RISING TALENT 2023 - PRODUCERS

PRODUCERS

So impressed are we with the industry’s up-and-comers, we have decided to make our Rising Talent list an annual fixture. These are the people we think the industry needs to sit up and take notice of; the names you’ll need to know and want to work with in the years ahead. Some faces are relatively new, while others have recently moved up the chain into leadership positions where they are making change.

Thank you again to everyone who helped us put this list together, including the hundreds of submissions we received through our public call out. We know this list is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the talent in this industry, but we hope it hints towards its future.

BETHANY BRUCE

Bethany Bruce is an independent producer, making socially aware films under her production company, Staple Fiction. Her slate includes Make It Look Real, a feature documentary represented by sales agent Autlook Filmsales (Oscar-nominated For Sama), with frequent collaborator, director Kate Blackmore. Blackmore and Bruce’s previous work includes ABC documentaries The Art of Collecting, Video Becomes Us, and Art Bites: The Glass Bedroom

In 2022, Bruce’s A Cup of Tea with writer/ director Dee Dogan (Here Out West) and producer Bridget Ikin won the development prize in the Attagirl international feature film lab. She was also included among Screen Producers Australia’s Ones to Watch.

Bruce’s credits include short films The Butter Scene, Broken Line North, AACTA Social-Shorts nominated Wolf and Tinseltown, and she was executive producer on Birdie.

Bruce has been mentored by Felix Media’s Ikin as part of a Screen Australia Enterprise People grant, working on the BAFTA-nominated documentary Sherpa and The Rehearsal. She was also a co-producer of Selina Miles’s documentary Martha: A Picture Story.

Bruce holds First Class Honours in Media Arts and Production from UTS.

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LIAM HEYEN

Liam Heyen is a Sydney-based producer who is passionate about telling stories that explore the LGBTQI+ experience.

From 2014 to 2020, he worked at Goalpost Pictures across all facets of the company, including as the associate producer of Cleverman and Helen Reddy biopic I Am Woman, and co-producer of Top End Wedding and New Gold Mountain. During this time, Heyen was also the production executive of feature films Upgrade and The Invisible Man, both directed by Leigh Whannell.

Through his production company Mad Ones, alongside producing partner Cyna Strachan, Heyen has produced shorts including Adult; You and Me, Before and After, which screened in Toronto in 2021; Strangers and Voice Activated, which was nominated for an AACTA Award in 2022.

Most recently, Heyen produced Latecomers through SBS and Screen Australia's Digital Originals program. He is currently producing Erotic Stories with Lingo Pictures – an 8 x 30 minute anthology series for SBS and ITV Studios and will next produce Sophie Hyde’s new feature film, JIMPA.

Heyen is a graduate of AFTRS and Griffith Film School. He was named among Screen Producers Australia's Ones to Watch in 2021.

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JESSICA MAGRO

Based in Meanjin/ Brisbane, Jessica Magro is a proud Samoan-MalteseAustralian producer and the founder of independent production company Purple Carrot Entertainment, which has a strong focus on Pasifika-led stories.

In 2022, Magro produced and directed documentary The Alexander Ball for SBS's Curious Australia initative. Her growing development slate includes drama comedy series DIVA, which received development funding through the SBS/Screen Australia Digital Originals initiative, and a long-form factual series. Purple Carrot’s previous credits include short doc FEZ for ABC Arts, showcasing SamoanAustralian entertainer Fez Faanana.

In 2021, Magro was named among Screen Producers Australia’s Ones to Watch, and was awarded the Screen Australia internship with Liliana Munoz from Maximo Entertainment. Magro previously worked as producer at WildBear Entertainment and currently works as assistant producer at Ludo Studio, producing the global publishing program for Bluey, while developing independent projects at Purple Carrot Entertainment.

Magro is also an avid writer, publishing a piece on Screenhub about the power of visibility for Pacific Islanders in the arts.

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TSU SHAN CHAMBERS

Tsu Shan Chambers is an actor, writer and producer who is passionate about bringing awareness to issues that matter.

Chambers was recently elected to the Screen Producers Australia Council and was previously one of the organisation’s Ones to Watch in 2018. She was also awarded the Charlies Grant Residency with Australians in Film in 2021.

Her projects include romance drama feature, Unsound, about deaf culture and pride. Directed by Ian Watson, the film was nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Indie Film in 2020 and sold to Netflix in ANZ and Fuse TV in the US.

In 2022, Chambers completed her latest feature length project, SUKA, a multicultural action drama due to be released this year.

Last year Chambers was also selected for the Australian Writers Guild and Screen NSW’s First Break initiative, and her latest feature My Eyes, which she co-wrote and is producing, received development support from VicScreen.

Chambers serves on numerous industry committees, including the inaugural Diversity Justice Lens group for screen equity and inclusion and the AFTRS Alumni Advisory Group.

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SARAH FREEMAN

Sarah Freeman is a creative producer who is passionate about projects full of personality, compelling perspectives, and driven storylines.

Most recently, Freeman produced Netflix’s reboot of Heartbreak High for Fremantle and Newbe, which reached the top five globally on the streamer and was nominated for 15 AACTA Awards, including Best Drama Series, winning six.

Freeman began her career in TVC production, before moving to Matchbox Pictures to work alongside co-founder and executive producer, Tony Ayres. Through Screen Australia’s Gender Matters program, Freeman went on to become Amanda Higgs’ producer attachment, then associate producer on the first and second series of International Emmy-nominated series, Mustangs FC.

In 2019, backed by VicScreen, Freeman undertook a producer placement at Margot Robbie’s production company, LuckyChap Entertainment in Los Angeles, working across a range of international and Australian film and television projects in development. In 2020, she produced the Gen-Z halfhour comedy series, Why Are You Like This for ABC and Netflix.

Freeman is currently in development on season 2 of Heartbreak High.

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