THE FILMMAKERS EXCHANGE

SATURDAY 17 OCTOBER

Logos of TAFE NSW and NSW Government, with a red lotus flower symbol.

Connected Learning Centre (CLC) Byron Bay 23 Bayshore Drive, Arts & Industrial Estate

The BBFF2026 Filmmakers Exchange will take shape as an afternoon event bringing filmmakers, emerging talent and screen industry professionals together to connect, share ideas and explore opportunities for collaboration. This year's gathering will serve as a test case for a proposed, more comprehensive industry initiative in 2027. The longer-term vision is to create meaningful opportunities for professional development, industry connections and collaboration, while strengthening pathways for Australia’s next generation of the Screen Industry.

What is the Filmmaker’s Exchange?

The Filmmaker’s Exchange is a new annual professional-development program in Byron Bay that brings emerging filmmakers into purposeful contact with peers, alumni, mentors and working screen-industry leaders.

For 19 years, BBFF has selected 10+ nominees for Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year annually from scores of entries by filmmakers aged 25 and under across Australia. Their films are screened at the festival and placed before audiences and respected industry judges.

80% of nominees go on to build strong, meaningful careers across the screen industry. The competition identifies and celebrates emerging filmmakers. That moment of recognition is the foundation for the Filmmaker’s Exchange.

The event’s inauguration will be held on the opening weekend of BBFF’s 20th edition, and will return as a fully funded event in 2027.

EMERGING FILMMAKERS

2026 YAF nominees, selected young collaborators and at least five filmmakers from the Northern Rivers or wider Regional NSW.

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EXPERIENCE + INDUSTRY

YAF alumni, industry leaders, established filmmakers, producers, distributors, mentors and other practitioners drawn from BBFF’s network.

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THE EXCHANGE

A curated room for honest conversation, project feedback, professional insight and relationships that continue.

The Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year Competition creates a moment of recognition. The Exchange surrounds that moment with people, knowledge and continuing opportunity.

The purpose is simple: help strong filmmakers become better connected, better informed and better able to move forward.

Strategic Objectives

“I believe winning BBFF’s YAF award gave me the edge I needed to achieve success in the film and TV industry”

- Lav Bodnaruk, 2007 Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year

  1. Extend BBFF’s talent-identification role into structured professional development

  2. Create meaningful access for Regional NSW filmmakers while connecting them with selected national peers and industry

  3. Activate alumni, BBFF Filmmakers, mentors and screen-industry contributors around emerging talent

  4. Build participant confidence, industry understanding, peer relationships and clearer next steps

  5. Establish a repeatable and sustainable development model that strengthens each year and can continue beyond the initial funding period

Event Schedule

  • Filmmakers can have a chance to meet and mingle with industry leaders and professionals prior to the commencement of the event

  • Introduction to the Exchange delivered by Jack Thompson, Australian actor and major figure in Australian cinema

  • “What I Wish I Knew at 25” moderated by Cate McQuillen - panelists include Darren Fisher, Kath Shelper, and Jack Thompson

  • Moderated networking activity in which attendees will rotate between tables, soft pitch themselves and their projects to industry leaders at each table, and ask for career advice

  • Catered with snacks, tea and coffee

  • Open discussion with Young Australian Filmmaker nominees on ideas and points of interest for emerging filmmakers - feedback will help shape a broader Filmmaker’s Exchange in 2027

  • Exchange event concludes at 4pm

  • Relocate via Solar Train Ride (20 mins) and a short walk, or utilise personal transportation

  • Screening of YAF projects: introduction (7 mins) + trailers (3 mins) + main session (1hr 56mins)

  • Winner & nominees will receive photo opportunities in Palace foyer

  • Drinks and grazing table to be provided

  • Conclusion of networking event, followed by informal kick on drinks

YoungFilmmakers at BBFF

  • “From Thought to Export”

  • Director - “ENMESHED”

  • “Precipice”

  • ???

  • “My Friend Artemis”

  • “My Friend Artemis”

  • Lead Actress - "ENMESHED"

  • “Psyche”

  • “Goodbye, Fishies”

  • “Shelf Life”

  • "ENMESHED"

  • “Salty”

  • “A Stable for Horses”

  • “Cowing”

  • "ENMESHED"

  • “Shelf Life”

  • “All My Life” (music video)

Industry Leaders

  • Victoria Baldock

    Media Executive

    Victoria Baldock is a skilled Media Executive with over 30 years industry experience with specific expertise in Distribution, Content Strategy and Rights Management. She has worked across all genres of programming and has licensed thousands of hours of content to broadcasters around the globe. Victoria was the founder of Verve Entertainment International, a boutique international television distribution company based in Australia from 2004 - 2017, representing 93 Australian and International Producers.

