Speaker Details

Full Name
Sally Riley
Company
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Title
Head of Drama, Entertainment and Indigenous
Country (Address)
Australia
Biography
Sally Riley is the Head of Scripted for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) where she is responsible for development and production of all Drama, Comedy, Entertainment and Indigenous programs.   

A proud Wiradjuri woman, Sally is a leading advocate for Indigenous perspectives, voices and stories. Sally’s previous role was the inaugural Head of ABC TV’s Indigenous Department where she pioneered ground-breaking productions such as Cleverman, Gods of Wheat Street, Black Comedy, 8MMM, The Warriors, and Redfern Now, the first series to be commissioned, written, acted and produced by Indigenous Australians.  

Under her leadership as Head of Scripted, Sally plays an integral role in re-shaping the slate by commissioning titles that not only champions bold Australian content but also attracts international co-productions such as Mystery Road produced by Bunya Productions and distributed by All3Media and Total Control produced by Blackfella Films which received it’s premiere screening at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.

Sally continues to elevate and evolve the Department’s initiatives in order to provide professional development opportunities for Indigenous filmmakers, creating enormous growth and a distinctive body of work.

As Head of Scripted, Sally Riley has commissioned multiple award-winning series such as The Newsreader, created by Michael Lucas, directed by Emma Freeman and starring Anna Torv and Sam Reid, as well as Mystery Road Origin, directed by Dylan River, starring Mark Coles-Smith and Tuuli Narkle. Both series won Best Television Drama Series at the 11th and 12th AACTA Awards respectively.