Robert Connolly steps down early from Screen Australia board
Robert Connolly
Filmmaker Robert Connolly has ended his term as Screen Australia board member early.
The writer, director, producer was due to sit on the board until December 2013, but he finished early due to film-making commitments.
While on the board, Connolly received Screen Australia funding for his project Paper Planes, and also for his adaptation of Tim Winton’s The Turning.
Of course it’s a conflict of interest!!!! A Screen Australia board member while seeking funding!! Sorry, but it’s a disgrace. But then again, I wouldn’t expect anything less from Scree Australia….
P.S just read the charter. A conflict of interest can:
i) Be actual (i.e. there is an obvious or demonstrable conflict of interest) or perceived (i.e. an onlooker may reasonably assume there is a conflict). – how does this not apply in this case?
The conflict is currenly resolved by the affected Board member leaving the room and letting the rest of the Board adjudicate. Then the Board member returns and it is business as usual. Human nature is such that his/her Board colleagues are not likely to reject the project and then have to eyeball the affected member 5 minutes later. If you want industry practitioners on the Board then give them 2 year terms with a commitment from them that they will not be applying for funding in the interim. If their circumstances change and they seek funding within the two year period then they are obliged to resign well before the Board meeting. This solves the problem of perceived bias and would please the industry. The issue has never been properly addressed by Screen Australia whose status and credibility has been in steady decline since its creation about 5 years ago.
“We don’t exclude working film-makers from our board as we need that expertise…” and i have no problem with this so long as they are working. Applying for funding, in RC case twice, is not the same thing. Is it any wonder the rest of us get the shits with the whole process. Perhaps SA can offer me a position on the board, give me my funding and let me stand down. i would be very happy to do it. I promise not to stay very long… what a joke!
I notice that nobody here is mentioning the numerous projects of Connolly’s that were rejected by Screen Australia while he was a member of the board…. it has been mentioned in other forums that there were several; and at least one was widely reported.
It’s cruclal to have Board Members that know how the industry actually works, as so many simply don’t.
It is so gross and pathetic that the painful moaning sound from film makers still drowns out every other sound. All with the aim to make dog s*&t films that bore the entire nation to the point they become hateful towards Anything filmed here. Connolly is actually an exception here, his movies that I have seen are at least entertaining, whilst themed around tough topics. The board don’t assess applications do they? Surely not. It is a public service though, never easy to understand or yeild honesty from. That would be, Un-Australian. BOOM.