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The Australian Guild of Screen Composers is governed by board members elected at AGSC Annual General Meetings. Board members attend meetings and oversee the wide range of initiatives the Guild’s sub-committees drive. To find out more about the 2022-2023 elected board members, click on the links below or scroll down.

Dale Cornelius

President & Education Committee Chair

I have 20+ years experience as a full time screen composer with over 75 major production credits in scripted feature film, animation, television drama, documentary, and short film. I’ve also been an AGSC board director and Chair of its Education Committee since 20202. Some of the things I have helped establish in this time are:

• NORMAH (Network of Recording Musicians at Home) to help remote screen composers and/or composers dealing with low music budgets, to record with a curated list of top rated film & tv session musicians who can record themselves.
• Composer to Composer YouTube interview web series, highlighting Australian screen composers and their work practises.
• The NATSIMO-AGSC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Screen Composer Intensive, which is about to go into its second year.
• Free screen composition webinars for tertiary institutions nationally, delivering critical information to composition students about working in the industry and creating a sustainable career (i.e. understanding the value of copyright and publishing) and thereby creating a more informed and stronger screen composer community.
• The development of the AGSC’s new website, launched in 2021.

If elected, I will focus on building upon and strengthening the many programs the board has already established, whilst listening to members’ needs and creating new initiatives. A top priority for 2023 is having more community/networking in-person events, as well as establishing more membership benefits. Advocacy for all our members and the broader screen industry is a top priority for the AGSC, and I will continue to support the I.R. Committee (along with all AGSC committees) in their work, whilst starting to build relationships with other guilds internationally (particularly Europe and the UK) to gain and share knowledge around key industrial relations issues we all face.

Me-Lee Hay

Vice-President

I became a Board member in 2019 and then was elected to be Vice President in 2020. I am passionate about creating an environment for the Australian screen composer industry that is relevant to the times and engaged with the wider industry which will ultimately bring greater opportunity to all our members at all levels.

In times of new technological advances and economic challenges it is more important than ever to cultivate an environment that supports composers of all levels and of diverse backgrounds so that we have a sustainable future. I value the general ethos of having a guild to represent the common interest of an industry. With bigger numbers in membership brings greater bargaining power at all levels for sustainable work practices. As such I am also focussed on helping the organisation develop viable and sustainable workflows into the future given the limited resources to ensure a vibrant membership and organisation.

A bit about myself: I am a Malaysian born Chinese-Australian, with works shown across many platforms including Netflix, Australian TV channels SBSOne, Channel 7, Channel TEN, to mainstream cinemas across Australia to 360 degree dome planetariums internationally. Off screen I have been commissioned by leading arts companies of Australia such as Sydney Dance Company’s & Sydney Theatre Company and at the time of writing this was on tour composing and performing in UK for the Javaad Alipoor Theatre Company. I am a graduate of the Australian Film Television Radio School (AFTRS), am an Associate Composer Representative of the Australian Music Centre. I am published by Gaga Music and have been working as a film composer for 10 years.

As a volunteer for the AGSC, I am the Vice President of Operations of the Board, and on the Awards committee member, these are some of the issues I was involved in in the last 18 months:

• Recruitment of and training of the one part-time employee position of the AGSC (Operations Executive) – we have had 2 change of staff in 2022
• Liasing with the Awards Committee and chair (Burkhard Dalliwitz) to ensure transparency and broad representation on the Screen Music Awards
• Handing over of Events committee responsibilities to Pru Montin (the new chair) as we move out of COVID
• Ongoing member engagement via newsletters, online seminars and social media via training with Operations Executive
• Development of revised Rates Survey (with Antony Partos and Dale Cornelius) which is currently being disseminated for submissions
• Working closely with Gender Equity Committee chair Elizabeth Drake to develop and execute the Credit Maker Program
• Working with the Executive committee (Antony Partos and Dale Cornelius) to enhance relationship with APRA

Looking into the future, as my last year draws to a close I will ensure the Rates Survey data will be disseminated in a timely manner, look at streamlining more in-person events with Pru Montin and continue to work on succession planning from an interal operation perspective by working closely with our employee. Thank you for considering me as a Board Member for the AGSC.

