Grad Show

Wendi is an award winning actor, model and business manager who started her career at fourteen. She achieved her Diploma of Business Management while modelling internationally, and returned to Australia to complete her Bachelor of Performance in 2016. Wendi continues her acting career while also managing Creative Plus Business.

Michael Simms is a multi-award winning artist. Born in Adelaide, he completed degrees in psychology and film at Flinders University before winning a scholarship to study fine art at the Julian Ashton Art School. Inspired by subjects on the cusp of change, Michael’s paintings and drawings are both literal and allegorical expressions of transformation. In 2018, Michael was awarded the Royal Art Society of NSW Young Artist Prize, and the inaugural SBS Portrait Prize.

He has been a finalist in several other major art awards, including the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize. Notable sitters include Thomas Keneally, Liz Ellis, Paul Capsis and Genevieve Lemon. He currently resident artist at Project 504, an experimental art collective in Sydney.

Joel Jackson is a critically acclaimed actor, producer and musician based in Australia. He’s been awarded the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award for Best Actor and the Logie for Most Outstanding Newcomer. As a musician he's performed alongside Birds of Tokyo, Regurgitator and many others in a career that begun when he was 15 years old in the dusty bars of remote North Western Australia. As a teacher and mentor, Joel has helped graduating National Institute of Dramatic Arts acting students and has taught his Film Acting Masterclass on behalf of the Hub Studio at both their Perth and Sydney studios. An active member of the greater community, Joel was an ambassador and host for the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) in 2017 and 2018 and also works as an ambassador for the children’s charity Australian Children’s Music Foundation (ACMF) and Soldier On, dedicated to aiding military veterans and returned service personnel. Joel was Young Australian of the Year for the Pilbara region of Western Australia in 2010.

Amrita Hepi is an award winning first nations choreographer and dancer from Bundjulung (Aus) and Ngapuhi (NZ) territories. Her work has taken various forms (film, performance, sculpture, text, lecture, participatory installation) but always begins from working with the body as a point of archive, memory and resistance. She is a member of the WA Dance Company OCHRES and has worked with Victoria Chiu, Melanie Lane & Amos Gerbrahnt, Bhenji Ra and Force Majeure.

In 2018 she received the people's choice award for the Keir Choreographic award and was named one of Forbes Asia's 30 under 30. Amrita was also commissioned by ASOS global to create and choreograph film works. She has been featured globally in Vogue USA, Instyle, Harpers Bazar and more.

Genevieve Clay-Smith is a writer and film director from Newcastle NSW. She is an advocate for social justice and inclusion for people living with a disability. She is the executive director of Bus Stop Films, a not-for-profit dedicated to helping people with disability to learn about and be involved in the film industry. She is also the co-founder of creative agency Taste Creative. In 2009 Genevieve won the Tropfest short film festival at age 19, and in 2012 was accepted into AFTRS for her Master of Screen Arts.

Genevieve was awarded the Westpac 100 Women of Influence Award for 2014, recognised in the Young Leaders category for her contribution to inclusion in the film industry. In 2015 Genevieve was named NSW Young Australian of the Year.

Ally is a writer, producer, games maker and technology advocate based in Sydney. She is the Director of the Working Lunch mentorship program, and coordinates long term mentorship opportunities for entry level Australian women in games. She is a passionate advocate for women in games. Ally is also the curator of NEXT Exhibit for underrepresented developers and Product Director of digital studio 3RD Sense, making digital products for a variety of clients.

Prior to game development, Ally was one of Australia's first professional cosplayers, working with industry giants like Blizzard, Microsoft and CD Projekt Red to bring their characters to life. Ally was recently named as a Women of the Future, Innovation and Technology in the AWW Awards.