Producer, writer and editor Stephanie Dower is Screen Producers Australia (SPA)’s Leadership Diversity Mentorship participant for 2023.
Having worked across short films, TVCs, and online content, Dower is known for her work in reframing how people with disabilities are portrayed in popular media.
She runs her own production company, Dower Productions, and is also part of Screen Queensland’s Equity and Diversity Taskforce.
Through the Leadership Diversity Mentorship, the Brisbane-based practitioner will be mentored by SPA councillors, and participate in council meetings and bespoke activities to develop her skills and knowledge so she may be able to successfully pursue council membership or other leadership roles in the sector in the future.
She follows in the footsteps of Tsu Shan Chambers and Hayley Johnson, who were announced as the inaugural participants of the initiative last year. Chambers has since been elected to the council.
SPA CEO Matthew Deaner said he was pleased to welcome Dower as the second recipient.
“We are hopeful that through participation in SPA Council meetings, and mentorship by current council members, Stephanie will build on her existing skill set and gain fresh insight into proven leadership techniques used by SPA Council members,” he said.
“Our council contains some of Australia’s most prolific and renowned screen industry professionals who together with SPA strive to bolster new growth within the Australian screen sector and support new opportunities for the next generation of industry leaders.”
President Tracy Vieira added that mentorship was a central part of the organisation’s actions in regard to diversity and inclusion.
“Through this, we are actively supporting the next generation of leading producers by smashing the glass ceiling into the room where decisions are made and forever changing who sits at the table,” she said.
Vice president Suzanne Ryan agreed, noting that SPA was “working to show that every individual matters” through the program.