About

Di Drew has enjoyed an illustrious and award-winning career in Australia as a film, television and theatre Director. She is a recipient of the Australian Director’s Guild (ADG) prestigious award ‘in recognition of consistent excellence in the art of screen direction’ and was one of the founding members of the ADG. Her work has gained local and international recognition from some of the most prestigious international film festivals, including Berlin, Chicago, Toyo (Kinderfest Grand Jury Prize), Monterey, Turin, Munich (Priz Jeunesse International), and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In Australia she has garnered multiple awards and nominations winning the Greater Union short film award at the Sydney Film Festival for her AFTRS graduation film and a Penguin award for Best Director for the landmark World War 1 ABC mini-series ‘1915’. As Producer, Di brought the Seven Network’s Australian drama series All Saints to the number one position as Australia’s Most Popular Drama and Most Popular Program as well as achieving two gold Logies and seven Silver Logies. She is a directing graduate of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) and later returned there as Head of Directing and was the inaugural Head of Screen at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). She has been a Board member for Company B Belvoir, The National Playwrights Conference, The Australian Screen Directors Guild (ADG), Theatre Nepean, WIFT and Deputy Chair of the Screen Tasmania Advisory Board. Di holds a reputation as an exemplary teacher and director of actors and directors and continues to mentor emerging filmmakers and actors whilst writing and developing ongoing projects.

Helena Brooks is an award-winning director known for her work in drama and comedy. She recently directed Black Snow starring Travis Fimmel, and Population: 11 with Ben Feldman. She was set-up director on CBS Studios/ABC’s comedy Gold Diggers, directed Celeste Barber’s Wellmania, Rose Matafeo’s Funny Girls, and co-wrote and directed the Palme d’Or-nominated short film Nothing Special. Helena holds an M.A. in Screenwriting & Directing and a B.A. in Film & Philosophy.

His publicist writes: According to a review of 'Guthrie Smith of Tutira' ("a cracking programme superbly realised via the direction of Howard Taylor") by novelist Peter Hawes, Howard is a "gently thoughtful chappie who has crafted documentaries that slip seamlessly into the national psyche and confirm it." One of New Zealand’s most experienced programme-makers, Howard has created quality programming in many genres and in a variety of roles - editor, writer, director and producer. He has written, produced and directed numerous documentaries, television series, corporate videos and commercials, from the high rating – Location, Location, Location, Country Calendar, Maggies Garden Show – to the high-brow – performance pieces and arts documentaries on such luminaries as Sir Toss Woollaston, Margaret Mahy, Vincent Ward, Michael Parmenter, Lauris Edmond and Billy Apple. The history series Frontier of Dreams made its own history as the most expensive documentary series made to date. Te Whiringa Taura o Whanganui records several hundred years of Whanganui iwi battles to control their river. Howard's programmes reflect the strengths and values of New Zealanders in all their rich unassuming variety - programmes with heart and soul. He currently directs New Zealand’s most popular locally-made series Hyundai Country Calendar. He was a founding board member of the DGNZ (now DEGANZ) and president for 5 years. He resigned from the board in 2022 after 26 years of service.

Kevin Lucas is an innovative award-winning filmmaker whose genre-bending films have been selected into festivals around the globe, winning critical acclaim & distinction awards (including Grand Prix) in Montreal, Paris, Cannes, Berlin, Rotterdam, Moscow, London, Rome, Montreal, Toronto, New York, Sundance. He has been nominated and awarded a number of Australian filmmaking distinctions including Australian Film Institute TV Drama, Feature & Documentary awards. As a practicing independent filmmaker for 30 years working in documentary, TV drama, music and feature, his credited roles include director, writer, editor, script-editor, producer and executive producer. He is also a music producer, composer and performer in theatre and film and was founding and creative director of Lucas Produkzions and MusicArtsDance films authoring numerous documentary and drama projects, many of which are seen as contemporary artistic film classics in Australia including as Director/Writer – Beyond El Rocco (1989); Black River (1992), Three Knocks on the (1996); The Widower (2004) and as Producer/Script Editor, Fish (1999); Urban Clan (1998); One Night The Moon (2001); The Diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky (2002). Kevin currently works as a script advisor on TV series and Feature film projects and as a writer/director in documentary, TV series and Feature. He also mentors younger filmmakers and is involved in remote indigenous training in NE Arnhem Land. During his professional life Kevin has served on a number of industry boards, juries and panels. He was founding board member of the Australian Screen Directors Authorship Collecting Society (ASDACS) and a board member of ASDA – now Australian Directors Guild. He represented Australia on the Vienna-based IMZ board, an international alliance of Public broadcasters, Independent filmmakers, Music Publishers, Distributors and Performing Arts Companies specializing in global rights management. He currently holds board positions with Gong Wanhurr Aboriginal Corporation (GWAC) based in NE Arnhem Land.

