meet the Board + Board dates
The Directors of the Screen Queensland Board are:
Ms Linda Lavarch (Chair)
Linda is a lawyer by profession and has broad experience in developing and advising on public policy in Australia. She now combines her legal skills and policy experience as the Director of Member and Specialist Services for the Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union (QNMU). Linda served in the Queensland Parliament from 1997 to 2009 and was appointed the State Attorney-General in 2005.
After leaving Parliament in 2009 Linda joined the team at the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofits Studies (ACPNS) at QUT co-ordinating a Nonprofit Law project aimed at streamlining the laws that regulate charities and not for profits in Australia. Through this project Linda gained extensive experience in working with and for the Not-for- profit Sector in Australia. She was appointed by the then Federal Government as Chairperson of the National Not-for-profit Sector Reform Council (2011-2013) and Chairperson of the Not for Profit Sector Tax Concession Working Group.
Linda has held a number of Board positions including a Director on Hockey Queensland, Chair of Coast 2 Bay Housing Group and a Director of the Princess Alexandra Hospital Research Foundation. Linda currently serves as a Director and Deputy Chair of the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation (ACCF) and is Director on Volunteering Queensland. Linda is also a member of the Advisory Board of Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (QUT).
Linda was named as one of the YWCA 125 leading Queensland women and was chosen to be part of the National Library of Australia’s trailblazing women in the law project documenting the oral history of women lawyers in Australia.
Dr Chelsea Bond
Dr Chelsea Bond is an Aboriginal (Munanjahli) and South Sea Islander Australian and a Senior Lecturer with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit. Dr Bond has worked as an Aboriginal Health Worker and researcher in communities across south-east Queensland and has a strong interest in urban Indigenous health promotion, culture, identity and community development. Dr Bond is an Affiliate member of the UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, a board member of Inala Wangarra (an Indigenous community development association) and regular guest host of 98.9FM’s Let’s Talk program.
Ms Patricia Heaton
Ms Heaton is an AFTRS graduate, former CEO of Ausfilm, and former Manager of the Production Liaison Unit at the FTO (now Screen NSW). She has worked in the screen sector since 1980 as producer, location manager, senior executive and company director. Ms Heaton served as a Board member at Ausfilm (1999) and served on the Screen NSW Board (2009-2014). Currently Ms Heaton is a co-Director of The Heaton Group with her husband, developing real estate projects in Sydney.
Ms Catherine O’Sullivan
Ms O’Sullivan is currently Pro Vice-Chancellor, Pathways and Partnerships, Bond University (since 2013), and is a senior executive who has achieved significant contributions to educational, community and employment outcomes, through strong leadership, innovation and partnerships. She is the former State Manager, Queensland State Office, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (2007-2012) and former Assistant Director-General (Regional Delivery) for the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (2005-2007). Ms O’Sullivan was awarded Telstra Business Woman of the Year and is an invited member of the Harvard Women’s Leadership Board (2015). She holds an Executive Masters in Public Administration ANZSOG, Diploma of Education and Bachelor of Arts from the University of New England. Catherine is a Churchill Fellow and a recipient of the Australian Rural Leaders’ Scholarship.
Mr Michael Smellie
Mr Smellie has a music and media business career of over 30 years. He is the former Global Chief Operating Officer of SonyBMG, Asia Pacific Head of BMG and Managing Director of PolyGram and rooArt in Australia. As Chief Operating Officer of BMG worldwide, he negotiated and implemented the merger with Sony Music. Mr Smellie is the former President of media development for Asia Pacific for the German media company, Bertelsmann (until 2010) and past Chair of the Australian Film Television and Radio School and QUT Creative Enterprise Australia. He is currently Chair of Music Australia and the Australian Board of The Global Citizen, and holds a Bachelor of Business from NSWIT.
Mr Paul Syvret
Mr Syvret is assistant editor and columnist with The Courier Mail. He is a multi-award winning journalist with 30 years experience in the media who has worked across the platforms of print, television and digital. His specialty is finance and economic reporting and analysis; skills honed over many years working on mastheads including the Australian Financial Review and The Bulletin magazine. Paul also brings with him a life long passion for Australian film, and regularly appears as a guest presenter at genre cinema events.
Mr Takeshi Takada
Alt.vfx co-founder and company Director, Takeshi Takada, is the one of the most awarded Executive Producers within the post-production industry in the APAC region. The company was established in 2011 and has quickly become one of the most respected visual effects studios in the region. Alt.vfx is a state-of-the-art post production studio specialising in visual effects, animation and design for film and television, with their work winning many international awards including Cannes Lions, Mobius, Clio, New York Festival and London International awards. With headquarters in Brisbane, and additional studios in Sydney and Melbourne, Alt has also expanded into North America with the opening of an LA studio in 2017, capitalising on the kind of global work and relationships that saw the company being named Queensland Exporter of the Year and Australian Exporter of the Year for the Creative Industries in 2015. Mr Takada was named the Business Person of the Year at the Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Multicultural Awards for Business – 2014 and is currently one of the Board members of the Lord Mayor’s Creative Brisbane Advisory Board.