  • Darius Devas

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    [Description]

    Panelist | Quick Connects table host

  • Darren Fisher

    Head of Film, Screen and Creative Media - Bond University

    Darren is an international award-winning screenwriter, producer, director and author. In 2018, he was the recipient of the Screen Queensland/Australians in Film Greg Coote Scholarship, awarded to screen practitioners with a successful track record of creating compelling drama for the screen. Darren wrote, produced and directed the hit sci-fi mystery feature film Frequencies, which won a multitude of festival awards before a global release to rave reviews, including those in The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter. He made his debut writing and directing the British teen comedy The Inbetweeners.

    Panelist | Quick Connects table host

  • Cody Greenwood

    Producer

    Cody works in documentary and narrative film. Her credits include Under the Volcano (SXSW 2021, Universal Pictures), Never Get Busted! (Sundance 2025), Birthright (Tribeca 2025), Otto by Otto (2025 AACTA Best Documentary), Renee Gracie: Fireproof (2025 ADG Award) and Girl Like You (AWG Award). Cody is currently producing Jennifer Kent’s The Girl Who Was Plugged In and an HBO documentary which is in post-production. She began her career in London and Los Angeles, working at Heath Ledger’s production company, The Masses, before returning to Australia. She received Screen Australia Enterprise funding in 2023.

    Panelist | Quick Connects table host

  • Olivia Hargroder

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    [Description]

    Panelist | Quick Connects table host

  • Rebecca Ingram

    [TITLE]

    Rebecca Ingram is a television writer, creator and development producer whose original series have been consistently optioned, developed and supported by development funding in Australia and internationally. She has worked alongside some of Australia’s leading screenwriting talent in the development of her projects, bringing extensive development experience and a global industry perspective to her work. Her production credits include Swift Street (SBS), SeaChange (Channel 9) and the AACTA-winning web series Deadlock (ABC), alongside her work as a Development Producer at Magpie Pictures.

    Panelist | Quick Connects table host

  • Danielle McCarthy

    Industry & Audience Development Manager - Screen NSW

    Danielle oversees Screen NSW’s Industry Development and Audience Development funds - working with a wide range of stakeholders and practitioners. Previously she worked in Industry Development at Screen Tasmania, and oversaw the Industry division at the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) for six editions. She also worked in producing and programming roles at film festivals including the Tribeca Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance, and the Melbourne International Film Festival, and briefly in film production, including on Steve McQueen's award-winning film Shame.

    Quick Connects table host

  • Cate McQuillen

    Creative Producer

    Cate is an Emmy Award-winning creative producer and regenerative education leader, founder of dirtgirlworld and creator of the Get Grubby Program reaching over 3,500 schools across 32 LGAs. Working with governments, councils and industry, she designs large-scale education and resilience initiatives shaping climate-safe, child-centred futures.

    Panel Moderator

  • Kim Mordaunt

    Director and Cinematographer

    Kim’s debut drama feature as writer/director, The Rocket, won over 45 awards, including ADG Best Director, Best Original Screenplay at the AACTA and AWGIES, major awards at Berlin, Tribeca, American Film Institute, Sydney & Melbourne festivals and touring with Sundance Film Forward. Kim also directed on the critically acclaimed Netflix series Boy Swallows Universe, which won Best Mini Series at both the Logies and AACTAs. He is currently writing 2 feature films to direct with support from Screen Australia and Screen NSW and developing projects with Jungle Entertainment and Magpie Pictures.

    Quick Connects table host

  • Kath Shelper

    Producer

    Kath is the producer of many celebrated films including Samson & Delilah, which won the Camera d’Or, Cannes Film Festival 2009. Kath produced Warwick Thornton’s The New Boy (Un Certain Regard Cannes, TIFF 2023) and Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel for SeeSaw Films (Telluride, TIFF 2023). Her previous feature film Ruben Guthrie opened Sydney Film Festival 2015 and premiered internationally at London Film Festival. Kath is a producer on the new Mushroom Studios documentary series for Foxtel Shannon Bennett: Pressure Cooker, which follows the chef as he opens a new Byron Bay venue.

    Panelist | Quick Connects table host‍

  • Jack Thompson

    Actor

    One of Australia’s most loved and respected actors, Jack Thompson has appears in numerous Australian and American films including Sunday Too Far Away (Australian Film Institute award for Best Actor), Breaker Morant (Australian Film Institute award for Best Actor in a leading role, and the award for Best Supporting Actor at the Cannes International Film Festival). In 1986, Jack was awarded Membership of the Order of Australia for his services to the Australian film industry. In 2009, Jack was awarded the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers Lifetime Achievement Award for Services to Australian Film and Television.

    Introductory Keynote speaker | Panelist

  • Paul Wiegard

    Co-founder and CEO - Madman Entertainment

    Paul Wiegard has led the release of over 35 Oscar-nominated films including Parasite, Anatomy of a Fall, and Searching for Sugar Man. He has executive produced more than 50 features and documentaries including Nitram, 2040, and Girls Can’t Surf, and founded DocPlay in 2016. A graduate of AFTRS, Paul has served as a President of AIDA, Co-chair of AIDC, and currently sits on the boards of ACMI, Sydney Film Festival, and Screenrights.

    Panelist | Quick Connects table host