AFTRS welcomes Dr Romaine Moreton & Con Apostolopoulos

Dr Romaine Moreton / by Dr Lou Bennett, Con Apostolopoulos / by @katievajda

The Australian Film, Television & Radio School (AFTRS) has appointed two new senior executives in Dr Romaine Moreton & Con Apostolopoulos.

AFTRS CEO Dr Nell Greenwood revealed Dr Moreton has been appointed to the newly created role of director, First Nations & Outreach, while Aspostolopoulos is now director, partnerships & development.

“This is a really exciting time for the School. With her years of experience as an academic, poet, filmmaker and advocate, Romaine brings deep knowledge and insights to our executive team that are vital to leadership in today’s complex world,” Greenwood said.

“Con has a very different but extremely complimentary skill set – combining a really impressive international career with a passion for the arts.”

Moreton is Goenpul Yagera of Stradbroke Island and Bundjulung of northern New South Wales. She is an internationally recognised writer, and while serving as a Research Fellow Filmmaker in Residence at Monash she examined the historical representation of Aboriginal people in Australian cinema with transmedia work One Million Beats.

She has already been working closely with AFTRS over the last two years on a first-of-its-kind Indigenous Curriculum for screen and broadcast, focussed through the lens of ethics and aesthetics.

Now she’ll be responsible for leading the design and implementation of the School’s First Nations and Outreach strategy and meaningfully embedding First Nations culture in all that the School does, internally and externally.

“As an AFTRS alumna, it is exciting to be joining the AFTRS executive team as the Director of First Nations & Outreach and to be part of a learning and teaching community that is focussed on fostering generations of storytelling and media practitioners both nationally and globally,” she said.

“I look forward to engaging in dialogue that promotes a renewed appreciation of media through the lens of Indigenous philosophies, ethics, aesthetics and land pedagogies with AFTRS staff, students, industry partners and stakeholders in support of AFTRS’ vision of encouraging screen and media leadership.”

Apostolopoulos has previously served in executive positions at National Geographic and Fox Internationals Channel, and began his career with News Corp working across partnerships for The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and The Australian Magazine.

He’ll head up the School’s Business Development strategy, including national and international student recruitment; national and international partnerships with educational institutions, screen and broadcast organisations and corporate and commercial organisations; philanthropic donations and leveraging in-kind support from stakeholders and alumni.

“I very much look forward to being part of AFTRS and working closely with Nell and the team to deliver a compelling experience for our students, drive further collaboration with our industry partners and develop long lasting partnerships with those wishing to celebrate the wonderful and diverse power of Australian storytellers,” Apostolopoulos said.

“Moving into the CEO role earlier this year has given me the opportunity to think really hard about strategy for the School and how we move forward in this rapidly changing world,” Greenwood added.

“At the heart of everything we do there needs to be excellence in learning. My focus is on ensuring the School and its staff are engaged in the singular purpose of providing the best possible industry aligned, future-focussed student experience.

“As a School we need inclusivity, diversity, an embedded First Nations culture, a world-class infrastructure supporting bricks and mortar and also a virtual structure for this digital, remote-access age.

“We need to be the hub of a rich, live network of partnerships and relationships – across our industry but also more broadly across society.”