Screen Australia welcomes the appointment of Deanne Weir as Deputy Chair and Rosemary Blight and Joan Peters as new members of the agency’s Board.
The Chair of Screen Australia Glen Boreham said, “Deanne Weir’s passion and commitment to the Australian screen production sector, along with her contribution to the Board over the past five years has been outstanding and I’m thrilled to confirm her as our Deputy Chair.
“It’s a great pleasure to have both Rosemary Blight and Joan Peters join our Board. Rosemary and Joan bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the film and television production sector to our Board.”
Deanne Weir has been serving on Screen Australia’s Board since its inception in 2008. She was a media and communications executive with over 20 years' experience, including long term legal, strategy and content roles at Telstra and AUSTAR. Deanne is now a media entrepreneur and is a member of the Boards of Access Innovation Holdings Pty Ltd (Ai-Media), Girlosophy Pty Ltd and WE Magazines Pty Ltd, Chairman of both Bloomtech Pty Ltd and Hoodlum Active Pty Ltd, and in August 2012 joined the Board of the International Women's Development Agency.
With a career spanning 20 years, Rosemary Blight is one of Australia's leading producers. Her feature credits include the 2012 smash hit The Sapphires, 2007 Sundance hit Clubland, and the 2010 Cannes closing night film The Tree. She has produced several Logie and AFI winning and nominated television series including Love Is a Four Letter Word, Small Claims 1, 2 & 3, and children’s series Lockie Leonard. Rosemary is a past board member of both Screen NSW and Screen Tasmania and is a co-founder of the Peter Rasmussen Innovation Award, given out yearly in conjunction with the Sydney Film Festival.
Joan Peters is a media and entertainment lawyer with over 20 years’ experience. Having migrated from Malaysia 36 years ago, she has a particular interest in fostering co-productions with Asian countries. In 2006 she founded Be Kids Australia Inc., an AusAid-approved organisation working with children in East Timor and Kenya. With a Swedish partner, she initiated K-Youth Media, a media training centre for youth in Nairobi’s Korogocho, the third-largest slum in East Africa. In 2008 Ms Peters received the Western Australian Screen Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Film and TV Industry for her work as an entertainment lawyer, and for her previous contribution as a member of the ScreenWest Board. She is currently on the Revelation Film Festival Board.
Rosemary Blight and Joan Peters’ appointments bring Screen Australia’s Board to its full complement of nine members.
30 June 2013 marked the conclusion of inaugural Board member and Deputy Chair Ian Robertson’s time on the Screen Australia Board. The Chair of Screen Australia, Glen Boreham, made the following statement: “I’d like to take this opportunity to personally thank Ian Robertson for his significant contribution over the past five years and his immense support to me since Screen Australia’s foundation in 2008. Ian also chaired Screen Australia’s audit committee from its inception and we had the great benefit of his extensive legal experience.”