The Future and Sustainability of the Screen Industry

Sunday 11 February

9am AEST

A panel exploring the political and economic landscape of employment and job security in the screen industry. Experts and key influencers will discuss how the National Cultural Policy, 2032 Olympics, Tax incentives to attract productions will affect the screen industry. 

Featuring

Mark Melrose

Mark Melrose, Head of Studios and Physical Production at Screen Queensland has over 25 years’ experience in entertainment and sports operations management, most recently as Festival Director of Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival in The Hollywood of the Outback, Winton (Outback Queensland), where he grew attendance by 311% over his nine years and implemented education pathways in partnership with Griffith Film School while leading the major event. Mark’s other executive positions have included Operations Manager for the 2021 Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) and 15 years at Queensland Rugby where he was Head of Operations for eight years following other senior roles. As a long-time Director of his firm MDM Consulting Group, some of Mark’s high-profile clients were major radio and television network Southern Cross Austero, Queensland Cricket and community broadcaster Briz 31. Mark oversees both Screen Queensland Studios at Brisbane and Cairns and is keen have the studios support a local screen ecosystem.

Lynne Benzie

Lynne Benzie has over 33 years in the film, television and entertainment industry.

Her career started in the United Kingdom in Engineering, then migrated to Australia in 1979 and developed a diverse background in Insurance, Finance, Legal, building and Information Technology, which led her to a position with EMI Records in promotion and marketing.

Lynne joined Village Roadshow Studios in 1990 as PA to the GM after 5 years of being involved in the operations of the Studio she was promoted to Studio Manager, then to VP Studios Operations and in January 2008 promoted to President of the Studios.

Lynne is involved in promoting the industry locally and internationally and has strong client relationships with many studios, Producers across multiple platforms.

Lynne was on the board of Ausfilm from 2011 – 2023 and currently on the board of Screen Queensland and Chair of Gold Coast/Brisbane Film Festival

Kate Dickson

Kate Dickson started her career in the live theatre and events industry in the early 90's working as Lighting crew on the first Womadelaide in 1992. 

She then took on a role as Lighting Board Operator at the Townsville Civic Theatre before moving her career to London and working as an Audio-Visual Technician for corporate events across the UK.  

On returning to Australia, she worked at Sydney Opera House in the Mechanist and Lighting Departments before moving into Corporate Event Management & Sales with Staging Connections and Gearhouse Events.  

Joining NEP Australia in 2022, Kate has combined her live events, sales, leadership & Talent Management experience to deliver a structured and seamless recruitment, onboarding and learning experience for NEP staff across Australia, New Zealand and Japan. 

Kate was Chairperson for the Flight Centre Foundation, NSW from 2012 to 2016 establishing a long term relationship with FOX Studios for their annual Red Kite bag pack. 

Ken Crouch

In February 2023, Ken joined Screen Australia in the newly created role of Head of Industry Development. In this role, Ken develops and implements national programs to support capacity building and skills development for the Australian screen sector and is focused on building a national strategic framework supporting industry capacity and skills development. He is also responsible for coordinating and managing stakeholder relations with the Office for the Arts, state government agencies, industry partners, local production companies and inbound productions, and collaborating with the First Nations department at Screen Australia and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity committee.

As Screenworks CEO from 2014 to 2023, Ken implemented strategic changes that transformed and expanded Screenworks into the leading regional provider of training and industry development events and initiatives for screen creatives and crew across Australia and internationally. At Screenworks, Ken oversaw 280+ training and industry development initiatives, attended by and supported more than 14,000 regional Australians, and achieved an average annual revenue growth of 32%.

Before Screenworks, Ken was part of the Executive Management team at Clarence Valley Council between 2012 and 2014, where he oversaw multiple delivery units and was responsible for the final stages of delivering the $8M federally funded Sir Earle Page Library and Education Centre. Ken was also previously Business Operations Manager for Australia's largest annual event, Sydney New Year's Eve, and has served on the boards of non-profit organisations and government advisory committees.

Gina Black

Gina started her career in the West End of London working for a leading Theatrical Agent representing many prominent actors. After a few years, she decided to travel to Australia to explore new opportunities and has remained here ever since.

Settling in Melbourne, Gina was employed by Crawford Productions, a leading Melbourne production house, in their casting department and then moved into physical production.

After a few years, she ventured into the freelance world as a Production Manager and her career took her to Queensland where she has spent many years working as a Unit Production Manager and Line Producer on Offshore Productions, specialising in Movies of the Week, Features and Series Television.

In 2013, Gina had the opportunity to join Screen Queensland on a short-term contract, however she stayed for 10 years in various senior roles including Executive Vice President Production Attraction & Incentives, Head of Production Attraction and Head of Physical Production.

In July 2023, Gina took on the role of Screen Industry Advisor and Film Commission with the City of the Gold Coast Film Commission.

Gina is also a Certified Film Commissioner and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the AFCI (Association of Film Commissioners International).

Moderator: Professor Mark Ryan

Mark David Ryan is a Professor in Screen and Media Studies and a Chief Investigator for the Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC) at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. Ryan is a leading researcher investigating the contemporary dynamics of feature film production in Australia, and the Australian horror movie industry. Ryan regularly advises government screen agencies and councils, including Screen Queensland, and the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast Councils, on policy formulation shaping both international and domestic film and television production. He has recently completed a major study evaluating the size, activity and growth of film and television production on the Gold Coast post-COVID-19. Ryan has published extensively in screen and media studies having published over 60 journal articles and scholarly essays. He is also the co-editor of the books: Australian Genre Film (2021), Australian Screen in the 2000s (2017), and the Directory of World Cinema: Australia and New Zealand 2 (2015).