Nurturing the Creative Economy by Collaborating

Note: the following transcript was generated by AI and therefore may contain some errors and omissions.

Welcome back to the Forward Thinking Podcast, this special edition of the Coast and Commerce podcast recorded live at FWDFest 2025. I’m Ben Amos from Innovate Media. And I’m Craig Jussett, co-founder and chair of ForwardFest. Now, this episode is one that’s fairly close to home for me because we’re going to be talking to Liz Boyd from the Sunshine Coast Screen Collective. And obviously being in a video production company, the screen industry on the Sunshine Coast is something that is really moving forward in leaps and bounds.

I think the important thing of this episode, Ben, is really looking at an industry that’s really just evolving and how they’re using the power of collaboration. I’m very proud to have them associated in part of FWDFest, but also part of our ecosystem. So let’s listen to Liz and her share her story. Welcome back to the Forward Thinking podcast. I’m Ben Amos from Innovate Media and this is a special season of the Coast and Commerce podcast brought to you

recorded live here at FWDFest 2025. And the conversation that we’re about to have is one that’s probably close to my heart as someone working in the screen and film industry here on the coast. We’ve got Liz Boyd from the Sunshine Coast Screen Collective. Liz, thanks for joining me on this episode. Thank you very much for having me. So tell me a little bit, your role as community manager with Sunshine Coast Screen Collective.

What do you do and what is the Sunshine Coast Screen Collective? Okay, so my role as the community manager is to be a part of the community and let people know about the Sunshine Coast Screen Collective and our different branches. So we have Showdown, this year it’s Showdown Max. We have Film Sunshine Coast and we have Game Sunshine Coast. So bringing in members in through those different avenues, we may have people who are crew.

actors, editors, camera people, directors, all that, we’re helping to foster and grow the screen industry on the coast. And whether that be documentarians or scripted, we have Showdown, which was our script kind of incubator in years past. We’ve made 21 short films or short film ideas, television shows, music videos.

This year we’re growing up, we’re Showdown Max and we’re looking for a pilot or a web series. And this Showdown Max is pretty big. We’ve just released some interesting news that we’ve partnered with Ludo Studios and Wild Bear Entertainment. Amazing. And they’ve come on board these huge production houses which have…

worldwide spread. You know with Bluey and that shop not steel and Wild Bear with the dictator and platypus garden. I mean they they’re just knocking goals and they’re bringing us along under their arms to help develop for shortlisted projects. They will get ten thousand dollars worth of development funding to take ideas that are commercially viable.

that we can stream either through YouTube or on streaming services, maybe it’s Amazon Prime, maybe it’s Netflix, maybe it’s Binge. But getting those Australian stories out there and getting Sunshine Coast stories out there, we have a talented group of script writers and documentarians here, just storytellers, whether they be First Nations, people with Bush Dance.

little films or a mockumentary that we had last year, Stiffs, quite a few of our short films have gone worldwide and we’re in Flicker Fest, Miami Shorts, they’ve gotten laurels throughout the world really. And big festivals, they’ve been winning laurels in big festivals. So now it’s our turn to expand that and grow.

and highlight the talent that we have here on the coast, showing our locations. Film Sunshine Coast is our branch to announce to the world that the Sunshine Coast has an industry that is growing. We have a back lot. We’ve filmed a couple of short films there already. And just a few weeks ago, Xavier Rudd filmed a music video, his latest one that’s due to come out very soon. It’s incredible. I think for so many people,

Living and working on the Sunshine Coast, we are often not aware of what’s happening here within our own community and within our region. And I know from the connections that I have in the film industry on the coast that historically, we’ve got a lot of talent here, but they tend to have to go further afield for work, right? Whether it be to Sydney, Melbourne or internationally to get the work that they need. So what does growing and developing the film and screen industry on the Sunshine Coast mean?

for the Sunshine Coast? Well, it means that we don’t have to send our kids away. They don’t have to go to Sydney or Melbourne. We’re doing a lot of training here, starting out with our cadetship. We’ve got our inaugural term going on right now. And last year we did a crew intensive where we had 60 students, TAFE students, secondary students, tertiary students, and people who were re-entering the screen industry after many years.

of having to leave because there wasn’t that the support of jobs in this industry here. And I’ve been on the coast for 16 years and I do remember people saying to me, know, if you want to do anything big you have to go to Brisbane or you have to travel elsewhere because this little regional community just didn’t have the financial support or structure to.

allow people to grow and thrive and I think that’s changed quite a lot in the last five years. Three years ago at our screen summit, UniSC did a screen industry report and they said that came through that there was about 300 plus people who were working in the screen industry and living here but having to travel elsewhere and what we want to do is find all of those people.

attract some more people who are moving to the area and saying, you know what, we’re open for business and we’re working with Screen Queensland and our biggest supporter is Community Bank Sunshine Coast, which is allowing us to become a sustainable industry by helping us to acquire assets that we can use to fund production going forward. We have a unit truck, a lighting truck and a

four-wheel drive to transport. And these things are things that we’re able to allow members or people who are doing productions to rent those at affordable rates where they can make their films, their documentaries. it just, just what goes around comes around. Yeah, it’s such a good message to hear for the industry, of course. But for those that maybe consider themselves outside of the film industry on the coast, what benefit to the coast or to the economy as a whole?

does attracting more of that work and more of that industry to the coast have for the Sunshine Coast as a whole? Well, I think what many people think when they think the screen industry, go director, actor, camera person, but they don’t see beyond that. There are accountants, there are lawyers, there are carpenters, there are electricians that are needed, and they are in demand. In the whole screen industry, there is a huge demand for

people in these supporting businesses that come in. it’s not just your script writers and your gaffers and all of this. There’s a whole lot more where we can put jobs there. And I think once you, the opportunities are really endless. When you think of the littlest things that could be support, it’s restaurants, it’s hotels, it’s hospitality.

in the past has gone down with seasons and always with just tourism. If we have people cast, you know, support coming from outside, international, that brings more to our industry, more money spent here that helps to build more infrastructure. Yeah, incredible. So you’re here at FWDFest 2025. So what for Sunshine Coast Screen Collective and, you know, for Film Sunshine Coast and all of that?

