Successful applicants for ENTERPRISE TASMAN 2006, the innovative program designed to equip Australian and New Zealand screen business entrepreneurs with essential business skills, were announced today. There will be sixteen participants in the program, four from New Zealand and twelve from Australia. The New Zealand contingent includes producers Mark Albiston, Jane Andrews, James Heyward and David Rose. Joining them will be Australian screen business entrepreneurs Michael Tear from Canberra; Phillip Bowman, Matt Carroll, Gregory Miller, Jeff Purser, Nicki Roller and Anastasia Sideris from NSW; Pete Best and Mark Patterson from South Australia; and Jeni McMahon, Leanne Tonkes and Chris Warner from Victoria.
"We've been impressed by the quality and number of applications that ENTERPRISE TASMAN 2006 has attracted from both countries," observed course director Jonathan Olsberg. "The high calibre of applicants made the final selection process a difficult task, just as it did last year."
Devised and helmed by Olsberg|SPI, Europe's leading specialist management consultancy for the media industries, ENTERPRISE TASMAN 2006 is the successor to Enterprise Australia and Enterprise Tasman. This year's program will feature extended business mentoring after the residential workshop to enable participants to work on a new company business plan. Another innovation in this year's program is the inclusion of entrepreneurs who operate post-production and facilities houses. ENTERPRISE TASMAN 2006 will feature respected industry practitioners from around the globe.
Advisers on the program will include New York based film and TV producer and distributor Ira Deutchman (formerly founder of renowned distributor Fine Line Features, now CEO of digital film distribution and production company Emerging Pictures), John Smithson (prolific UK Emmy award winning factual TV producer), Richard Miller and Jonathan Olsberg (producers and principals of Olsberg SPI), high profile New Zealand film and TV post production/distribution identity Sue Thompson, Australian industrial psychologist Dr Chris Stevens, Sydneybased new media and TV producer John Gregory and film and television producer Hal McElroy, along with venture capitalist and merchant banker Cass O'Connor.
The principal partners in this initiative are the New Zealand Screen Council in association with the Australian Film Commission, Australian Film, Television and Radio School, Film Australia, Film Finance Corporation, Film Victoria, New South Wales Film and Television Office, and South Australian Film Corporation.
ENTERPRISE TASMAN 2006 will begin with a residential workshop in Milawa, Victoria from 24-28 March 2006. The second stage of the program will be held in June 2006. |
