AFTRS

The Australian Film, Television and Radio School is a statutory authority. It was established through its own Act, the Australian Film, Television and Radio School Act 1973 . It also operates under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997.

 

AFTRS is governed by a Council which comprises

• Three members appointed by the Governor-General
• Three members appointed by Convocation
• The Chief Executive Officer (ex-officio)
• One AFTRS member of staff elected annually by staff
• One AFTRS student elected annually by students

The principle functions of the Council are to

• Develop and review policy relating to the provision of advanced education and training of creative talent
• Monitor the effectiveness of AFTRS' overall performance
• Monitor financial matters including annual budget estimates
• Oversee matters concerning the internal structure of AFTRS and senior staff appointments
• Provide and maintain strong  links with the screen arts and broadcasting industries
• Develop and review AFTRS' strategic objectives
• Ensure that systems are in place to monitor and control:  i. compliance with the law and ethical standards  ii. financial performance         
  iii. accountability to the Federal government.

 

 

Council Members

 

Professor JULIANNE SCHULTZ  AM FAHA - Chair of Council

Julianne Schultz is the founding editor of Griffith REVIEW, the themed quarterly of essays, memoir, reportage and fiction published by Griffith University in conjunction with Text Publishing.

Julianne is a professor in the centre for cultural research at Griffith University. She is the Chair of the Queensland Design Council, the Australian Film TV and Radio School and the reference group on the National Cultural Policy, deputy chair of the Australian Council of Learned Academies Securing Australia's Future project.

She is a non executive director on the boards of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Grattan Institute. She is an active member of a number of advisory committees with a focus on education, media and Indigenous issues. Although her background is in media and journalism, since co-chairing the Creative Australia stream at the 2020 Summit she has been actively involved in cultural policy debates.

Julianne has been a judge of the Miles Franklin Award, Myer Foundation Fellowships and Walkley Awards. She is the author of Reviving the Fourth Estate: Democracy, accountability and the media (Cambridge University Press, 1998), Steel City Blues (Penguin, 1985) and the librettos Black River and Going into Shadows.

PETER DUNCAN - Deputy Chair

 

Peter Duncan has written and directed the feature films: Unfinished Sky (2008 William McInnes, nominated for 10 AFI and 8 IF awards this year; winner of 4 IF awards, including Best Director); A Little Bit of Soul (1998 Geoffrey Rush and David Wenham, nominated for 2 AFI awards); Children of the Revolution (1996 Judy Davis, Geoffrey Rush, Sam Neill, Rachel Griffiths and F. Murray Abraham, nominated for 9 AFI awards, winner of 3).  Peter has also directed the feature Passion (1999 Richard Roxburgh and Barbara Hershey, winner of 3 AFI awards) and the telemovie Valentine's Day (2008 Rhys Muldoon, nominated for Best Tele-Feature at this year's AFIs).

He also adapted and directed the novel Hell Has Harbour Views for the ABC (2005 Matt Day, Lisa McCune, nominated for Best Tele-Feature at 2005 AFIs).  Peter has 6 feature films currently in development, including 2 with Working Title.  With Richard Roxburgh, Peter is also developing a series of telemovies with the ABC about a wayward criminal barrister entitled - Rake.

A reconstructed and sometime repentant lawyer, Peter is a graduate of both Sydney University (BA, LLB) and AFTRS (BA, Film & Television). He worked in commercial litigation for Allen, Allen & Hemsley for almost 3 years.  Peter served as the student representative member of the AFTRS Council 1991-92.

SANDRA LEVY - Chief Executive Officer

 

An award winning film and television producer, Sandra Levy's numerous credits in television as producer include Police Rescue, Palace of Dreams, Secret Men's Business, True Believers and A Difficult Woman. As executive producer she has been responsible for hundreds of hours of drama including Come In Spinner, Bodysurfer, GP, Edens Lost, Secret Weapon and A Dangerous Life.

 

Sandra has produced a number of feature films, including The Well, which was selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival. She has been a board member of the Australian Film Finance Corporation and the Australian Film Commision and is currently a board member of the Sydney Theatre Company and the NSW Cultural Management Committee.

 

 

TOM BURSTALL

 

Tom Burstall graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art at the University of New South Wales where he completed a course in Production in 1972. After directing several productions for theatre he joined Crawford Productions, working for several years as a First Assistant Director. In 1976 Tom went freelance as an Assistant Director working on over a dozen features and several series and mini series shot throughout Australia. Tom has acted as Producer or Co-Producer on Duet For For, Midnite Spares, Neil Lynne, Devil in the Flesh, Slate Wyn and Me and Great Expectations - The Untold Story which he devised and developed.

 

From 1988-1990 Tom was based in Los Angeles where he established Parasol Films Inc. He worked as a Completion Guarantor Representative for Motion Picture Guarantors Ltd, on several Australian and OIS productions.

