Screen Producers announce Lifetime Achievement recipient

Former managing director at Film Finances, Anni Browning, is the recipient of the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from Screen Producers Australia.

“Anni has been an invaluable asset to the screen industry during her tenure at Film Finances, helping to share hundreds of stories with not only Australia, but audiences around the world, and supporting innumerable producers, directors and screen professionals from the very beginning of their careers. I can think of no one more deserving of this honour, and look forward to celebrating with her in less than a month’s time,” said SPA CEO, Matthew Deaner.

Anni held the role of Australasian managing director at Film Finances for nine years before stepping down from the world’s biggest completion guarantor in early 2019, but remains an advisor. Anni was invited to join Film Finances by its then head, producer Sue Milliken, in the late 1990s when she already had more than 20 years of experience in a range of capacities, including multiple roles in art departments and producing two award-winning documentaries, Canoeing the Murray, for the South Australian Government and Getting Even — Women in Australian Politics, for the ABC.

Anni has: served as a councillor for SPAA (precursor to Screen Producers Australia) and the ATAEA (precursor to the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance); been a co-convenor of Queer Screen; consulted for NZ On Air, the ABC, the Australian Film Commission (which was folded into the Film Finance Corporation, which then became Screen Australia) and the Australian Broadcasting Authority (now ACMA); been on the ABC’s South Australian advisory board and the WIFT SA board, which is why she was there for the genesis of WIFT Australia. She is now a Dame Changer board member.

She also founded and hosted a series of women-only Cat Pac lunches at the Cannes Film Festival for high-profile producers from across the world. It was her response to the existence of Hollywood’s Rat Pac.

Despite retiring, there is no way Anni will ever not be part of Australia’s production industry – it’s in her blood – but she will now be spending a lot more time sailing and having a good time with her partner of 43 years, Helen Evans – and occasionally annoying her no doubt.