Our People
28 January, 2026
Local student wins Best Producer award
FORMER Marian College student Isabella Browne recently graduated from the Bachelor of Film and Television course at Swinburne University of Technology coupled with a prestigious award. At the graduate awards screening, Isabella also won the Best Producer award, securing a paid internship with production company Film Art Media, under film producer Sue Maslin’s guidance.
Sue Maslin is one of Australia’s most successful screen producers behind films like The Dressmaker, Road to Nhill and Japanese Story.
Isabella began her creative journey at Swinburne at eighteen, moving to Melbourne after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her degree covered a range of both theoretical and technical aspects of film production, studying Hollywood and Australian cinema, shooting on 16mm film, creating music videos and completing the graduate films.
She often found herself falling into the role of a producer throughout the course, the person who organises the team, raises finance, budgets and schedules, conducts OH&S reports, secures location permits, and overall organises the
team.
“Even though I started the course thinking I would be a writer/director, I found my skill set lent more towards producing. It's the boring, backbone role of a production organising cast and crew, budgeting, scheduling, location, logistics, all that fun stuff. It's taught me a great foundation of skills that I will carry on into the industry and beyond,” she told Landsborough District News.
Isabella said she has been fortunate enough during her time at Swinburne to seize some amazing opportunities.
One of the highlights of her degree was participating in an overseas study tour to Bangladesh in 2024 for two weeks, where she created a documentary on women’s economic empowerment.
The documentary aimed to explore how the workforce is positively changing to allow more opportunities for women across a range of fields, interviewing a cosmetic doctor and a self-made home craftswoman.
This experience was on the go and exposed her to a whole new area of filmmaking, which has inspired her to pursue documentary filmmaking in the future.
The last two years of her course were dedicated to producing her two graduate films, The Frost, The Sun and The Wind (documentary), and The Iris Thief, the latter of which secured her the internship with Sue Maslin.
The crime thriller set in the bleak suburbs of 1990s Melbourne follows the main character, Rose, as she embarks on a relentless pursuit to unmask the serial killer responsible for her best friend’s death.
She uncovers who the media call The Iris Thief, for all of his victims have their eyes missing from their bodies.
The film was a new challenge for Isabella, particularly learning how to coordinate and organise stunt and safety personnel to shoot the stunt sequences, but she was grateful to have worked with such a talented, hard-working team to create a unique film.
Isabella is keen to embark on her next chapter in the film industry and encourages young people to consider the film and media industries, as there are many opportunities and areas to explore.
“I would say don’t follow what everyone else around you is doing, be true to yourself in what you want to do, because you can start from scratch. You’ll make life-long friendships and be exposed to many opportunities you might not otherwise have been. I say take the leap even if it’s a bit daunting! If you really set your mind to something, there is no limit to what you can achieve,” she said.
Isabella credits much of her success to her education, in particular her primary school years in Landsborough.
“Coming from a tiny primary school was the best experience, and I’m forever grateful for having my childhood in Landsborough. I also think my parents instilled a strong work ethic in my brother and me when we were young, which has served us as adults. I reflect on my earlier years with such fondness, especially my primary school teachers, Deb Hicks and Helen Morris, who were great role models to look up to.”
Read More: Ararat, Landsborough