Chairman’s Report 2024

While it has been tough at times in Victoria, one of the pleasing factors is that some areas in the entertainment space have achieved medium to good results. We’ve been blessed with some amazing theatrical productions, keeping our theatres busy, and future events locked in for the next 12 months give me some optimism that we can make it work in our favour.

All projections for 2025 and 2026 relating to State Government funding for the charities sector suggest little or none will happen, while federally, with an election only months away, there isthe opportunity for the Minister to look for some positive vote catching funding.

In a financial sense, we continue to be a going concern because of the wonderful people and organisations within the community. And, as usual, I want to again highlight our ongoing thanks to the Highland Foundation, in particular Mr. Rick Smith AM, his wife Joan, and the Chairman of the Foundation, Sharon Landy, for their magnificent financial support provided over many years. We hope that they will consider continued funding for our organisation.

Every dollar raised counts towards fulfilling our mission, and some of our supporters with significant donations I’m proud to identify. Some have been with us for one, two, three, five or even eight years. Thanks again to the Freemason Foundation Victoria, Paul Wheelton AM KSJ, and Angela Wheelton OAM DSJ, Village Roadshow Limited and Mr Robert Kirby AO. Another wonderful relationship is with the Gandel Foundation and our thanks to Mr. John Gandel AC and Pauline Gandel AC, and the former Chief Executive Officer Vedran Drakulic OAM.

We continue to prioritise awareness of Entertainment Assist and the work we do, which is helped through some of our joint ventures with Support Act, the Casting Guild of Australia, the Ticketing Australia Conference, Chocolate Studios, and KPMG for our pro bono auditing.

As I write this, we have conducted our initiative of “Buckets of Love”. This has been made possible by some brilliant promoters, theatre owners and managers, and pro bono help from a team of volunteers. The aim of this campaign is to significantly boost our resources to provide appropriate mental health self-help and awareness training in our industry.

As a result of “Buckets of Love”, our Intermission Program now has solid funding to enable us to run a significant number of pro bono sessions for industry participants. These sessions will sit alongside our paid sessions which are offered to employers for their teams in their workplaces. Offering these pro bono sessions over the next 12 months is an exciting development for us. It really is the core of why we exist, to look after the mental health and wellbeing of all people in the entertainment industry. Intermission is an excellent program that highlights that we do understand what industry workers are going through, and how we can help them to be able to help themselves.

Much of the credit for this program goes to small dedicated executive team led by our Chief Executive Julia Edwards and the wonderful Emma Hargreaves.

Over the 12 months we’ve also had excellent support from Glen Hosking, and hope to utilise more of our talented networks in 2025.

To the Board, I thank them for their time, their dedication, their understanding, their amazing skill sets, and simply their belief in what Entertainment Assist does, and hopefully what it can do more of in the future. Thank you to my Deputy Chair, Julie Raffe, Mal Smith, Dr Sandra Hacker AO, Tim McFarlane AM, Lyndell Pond, and our new Board Members Peter Konidaris, and Janis Carren.

I greatly value the diverse skill set of the Board, and just want to highlight a few areas that are most important in any organisation. My Deputy Chair Julie Raffe is highly skilled in the financial area, board member Mal Smith is across our risk management and compliance activities, Dr Sandra Hacker AO continues to champion our research. Lyndell Pond is one of the most connected people in the theatrical, tourism, and business community sectors, Tim McFarlane AM lives and breathes the industry and is one of the, (I’m sure he won’t mind me saying it!), elder statesman, and is the Managing Director of one of the leading entertainment companies in Australia. We welcome new board member, Peter Konidaris, who is well known amongst the corporates of Australia, and is partner for one of the most respected firms, Korda Mentha, who are also very gracious in supporting him with the time that he gives to Entertainment Assist in their support of Australian companies.

It was also wonderful to spread our wings to Western Australia during 2024 with recently appointed board member Janis Carren - nobody knows more about the arts and culture scene in Western Australia than Janis, and we welcome her warmly.

It is also noteworthy that in the background we have many people who still care about the organisation and will never be forgotten, and here I speak in particular of Ian Allen AM, Caryn Cavanagh, Amelia Edwards, Ian Coutts, Walter Bishop OAM. Miles King OAM, our great friend through the Freemasons Foundation, who also has our congratulations on his appointment to Deputy Grandmaster for Freemasons Victoria.

Our Ambassador Program was put on hold for the last twelve months as other priorities took precedence. Hopefully, our education programs ramp up, we will be able to appoint new and active Ambassadors who can help tap into upcoming support from our friends in the Caravan Industry Victoria, the Little Hansen Foundation, Fire Rescue Victoria, Joseph’s Corner, and the many other Trusts, Foundations and community groups.

In closing, I wish I had the chance to thank each and every person I’ve mentioned in this report face-to-face with a handshake or simply two words, “Thank You” for what they do. There are so many more people who have interacted with us over the last 12 months, to them I also say, “Thank You”.

Let’s look forward to a positive, productive and happy 2025. Thank you for your support,

David G Mann AM KSJ FAICD