Screen Queensland staff announcements
Screen Queensland announced three major staff movements with the appointment of a new Head of Development and Production – Jo Dillon; the retirement of an industry legend, Jock Blair; and Catherine Nebauer’s appointment as General Manager of the new television channel, ZooMoo.
With more than 10 years’ experience working with independent drama and documentary producers, training providers and screen agencies both in Australia and off-shore, Jo Dillon brings to Screen Queensland a wealth of knowledge, skills and contacts that will greatly benefit the Queensland screen sector. Jo comes to Screen Queensland from Screen Australia where she held the position of Development Executive.
In her role at the national screen agency, Jo covered the assessment of feature films, high-end television, multiplatform drama and shorts, plus worked on the development and management of a slate of feature film projects. Jo also worked with emerging teams on budget, schedule, development of script and story, pre-production, production, post-production and plans for marketing and distribution of the finished film.
“As Screen Queensland continues to work with industry to grow a healthy and sustainable industry, Jo’s experience with creative and thoughtful leadership will provide exactly what the industry is asking for,” said Tracey Vieira, CEO of Screen Queensland.
Jo will commence at Screen Queensland on Monday 25 August 2014.
After more than 40 years working in the screen industry, Jock Blair has announced his retirement and shall depart on Friday August 1 to spend more time with his family, including his grandson born this week.
As Director – Development at Screen Queensland, Jock has been a champion for the local Queensland film and television industry. He has supported countless projects through the development process and shaped the production landscape of Queensland in the process.
“Jock has been such strong character in the Screen Queensland story and has had a huge influence on many of our State’s success stories,” said Ms Vieira.
“Your story is only as good as the characters within them, and we’ve been fortunate to have the best with Jock Blair.”
Jock has been a writer, producer, and script editor on many of Australia’s favourite programs including Home and Away, Division 4, Stingers, and Matlock Police, plus was one of our Australian television pioneers co-creating The Sullivans, Bluey, and Skyways.
Jock has produced Snowy River: The McGregor Saga, Paradise Beach and Playing Beatie Bow and in 1995, Random House published Jock’s novel Butterfly Blue. His last production was Tribe, a four-hour mini-series which he wrote and produced.
Catherine Nebauer has been appointed General Manager of ZooMoo and will be departing Queensland in mid-August to return to Sydney. ZooMoo is a new network for children aged 3-7 years of age.
“Catherine has brought so much to the Queensland production community. She has been pivotal in launching the Screen Queensland Emerging Program, was behind the recent Kids Content, Games & Convergence conference and our new Enterprise Programs,” stated Ms Vieira.
“We have had a huge 12 months creating the best environment for domestic and foreign direct investment in our State.
“Both Jock and Catherine have been crucial players on our team that has overseen 21 productions in the last financial year, double the number of productions on previous year’s figures.”
