Courtney Gibson.
Former Screen NSW boss Courtney Gibson is headed to Jungle, where she will serve as managing director.
Gibson joins the production company – known for Here Come the Habibs, No Activity and The Moodys – as it ramps up its TV drama slate. Jungle has a long-form series set to go into production in August, as well as another series in development from showrunner Kristen Dunphy.
Jungle CEO Jason Burrows said the team were excited to have Gibson on board.
“She has fantastic instincts for creating great television, with significant experience across so many genres.”
Gibson left Screen NSW last December. Before that she served as Nine Network's programming production executive, director of programmes at Southern Star, and executive head of content creation and head of arts, entertainment and comedy at ABC TV.
“I have a huge amount of respect for the team at Jungle; they're such a class act of creative talent and I'm delighted to be joining the company as it moves into an exciting new phase,” she said.
The production company has also announced ‘The Jungle Collective’, a hub and incubator for the “next generation showrunners and feature filmmakers”, to be managed by head of production Chloe Rickard.
Among the first to join are the Van Vuuren Bros – Christiaan and Connor – the writer-directors behind the Bondi Hipsters and Soul Mates.
The brothers will direct the first Jungle feature, having already received development funding from Screen Queensland, and also have two TV projects on the boil.
“We’ve loved working with Chloe from day one and this is an opportunity for us to keep doing what we’re doing in a more formalised fashion. We’ve never had an office before, so we look forward to co-mingling with likeminded individuals,” said Christiaan Van Vuuren.
Also joining the collective is Claudia Pickering, the writer, director and star of the $5,000 indie film The Frisky, set for national release next month.
“I am incredibly proud to be putting the future of The Frisky franchise in Jungle’s very capable hands and I look forward to developing projects together,” said Pickering.
Rickard said the collective will see writers/creators take leadership roles on their projects and collaborate across the Jungle slate.
“I’ve been working with the Van Vuurens for over five years and we love Claudia’s breakout film, so they're both a natural fit. We look forward to partnering with more outstanding talent working across a variety of screen genres.”