 

He has worked in an advisory capacity as Expert Film industry Adviser to Deloitte for its submission to the Victorian Government on film studio redevelopments; as consultant for both the West Australian Film Corporation and Film Victoria and as a Board member on Cinemedia Board and  is a current member of IPI (Independent Producers Initiative) and   the Australian Writers' Guild.

ANDREW MASON

 

Andrew Mason began his film industry career in the early 1970s as an editor before moving to producing and heading a successful commercial production company. He managed Atlab film laboratory and was  co-founder of Australia's first visual company. In 1993 Andrew served as visual effects supervisor and second unit director on The Crow. Andrew produced Alex Proyas' thriller Dark City.

 

Between 1998-2003 Andrew produced/executive produced a string of US studio pictures including, The Matrix and its sequels; Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolution as well as Red Planet, Scooby Doo, Queen of the Damned and Kangaroo Jack.

 

He established City Productions to develop and produce Australian films  including Swimming Upstream and Danny Deckchair . In 2004 Andrew produced Bruce Hunt's horror thriller Cave and in 2005 was executive producer of French director Christophe Gans' film Silent Hill. Andrew returned to Australia in early 2009 and produced the highly successful Tomorrow When The War Began.

 

Andrew has been a member of the board of the Macquarie Film Corporation, and spent a number of years as Deputy Chair on the board of the NSW Film and Television Officer. He is currently also a board member of the Sydney Film Festival.

DARREN DALE

 

Darren Dale is a company director and producer at Blackfella Films, Australia's premier Indigenous production company, for over ten years. In 2008 Darren, together with Blackfella's Rachel Perkins, produced the landmark history series First Australians, receiving many accolades including AFI, TV Week Logie, AWGIE and Director's Guild Awards.

 

In 2011, Darren produced the feature documentary The Tall Man for SBS and was awarded the AWGIE Award for Best Broadcast Documentary, the inaugural Walkley Award for Documentary and four AACTA nominations including Best Feature Documentary.

 

Darren has produced a number of acclaimed short films and documentaries that have screened at the Sundance, Aspen, Edinburgh, Toronto and Palm Springs International Film Festivals and has twice won the United Nations Media Peace Award. With Rachel Perkins, Darren co-curated the film program for the 'Message Sticks Indigenous Festival' at the Sydney Opera House from 2002-2011.

 

Most recently Darren produced the landmark telemovie Mabo and Redfern Now the first drama series for Australian television written, produced and directed by Indigenous Australians developed in collaboration with Emmy Award-winning UK writer Jimmy McGovern

 

Darren currently serves on the board of Screen NSW and the Council of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School.

 

ROBYN EWING

Initially a primary teacher, Robyn is Professor of Teacher Education and the Arts and AssociateDean (Academic), Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney. She has a commitment to innovative teaching and learning at all levels of education and is passionate about the role that the Arts can and should play in learning. She lectures in English, literacy, drama, children's literature, curriculum and teaching and learning.

 

In the Arts, Robyn's research and writing has focused on the use of drama with children's literature to enhance children's English and literacy outcomes. Current projects include a partnership with Sydney Theatre Company on School Drama an initiative that aims to develop the drama expertise of primary teachers. She is also a chief investigator on the TheatreSpace:   Accessing the cultural conversation   ARC project examining what engages young people in theatre. The experiences of early career teachers and the role of mentoring in their retention in the profession, sustaining curriculum innovation and evaluation, inquiry & case based learning and arts informed research methodologies are also research interests. Robyn is National President of the Australian Literacy Educators Association and Vice President of Sydney Story Factory. She is this year's recipient of the Lady Cutler award for distinguished service to children's literature.

 

 Robyn's publications include: editing the recently released ACER publication: Creative Arts in the lives of young children: Play, imagination and learning; Transforming the curriculum through the Arts (with Robyn Gibson); The Arts and Australian Education: Realising Potential; Curriculum and Assessment: A Narrative Approach; Teaching, Challenges and Dilemmas   (with Susan Groundwater-Smith and Rosie Le Cornu), Beyond the Script Take 2:   Drama in the classroom   (with Jennifer Simons) and Action Learning in Schools: Reframing Teacher Professional Learning and Development   (with Peter Aubusson and Garry Hoban).  She is also editor of Beyond the Reading Wars: Towards a balanced approach to helping children learn to read   and co-editor of Teaching and Communicating: Rethinking Professional Experiences   (with Tom Lowrie and Joy Higgs).

 

 

GENEVIEVE CLAY-SMITH

Genevieve is currently undertaking a Masters Degree at AFTRS specialising in directing. Genevieve co-founded Bus Stop Films with producer, Eleanor Winkler in 2009 - an inclusive film making not-for-profit organisation. Bus Stop's films have screened nationally and internationally  receiving a number of awards including Best film at Tropfest 2009 and recently Jury Prize at Canada International Film Festival.  Genevieve is also Creative Director of Taste Media a creative agency she co-founded with her husband.