Screenworks

Cynthia Connop has over 20 years experience in the film and television industry as a writer, producer and director. The television documentary ‘Bloodlines’ (ABC1 Compass) is her latest film in a series of documentaries exploring human relationships. Her feature documentary ‘Sacred Sex’ (ABC/Channel4/Miramax) achieved a highly successful theatrical, television and video release worldwide. Other credits include producer/director ‘Rajneesh: Spiritual Terrorist!’ (Dendy Award finalist).
Cynthia is Chairperson of the regional film organisation, Screenworks, a WIFT mentor for emerging filmmakers and a seminar facilitator and coach. Cynthia teaches filmmaking at the Northern Rivers Conservatorium and is a graduate of AFTVRS. She loves living and working in the Northern Rivers with such a vibrant screen community.

Jenny Cornish has worked with documentaries produced for television since the early 1990’s.
With her own company, Jennifer Cornish Media Pty Ltd ( JCM), she specialised in the licensing of documentaries to international television stations. This involved direct licensing of producer’s programs to television stations worldwide including free-to-air and cable companies.

JCM was also involved with executive producing and co-producing programming for many international stations. The areas of speciality were adventure and wildlife programming. JCM represented internationally SBS, Australia’s multicultural broadcaster, for a number of years.
The JCM catalogue of over 400 hours of factual programming was sold to Beyond International Australia in 2003.

Since then Jenny has been involved in various projects , sometimes as a mentor and sometimes as a sales agent. Jenny continues to work with Screenworks , a Northern Rivers NSW organization involved in all aspects of screen production and screen culture.
She also is on the board of the Northern Rivers Writers Centre and has strong input to a number of other community groups.

The expanding development of the use of screens and the varied audiences keeps Jenny interested and involved in the whole industry.

Dr. Peter Westheimer MBBS

Peter Westheimer has been actively involved with progressive cultural, political, and environmental groups for thirty years. He has worked extensively in film, music, theatre and art as a screen composer, musician & actor. He has composed music for feature films, many television documentaries and released 5 albums including in 2005 ‘Music Sculptures’, a global musical journey for filmmakers.

He has served as a Councillor & Deputy Mayor of Byron Shire Council in Northern NSW focusing on cultural planning & development and ecological protection & enhancement. As a Medical Doctor he previously worked in Occupational Health managing holistic teams & working with senior government and business management .
He has also been a board member of Arts Northern Rivers part of the NSW regional network.

Peter has led the push for the renovations of the iconic Mullumbimby Civic Hall.
He plays an ongoing role in shaping, educating and informing local & regional creative industries.
“I aim to achieve creative, functionally positive and constructive solutions”.

Michael Balson

Michael is one of Australia’s most experienced and awarded documentary makers, with dozens of international documentaries to his credit. He has directed, edited, shot and written Natural History, Adventure, Cultural and Environmental Documentaries for all Australian and International Broadcasters, including many for The Discovery Channel and National Geographic… and has won AFI, Logi, and US ACE awards for Directing, Editing and Soundtrack.

Michael began his career in 1966 as editing assistant with the ABC, and was a staff editor at just 19 years of age. He was freelance editing and writing in the 1970’s, began directing in the early 1980’s, and started video camera work in the 1980’s.

Today he is ‘horizontally-integrated’, multi-tasking as Producer/Director/Camera /Sound/Writer and Editor… completing production on Final Cut Pro.

Since moving to Byron Shire 15 years ago, Michael has completed over 30 hours of Documentaries, for Television Broadcasters all over the World – and still feels his best work is ahead of him!

Anne Chesher

Blending her background in documentary film production and education, for the past ten years Anne has forged a consultancy niche in the television industry with clients such as Foxtel, Austar, National Geographic, Sky News Australia, The Weather Channel and The Business Channel who have embraced the digital age trend to merge the on-air and online screen experience. As Education Consultant for Australian and international television, Anne’s New Media projects include product development and positioning, screen marketing, branding and promotion.

Rosy Whelan

Rosy Whelan is a researcher, writer, language teacher and adventurer with experience that spans film and television, publishing, tourism and education. She is co-director of Whelan Productions, a media consultancy with an international clientele that includes Kennedy Miller, ABC TV, TV NZ, Smithsonian Channel and National Geographic.

Rosy wrote Bush Tucker Man: Stories of Survival, a bestseller, based on her work on the eight-part series for ABC TV documentaries. She has participated in some 40 expeditions to Antarctica, working for the Australian Antarctic Division, British Antarctic Survey and private tour operators. She was involved in logistics and script development for Kennedy Miller’s Oscar Award winning blockbuster, Happy Feet.

SCREENWORKS COMMITTEE MEMBERS 2009

Michael Balson

Anne Chesher