e Walking Dead Keynote

Screen Producers Australia in association with Film Victoria and the Victorian Government are delighted to announce Gale Anne Hurd, Executive Producer of two time Emmy award winning The Walking Dead and producer of Academy Award winning films including The Terminator, Aliens, The Terminator 2: Judgment Day and The Abyss, as the keynote guest speaker for SCREEN FOREVER 2014, the premier industry conference for the screen industry in Australia.

The Walking Dead is an American post-apocalyptic drama television series based on the comic book of the same name. It premiered its fifth season in the US on Sunday 12 October and notched up a viewership of 17.3 million making it the most-watched drama series telecast in basic cable history. The premiere was express broadcast in Australia by Foxtel's FX channel on Monday 13 October ranking #1 on STV with a total of 191,000 viewers tuning into FX and FX+2 across the entire day. The Walking Dead reigns as the most-watched scripted drama among adults 18-49 (with over 12 million viewers), and is also the highest rating series on cable television in the US.

Gale Anne Hurd, known as the First Lady of Sci-Fi, began as executive assistant at Roger Corman's New World Pictures. Hurd's career as a producer was launched when she produced and co-wrote The Terminator. The film received critical and commercial acclaim, including TIME Magazine's 10 Best List .

This success was followed by Aliens, which received seven nominations and two Academy Awards, and the Academy Award winning films The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and The Ghost and the Darkness. Hurd's additional feature credits include the Academy Award nominated Armageddon, The Incredible Hulk, Tremors, Dante's Peak, on Flux, The Punisher, Dick and The Waterdance, which won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, and both the Audience and Screenplay Awards at the Sundance Film Festival.

Hurd's television career commenced as Executive Producer of The Walking Dead. The series has garnered two Emmy wins and was nominated by the Television Critics Association for Program of the Year in 2012. Hurd is also a Consulting Producer on AMC's top-rated spinoff talk show, Talking Dead, which recently logged 5.9 million viewers, a new series high.

Hurd's company, Valhalla Motion Pictures, has an overall deal with Universal Cable Productions to develop new television and digital programs. She is actively developing a number of television projects, and will serve as a producer for AMCs exciting new pilot, a companion series to The Walking Dead.

Hurd's recent film, Very Good Girls, starring Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen, premiered as an official selection at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically this summer. In October 2012, Hurd received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This October she will be inducted into the International Women's Forum Hall of Fame, which features such honorees as Rosa Parks, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Audrey Hepburn.

Film Victoria's CEO Jenni Tosi said We are thrilled to have been able to secure Ms Hurd's attendance at this year's SCREEN FOREVER conference. She is an inspiration to writers and producers around the world, and particularly to women in our industry. We look forward to welcoming Ms Hurd to Melbourne and introducing her to our talented practitioners .

We appreciate the enormous support Film Victoria provides the SCREEN FOREVER conference in helping us deliver an event that contributes to the state of Victoria and our screen industry nationally, said Matthew Deaner, Executive Director, Screen Producers Australia.

We are honoured that Ms Hurd will be able to meet our community of highly respected and award winning producers at SCREEN FOREVER and joins the great lineage of global talent that our conference attracts each year.

Gale Anne Hurd will present an In Conversation session at SCREEN FOREVER 2014 on Tuesday, 18th November at 4.15pm.

Click here to register for SCREEN FOREVER 2014.

LINK:	http://screenproducersaustralia.org.au/news/the-walking-dead-executive...
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