Screen Queensland appoints new head of development and production as it farewells two executives

Screen Queensland has appointed Jo Dillon as its new head of development and production as it farewells its director of development Jock Blair after forty years working in the industry and and Catherine Nebauer who leaves to take on the role as general manager of the new TV channel ZooMoo.

The industry body, whose role is to develop and support the local screen industry and attract production to Queensland, will welcome Dillon to the team towards the end of August.

She joins after nearly two and a half years as development executive with Screen Australia, where she covered the assessment of feature films, high-end television, multiplatform drama and shorts as well as working on the development and management of a slate of feature film projects.

Screen Queensland CEO Tracey Vieira said in a statement: “As Screen Queensland continues to work with industry to grow a healthy and sustainable industry, Jo’s experience with creative and thoughtful leadership will provide exactly what the industry is asking for.”

The appointment comes as Screen Australia gets set to farewell industry veteran Jock Blair who will retire on August 1 to spend more time with his family and Catherine Nebauer who will depart Queensland mid next month to return to Sydney to take on the general manager role of  kids TV channel ZooMoo.

During his time with Screen Queensland as director of development he has supported a number of projects through the development process.

“Jock has been such strong character in the Screen Queensland story and has had a huge influence on many of our State’s success stories,” said Vieira.

“Your story is only as good as the characters within them, and we’ve been fortunate to have the best with Jock Blair.”

Blair has been a writer, producer and script editor on a number of Australian programs including Home and Away, Division, 4 Stingers and Matlock Police. He was also a co-creator of The Sullivans, Bluey and Skyways and produced Snowy River: The McGregor Saga, Paradise Beach and Playing Beatie Bow.

Nebauer was the production investment and business development executive, working on the Screen Queensland Emerging Program and enterprise programs. 

“Catherine has brought so much to the Queensland production community. She has been pivotal in launching the Screen Queensland Emerging Program, was behind the recent Kids Content, Games & Convergence conference and our new Enterprise Programs,” said Vieira.

“We have had a huge 12 months creating the best environment for domestic and foreign direct investment in our State.

“Both Jock and Catherine have been crucial players on our team that has overseen 21 productions in the last financial year, double the number of productions on previous year’s figures.”