If you’re an aspiring TV professional in need of a role model, benchmark, or someone to get your stuff made, chances are they’ll be in the Fairfax 50 most influential people in Australian television list. The who’s who of the local biz has traditionally been a collection of movers and shakers of the aging white male variety but this latest list indicates that the Australian television industry is becoming less of a stuffy old-boys club which can only be a good thing for local viewers craving the kind diversity that is gradually seeping in from the edges.
Keep an eye out for:
THE PLAYERS
Julie Ward, executive producer, The Voice
Brian Walsh, director of television, Foxtel
John Edwards, and Imogen Banks, Jacquelin Perske and Mimi Butler, Southern Star
Mark and Carl Fennessy, Shine Australia
Rikkie Proost, executive producer, My Kitchen Rules
Adrian Swift, director of development, Nine Network
Bob Campbell and Des Monaghan, Screentime Australia
Ian Hogg, Jason Stephens and Jo Porter, Fremantle Media
Leonie Lowe, CEO, ITV Studios
Janeen Faithfull, CEO, Southern Star
Angelos Frangopoulos, CEO, Sky News
Nick Murray, Andrew Denton and Michael Cordell, Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder
Chris Oliver-Taylor, Debbie Lee, Penny Chapman and Tony Ayres, Matchbox Pictures
Tony Iffland, director of content, SBS
THE ARTISANS
Peter Andrikidis, director – East West 101, Wildside, G.P.
Kevin Carlin, director – The Wedge, Newstopia, Packed to the Rafters
Bevan Lee, network script executive, Seven
THE RISING STARS
Adam Zwar, High Wire Films – Lowdown, Agony Uncles, Agony Aunts and The Agony of Life
Asher Keddie and Lachy Hulme, actors
Rick Kalowski, creative director, Quail Television
– Writing credits including Comedy Inc. and Double Take. Kalowski co-created At Home with Julia
Hamish Macdonald, senior foreign correspondent, Ten
Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope, Gristmill
– The Librarians, Very Small Business
THE INNOVATORS
Tracey Robertson and Nathan Mayfield, Hoodlum – specialise in multi-platform projects
THE MASTER PROGRAMMERS
Michael Healy, director of television, Nine Network
Tim Worner, chief executive, Seven Network
THE TRIPLE THREATS
Brendan Cowell, Claudia Karvan, Chris Lilley and Shaun Micallef, actor-writer-producer-directors
THE MONEY MAN
Harold Mitchell, executive chairman, Aegis Media
Via SMH
Pictures by Getty Images
