AFTRS partners with industry for 2023 Graduate Program

Seven leading Australian production companies and broadcasters are this year taking part in the 2023 AFTRS Graduate Program.

The highly competitive AFTRS Graduate Program offers AFTRS graduates thirteen-week paid industry internships in some of Australia’s most respected production companies and broadcasters.

In 2023, the partners in the program are the ABC, BBC Studios, Endemol Shine Australia, Eureka Productions, ITV Studios Australia, SBS and Warner Bros.

The program creates tangible employment pathways for creative, multi-skilled and motivated graduates from the Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production.

In 2023, nine AFTRS graduates have been awarded places in the Graduate Program.  Nicole Hutton (Children’s Development Internship) and Hugo Bittar (Junior Researcher Production Internship) will join the ABC, Kristen Settinelli (Unscripted Development/Production Internship) will join BBC Studios, Mia Tikellis (Production Internship) will join Endemol Shine Australia, Sarah Wilson and Charlie Peiffer (Production Internship) will join Eureka Productions, Jasmine Hair (Production Internship) will join ITV Studios Australia, Ashwini Kangatharan (Production Internship) will join SBS, and Josephine Barwick (Post Production Assistant Internship) will join Warner Bros.

Nell Greenwood, AFTRS CEO, said: “As the national screen and audio school, our priority is equipping graduates with the skills and training to be industry ready.  The AFTRS Graduate Program continues to be a vital part of this process and it has been incredibly successful, year on year, with more than 90% of those selected in previous years going on to employment in the sector.  This success is down to the very generous commitment of our industry partners, and we are grateful to our new and on-going industry partners for their support.”

ABC Chief Content Officer and AFTRS Council Member, Chris Oliver-Taylor said: “Earlier in 2023, the ABC welcomed AFTRS graduates, Cleo Baldwin and Ash Dunford to the ABC. With their experience and development at AFTRS and their own personal dedication, both have been offered full-time roles with the ABC to start their media career. Holly Hunter is another wonderful AFTRS graduate who interned with our children’s team before starting her exciting career with EndemolShine. Continuing to develop the next generation of amazing creatives is vital to the ABC and the broader screen industry. I couldn’t be more delighted to welcome our next graduates, Hugo and Nicole to our Content team to work alongside some of the best content makers in Australia.”

Kylie Washington, General Manager and Creative Director, BBC Studios Productions Australia, said: “This is our third year of being involved with this program and we have had some fantastic talent come to us this way, with most returning to work with us on subsequent productions.  It is so crucial to provide opportunities to develop talent in the industry and we are pleased to welcome Kristen to the team where she will be getting hands on experience working in unscripted development.”

Peter Newman, CEO, Endemol Shine Australia, said: “As a company that is always striving to nurture talent from the ground up, we are so proud to continue to be part of the AFTRS Graduate Program again in 2023. Every year we are incredibly impressed with the quality, ingenuity, and gusto from all the applicants, and this year has been no different. We extend a warm welcome to Mia Tikellis, we are thrilled to help pave the way to further growth in the industry.”

Paul Franklin, CO-CEO Eureka Productions said: “Once again we are proud to be partnered with AFTRS and our 2023 Production Intern, Eloise Woodward. Eloise joined us in February this year and immediately rolled into a Junior Post Associate Producer role after her internship and she has been with Eureka ever since, working on Stars on Mars S1 for the US and The Mole S2 for Netflix. Eloise will continue with us well into 2024 and beyond! We have so greatly enjoyed working with Eloise, and Keziah before her, that Eureka Productions is delighted to be accepting two interns into our family in 2024! We can’t wait to welcome Sarah Wilson and Charlie Peiffer next year!”

ITV Studios Australia CEO & Managing Director, David Mott said: “We are thrilled to be involved once again in the next intake of graduate students who have been selected for the AFTRS Graduate Program for 2023. ITV Studios Australia is happy to support such an incredible opportunity where young creatives have the ability to experience the behind-the-scenes processes of a television production company. We want to ensure we nurture and provide these opportunities for those starting out in the industry and welcome new graduates with open arms. We are very happy to welcome Jasmine to the ITV family and we hope that the knowledge and experience gained assist in developing a successful career in the industry.”

John Godfrey, Head of Commissioning, SBS, said: “We’re delighted to once again be involved in the AFTRS Graduate Program, as part of our commitment at SBS to supporting meaningful career pathways the next generation of talent in our industry. We continue to be impressed by the calibre of emerging talent coming through the program, and we can’t wait to have Ashwini come on board and work with the SBS Commissioning team on some exciting projects in 2024.”

Warner Bros. Head of Production, Unscripted, Simon Vaughton, said, “We are thrilled to announce the newest addition to our team at Warner Bros. – AFTRS graduate Josephine Barwick , who will be joining us in the role of ‘Post Production Assistant.’ We look forward to supporting Jo’s professional growth and providing the necessary tools for her to emerge as a leader in the next generation of our industry. A special thank you to AFTRS for facilitating the exciting Graduate Program 2023.”