Pat Fiske is an experienced director and producer. She is recognised as a prominent member of Australia's independent filmmaking community. In 2001 she was awarded the prestigious Stanley Hawes Award for her outstanding contribution to the documentary industry in Australia at AIDC. Pat was Co-Head of the Documentary Department at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School from 2002-2008 and worked as the Documentary Consultant at SBS Independent for eighteen months in 2000-2001. Some of the films she has directed and/or produced are the award-winning documentaries: Rocking the Foundations, a history of the NSW Builders Laborers Federation and the Green Bans; Woolloomooloo; For All the World to See, a portrait of Professor Fred Hollows; 'Doc', a portrait of Herbert Vere Evatt; Australia Daze; Following the Fenceline; Leaping off the Edge; An Artist in Eden and Night Patrol. She has produced Business Behind Bars, Selling Sickness, River of No Return, Scarlet Road, Love Marriage in Kabul, Oyster and When the Camera Stopped Rolling. She was Supervising Producer for the National Indigenous Documentary Fund 5-part series, Call to Country and is in development on other projects.

Rachel’s most recent production Charmian Clift – Life Burns High which she wrote, produced, and directed was selected as part of the Sydney Film Festival 2024 and will be broadcast on Foxtel later in the year. Her documentary Alofa which she also wrote, produced and directed, was broadcast on ABC in September 2024. Her previous documentary Faithfully Me which again she wrote, produced and directed, was purchased by the ABC and screened in 2020. It was also part of the official selection at the St Kilda Film Festival in 2021. She received a nomination for Best Director at the Australian Directors Guild Awards in the same year. She was a producer on the 2019 Aussie feature film Bilched which had a national release and was awarded Best Film at Chelsea Film Festival, New York. Rachel’s other projects, Here I Am and Secret and Sacred, have screened on SBS and NITV. She is currently producing and directing a half hour documentary about First Nations and youth justice.

Stephen Wallace is a filmmaker who has directed five feature films; Stir (1980), The Boy Who Had Everything (1984), For Love Alone (1986), Blood Oath (1990) and Turtle Beach (1992). After making several short films (including Break Up and Brittle Weather Journey) he began his professional career with the low budget 50 min drama The Love Letter From Teralba Road in 1977 and followed another hour-long low budget drama Captives of Care. He has directed a number of features (one off dramas) for television including Gordon Bennett (Ch 9), Quest Beyond Time (Ch10) Women of the Sun (SBS) and Mail Order Bride, Hunger, Olive and Envy for the ABC. During the last ten years he has also directed for series television (Water Rats, Flying Doctors, Pig’s Breakfast and Twisted Tales), was the president of the Australian Screen Director’s Association (ASDA now ADG) between 1992-2000. He has always had an interest in theatre and acting and has his own small theatre company with Michael Gillett, Impulse Theatre. They have produced several versions of Oedipus plus Lysistrata, Cosi and Away and have completed four productions for the Short and Sweet series at the Seymour Centre as well as short film with the company Disconnected.

Deb manages the day to day operations of ASDACS, as well as drives organisational development, advocacy and outreach. She joined ASDACS in 2015 and has previously worked in a diverse range of roles for Screen Australia, NFSA and AFTRS across production contracting, distribution and governance. Deb holds a BA in film Studies (Sydney University), completed a documentary film making scholarship (Metro Screen) and has guest lectured at UNSW Design and Arts (formally COFA). She currently sits on several International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) audio-visual committees. Deb is proud to work on improving the rights of directors to advance their recognition and remuneration.

Jenn is responsible for both local and international partner member registrations for domestic and international royalty claims. Jenn also researches and matches all royalty data for the annual distribution to our members, handling distribution documentation and related members queries. Jenn came to ASDACS in 2020 with over 6 years experience with APRA / AMCOS as a Mechanical Payments and Blanket Licenses Officer / Distribution Control and Integrity Analyst. She has qualifications in Information Technology from Ultimo Tafe and a strong interest in Film, Theatre and tabletop role playing games. Jenn also has experience as a Line Management Supervisor for Supanova Pop Culture Expo and Response Team Leader for PAX Gaming Expo.

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Danielle is responsible for the recruitment of new members and serves as the primary contact point for existing members queries. The role maintains the organisations digital communication channels including the website, social media and quarterly newsletters to members. Having worked at UTS, Life Pharmacy Group and the World Bank, Danielle came to ASDACS with over 10 years experience in administration, events and project coordination. She has a MA in Events Management (UTS) and BA of Creative Arts and Cultural Studies (MQ).