Sally Caplan to join Screen Australia as head of production

She will report to Graeme Mason, who has only been in the chair for a couple of weeks as chief executive after replacing Ruth Harley.

Caplan headed the UK Film Council’s Premiere Fund for the five years up to 2010 and was London-based managing director of international sales at Entertainment One up until May this year. She has also worked for Universal Pictures International, Momentum, Icon and other companies during her impressive film career.

Screen Australia confirmed in August that head of production investment Ross Matthews and the head of development Martha Coleman would not be renewing their contracts when they expired in December – their joint farewell is tomorrow night – and announced that their roles would be combined into one job. This is Caplan’s new gig.

Screen Australia also announced today that Jane Supit has been appointed head of legal services, replacing Elizabeth Grinston. Six months ago it also said goodbye to deputy chair, the lawyer Ian Robertson.

The flurry of new appointments means the team is now in place to oversee what is sure to be a period of change. Given that former IBM executive Glen Boreham’s contract expires in June, Screen Australia may also be getting a new chair. 

In 2012-13, alongside a range of local and international partners, Screen Australia invested $22.2m (A$24.59m) into the production of 16 feature films, including director Matthew Saville’s Felony, Kriv Stenders’ Kill Me Three Times, Michael and Peter Spierig’s Predestination, David Michod’s The Rover and Greg McLean’s Wolf Creek 2. It also continued its support of a range of businesses in the name of industry sustainability and independence.

Screen Australia opened its doors five and a half years ago, taking over from the Film Finance Corporation, the Australian Film Commission and Film Australia. Since then it has directly invested more than $300m into film, television drama, documentary, children’s television and online projects.