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Digital Futures Summit: Anticipation, Imagining the Screen and Audio Industry in 2030

26 Jun 2025,
12:00 pm - 6:00 pm

online

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The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) welcomes you to the fifth Digital Futures Summit: an online event focused on the future of the creative industries and education.

The Digital Futures Summit is an opportunity for leaders, educators and policymakers in the Australian and international screen and broadcast industries to discuss the impact, challenges and possibilities of technological change on storyteling, training and creativity.

In its fifth edition, we will invite presenters to examine the future in different areas of the Screen and Audio industry and the Creative Education sector.

Please ensure you register for each session you’d like to attend by visiting the event page below.

Session 1 - The Next Disruption of Media: In Conversation with Doug Shapiro

Time: 12 – 1pm AEST

Speaker:

  • Doug Shapiro, Founder, Doug Shapiro Media

Moderator:

  • Paula Kruger, CEO, Media Diversity Australia

The Summit opens with Doug Shapiro, author of The Mediator, independent advisor, strategist and media analyst. In an in-depth conversation with Australian media leader and communicator Paula Kruger, Shapiro will reflect on where we are today in the media and screen industry, how we anticipate emerging disruptions and better prepare for them, and an opportunity to imagine where we want the industry to go.

This session includes an opening address from AFTRS’ CEO, Dr Nell Greenwood.

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Session 2 - Ingenuity and Imagination: The Future of Creative Education

Time: 1:15 – 2:05pm AEST

Speakers:

  • Distinguished Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington AO, Provost and Chief Academic Office, Standing Acting Vice Chancellor, University of South Australia
  • Jakob Kirstein Høgel, Head of Education and Research, National Film School of Denmark

Moderator:

  • Dr Nell Greenwood, CEO, Australian Film Television and Radio School

How will creative education evolve to meet the demands of a rapidly changing industrial and cultural landscape and be able to thrive? This panel brings together thought leaders in education, industry and research to explore and envision the future of learning environments, training and the role of technology in shaping tomorrow’s learners.

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Session 3 - Producing 2030

Time: 2:20 – 3:25pm AEST

Speakers:

  • Grainne Brunsdon, Chief Operating Officer, Screen Australia
  • Michael Tear, CEO, WildBear Entertainment

What skills and business models will producers need to develop or hone to thrive in the future? In this session, experienced producers are invited to anticipate what producing could look like in 2030, in a landscape that may be vastly different to the ecosystem in which they built their careers. New skills will be essential to create original content, finance productions, integrate new technologies, connect with audiences and embed sustainability, inclusivity and wellbeing into our practice.

Gain valuable insights from leading practitioners and deep thinkers committed to anticipating the challenges and opportunities for local production, and the skills needed to navigate a new era of storytelling.

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Session 4 - Hear-Say: Exploring the Future of Listening

Time: 3:40 – 4:30pm AEST

Speakers:

  • Dre Ngatokorua, Broadcaster, Umeewarra Aboriginal Media Association
  • Suman Basnet, Regional Director, AMARC Asia-Pacific

Moderator:

  • Andrea Ho, Discipline Lead, Radio & Podcasting, Australian Film Television and Radio School

Radio isn’t dead, but it’s no longer alone. It’s just one part of a burgeoning, disrupted, rapidly evolving audio industry, where competition is fierce and revenue is in flux, yet opportunities are great. Join distinguished broadcasters and industry leaders as we imagine for the future of radio and audio and how we might continue this transformation.

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Session 5 - Closing Keynote Address by Lynette Wallworth

Time: 4:45 – 5:25pm AEST

Keynote Speaker:

  • Lynette Wallworth, Australian Artist & Filmmaker

What new narratives can ignite our way forward? Which voices, narratives and methods of storytelling can connect us beyond the challenges of our everyday realities? In this session, Australian artist and filmmaker Lynette Wallworth reflects on the role and importance of stories, storytelling and storytellers, and articulates ideas that can propel us into the future.

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