Australians in Film (AiF) and Screen Australia are pleased to announce the 2025 participants in the internationally recognized Talent Gateway
ABOUT
Talent Gateway provides established Australian writer/directors who have demonstrated a high level of recent international success with the knowledge, access and relationships necessary to succeed in the global market. The program aims to help these creatives to refine and market their slate and engage international partners for projects.
THE PROGRAM
Screen Australia and Australians in Film (AiF) are partnering to provide Australian screen creatives who have a high level of recent international success with the skills, knowledge, access, and relationships necessary to succeed in the global market.
Up to six delegates will be selected to participate in the Talent Gateway program of roundtables, master-classes, introductions with key US based screen decision makers, and individualised 1:1 mentorships. Each delegate will receive grants of up to $20,000 to enable them to take part in the program which run from March 2025 to July 2025
The Talent Gateway program aims to attract US support, investment, and partnerships for Australian content and careers.
Talent Gateway 2025 Participants:
Clare Sladden
Clare is a Meanjin/Brisbane-based writer passionate about female-driven narratives. Her recent television credits include Good Cop/Bad Cop (Jungle Entertainment and Future Shack for Stan, Roku and The CW), NCIS: Sydney (Endemol Shine AU for Paramount+), and Sunny Nights (Jungle Entertainment & Echo Lake Entertainment for Stan, premiering in 2025). In the audio space, Clare wrote on the Wentworth spin-off podcast (Fremantle Media for Audible) and wrote and directed the narrative podcast Winding Road, starring Dacre Montgomery and Yael Stone. Clare has also received Screen Australia development funding for her debut feature, Sophie Next Door.
Hannah Barlow & Kane Senes
This writing/directing duo from Sydney is known for their breakout work on Sissy, which was selected for SXSW and Sydney Film Festival, winning multiple audience awards globally. Their debut feature, For Now, garnered international festival nominations for Best Film. Recently, they received Premium Development Funding from Screen Australia for their next project, Cooch, and were named Inside Film's Rising Stars. Their work continues to captivate global audiences with fresh and innovative storytelling.
Jean Tong
Jean is a multi-talented writer and director for stage and screen. Their television credits include episodes of Heartbreak High (Netflix), Safe Home (SBS), and Erotic Stories (SBS). Jean’s stage work includes critically acclaimed plays like Hungry Ghosts (Melbourne Theatre Company) and Romeo is Not the Only Fruit (Malthouse Theatre). They were also the inaugural Melbourne Theatre Company Playwriting Fellow in 2023. Jean is currently directing the world premiere of Benjamin Law's adaptation of Dying: A Memoir for Melbourne Theatre Company.
Kacie Anning
Kacie is the creator, writer, director, and executive producer of Class of ’07 (Amazon Prime). She has directed and written for several high-profile series, including The Other Guy (Stan), Diary of a Future President (Disney+), Upload (Prime Video), and Hardball (ABC Me). She has won two Australian Directors’ Guild Awards. Her work as set-up director and EP on Madam (Channel 9), starring Rachel Griffiths, won Best Comedy Series at the Berlin Series Festival and Monte Carlo Television Festival.
Thomas Wilson White
Thomas is an award-winning writer and director, best known for his work on the International Emmy Award-winning Heartbreak High (Netflix). His debut feature The Greenhouse (2021) won the Australian Directors Guild Award for Best Direction in a Feature Film under $1M. Thomas is currently developing a slate of original TV shows and a second feature film while adapting a best-selling novel for Warner Brothers.
Timothy Lee
Timothy is the co-creator and writer of the Australian neo-Western Territory (Netflix), which topped the charts in 11 countries and reached #2 globally on Netflix. He also wrote on Mystery Road (ABC) and Mystery Road: Origin, earning AACTA nominations for Best Screenplay in Television. His writing credits include Bump (Stan/Netflix), Doctor Doctor (Nine), and The Unlisted (Netflix).
