From the Presidents Desk…
2024 has certainly been a year of surprises. One of the main surprises for me was right at the start, being elected El Presidente of our beloved guild. And even though I’d been on the Executive Committee for 9 years previously and had some idea of the duties of President, I must say I’ve been surprised by the amount of engagement the role requires, which has been a brilliant new set of challenges for me.
New energy has been my guiding mantra this year. If there are new opportunities, new sectors, new events and new collaborations we can undertake I’ve been proactive in pursuing them with the overarching goal of expanding our membership, expanding our connection to industry and expanding opportunities for our members.
The Committee (Xoe, Ariella, Adrienne, Emma, Chloe, Damian, Sue, Gerald, Richard, Tfer & James) has been incredible in supporting new directions, ventures and connections. To that end we’ve had AACTA career expo engagement, invited to industry roundtable reporting to government about arts policy, mental health awareness initiatives through Screenwell, attendance at the inaugural Northern Territory Screen summit, connecting with the game developer sector at High Score in Melbourne and as SXSW in Sydney, and sound industry/sponsor events in Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide.
We now have members in every state and territory in Australia, and it’s our hope that we can grow the membership nationally and elect state representatives nationwide to connect more deeply with the state based screen agencies on a regular basis.
Early in the year I stated that I wanted to create a role on the committee of First Nations Representative, and that this would take time. I’ve been having conversations with indigenous cultural consultants and related organisations, and there’s more work to be done both formally and informally within the ASSG before we can progress that goal, but progress it we will.
And on the topic of progress, there have been some extraordinary developments in technology, most notably AI. AI continues to be both exciting and alarming in equal measure. The ASSG has been signatory to petitions put to government to regulate AI and we continue to monitor how this technology will affect our careers and our storytelling. Screen NSW is convening a panel of industry experts to examine the impacts of AI and I’ve requested ASSG be part of that panel.
In the spirit of new energy, we have more sponsors of the ASSG than ever before, and we are particularly excited to welcome Netflix as Major Sponsor of the ASSG for 2025. Netflix is a major driving force in Australian screen storytelling and with this partnership we are well positioned develop strategies and initiatives to grow our industry and shape the changing landscape of our sector.
The support of our sponsors is vital, not only for their financial contributions – for which we are eternally grateful – but also for their cultural and technological contributions as well. Our sponsors enable our craft and further our abilities to work, connect and grow.
And finally, enjoy the awards today! The work submitted across all categories is incredible and I’d like to think that today is a celebration of our whole industry and our craft.
So listen intently, clap loudly, and celebrate everyone.
Nigel Christensen ASSG
ASSG President
(El Presidente)