Karena Slaninka
Director

Karena is an award winning writer/producer and has worked in film and television in Australia and the UK for over fifteen years.

After graduating from the BA Producing program at the AFTRS in 1996, Karena set up independent production company Pagan Films, developing and producing a range of projects including Chris Doyle: Stirred Not Shaken, winner of the ATOM award for Best Documentary 2000, a bio-pic on maverick Australian cinematographer Chris Doyle, who won the prestigious Camera D'Or at Cannes Film Festival in 2000. Karena's other projects include Love And Anarchy: The Wild Wild World of Jaimie Leonarder, a revealing insight into the former presenter of the SBS Movie Show and Alien Underworld, Winner Grand Jury Prize Beijing Science Film Festival 2002 and the winner of the Eureka Prize for Science Journalism. Her films have screened at numerous international festivals including Edinburgh, Chicago, Clermont Ferrand, New York, Cork, Sydney, Shanghai, Taipei, Helsinki, Turin, Hong Kong, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, St Kilda, and sold to networks worldwide including Showtime, Channel Four UK, and Canal+ France.

Prior to moving to Tasmania, Karena was the Senior Project Officer at the NSW Film and Television Office where she managed the New Feature Film Writers Scheme, and assessed projects for production and development investment. Projects she was instrumental in supporting whilst at the FTO include: Mary Bryant, Bryan Brown's Two Twisted series, Unfolding Florence, Hating Alison Ashley, Blue Water High (Series 1 and 2), The Colony, Hell Has Harbour Views, Disgrace, Ten Empty.

Karena has also worked for brief periods in the positions of project co-ordinator and production manager at the Australian Film Finance Corporation (FFC) and has taught producing and production management at Metro Screen, Sydney University evening college and the AFTRS. She was formerly the NSW chapter head of the Screen Producing Association from 2000 to 2002.

Karena.Slaninka@screen.tas.gov.au

Andrew McPhail
Business and production investment manager

Andrew joined the Screen Tasmania team with over 25 years experience in the industry as an Executive Producer, Producer and Writer.

Having been responsible for launching the international careers of numerous directors including Alex Proyas (iRobot, Dark City and Knowing), Alan White (Erskinville Kings) and Jeff Darling, Andrew has helmed and worked with some of the world's most innovative and successful commercial production companies.

Andrew produced some of the most acclaimed music videos of the 1980s and Alex Proyas' debut cult feature film Spirits of The Air - Gremlins of the Clouds. In 2001 Andrew co-produced the award winning feature film He Died With a Felafel in his Hand, directed by Richard Lowenstein and based on the best-selling book by John Birmingham.

Andrew has also developed a variety of projects, writing several film treatments and screenplays including co-writing the feature film adaptation of the book Leftovers, which was selected for the prestigious scriptwriting workshop Aurora 2005 working with Gus van Sant and John Sayles.

In 2007, sensing that there was a shift in both the advertising and media industries and the subsequent need for a different approach to production and creative management, Andrew moved back to Sydney and opened Arithmetic.

More recently Andrew has been CEO and Executive Producer of Arithmetic, representing and producing TVCs for Australia and SE Asia with acclaimed SFX director, Kimble Rendall and real people director, Diana Leach. Andrew also has experience developing and launching a variety of digital start up web businesses.

Always passionate about the screen industry, Andrew continues to relish the opportunities for innovation in this exciting and ever changing field.

Andrew.McPhail@screen.tas.gov.au

Evan Maloney
Development manager

Between 1997 and 2010, Evan worked across Europe as a screenwriter and script developer for production companies in London, Portugal, Poland, Hungary and Russia.
 
While living in London in the late 1990s, Evan had two plays performed by Hydrae Productions and worked as a film critic for print and television media. He stared his career in script development working with commercial directors at Tony Kaye's famed London office in the late 1990s.

More recently, Evan worked as script editor on the feature film, Second Life (Miguel Gaudencio), the most successful Portuguese film of 2009. Moving between Poland, Portugal and Hungary, Evan developed two other feature film screenplays with Utopia Filmes, the first based on the life of pop star Antonio Variacoes, and the second on the autobiography of Norwegian born journalist, Edle Hubay, who married in to the Hungarian aristocracy in the 1930s.

Evan's first novel, Tofu Landing, was published in the UK by Quartet Books in February 2010. His feature film script An Imperfect Gentleman has been optioned and is currently in development with Polish production company Eureka Media.

Evan.Maloney@screen.tas.gov.au

Andrée Hurburgh
Communication and events manager

Andrée has a background in grant funding and investment attraction for both arts organisations and government. Early in her career she worked for several years for the South Australian Government as an investment manager and was involved in delivering the World Congress on IT held in Adelaide in 2002 and associated business events.

Recently Andrée worked as a fundraising manager for the Welsh National Opera in the United Kingdom where she was responsible for securing grants for the company’s main scale operatic programme as well as its education and outreach work. In particular Andrée was successful in securing grant funding for the development of a new children’s opera that went on to tour nationally. This involved working with all stakeholders to design an effective arts event to raise the profile of opera in Wales. Most recently Andrée has returned from living in Singapore where she supported several local organisations as a consultant in organisational management and identifying opportunities for growth, in addition to acting as a volunteer for the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

As Business Manager for Screen Tasmania, Andrée is responsible for contracting issues and managing Screen Tasmania's financial systems. Andrée is currently in the process of completing a Graduate Diploma in Arts Management from the University of South Australia.

Andree.Hurburgh@screen.tas.gov.au

Jane Stapleton
Industry development officer

Jane started her working life as a teacher but diverted into a media career by gaining a Graduate Diploma in Applied Film and Television through Swinburne University of Technology's Film School (now VCA). She then worked as a Producer/Director for ABC TV and Radio in their Education Department for 11 years. After the ABC made her production unit redundant, she set up her own educational media business with her late partner, Roger Penny.

In 1997, she worked on contract for ABC International Development as a consultant to the South African Broadcasting Corporation and was, for six of her 12 months in Johannesburg, the Executive Producer of the newly-formed SABC TV Education Service, controlling nine production teams and two hours of live TV per day.

As Producer of ABC Education Radio National in Hobart, Jane's team won Silver and Bronze medals at the New York International Radio Festival, and she has continued her association with Radio National through producing and presenting the 11-part series, A Walk in the Park. These programs and their accompanying DVD/CD sets featured National Parks in Tasmania, NSW, South Australia, Queensland and Victoria.

Jane is also a photographer and has her works available at various outlets throughout the state.

Jane.Stapleton@screen.tas.gov.au

Jodi Churchward

Executive Assistant

jodi.churchward@screen.tas.gov.au

Caroline Reeve

Adinistration Assistant

caroline.reeve@screen.tas.gov.au