Full program now live
In less than a month’s time the Australian screen industry will gather in Melbourne for the annual SCREEN FOREVER conference. For over 30 years, the event has championed the talent, passion and achievements of our storytellers, providing a vital forum for discussion and debate on the issues and challenges that affect all screen businesses.
The 2019 program is inspired by the thread that weaves together the distinctive segments of our industry – great stories. This theme of ‘Storytelling in a Time of Evolution’ will be dissected across 50 keynotes, panels, networking events and workshops, each addressing a timely topic within the industry, including inclusion and diversity, financing forums and young audience content.
The calibre of international guests in attendance this year is unprecedented, with 27 leading luminaries from the USA, UK, Canada and Israel making the journey down under to share their insights, advice and wealth of experience. Among them is Charlotte Koh (Head of Digital Media and Unscripted, Hello Sunshine), JP Sarni (Head of International Content & Worldwide Content Acquisitions, Stampede Ventures), Clelia Mountford (Co-Founder, Merman), Jonathan Olsberg (Founder, Olsberg SPI), Moreyba Bidessie (Scripted Development and Sales of International Content Sales & Co-Productions, A+E Networks), Gary Foster (Producer, Sleepless in Seattle), Karen Palmer (Immersive Storyteller), Mark Montefiore (President, New Metric Media), Dan Jinks (Producer, American Beauty), Brown Johnson (Executive Vice President and Creative Director, Sesame Workshop) and four executives from Netflix.
Joining our internationals are over 100 local creative visionaries from across all genres and platforms, from producers, directors and writers, to commissioners, financiers and distributors. In a celebration of local heroes, Rachel Griffiths (Director, Producer and multi-award-winning Actress) will deliver this year’s Hector Crawford Memorial Lecture, while John Seale (Academy Award winning Cinematographer) will take part in an in conversation about the craft of cinematography.
We will also take a deep dive into the runaway success of Bluey, discuss moving the conversation surrounding Indigenous stories beyond consultation, and look to the future of storytelling with Tea Uglow’s (Google Creative Lab) Visionary Keynote and panels on Virtual Production, Vertical Content and Limitless Content. Meet the Buyers returns, but this year will be run as genre discussion panels, with decision makers from Netflix, Stan, ABC, SBS and Foxtel all involved. In addition, we turn our attention to pathways to audience and distribution with a Development Masterclass, a panel exploring theatrical niche audiences and a study of adapting for the screen.
The number of formal sessions has been stripped back this year to allow delegates to make the most of the unrivalled business development opportunities presented at the SPA Connect market. Taking place on the Wednesday, delegates are invited to network with a variety of hosts, such as Screen Australia, Screen Queensland, Every Cloud Productions, Bus Stop Films, ABC, Post Lab IO, Panavision Australia and Holding Redlich at the Roundtables. The tempo increases on the Thursday with representatives from Foxtel, ABC, Screen Australia, Roadshow Films, Discovery and Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) – among others - accepting pitches at Ready, Steady, Pitch!.
With a focus on new storytelling platforms and an overall message about diversification, agility and sustainability, SCREEN FOREVER is the premiere event for all screen industry professionals.
