Courtney Gibson heads up South Australian Film Corp

Former CEO of Screen NSW, Courtney Gibson, has been named as the new CEO of the South Australian Film Corporation.

Gibson, a former Nine, ABC and Southern Star executive, succeeds former CEO Annabelle Sheehan from Tuesday April 3.

South Australia is currently home to filming of Pine Gap and was recently home to Wolf Creek 2. Screentime & Matchbox Pictures last year announced Adelaide offices to help drive local production.

Chair of the SAFC Board John Hill said, “South Australia is proud to have attracted someone of Courtney Gibson’s calibre to head the South Australian Film Corporation. She has a proven track record in delivering industry growth, securing local and international production and launching agenda-setting initiatives, all of which result in jobs and economic impact.“

Courtney Gibson said, “With the state’s unique new 10% PDV rebate, and the SAFC’s recent move to a 100% grant production funding model, there’s never been a better state or time to produce content than in South Australia, right now. We can build an even stronger production base here – SA continues to be the lead state backing innovation and creativity – and I look forward to working with the local industry as well as producers and partners from the rest of Australia and the world.”

An accomplished leader in the Australian screen industry, Courtney Gibson has worked at a senior executive level across both television (Nine Network, ABC TV, SBS) and film (Screen NSW) and with leading production companies Southern Star Entertainment and most recently as Managing Director of Jungle Entertainment. She has commissioned, financed and produced many thousands of hours of prime-time screen content across a diverse range of scripted and non-scripted genres.

In her position as Chief Executive of Screen NSW, Gibson significantly increased levels of production in the state, introduced a game-changing, world-leading gender equity initiative and attracted numerous major international film and TV productions. Looking to the future of the industry, she introduced a groundbreaking Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality development program.

With a background in TV production and commissioning, Courtney has worked as CEO of Screen NSW, Managing Director of Jungle Entertainment, Programming Production Executive at the Nine Network, Director of Programmes at Southern Star, Executive Head of Content Creation at ABC TV, Head of Arts, Entertainment and Comedy at ABC TV and a Commissioning Editor of Documentaries at SBS Independent.

As CEO of Screen NSW Courtney introduced a raft of policies which delivered gender parity in key creative roles for women in TV in 2016 and was awarded the 2017 Cecil Holmes Award by the Australian Directors Guild in recognition of this.

While at the ABC Courtney commissioned a range of highly successful programmes including Spicks & Specks, At The Movies with Margaret & David, We Can be Heroes, Summer Heights High, Q&A, The Chaser’s War on Everything and The Book Club with Jennifer Byrne. At the Nine Network Courtney managed the productions Married at First Sight, Australia’s Got Talent and The Great Australian Bake Off. In her time as CEO of Screen NSW Courtney was instrumental in attracting major international productions including Peter Rabbit, Jackie Chan’s Bleeding Steel and Ridley Scott’s Alien Covenant to the state.

Courtney serves on the board of Australians in Film, a foundation that promotes Australian screen talent and culture in the United States and operates the Heath Ledger Scholarship.