What are you hoping to achieve here? What sort of connections do you hope to make? What brings people together in that industry? Well, it’s really interesting. I I’ve spoken with quite a few people who today said, I work with students and I’d like to be able to offer this opportunity to my students. Or another woman had contacted me today that she said,

I offer training for people who are looking to change their careers. So I think the screen industry is a great way to offer another opportunity. I think once you put things out there and you see that different industries working together, you find how they connect. Many of the people that are here today, like Justin from Yandina Station, he’s part of Visit Sunshine Coast. He has locations for us.

He’s worked with other people that he wants to bring into our industry and how they can help with maybe it’s for craft food, you know, in the hospitality when we are feeding our crews and things like that, but also location. I mean, there’s so many things that once you have a conversation, ideas kind of come aboard and you go, I know how we can work together. I think that that’s the biggest thing of FWDFest is

the opportunity for creativity to blossom and grow. Yeah, I love it. So a shout out to anyone listening or watching who maybe wants to get involved in the screen industry or has an idea that maybe can be developed further. what’s the call to action? Where can they go for more information or specifically the showdown? What’s the timings of that? Can you share a bit more about that? wow, okay. So, well we have our website, screencollective.au.

and that is where our membership is. We actually have very exciting Monday coming up. John Cogill from Powderfinger has made a short film and it’s called Wargs in the Wallum and we will be premiering that at the Parisian Digital Hub on Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. He will screen the film and then he also has his DOP cinematographer Andy McColl.

speaking about what the process was like because this was a very small budget film and they intentionally used a specific camera. was a Fuji MAX camera and they had a very small crew and I’m so excited to see what the final project is like. But prior to that, we are offering a question session for Showdown MAX because this is…

an idea that’s perplexed a lot of people because before it was Showdown, come in with an idea on a napkin. Well, this year it’s a little bit different. We’re pulling up our pants, putting on our big girl and big boy pants, and we’re looking for really finalized ideas. And what that looks like to people, they don’t really know. So we’ve offered this question session, which they can go to the website, sunnycoastshowdown.com.au.

sign up for a 15 minute session with us to ask any questions we can answer so they know exactly what they’re submitting to. Now the submissions for Showdown this year is May 12th is the opening day so all of this is happening on May 12th next Monday and submissions will close on May 23rd. So it’s a short window. I know that a lot of creatives have got a

a script or an idea for a pilot or a web series that they might just need to polish up on, but we’re looking for a professional script, so done on professional. It doesn’t even have to be a paid script writing platform. It could be one of the free ones.

but the guidelines are on the website. And if there’s anybody that they’re working with, we’d like to know that. We’d like to have any supporting documentation. Now on the website is all the information. We also have draft submission applications as well, so they can have all of their questions answered. And Liz, for those that maybe are watching this after the submissions have closed for 2025, where’s the best place to go for people just to connect with anything happening?

with the Screen Collective, is that ScreenCollective.au? ScreenCollective.au, and you know what, I have to say I also am in charge of the social media, and I do post a lot of stuff on there. Our members, we have an internal community board that I try to keep the members abreast of information. People emailing me at Liz at ScreenCollective.au is also a good way. We have our newsletter that comes out every month that’s chock full of everything going on.

such as Chris Sun is doing a script to screen workshop in June. And we’ve just posted that in the newsletter. It’ll be all over our socials. Lots going on. Lots going on. Awesome Liz. Well, thanks for joining me here for Forward Thinking here at FWDFest 2025. And for you guys watching or listening to this episode, even if it’s after the cutoffs that we mentioned there, get involved in the screen industry here if you’re interested. Or if you’re just interested in following along to seeing how this

This industry continues to develop as we move forward because it’s definitely an exciting space here on the Sunshine Coast. So Liz Boyd, Community Manager at Screen Collective Sunshine Coast, thanks for joining me on the show. Thank you so much. Thank you for your time. We’ll see you guys in the next episode. Take care. How exciting is that? So if you’re a not-for-profit or industry group and love to join FWDFest, click the links in the video or wherever you’re watching this episode and join the movement of FWDFest.

Yeah, absolutely. And so much going on with a whole bunch of different industry collectives across the coast, not only in the screen industry, but also in other sectors as well, including agribusiness and manufacturing and whatever industry you’re in on the Sunshine Coast. think look for that collective, look for that collaborative coming together of organisations. And if it doesn’t exist, maybe you can start that yourself. Maybe you can bring businesses together.

The next episode of the Forward Thinking Podcast will be with you next week, so make sure that you hit subscribe so that you don’t miss the next episode and we’ll see you in that next episode. Absolutely, and keep moving forward.