Speaker

Sue Thompson

Moderator - Why Your Publicist is Important

Sue Thompson’s lengthy career in the New Zealand and Australian film/television industries began more than 20 years ago with Valhalla Cinemas, Australia, where she managed Valhalla Distribution and was involved in buying international feature films and marketing their entrance into the Australian marketplace.

Crossing the Tasman to work in international sales, film financing and production, Sue joined Television New Zealand in the early 1990s where she was responsible for investment in a slate of productions including Braindead, Once Were Warriors and Bread and Roses mini-series, before moving into the senior management role at The Film Unit, New Zealand’s sole full-service post-production facility. In 1998, The Film Unit was privatised coming under the ownership of Sir Peter Jackson with Sue as CEO. In that capacity she oversaw the operational installation and technical fit-out of the new Park Road Post Production facility while also managing the successful delivery of The Lord of the Rings trilogy to New Line Cinema.

In 2005 following the completion of King Kong for Universal, Sue established Direct Effect where she is working with filmmakers on project development and production financing, while also providing consultancy services to government and the private sector. Sue was instrumental in establishing Film New Zealand in 1994 and has served Chair, Deputy Chair and Board member until 2010. She has served as Deputy Chair of the New Zealand Film Commission and was a founding Board member of the New Zealand Film and Television School. She was also a member of the 2002 Screen Industry Task Force, an advisor on Enterprise Tasman a joint venture between the Australian Film, Television and RadioSchool and the Screen Council of New Zealand and, more recently, continues to serve as a regular investment advisor to the Melbourne International Film Festival’s Premiere Fund.

In 2013 she joined forces with Andrew Beattie to establish Colonial Mongrel Productions and are producing John Carpenter’s next film Darkchylde with Sandy King of Storm King Productions, James Cunningham’s The Unlikeliest Hero an family animated feature film as well as a slate of six productions in advanced development and early stage packaging. In 2014 she opened a distribution division CM Releasing with partners Leapfrog Films which specialises in boutique theatrical releases as well as launching the cinema on demand platform Tugg.