Ones To Watch

Alzbeta, a producer and director originally from the Czech Republic, started in the film industry as a special effects makeup artist and hairdresser before quickly venturing into other production departments, which led her to pursue producing and directing. She is currently in post production for her first feature film ‘Zero’ as a producer, a low-budget sci-fi written by Jessie Laurie and directed and co-produced by Matt Hodgkinson. Her experience includes Screen Australia and Screenwest attachments on feature films like How to Please a Woman and Kid Snow, complemented by a 2024 Cannes Film Festival film market work placement with Odin’s Eye Entertainment. Alzbeta's past successes also include securing City of Vincent funding for the documentary ReStories and Screenwest Elevate 70 funding for the short film The Roadhouse Blues. Presently, she is the Production Lead for screen production and broadcasting student productions at the WA Screen and Media Academy, ECU, bringing with her extensive freelance experience across TVC, corporate, and scripted film in both low and high-budget productions.

Caden Pearson is a producer based in Cairns and the founder of Resonant Films, a regional screen company working across documentary, factual, and scripted content. His producing credits include the feature film Storm Bird (2025), now in post-production; the Screen Queensland-funded mystery web series Lakefield (2025); and Wawu Divine Hope (2020), a half-hour documentary broadcast on NITV and SBS On Demand. He is also producing an episode of Taste of the Tropics for SBS Food (2025), now in development. In 2025, Caden received a $50,000 Screen Queensland NQ Enterprise grant to scale Resonant Films into a sustainable regional production house. With a background in writing and directing, he brings strong editorial instincts, logistical focus, and a passion for platforming regional talent, multicultural collaboration, and First Nations voices.

Ellen Dedes-Vallas began her career as a producer at Nickelodeon in 2013 in producing roles on long-form series, Camp Orange, Slime Cup & Slimefest and Nick Jr's Play Along with Sam before moving into lead producing roles at The Walt Disney Company & National Geographic, where she honed her skills as a TV producer working across long & short-form content on their broadcast channels. In 2018, Ellen founded FAT POODLE, an entertainment-first production house specialising in producing content for major entertainment brands & streaming platform.

Utilising Ellen's skills of producing & understanding long-form production, FAT POODLE have crafted a niche in producing cast-led social embed & behind the scenes content on some of Australia's biggest titles like Territory, Apple Cider Vinegar, The Survivors, Deadloch S2 & Playing Gracie Darling. Her diverse portfolio includes writing, producing, directing & editing 2 eps of Prime Video documentary series "Unheard", writing 3 episodes on the International Emmy Award-winning ABCME series "Built to Survive" & most recently Fat Poodle's first 2 original feature docs "Jess Fox: Whitewater" for Stan/Nine and "Price to Dakar" for SBS.

Farnoush Parsiavashi is a Canberra-based documentary director, writer and creative producer. She works across a variety of factual documentary genres, and is currently developing her first independent feature doc, Butter, Baby - a travelogue and love letter to butter.
In 2025, she completed a month-long creative residency supported by You Are Here Canberra, and participated in the SBS x SPA Emerging Practitioners Program.
Her TV credits include WWII: End Game (Viasat, Histoire, SBS), The Art Of (ABC), Destination Celebrity (Passion, Nine Network), and over 20hrs of Australian history programming as an Assoc. Producer with WildBear Entertainment for ABC.

Kate Boylan-Ascione is an FNQ-based creative producer championing regional and underrepresented voices in mainstream spaces. She has been supported by Screen Queensland, Documentary Australia, ScreenWorks and Black Bird Foundation to produce films that have screened internationally and online. With a background in documentary, short-form drama and commercial production, Kate brings a trusted, grassroots approach to working with diverse subjects, generating real impact. She recently produced and successfully released two vertical series with support from Screen QLD’s Channel Lab: Short Cuts Fund — ‘what on earth?!’, and ‘Why So Disruptive?’.

In 2024, Kate was selected for SheDoc, supported by Screen QLD and Documentary Australia. Through this program, she undertook an impact-producing attachment on Sweetshop & Green’s award-winning feature documentary, ‘Left Write Hook’. Kate was privileged to receive the David Puttnam Scholarship for Producers in 2020, leading her to complete a research Masters. She has recently wrapped on Good Thing Production's feature doc, 'The Northern Run' as an assoc. producer, and is in development for two episodes of SBS Food's ‘Taste of the Tropics’.

With roots in theatre and a strong creative background, Lawrence brings a holistic understanding of storytelling to every project. After gaining experience in the film industry, he established himself as an independent producer and began collaborating with a wide range of creatives. Based in Melbourne, he works across diverse formats with a particular focus on narrative comedy and drama that explore and celebrate Australian stories.

Lawrence’s producing career includes several significant milestones. His collaborative TikTok web series Hot Bread and Last Party of Summer both received production funding from Screen Australia in 2023. His short film A Rose for Katrina was selected for Tribeca 2024. He has also produced music videos for Australian icons Missy Higgins, Angus and Julia Stone, and PEACH PRC, with the latter earning a 2024 ARIA nomination.

He is currently developing three original narrative projects and is eager to build his producing career further through collaborations with experienced producers, production companies and screen agencies. Supporting new voices has always been central to Lawrence’s work, and it is an ethos he carries into every project.

Libby Collins is a Tiwi filmmaker with over a decade of experience bringing First Nations stories to life. She is the Co-Producer for upcoming Amazon Prime television series, starring Miranda Tapsell and Gwilym Lee, and resident Producer/Director at GARUWA, Libby combines her creative vision with deep commitment to First Nations community uplift, driving impactful projects that resonate with audiences and amplify the voices of Indigenous Peoples.

