Extensive expertise and experience

Michael Smellie (Chairman)

• Michael’s career in the music business spans more than 25 years and across five continents as former Global Chief Operations Officer of Sony BMG, Asia Pacific Head for BMG, and Managing Director of Polygram and rooArt in Australia.
• As COO for BMG worldwide, he directed the company through some turbulent years and was an integral part of negotiating and implementing the merger with Sony Music. He was appointed COO of Sony BMG in 2004 before leaving in 2005 to return to Australia. Until the end of 2008, he was President of Media Development, Asia Pacific for German media giant Bertelsmann.
• He is current chair of the Australian Film Television and Radio School and an investor, adviser and board member to a number of start-up creative businesses in Australia and the United States.

Clayton Cooke

• Clayton has more than 15 years experience in media, technology and telecommunications including roles at British Sky Broadcasting, FOXTEL, Carphone Warehouse Group, Telstra & Sensis. He has held leadership positions with these companies in the areas of business operations, finance, corporate strategy and product development.
• His career highlights include managing the successful FOXTEL DIGITAL launch & business turnaround for Telstra; directing Bigpond into a clear leadership position in broadband media; launching a pan-European mobile business; and developing and launching a wide range of successful new products & businesses at BSkyB & Sensis.
• Clayton currently provides interim management & turnaround services for large media and technology companies and has been a Board Director on a number of companies. 

Scott Sheppard

• Scott has held the position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International and Development) at Queensland University of Technology since February 2008.
• His previous role was the Minister-Counsellor (Education, Science and Training) at the Australian Embassy in Beijing where he was responsible for Australia’s education and science relationship with the People’s Republic of China. This followed a career in diplomatic roles in Australia, Hong Kong and China.
• In 2003, Scott was awarded a Centenary Medal for services to international relations.

Brian Richards

• Brian is a senior taxation partner of BDO (Qld), specialising in providing taxation advice for more than 30 years.
• As a taxation specialist, he consults to other accounting and legal firms, with particular focus in the areas of business restructuring, intellectual property transactions, small business CGT issues, tax planning matters and GST.

Ruth Drinkwater

• Ruth is CEO of Australian Association of Angel Investors Ltd, she holds extensive knowledge and understanding of investment at the early commercialisation stage and in start-up companies across a wide range of industry sectors.
• Ruth brings a strong background in due diligence, technology transfer and portfolio management with experience in investment, product development, value building, global strategic planning, and the management of technology.
• She has worked with approximately 50 technology-based and entrepreneurial start-up companies through their incubation phase in recent years.

Rod Wissler

• Rod is the Executive Dean of the Creative Industries Faculty at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Upon joining QUT in the early 1990s, Rod founded both the PhD program in the visual and performing arts and the multi-disciplinary Centre for Innovation in the Arts.  Most recently at QUT, he held the position of Dean of Research and Research Training.
•  Rod is an award-winning actor, director and producer.  He was CEO and Artistic Director of the Twelfth Night Theatre for seven years and is a former Member of the Theatre Board of the Australia Council.  In 1992, he directed the US premiere of Australian playwright Alma de Groen’s “The Rivers of China” and performed his second solo show “Brief Lives” for the Stony Brook International Theatre Festival in New York.
• A particular focus of his scholarly activity over the last decade has been doctoral education and the employability of PhD graduates for which he has received national and international recognition.
• He was also the founding Director of e-Grad School (Australia) a provider of online training and professional development in research and development management and commercialisation, Rod is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.