The Sydney Film Festival has today announced the appointment of three new members to its Board, welcoming respected leaders from across Australia’s creative industries, screen sector and business community.
Business leader and founder of the Calaur Advisory Deb Eckersley, joins the board as Treasurer, while Madman Entertainment co-founder and CEO Paul Wiegard and award-winning actor and writer Thomas Weatherall both join as directors. Thomas’ contribution joins a wider arts initiative spearheaded by the NSW government to include young arts leaders on boards of preeminent cultural institutions, as well as his role in Netflix’s hit series Heartbreak High.
The appointments bring together expertise spanning film distribution, performance and writing, corporate governance, finance and strategy. Together they strengthen the Festival’s capacity to support Australian and international filmmakers, while guiding one of the country’s most significant cultural institutions. Wiegard in particular has been pivotal in pushing local distribution of foreign films in Australia, with Madman picking up such coveted titles as Megalopolis in 2023, which Australian audiences might have otherwise not gotten a chance to have seen.
Together they join Sydney Film Festival Chair Darren Dale, alongside fellow directors Debbie Lee, Amanda Maple-Brown and Penny Smallacombe in leading the strategic direction of the Festival. Preparations for the 73rd Sydney Film Festival are currently underway, with the 2026 edition set to take place from 3–14 June in cinemas across Sydney.
Minister for the Arts John Graham welcomed the appointments. “I’m very pleased to see the Sydney Film Festival backing the call to support young arts and culture leaders by appointing Thomas Weatherall. Thomas will bring such a unique and youthful perspective to the stewardship of this treasured cultural event. I’m also excited to see Debra Eckersley and Paul Wiegard bring their extensive experience to the board.”
Sydney Film Festival Chair Darren Dale said the new appointments reflect the Festival’s ongoing commitment to strong leadership across the arts and screen sectors. “I’m delighted to welcome Deb Eckersley, Thomas Weatherall and Paul Wiegard to the Sydney Film Festival Board. Each brings a distinct perspective and a breadth of experience across the creative industries, the screen sector and the broader commercial landscape. As custodians of a Festival now in its 73rd edition, we share a responsibility to honour its legacy while continuing to champion bold filmmaking and strengthen its unique place in Sydney’s cultural life.”
ABOUT DEB ECKERSLEY
Deb Eckersley joins the Sydney Film Festival Board as Treasurer, bringing more than 30 years’ experience across professional and financial services. A Chartered Accountant by training, she is the founder of Calaur Advisory and previously served as Group Executive, People and Culture at Bank of Queensland and Managing Partner, Human Capital at PwC Australia, advising major Australian companies on strategy, workforce transformation and organisational change. Eckersley currently sits on the boards of Technology One Limited and Chief Executive Women. She is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.
ABOUT PAUL WIEGARD
Paul Wiegard joins the Board with extensive experience across film distribution and production. He is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Madman Entertainment, one of Australasia’s leading independent film distributors, which has released more than 35 Oscar-nominated films including Parasite, Anatomy of a Fall and Searching for Sugar Man. Wiegard has executive produced more than 50 feature films and documentaries including Nitram, The Australian Dream, The Giants and Girls Can’t Surf. He also founded the documentary streaming platform DocPlay in 2016 and currently serves on the boards of Australian Centre for the Moving Image and Screenrights.
ABOUT THOMAS WEATHERALL
Thomas Weatherall joins the Board after serving as a jury member at the 2025 Festival, as an award-winning actor and writer working across screen and stage. He is widely known for his role as Malakai Mitchell in the Netflix series Heartbreak High and as Frank Gardner in The Narrow Road to the Deep North directed by Justin Kurzel. His performance in Heartbreak High earned him an AACTA Awards honour for Best Supporting Actor and a Logie Awards award for Most Outstanding Supporting Actor. Weatherall is also an acclaimed playwright. His debut work Blue, developed through the Balnaves Fellowship, premiered at Belvoir St Theatre in 2023 to strong critical acclaim and later toured nationally and internationally. The play was nominated for the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards in 2024.
The appointments come as the Festival continues its work supporting filmmakers, audiences and the wider screen industry through year-round initiatives and its annual June event.
The 73rd Sydney Film Festival (SFF) will take place from Wednesday 3 June to Sunday 14 June 2026. Following a record box-office year in 2025, SFF is bringing another 12 days and nights of premieres featuring the best in global cinema on Sydney’s silver screens.
The Festival will bring together world premieres, Australian exclusives and headline red carpet events across Sydney, placing filmmakers and audiences together in the ultimate celebration of cinema.
The first titles for the 73rd Sydney Film Festival will be announced in April 2026, with the full program set to be unveiled on 6 May 2026.
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