Libby directed a number of GARUWA projects including The Last Post: Winds of Change, in collaboration with the Sydney Opera House, as well as producing and directing: the FARE: Voices of Change series addressing alcohol harm in First Nations communities, RUOK?'s Stronger Together campaign, about mental health with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. Her production credits reflect a dynamic career, eluding work on Top End Wedding (2019), Motherhood in the Colony (2025) and Kobie Dee's NT Tour (2024), Power to Country (2023), Karen Karritpul x Country Road (2022) and the First Inventors (2023).

Libby is also an aspiring writer, and is currently developing her own slate with her newly established production company Hello Dear

Mimo Mukii (they/them) is a Kenyan & Filipinx producer living and working in Naarm, Melbourne. They are a member of the film collective and production company TEN DAYS. Mimo's first feature PASA FAHO had its world premiere at Melbourne International Film Festival 2025, and is the first film to be produced from the Vicscreen Originate Program. They have produced narrative short films, including the award-winning BLACKWOOD (Atlanta Film Festival Filmmaker to Watch Award), TUĪ NÁ (Best Film at Mardi Gras Film Festival) and WHAT'S IN A NAME? (Best Film at Reel Good Film Festival). Mimo graduated from RMIT University with a Bachelor of Media and Communications (Honours), where they wrote about self-representations of African-Australians in television and web series, and they have a Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping. Mimo has freelanced in the film and TV industry in production and accounts departments, with credits on WAR MACHINE, BETTER MAN and SHANTARAM. In 2025 they will have completed a year-long producer placement across Vicscreen, ABC and GoodThing Productions.

Renny is a Tamil-Australian producer, writer and director. His projects have received award nominations at the AACTA, Rose D’Or and C21 International Drama awards and have premiered both locally and internationally. In 2022, he was commissioned by SBS for his documentary RUN GIRL, which was later acquired by Stan. In 2023, he launched his first broadcast drama THE DISPOSABLES (Photoplay Films) for ABC alongside Karen Radzyner and Sonia Whiteman. In 2024, he was selected to be a part of Series Mania’s Writers Campus in France for his TV series SCALPEL, co-created with Sonia Whiteman, and in 2025, took part in the Platform Development Lab at Sydney Film Festival. He completed an internship at See-Saw Films under Emile Sherman, Rachel Gardner and Libby Sharpe, and is currently working with Photoplay Films’ Karen Radzyner on the UK-AU co-production of SONG OF THE SUN GOD - an adaptation of Miles-Franklin award winning author, Shankari Chandran’s novel, currently in development.

Sabin Gnawali is a Nepalese-born and raised, Western Sydney-based producer whose career began after studying from the New York Film Academy Australia. His first industry role was as an assistant director on Channel Nine’s TV movie SCHAPELLE.

Since then, Sabin has produced award winning Australian short films such as ZOE (DUST network) and ROAD TRAIN and an ambitious Nepalese-language film DOKH (FOUL PLAY). Sabin’s line producing and editing credits also include AACTA nominated Australian feature A LION RETURNS. He has also supported more than 5 international productions from Nepal and China filmed in Australia, often working as a line producer or production manager.

He is currently developing HOME BEFORE NIGHT, a feature supported by Screen Australia development funding and selected for the NFDC Film Bazaar Co-Production Market. Recently chosen for Screen NSW’s Emerging Producer Placement and Bus Stop Films’ Inclusive Producer Attachment, Sabin is focused on building a distinctive body of cross-cultural projects that draw from his background and resonate with audiences across borders, while continuing to expand his craft through collaboration with experienced producers.

Sam Price is a Brisbane-based producer with significant experience across broadcast, independent productions and commercial agencies.
She began her career in Channel Nine’s editorial department, working on children’s television and lifestyle programming, before moving into the commercial sector as a freelancer.
Sam produced high-end campaigns for brands such as QLD Ballet, Caterpillar (CAT), Telstra, and Microsoft. A career highlight was producing Tritium's PKM150 Launch campaign that debuted in Times Square.

Missing film and television, Sam transitioned back to long-form, working as a Post Producer at Cutting Edge, and then, The Post Lounge.
Her credits include Black Snow (Stan), In Our Blood (ABC), season two of Last King of The Cross (Paramount+), and Ron Howard’s upcoming feature Eden.
Expanding her scope within The Post Lounge Group, she also took on a dual role as Associate Producer with sister company Orange Entertainment Co.

Most recently, Sam has completed a 6 month contract as a Production Executive for Jaggi Entertainment, supporting various projects for the Brisbane based production company.
Alongside her professional work, Sam also produces for her independent production company Pathline Pictures.
She has produced various award-winning short films and executive produced two online documentary series with Simply Stories thanks to Screen Australia and Screen Queensland support.

Vanilla Tupu is a multi-hyphenate film maker, with a focus on producing, directing and writing. Starting out as a runner, Vanilla leap frogged from Production Manager, to AD, to producer/director, carving a name for herself as a prominent creative in the Pasifika film world, having built a reputation for culturally significant and impactful work. At 23, she served as Associate Director on Nel Minchin’s ABC documentary about Israel Folau, whilst simultaneously line producing the Netflix documentary OneFour: Against All Odds, which reached number 2 on the platform, within 24 hours of release. In 2024 Vanilla directed the AACTA-nominated, SPA Award winning online series Bad Ancestors - the first Pacific-led project commissioned by a major Australian broadcaster. Vanilla has also produced numerous ARIA nominated music videos, while cultivating a slate of her own long-form projects.

Vanilla’s differing sphere’s of experience culminate in her role as development manager at Wooden Horse, bringing their projects through all stages of the development pipeline. Guided by alofa (love), her work is laser focused on creating nuanced representation for the people that exist in the margins.