Leading screen industry executive Jeanie Davison is the new Head of Industry & Alumni Engagement at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS).
In this pivotal role, Jeanie is responsible for developing partnerships between industry and the School, growing the AFTRS Alumni program, running industry-related events and liaising with stakeholders, including through the AFTRS’ Industry Advisory Panels.
Jeanie takes up the position this week after two years as Industry Development Manager at the leading regional screen development organisation Screenworks, where she managed skills programs and events to support and nurture filmmakers in regional, rural and remote Australia.
Jeanie was previously an executive at Screen Australia, managing the agency’s documentary development slate as Investment & Development Manager. In that role, she also delivered a number of key collaborations including the agency’s joint commissioning initiative with Al Jazeera Witness, the Art Bites series with the ABC, and the Doculab project incubator with the South Australian Film Corporation.
Jeanie has also worked extensively in film and TV production, including 10 years in the UK producing programmes for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky and Channel 5, followed by senior executive roles as Head of Factual and Head of Development for leading independent production companies in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. She’s developed, produced and executive produced documentaries, factual series and formats, current affairs, entertainment, live event TV, Giant Screen and online projects for many domestic and international broadcasters, notably Discovery, History Channel, National Geographic, Netflix, ABC and Seven (Australia), TVNZ and TV3 (New Zealand).
Jeanie has extensive experience field producing and directing broadcast and digital social impact content around the world for high-profile non-profit organisations including UNICEF, Amnesty International and Comic Relief. She is also the founder of Film Africa, a skills program supporting filmmakers in East Africa, and co-curator of the Adventure Travel Film Festival.
AFTRS CEO, Dr Nell Greenwood, said: “AFTRS has a fundamental and wonderfully collaborative connection with the screen and broadcast industry. So as the School celebrates our 50th year, and look to the impact we want to make on the next 50 years, staying connected to our brilliant Alumni, and our training to upskill industry are absolutely key. I am delighted to welcome Jeanie, and can’t wait to see how she brings her incredible industry experience to life at AFTRS.”