Short Film Manager Whetu Fala recently visited Blackfella Films and the Indigenous Units of Screen Australia and ABC in Sydney as part of the ongoing work for the recently developed He Ara – Māori & Pasifika Development fund. Sally Riley, ABC Head of Indigenous and Penny Smallacombe Head of Indigenous, Screen Australia shared their perspectives and information on pathways to features for Native key creatives. Please contact Whetu directly if you are travelling to Sydney and wish to connect with any of these industry representatives.
Indigenous Unit, Screen Australia
Penny Smallacombe is the newly appointed head of the Indigenous Unit. A Darwin native, Penny is based at the Screen Australia Sydney office and she takes over the role from Erica Glynn. Penny attended ImagiNative 2013 as a filmmaker and many of the Māori filmmakers who attended last year will have met her previously. Penny has a particular interest in native communities and their stories and will be attending the 2014 ImagiNAtive festival with its spotlight this year on Australia.
ABC, Indigenous Unit, Sydney
Sally Riley is the head of the Indigenous Unit at the ABC, Sydney. Her current slate includes the Redfern Now telemovie directed by Rachel Perkins and produced by Darren Dale and Miranda Dear from Blackfella Films. Sally was mentored by the late Merata Mita and has great memories of her times visiting in Aotearoa.