zoom ‘mentoring’ sessions in a moderated Q&A format.

Each ADG-40 ‘First-Hand’ 60-minute session will be provided free-of-charge to ADG members across Australia with a mix of questions-on-notice and ‘from the floor’ curated to plug emerging members directly into the ADG’s established member knowledge-base and get ‘First-Hand’, real-world guidance on the craft and business of directing and on career progression.

The webinars will be moderated by the ADG’s Strategy & Development Executive Ana Tiwary.

If you have are unsure of your membership status or wish to join the ADG please email membership@adg.org.au

Josephine Mackerras - Director, Writer, Producer & Actress

Award-winning filmmaker Josephine Mackerras grew up in Australia and China, starting in theatre before her career in film. Her short films—A Sign, Modlitba, L'enfant Perdu, and Diva—have been selected by over 90 high-profile festivals. Alice (2019), her first feature film, premiered at SXSW Film Festival, netting the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature and the CherryPicks Female First Feature Award.