When around 300 screen practitioners gathered at Lennox Head last week for ScreenWorks' two-day Regional to Global Screen Forum, the setting was half the story. Here was a serious industry conversation happening a long way from Sydney or Melbourne, and after many successful years, nobody was treating that as a novelty.

Screenworks will present its first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's Regional to Global Screen Forum 2026, recognising an outstanding contribution to the Australian screen sector.

Lisa O'Meara is the new CEO of Screenworks, the Ballina-based screen organisation with an increasingly national outlook. She sat down with The Echo to talk about where Screenworks is heading.

Is it a genuine offering of support for local film talent, or a thinly-veiled attempt by Netflix to manufacture some positive news following its locally-loathed TV series Byron Baes?

Screenworks is calling for applications to its three Career Pathways Programs which help regional screenwriters, directors and producers make stronger industry connections, build skills and advance their careers.

Regional documentary film production was the focus of the REGIONALITY conference at Lennox Head Cultural Centre last week, presented by the AIDC and Screenworks.

The film, TV and streaming world came to Lennox Head late last week, both in person and virtually, for the Screenworks Regional to Global Screen Forum.

No matter which way you look at it, the statistics around poker machines are devastating. Every day, money is wasted, homes are gambled away, families are broken and lives are lost.

The voice of Masterchef is set to make a local film go viral for a cause very close to his heart.

Having made the move from Byron to Ballina, Screenworks is feeling the love for filmmaking in their new home.