Screen Queensland is supporting 11 people to attend the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) in Melbourne 1-4 March including six Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners who will participate in the Indigenous Creators Program.
The Queensland delegation will be pitching productions, attending workshops, seminars and meetings, as well as building their networks with the Australian and international documentary sector to progress their careers, businesses and slate of projects.
Arun Ketsirat and Kym Melzer – Seeding Time Pictures (STP)
STP specialises in producing creative content which engages global audiences. Arun Ketsirat and Kym Melzer are two of the company directors and have a passion for creating stories that matter across all platforms of media with a focus on Australia and South-East Asia.
STP are taking the projects Triple Effect, The Boob Issue and Palad Khik: Penis Pendants and Prayers to AIDC and have been selected to participate in the Cut to the Chase meeting series with key decision makers.
Caden Pearson
Caden is a Bagarrmugu man from Cape York and is an early-career writer, director, and producer, originally from Cairns. Caden is working on a number of projects through his production company, Insights Media, including a half-hour documentary currently in post-production that was commissioned by NITV.
Caden is taking the projects Wawu and Larger than Life to AIDC.
Courtney Wilkie
Courtney is an early-career producer with experience across factual, children’s content and reality TV with credits on programs such as National Nine News, Gogglebox, Totally Wild, Big Brother and Legally Brown.
Courtney is taking the projects Superhuman, Looks that Kill and Front Seat Footy to AIDC.
Dr Fiona Foley
Fiona is from the Wondunna clan of the Badtjala nation and is an artist, keynote speaker, academic and filmmaker and the 2014 recipient of the Australia Council Visual Arts Laureate Award. Fiona’s screen credits include short films Bliss and Vexed, documentary A Quintessential Act and the recently completed Out of the Sea Like Cloud.
Fiona is taking the project Out of the Sea Like Cloud to AIDC.
Grania Kelly – Star Sapphire Productions
Grania is a documentary filmmaker and new media artist working in immersive storytelling exploring the intersection between documentary storytelling, art and science through her media production company Star Sapphire Productions.
Grania is taking the projects Forgotten Proposal, Masters of the Night Sky and A Burning Issue to AIDC.
Ljudan Michaelis-Thorpe
Ljudan is producer, writer and director with a diverse slate of documentary projects spanning TV, VR and podcasts. Ljudan sits on the WIFT Australia board and is the Indigenous lead of the WIFT Queensland chapter and was recently been invited to join the SPAA advisory board for XR
Ljudan is taking The Bone Stories, The Vice of Ice, and Channel Confluence Conflicts to AIDC.
Merryn Trescott
Merryn is a proud Wiradjuri woman and an emerging filmmaker specialising in cinematography, directing and producing. Merryn is currently working with Digi Youth Arts to create short documentary content with support from the Australia Council for the Arts. Merryn’s goal is to use her creative skills and practice in a socially engaged fashion to bridge the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians by creating content that the next generation will consume.
Merryn is taking the projects The Tour Du Pub and Baadhin to AIDC.
Richard Jameson
Richard is a Wuthathi man from East Coast of Cape York and grew up on Thursday Island before moving to Darwin. Richard has written a number of short and feature film scripts and continues to work toward producing and directing feature films and documentaries. Richard had a successful diplomatic career and was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for efforts during the Bali Bombings in 2002.
Richard is taking a project on the life of Lani Mulgrave Blair to AIDC.
Ruby Schmidt
Ruby is a screen practitioner and producer from Brisbane whose recent credits include production manager on feature documentary Iron Fists and Kung-Fu Kicks and line producer on four-part NITV series Elements. Ruby is currently producing the LGBTQI+ documentary Belonging for Network Ten and associate producing Brock for Universal/ABC. Ruby is also developing independent projects through her production company Toy Shop Entertainment including factual series Influencers with @ChiliPhilly and Indigenous comedy short form series Zaroville with TikTok star, Ian Zaro.
Ruby is taking the projects Sexual (Mis)conduct and The General to AIDC.
Sean Leeway
Sean Leeway is an emerging filmmaker and radio broadcaster from Rockhampton, Queensland. Sean has a Certificate III and Certificate IV in Screen and Media and while attending the Remote Indigenous Media Festival on Thursday Island participated in cinematographers’ workshop and a five-day residential workshop as in-house broadcaster with Radio 4MW. Sean also attended the Indigenous Television FRAIM Festival and completed animation and digital storytelling workshops.
Sean is taking his first short documentary Rock bottom in Rockhampton to AIDC.
