Marnie McKeown elected as new Chair of south-west creative organisation Creative Corner

A new committee of management has joined the Creative Corner following its recent AGM in Dunsborough. Creative Corner connects creative people, businesses, services and events in the south west with each other, and opportunities within and outside the region. The annual Emergence Creative Festival is run by the Creative Corner.

New faces include Chairperson, Marnie McKeown (pictured) State Director, Fairfax Media, who brings more than 20 years of media experience to the board of management. Wordsmith Richard Moroney holds the official Secretary seal, and Jordan Gianfranceso from Maker +Co joins the team. The intellectual property gained over the years is maintained with re-elected board members Noah Shilkin from Sonic Lolly, Scott Robinson from Jack In The Box, Mike Dunn from Phimedia, and SWDC Tradestart Advisor Mat Lewis as government representative.

The Creative Corner aims to grow creative industries in the region by developing resources available on the new website launched this month, including a Creative Toolkit to assist businesses, and an Industry Directory of the creative sector. In line with boosting creative productivity, the Film South West website promotes the region as a location for film companies with a number of online resources.

The Creative Corner team recently visited Pemberton to meet with the crew on Jasper Jones, starring Hugo Weaving and Toni Collette.

“The impact of a feature film like Jasper Jones being shot in the regions, saw the population of Pemberton increase by 8% with about 3000 overnight stays, the trickle on effect is enormous,” said McKeown.

“The Creative Corner has recognised for some time that supporting the creative industries has great benefits in terms of innovation growth and employment. Now the Federal Government has announced its National Innovation and Science Agenda, it’s very timely really.”

Planning is well underway for next year’s Emergence Festival from March 16 -19. Confirmed speakers include Zena Loxton (Vice), Jose Miguel Sokoloff (Lowe Global Creative Council), Ram Castillo (The Giant Thinker), Jennifer Wilson (The Project Factory), Paul Clarke (Fast Floor Media) and Nicole Velik (The Ideas Bodega). Further details available at www.emergencecreative.com.

“Emergence is a world class conference for entrepreneurs and professionals, wrapped in a four day festival. It’s inspiring as well as a great opportunity to network,” said McKeown.