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David Hanna appointed Film Victoria president

Monash Uni Finance

David Hanna. 

David Hanna has been appointed as the president of Film Victoria for a term of two years, succeeding Ian Robertson.

Also joining the board is business and communications strategist and former director of the Melbourne Film Office, Louisa Coppel, while co-founder of Melbourne digital games studio League of Geeks, Blake Mizzi, has been re-appointed for another term.

Hanna has chaired Dockland Studios Melbourne since 2016, playing a pivotal role in building the case for the studio’s $46 million sixth soundstage, due to begin construction later this year.

The executive has also been a long-standing committee member of Film Victoria’s Production Incentive Attraction Fund (PIAF), and is a member of course advisory for VCA’s School of Film and Television.

Currently he is director of business strategy at Monash University, and prior to this worked across both Victorian and Commonwealth governments.

In a statement, Hanna said: This is a challenging but also an exciting time for the screen industry and I am looking forward to working with the board to grow this vibrant and valuable part of our economy and our society.”

Robertson has retired as Film Victoria president after serving in the role since 2011, overseeing significant growth in the state’s production sector, include a record number of jobs and expenditure. Lyn Maddock has also retired from the board.

Of the new appointments, Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley said: “The screen industry here and around the world is facing unprecedented challenges but Victoria is well placed for a strong recovery and future employment growth.”

“David and Louisa are passionate about the future of our screen industry. I look forward to working with them to continue to invest in local content, stories and screen jobs as we emerge from this pandemic.”

Other Film Victoria board members include Andrea Denholm, Liz Grainger, Mitu Bhowmick Lange, Kelly Lefever, Greg McLean, Leonie Morgan and Chris Oliver-Taylor.