5th Season Jury

Meet the Judges

The filmmakers and storytellers deciding this year's awards. Four voices from across the Western Australian screen and arts community.

2026 Judging Panel

Each year we have a dedicated team of independent judges from within the film industry judge our official selection. We would like to thank them for their time, and for the hard task of choosing our finalists and winners for 2026.

The Panel

Our Judges for 2026

Michael Abercromby

Jury Chair · Actor · Writer · Director

Michael Abercromby was born and raised in Perth, where he spent time as a musician before starting work as an actor, writer and director. After graduating from the WAAPA Acting in 2013, he moved to the east coast and spent time working on stage and screen. Since returning to Perth to complete his Masters in 2018 Michael has continued acting and directing with everyone he can. He staged his own work FRONT at The Blue Room Theatre Summer Nights 2019 where he was nominated for Best Director (PAWA Awards), and recently staged The Dog/The Cat with Fremantle Theatre Company (2024). As an actor he has been seen in Theatre 180’s ongoing smash hit A Fortunate Life (2020-2025), FTC's Last Train to Freo (2022) and BBSTC’s Barracking for the Umpire (2022/2024) and Oil (2022), and as a supporting actor I Met a Girl (2019) and The Surfer (2025). Michael is also a passionate educator; course coordinating the Diploma of Screen Performance and lecturing and directing at both WAAPA and John Curtin College of the Arts.

Alexandra Nell↗

Actor · Director · Producer

A dynamic and versatile filmmaker making significant strides across the Australian and US industries. A NIDA acting graduate, her work has screened on Netflix, Stan, ABC iview and SBS On Demand, and at St Kilda, Melbourne International, Sydney, Austin and Flickerfest. She won Best Actress at the 28th WA Screen Awards for WE WERE HERE and at Northbound in 2019 for ABDUCTION, and at NIDA became the first person to take out the Shakespeare Award for Excellence in Classical Performance, the Keith Bain Movement Award and the Leslie Walford Award for Creative Achievements. Beyond her on-screen work she has moved into directing and producing, making short films and documentaries and producing commercials, music videos and commissioned work. Her debut short HASH BROWNS was in competition at St Kilda Film Festival and is being developed into a feature with her directing partner Cal Mclean under their company Strange Harvest Productions. Recent acting credits include SCRUBLANDS season two for Stan and He Ain't Heavy for Netflix.

Carmelo Musca

Director · Producer · Writer

Carmelo has been making films in WA for close to four decades, from Zombie Brigade in 1988 to As the Actress Said to the Bishop, in pre-production for 2026. Through CM Film Productions he has developed documentaries and dramas screened in prime time in Australia and overseas. His feature My Asian Heart won the ATOM Award for Best Documentary in Australia after screening at the Sydney and Melbourne Film Festivals, and Foreshadow had a national cinema release through Hoyts Australia. Other work includes Tribal Scent for SBS and NITV, Antonio Carluccio’s 6 Seasons for SBS, Edible Art with Janice Wong for ABC Arts, Recipes That Rock for Nat Geo, and Collision Course with Australian Dance Theatre, winner of the WA Government’s Major Art Funding Award. Between 2019 and 2022 he co-directed and co-wrote 40 short films with Dr Richard Walley and Alton Walley for the WA Museum Boola Bardip. Earlier work includes the short drama We Always Dress for Sunday Lunch, which won an ACS Golden Tripod award for cinematography, and Deep Sleep No More, screened at CinefestOz and theatrically in China. He has also mentored emerging directors, including on the series On Country Kitchen. More recently he has directed four short dramas for the Mental Health Commission’s Drug and Alcohol Authority WA and a film for the Albany bicentenary. In 2010 he received a ScreenWest & Lotterywest Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Industry.

Jemma King

Producer · Educator · Audio Engineer

Jemma King lives and works on Whadjuk Noongar country of the Bibbulmun Nation, Western Australia. With a deep respect for country and culture, Jemma has collaborated with both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples on numerous projects. Trained as an educator and audio engineer, she began her career at ABC Perth. Since then, she has focused on culturally collaborative initiatives, such as TV documentaries, community oral histories, and truth-telling forums. Jemma also lectured and tutored Curtin University Screen Arts students in television and film-making, including producing Noongar Dandjoo TV. Music and healing are also very important to Jemma. Guided by elders and Noongar language holders, she composed The Acknowledgement Song, which has been performed around the globe. At the heart of every project Jemma contributes to is a foundation of trust and genuine connection, providing an authentic platform for sharing stories.

We acknowledge the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which our office stands. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters, and community. We pay our respects to their cultures, and to Elders past, present, and emerging. We extend this respect to all Indigenous language groups.