The Sydney Film School, Australia, was established in August 2004 by a group of founding partners including Mark Allan, John Buckmaster, Ben Ferris, Phillip Handy, Leslie Oliver, Uracha Oliver, John Saunders

John Saunders

John Saunders is a Canadian–American sports journalist from Toronto, Ontario. He is currently working for ESPN and ABC.-Early life and career:...

, Joe Skrzynski, Emile Sherman and Willie Weinstein. It was officially launched on 3 February 2005 by the Premier of the State of NSW and Minister for the Arts

Minister for the Arts

In the United Kingdom government, the Minister for the Arts is a ministerial post, usually a low to middle-ranking minister to the much senior Secretary of State, who runs the entire department and is ultimately responsibility for the department's brief....

, the Hon Bob Carr

Bob Carr

Robert John "Bob" Carr , Australian statesman, was Premier of New South Wales from 4 April 1995 to 3 August 2005. He holds the record for the longest continuous service as premier of NSW...

. Guest keynote speakers have included: George Miller (July 2005), Tom Zubrycki (July 2006), Phillip Noyce

Phillip Noyce

Phillip Noyce is an Australian film director.-Life and career:Noyce was born in Griffith, New South Wales, attended Barker College, Sydney, and began making short films at the age of 18, starting with Better to Reign in Hell, using his friends as the cast...

 (Dec 2006), the former Prime Minister of Australia

Prime Minister of Australia

The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...

, the Hon Paul Keating

Paul Keating

Paul John Keating was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1991 to 1996. Keating was elected as the federal Labor member for Blaxland in 1969 and came to prominence as the reformist treasurer of the Hawke Labor government, which came to power at the 1983 election...

 (July 2007), Gillian Armstrong

Gillian Armstrong

Gillian May Armstrong is an award-winning Australian director of feature films and documentaries.- Career :Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Gillian Armstrong grew up in the eastern suburb of Mitcham. She graduated from Swinburne Technical College in 1968 where she studied theatrical costume design and...

(Dec 2007), Bob Connolly (July 2008) and Phillip Hearnshaw (Dec 2008). It currently has a student population consisting of 25 different nationalities.

New South Wales°N date=December 2010°W