Screenworks anniversary: How local filmmakers helped launch the careers behind award-winning shows

LOCAL and visiting filmmakers and creatives will gather to mark 25 years since Screenworks was founded in the Northern Rivers at a special anniversary fundraising event at The Brunswick Picture House on Monday 8 December.

The event will be hosted by Fisk actor and comedian Glenn Butcher. Actress and Screenworks board member Brooke Satchwell and leading film and television publicist Tracey Mair are among those attending the event.

Northern Territory-based Indigenous group Docker River Band will perform, and the evening will also launch social enterprise Grow the Music’s new arm, Sync the Music. This initiative aims to provide Australia’s largest library of tracks for use in film and television from musicians in regional and remote areas.

The first Screenworks meeting was held in Clunes in 2000, when a group of Northern Rivers filmmakers realised the large community of creatives in the region. It is now based at Ignite Studios in the former fire station in Ballina, next to the Northern Rivers Community Gallery.

Screenworks CEO Lisa O’Meara said the organisation has grown from supporting local filmmakers to running programs and initiatives across regional Australia.

“This came about as there were no other organisations offering the kind of support and programs that Screenworks was delivering, so people from up and down the east coast would attend Screenworks events,” she said.

One of Screenworks’ early initiatives, Life’s a Pitch, helped launch the career of Cate McQuillen, who went on to produce and direct the multi award-winning children’s TV series Dirt Girl World, broadcast worldwide.

The organisation’s Career Pathway Programs have also supported Northern Rivers-based director Rebecca O’Brien, whose credits include the Stan series Bump and ABC series Austin, as well as Darius Devas, who directed and produced the film Unravelled.

“Careers in the film and television industry often rely not just on skills and talent, but on industry connections and being able to approach the right people for opportunities,” O’Meara said. “It can be more difficult for people from regional areas to build those connections. We have taken our lived experience of overcoming the barriers of isolation from industry and been able to support regional filmmakers Australia-wide.”

Screenworks also runs an annual screen forum in Lennox Head, bringing industry executives and key decision-makers to the region to create opportunities and strengthen networks for regional filmmakers.

For tickets to the event, visit screenworks.com.au