Screen NSW appoints new chief executive

FORMER chair of the Australian Film Commission, Maureen Barron, has been appointed the new chief executive of Screen NSW.

FORMER chair of the Australian Film Commission and current CEO of Screen Queensland, Maureen Barron, has been appointed the new chief executive of Screen NSW.

She will join the NSW screen agency after two and half years at its Queensland counterpart. She replaces Tania Chambers who resigned for family reasons.

The former Southern Star executive and business affairs manager for the Film Finance Corporation will return to her hometown to take up the position at the end of February.

She takes the position with the NSW screen sector in surprisingly solid footing after filming of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby concluded and Alex Proyas’s big-budget action fantasy Paradise Lost anticipated to film this year alongside the French/Australian co-production from Anne Fontaine, The Grandmothers, starring Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, Xavier Samuel and James Frecheville. A second series of Rake and an eight-part TV adaptation of Puberty Blues will anchor the state’s TV production this year.

Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Hospitality, Racing and the Arts, George Souris, said Ms Barron has a formidable depth of experience in the screen industry.

“With Sydney being her hometown, I am confident Maureen will be a passionate and successful advocate for the screen industry in NSW,” he said.