Caitlin Yeo

Board Member & Events Committee Chair

I’m a multi award-winning screen composer coming up to 20 year’s experience, with over 65 credits across film, TV and documentary. I have served three full terms (of 5 years each) on the AGSC Board, including two and a half years as President.

During my tenure as AGSC President, I focussed on building a stronger, more inclusive Guild, lobbied for the rights of screen composers alongside APRA and other guilds, advocated for a more sustainable, equitable and diverse industry, raised awareness around health and well-being for our members, and fostered a more connected and supportive community. During this time, membership grew over 200%.

I am an APRA ambassador, and one of the founding members of the AGSC Gender Equity committee. From 2017-2019 I served as a member of the Screen Australia Gender Task Force to advise and consult with the agency on initiatives for increased representation of women and non-binary filmmakers in the industry.

I believe our community has immense strength, talent and resilience, with the power to work together to build a thriving and creatively rich Australian screen composer industry.

I would like to join the AGSC Board for a fourth time to continue to contribute to the Australian screen composer community, which I very much feel a part of, in the interest of making our industry an integral part of telling world class stories, both nationally and on the world stage.

Antony Partos

Board Member & Industrial Relations Committee Chair

Pru Montin

Board Member

Fiona Loader

Board Member & Secretary

B.Mus; LLB; M.Mus; Grad.Dip. Legal Practice; A.Mus; L.Mus; ATCL; LTCL

I am a qualified solicitor and have worked in the music industry for over 20 years. I was involved in legal, policy and special projects at APRA/AMCOS and also worked as the Manager of Educational licensing and Print Music, responsible for setting up new licence schemes in schools, universities and all areas of education in both Australia and New Zealand.

In addition, I worked on committees negotiating agreements with other collecting societies such as CAL, VISCOPY, ARIA and PPCA and dealing with peak organisations such as the Copyright Advisory Group (CAG), the AVCC (representing all the universities) and was chair of the Working Group of Reprographic Rights for IFRRO (the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations) where I represented both Australia and New Zealand on copyright issues both here and in Europe.

At APRA I wrote many of the corporate documents on copyright and delivered many hundreds of seminars around the country on licensing, copyright and related issues, often in conjunction with the Australian Copyright Council or CAG representatives.

Since leaving APRA in 2011, I worked as an advisor to the Australian Music Examination Board (AMEB) on copyright and legal issues and on specific projects. I was the music industry representative on the Music Council of Australia board (now called the Music Trust) and the Tertiary Music Institution accreditation board as well as the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Association.

In 2015 I went back to university to study composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where I completed a Master of Music (Composition) studying with Dr Paul Stanhope. My undergraduate degree was in piano performance from the Canberra School of Music (ANU).

I am interested in joining the board for the Guild of Screen Composers as I feel that my combined backgrounds in Law and Music could be useful. As a composer, I am of course very interested in the subject matter and would be keen to help composers succeed in the film, tv, gaming and other screen industries.

Stuart Smith

Treasurer

Since 1991, Stuart has been helping businesses and individuals with their financial, taxation and accounting requirements. He has assisted hundreds of businesses and thousands of individuals, establishing business structures for clients in numerous countries.

He has over 30 years of personal experience as a public accountant, a CFO for a multinational entity, and an affinity to businesses in the arts and creative industries.

Stuart has been involved with the AGSC since 2019, first supporting, then becoming Treasurer of the Guild. A love of music, a passion for the Arts, and a long-time ‘hobby’ guitarist, Stuart blends the financial and creative to provide knowledge and assistance to the Guild on all matters financial, including Film Investment and reinvestment matters, taxation and government support for the Guild.