Mentor
Pete is a South Australian-based writer and comedian. A multi-talented ex-anthropologist, he wrote music for and performed in Rolf de Heer’s iconic film ‘Bad Boy Bubby’.
Pete is a content creator and scriptwriter for original features, TV concepts, animation, and podcasts. His writing skills also include FM Breakfast Radio, TVC copywriting, solo comedy shows, and more improv songs than you can poke a stick at.
He has exceptional problem-solving abilities, story nous, and high creative output. Pete seamlessly turns his hand to any format or genre/genre-mix and has a direct line to ‘left field’ which gives his ideas an impish, zany edge.
Pete and Ruth Estelle established Word Ninjas in 2013 and many of their projects are highlighted on their website www.wordninjas.com.au. They have animation and podcast content pushing forward as well as commissioned work with local and interstate producers.
Mentor, Speaker
A writer, producer and executive producer for a many national and international companies, among them Crawford Productions, PBL Productions, Taffner Ramsay, Beyond International and Granada, Peter began his career writing and producing for television classics such as Cop Shop, The Sullivans, The Flying Doctors, The Comedy Company and Acropolis Now. He produced the inaugural Comedy Festival Charity Gala in 1992 and created The World Comedy Tour in 2000. He also produced The 34th Annual TV Week Logies, and he has created or co-created a number of series, among them Skirts, The Comedy Sale! The Agency, Parties, FAQ, and The Big Wig for Sky1 in the UK. Working with Caroline Aherne of The Royle Family, he co-created, co-wrote and produced the BBC2 comedy series, Dossa and Joe. Other credits include the Network Ten production, Unreal TV, a sitcom Sit Down, Shut Up, as well as the tonight show, The Big Schmooze and a number of other productions at thecomedychannel for Foxtel, and script editing on the Lindy Chamberlain mini-series, Through My Eyes and the feature Perfect Victim.
Peter has taught at a number of universities in screen business, creative industries and producing. He is currently Head of Screen Business and Producing at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS).
Speaker
Paul is CoFounder & CEO of Distribution business Madman Entertainment. Madman has offices in Melbourne, Auckland & Berlin representing rights across all distribution channels. Executive Produced 20+ Feature & Documentaries films. Founder of Production companies Third Man Films Pty Ltd, Madman Production Company Pty Ltd and Subscription VoD platform DocPlay. Currently holds Board Positions Australian Centre Moving Image (ACMI), Co-Chair Australian International Documentary Conference (ACMI) and President Australian Independent Distributors Association (AIDA).
Roundtables, Screenmakers Conference
Noel Manzano is the Vice President of International Programming at AMC Networks, working across AMC, SundanceTV and BBC America. In this role, he identifies and develop original content with creative talent around the world, and work within the AMC Networks Entertainment Group to move existing projects forward. Manzano was most recently director of development for Hoodlum Entertainment, where he ran the company’s U.S. content development slate and strategy and drove internationally produced projects. Prior to this role, he worked in film acquisitions for iflix, was director of acquisitions for Dynamic Television and served as a creative executive at Sierra/Affinity. Manzano is a graduate of New York University.
Mentor
Nicole Coventry is a Sydney based producer and story developer committed to creating and supporting thought provoking projects that cross disciplines and celebrate diversity.
Between 2018 and 2020, Nicole worked as production supervisor within the scripted commissioning team at Australian broadcaster, SBS managing the development and production of SBS’s critically acclaimed drama slate including series such as The Hunting, Hungry Ghosts, On The Ropes, New Gold Mountain, The Unusual Suspects, The Tailings and Robbie Hood.
Prior to joining SBS, Nicole worked in various capacities on a wide range of drama series, feature films and documentaries including Top of The Lake, Undercurrent, The Good Cop, Safe Harbour, Ali’s Wedding, Hunters, Wonderland, Tangle and Love My Way. She has also produced movie review and long form interstitial programs for Showtime Australia and worked for 6 years at the Australian Film Commission.
Nicole’s personal slate includes a diverse catalogue of award-winning short films and music videos including Sherbert Rozencrantz, You’re Beautiful and the Lexus Short Film Fellowship funded How The Light Gets In.
Under the banner of Cosmic Pollen, her development and production company, Nicole’s latest work as producer is Dreamer Awake – an audio fiction/ proof of concept for screen series in development with ABC Audio, and she is a producer of Deity, a digital screen series selected to participate in Screen Australia, SBS and NITV’s 2021 Digital Originals initiative.
