Screen Queensland has appointed former Screen Australia executive Christopher Sharp as director of development.
Formery development executive, features and professional development at Scroz, Sharp takes over from Jock Blair, who retired last month after 11 years with the state agency.
Sharp has been working in sales and acquisitions with New York-based FilmNation as part of a professional placement under Screen Australia’s talent escalator program.
At Screen Australia he oversaw the development of more than 70 features, entailing story development on each project and nurturing new and emerging talent.
He has also worked as a script consultant for UK Film Council, Working Title, Ealing Studios, EON and Celador and and as a development executive at Material Entertainment, a co-venture between New Line Cinema and Entertainment Film Distributors.
“Christopher has a well-honed appreciation for Australian stories and an in-depth knowledge of the national and international market and we look forward to working with him to build and grow Queensland’s screen industry,” said Screen Queensland CEO Tracey Vieira.
Sharp starts on September 22. Last month Screen Queensland appointed Jo Dillon, formerly a development executive at Screen Australia, in the new role of head of development and production.
That followed the retirement of Blair and the departure of production investment and business development executive Catherine Nebauer, who is now MD of ZooMoo, the world’s first kids channel dedicated to animals launched last year by David Haslingden’s Beach House Pictures and NHNZ.