MEDIA RELEASE
11th February 2010
For further information:
Niki White/Victoria Buchan
The Lantern Group
niki@lanterngroup.com.au
Victoria@lanterngroup.com.au
02 9383 4038
WOMEN IN TELEVISION BREAKFAST
Sandra Levy, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Film Television and Radio School, Deirdre Brennan,
Director of Programming, Nickelodeon, and Joe Pollard, Chief Executive Officer, NineMSN will be the guest
speakers at the Women In Television Breakfast as part of The Future is Now ASTRA 2010 Conference on
Thursday March 18.
Ms Levy has had an outstanding career as both a creative producer of feature films and television drama as
well as an executive at the highest level in the industry including the roles of CEO, Network Head and
Executive Director. Sandra was appointed CEO of the Australian Film Television and Radio School in mid
2007 following on from Director of Television ABC TV, Network Nine, Head of Drama Southern Star, and
Head of Drama ABC and as an independent drama producer for ten years.
Deirdre Brennan joined Nickelodeon Australia as Director of Programming in 2007 and is responsible for
content development, programming, acquisitions and the delivery of compelling entertainment for Australian
families. Winner of ASTRA’s Channel of The Year, Nickelodeon Australia’s two channels broadcast 24
hours a day, seven days a week and are seen in over 2.2 million households via AUSTAR, FOXTEL, and
OPTUS. From 2001-2007, Deirdre Brennan was ABC Kids Programmer for the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation. She became one of Australia's first female television announcers when she joined ABC TV in
1986 whilst studying Economics/Law at Sydney University. She extended her on-air experience with radio
broadcasting, as well as directing, stage management and choreography. With a television career that spans
24 years, Deirdre has a proven track record including three years as ABC TV Marketing Planner.
Joe Pollard was appointed CEO of NineMSN in 2008, prior to that she was Director of Sales and Marketing
for PBL Media. Ms Pollard started her career in Australia and worked initially on the agency side with JWT
and later Mindshare before moving offshore to Asia as Regional Media Director. She then entered a 10-year
career with Nike Inc. in the US and Japan. Initially she was Global Director of Media, Digital and Content
where she oversaw Nike’s media investments in more than 30 countries.
The breakfast, sponsored by XYZnetworks, will be held at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre,
Parkside Ballroom, Darling Harbour from 7.45am prior to the commencement of the Conference and will be
joined by journalist, Kylie Merritt, Sky News Business Channel.
‘We are very excited that we have such an accomplished and inspiring array of woman taking part in the
Women in Television breakfast. All of these women have excellent reputations from across the media
industry and will be able to share their experience and perspective on the convergent and ever-evolving
media landscape,” said ASTRA CEO Petra Buchanan.
The Women in Television Breakfast will be supporting the 1 Million Women Campaign, which aims to
empower a million Australian women to take practical action on climate change by collectively cutting 1
million tonnes of CO2 pollution in their daily lives, thus driving long-term behaviour change.
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Also of note at the ASTRA 2010 Conference, the ASTRA Industry Excellence Awards will debut bringing
these important marketing and promotional awards to the fore; recognising excellence in the promotion of
subscription television. Entry details are available on the ASTRA 2010 Conference site at
The Future is Now ASTRA 2010 Conference will draw together Australia's subscription television industry
for a timely look at the media landscape and what lies ahead. An innovative and thought provoking range of
topics and speakers will focus on how enhanced technology and viewer demand is impacting the industry
today.
ENDS
NEWS 
