 Speaker Biographies
Hon Paul Fletcher MP, Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts tells us that in 2018-19 expenditure on drama production in Australia exceeded $1.17 billion, and estimates the value of the cultural and creative activity of the arts sector at $9.7 billion in 2016-17. Today it is much higher, roughly 6.4 per cent of Australia's GDP to the economy. Screen Australia estimates that Australian screen content attracts some 230,000 international tourists to Australia each year drives $725 million in tourism expenditure. Australian narrative screen content alone drives over $252 million in export earnings each year. Incentives and programs totalling $140 million over the four years from 2019-23 are expected to attract investment of over $970 million to the Australian economy, support the employment of over 8,300 Australian cast and crew, offer over 16,800 days of work for Australian extras, and use the services of nearly 8,000 Australian businesses. Is your business one of them?
Kylie Watson-Wheeler is the Senior Vice President & Managing Director of The Walt Disney Company, Australia and New Zealand, Kylie Watson-Wheeler is responsible for all areas of the business encompassing content and products across Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, ESPN and more recently, 20th Century Studios.
Kylie brings a wealth of industry knowledge and expertise to her role with more than 15 years’ experience working for Disney throughout multiple areas of the business, her roles have spanned consumer products, marketing, sales, theatrical distribution, with the most recent introduction being the exclusive streaming platform, Disney+, and its newest tile, Disney STAR.
Kylie’s other passion is Australian Rules Football. She was recently appointed President of the Western Bulldogs Australian Rules Football Club in late 2020, after serving as the Club’s Vice-President for the last four years and as a Board Member since in 2013.
Industrial Light & Magic is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded in May 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when Lucas began production of the film Star Wars. Luke Hetherington is the Executive in Charge of ILM’s Singapore and Sydney studios and responsible for all films in production at both studios as well as overseeing operations, marketing, and bidding on future projects. Prior to joining ILM, Hetherington had 20 years of experience in the animation and visual effects industry, including at Animal Logic in Australia.
Bruna Papandrea is the founder and CEO of Made Up Stories, a development and production company. Credits include HBO’s THE UNDOING, Jennifer Kent’s THE NIGHTINGALE and Abe Forsythe’s LITTLE MONSTERS. Two films currently showing, Glendyn Ivin’s PENGUIN BLOOM, and Rob Connolly’s THE DRY; and multiple upcoming TV shows including Amazon’s TELL ME YOUR SECRETS, Hulu’s NINE PERFECT STRANGERS and Netflix’s PIECES OF HER and ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL. Prior to MUS, Bruna produced GONE GIRL and the Oscar-nominated WILD. She also executive produced HBO’s Emmy and Golden Globe-winning series BIG LITTLE LIES.
Jodi Matterson is the Managing Director of Australia, partner and producer of Made Up Stories. Founded by Bruna Papandrea, Made Up Stories is a production company whose mission is to create opportunities for women in front of and behind the camera and is committed to championing distinctive voices.
Jodi recently produced THE DRY, based on the Jane Harper novel, from director Robert Connolly and starring Eric Bana which has broken records at the Australian box office upon release in January 2021 and the film adaptation of the international best-seller, PENGUIN BLOOM, starring Naomi Watts, Andrew Lincoln and Jacki Weaver, which premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in Australia by Roadshow and internationally by Netflix.
Kate Marks is the CEO of Ausfilm which exists to help filmmakers and studios find what they need in Australia to bring their stories to life, on budget and on time. They provide information and referrals to international filmmakers about Australia’s studio complexes, production services and equipment providers, post-production, music, sound, digital and visual effects capability and facilities, travel, freight and legal services, and legal and financial incentives and requirements. Ausfilm has a proven track record in helping to shape government policy and improve its screen production incentives scheme.
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