Making A Difference For Regional Filmmakers

Part of AACTA’s Screen Careers Expo

Sunday 11 February

4pm AEST

This session will demonstrate how Screenworks outcome-driven initiatives successfully foster talent and enhance career pathways for emerging regional creators. Join a live panel of industry professionals discussing how the support of Screenworks has enabled them to build their skills and networks, gain broadcast credits, and kickstart their careers in the industry.

Featuring

Rebecca Ingram

Rebecca Ingram is a Writer and Creative Producer and has several international shows in advanced development with prominent production companies, including ITV Studios Germany. She is currently busy writing an Australian true crime series for Beyond Productions as well as working in various TV writers room.

In 2022 she was a finalist for BBC’s & World Productions Scriptwriting Award with her Welsh crime drama series The Calling and has been a finalist several times over for the Australian Writers Guild’s premier Scriptwriting Awards and inducted into the AWG’s Pathways Program for her female juvenile justice crime series Dog Box. She has consistently attained development financing from funding bodies for her work as well as selected for international film labs. 

Rebecca is passionate about creating compelling female led series that draw a light on unique worlds and has worked with some of Australia’s most exciting and diverse talent in the development of her shows. She is also an experienced Development Producer & Executive and had worked with production company Magpie Pictures for over five years on an ambitious and exciting slate of high-end TV shows in development. 

Rebecca O’Brien

Rebecca O’Brien is an award-winning filmmaker, a graduate of AFTRS, an AACTA and ADG nominee and a recipient of Screen Australia’s talent escalator program.  As a teen growing up in Christchurch, New Zealand, Rebecca bought a video camera and started documenting her world. Keen to pursue her passion for storytelling she ventured to Australia to study at AFTRS. Now, her successful career to date includes working for Roadshow Rough Diamond, Aquarius Films, ABC TV, NITV, Southern Star, and NBC Universal creating a wide variety of scripted and unscripted projects. These include the award-winning, Screen NSW-funded short film, The Great Dark, producing the historic 50th-anniversary episodes of Play School, as well as shadowing director Michael Rymer on the Emmy-award winning drama Battlestar Galactica (SyFy) in Vancouver. It proved to be a transformative experience and upon her return, Rebecca seized the film rights to Craig Silvey's acclaimed book, Jasper Jones, which she executive produced. More recently Rebecca’s short film, The Gathering, was granted funding by Screen NSW and Epic Games as part of the Unreal Engine short film fund. In 2019, Rebecca became the recipient of the ADG shadow directing program where she directed her first episode of television drama for Aquarius Films / Netflix production, The Unlisted (2019) earning her a nomination for the 2020 ADG Awards for Best Direction. On the back of this success, she was offered to opportunity to work with renowned Producers John Edward, Claudia Karvan and Kelsey Munro on season 3 of the acclaimed Stan original BUMP and has just finished directing three episodes of season four. Her goal is to keep work as a drama director, both here in Australia and Internationally.

Ashley McLeod

Ashley’s 25+ year film career has been extensive and diverse, firstly as a sound recordist before founding what became Australia’s leading locations company and then moving into producing.

Ashley’s commercial production company produced over 250 commercials and ranked in the top 5 production companies. In 2019 Ashley produced SWEET RIVER which received theatrical releases around the world and festival awards for best cinematography, directing, lead and supporting actor. The film was sold to Netflix as a Netflix Original.

In 2022 Ashley completed his production accounting diploma and his Masters: Screen Business Producing with AFTRS.

Ashley is currently in pre-production on his next feature film, CRUEL HANDS a dramatic thriller set to shoot in the Gold Coast region. He is also in casting for BIG RED a comedy horror scheduled for production in Q3 2024.

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