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Josh Martin named CEO of Brisbane International Film Festival

Josh Martin.

Brisbane International Film Festival has announced two new senior appointments ahead of next month’s event, with Josh Martin taking the reins as CEO and Mark Melrose named operations manager.

As the CEO of BIFF’s organising committee, Film Fantastic, Martin will also be responsible for leading the Gold Coast Film Festival.

He is a former CEO of the not-for-profit Connecting Southern Gold Coast and has held senior management roles with the Gold Coast Suns, Gold Coast Titans, and IMG.

Martin said it was an honour to be joining the organisation ahead of this year’s program announcement.

“I can’t wait to release a first-look at our 2021 BIFF program including the announcement of an amazing opening night film,” he said.

“We have assembled a highly-skilled team with decades of combined film festival experience to deliver our vision for BIFF this year.

“Our talented program manager Sasha Close has meticulously curated a BIFF program comprising more than 70 feature films and 20 shorts over the 11-day festival.”

Also new to the festival is Melrose, who will be responsible for crafting the in-cinema experiences, industry programs and networking events within the event.

Film Festival board chair Sue-Anne Chapman said the Film Fantastic board was delighted to have Martin at the helm.

“Josh has a strong track record in delivering major events and festivals along with a solid foundation of leadership and governance at a time of significant growth for our organisation,” she said.

“In partnership with Screen Queensland, we look forward to delivering a rich program jampacked with traditional, world-class screen content and innovative industry programming to create an event that has the future of cinema at its heart.”

The appointments come as BIFF prepares to unveil a sneak preview of cinema
program this Thursday.

Program manager Sasha Close hinted there would be a large amount of Australian and Queensland premiere films in this year’s line-up.

“Audiences will have the chance to discover something new, something unexpected, something real,” she said.

“This year’s program is diverse, fresh, and entertaining and I can’t wait to share a sneak peek on Thursday.”

BIFF will be held from October 21-31. Click here for more information about updates and program announcements.