ALYSHA HERRMANN

NGADJURI COUNTRY | SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Alysha Herrmann lives, loves, and creates from regional South Australia as an independent creative producer, writer, performance-maker, and community organiser, and the co-founder of regional arts co-operative Part of Things. Alysha makes and produces installations, experiences, presentations, poetry, digital exchanges, performances, screen experiences and other creative things in all kinds of strange places, including real-life loungerooms, train stations and backyards.

Alysha’s work is grounded in community arts and cultural development practice and she is dedicated to nurturing opportunities for regional communities and emerging artists to connect, create and experiment. Alysha writes and creates experiences about vulnerability, community, hope, grief, forgiveness and belonging.

She’s a long-time fantasy nerd and would love to write for videogames in the future. Alysha’s work as a writer spans creative non-fiction (memoir, essays), experimental digital writing, script writing (screen and theatre), other performance texts, short stories, long-form fiction, and poetry (written and spoken). Her recent work includes Where are you? for Theatre Republic’s Future: Present, Writing the River Rising for Country Arts SA, Guthrak for Under the Microscope, and Bush Food Cook Off 3175 for Illuminart’s Constellation. Her written work has been published by Routledge, UNSW Press, Currency Press, Saltbush Review, Griffith Review, Rochford Street Press and others.

Alongside smaller projects, Alysha is currently in the early stages of a 20-year collaborative fantasy-writing project in her home community (the Riverland region of South Australia) which was initiated through her 2021 Regional Arts Australia Fellowship.

After multiple sidequests, Alysha graduated from Deakin University with First Class Honours in Creative Writing in 2024 and a GradCert (Creative Business) from University of Canberra in 2023. She has won multiple awards for her creative and community work, including the Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Ruby Award, and has worked in formal producing and programming roles for Country Arts SA, Carclew, Ramble Arts, Writers SA and others. Alysha currently serves on the boards of Outback Theatre for Young People and Carclew. She also works as a high school Arts & English teacher in regional SA and is the parent of two gender-diverse legends.

Website: alyshaherrmann.com
Instagram: @lyeeoftheriver

BROOKE COLLARD

DJUGUN - YAWURU COUNTRY | WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Brooke Collard is a Ballardong/Whadjuk Noongar film producer and writer dedicated to telling bold, culturally grounded stories across film, television and games. Based in Broome, Western Australia, Brooke is a multidisciplinary artist of Noongar storytelling and contemporary screen practices. She is motivated by authentic representation for those who have been marginalised in media, such as stories of First Nations people and LGBTQIA+.

She is the founder of Goguljar Yok, a First Nations-led production company, and has produced award-winning short films including Aboriginal Warrior, Marlu Man and Anangu Way. Brooke has worked across podcasting to digital games (Buru and the Old People, Broken Roads, and Fear of a Blak Planet). Their work reflects a commitment to truth-telling, cultural preservation, and with a passion in technological innovation.

Brooke has participated in national and international development labs, including WINDA’s Native Fellowship for 2026, Netflix’s highly competitive Broad Horizons, SPA Ones To Watch 2021. With a primary focus on facilitating stories that uplift others and help on the journey of healing, Brooke is a firm believer in "No Stories About Us, Without Us".

Brooke is currently working on a First Nations horror film Reclamation, that centres around religion and Noongar culture. With many other First Nations genre films on the way.

Website: goguljaryok.com
Instagram: @brooke__collard

TRAVIS AKBAR

PERMANGK COUNTRY | SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Travis Akbar is a Wongutha man and filmmaker based on Peramangk Country in the Adelaide Hills. He is an award-winning filmmaker and works as a writer, director, and producer and explores themes of identity, truth, and resilience, often centering First Nations voices.

In 2024 Travis won Best Emerging First Nations Practitioner at the SASA Awards. His film Tambo (2023) was selected for 14 festivals and won several awards and honourable mentions, while other projects were also selected for Festivals and received awards. Travis has been selected for some of the most competitive Australian talent programs, including AFTRS Talent Camp, AiF Untapped, SAFC Film Lab 2, and Netflix & SPA's Broad Horizons and has further developed his craft through workshops with Matchbox Pictures, Hoodlum Entertainment, and SAFC.

In 2024 he was also selected for the prestigious Adelaide Film Festival Goes to Cannes, attending the Cannes Film Festival as part of an Australian delegation. From 2025, Travis has written, produced and directed more short films, leading to being a producer on the 2026 horror-comedy film BESIEGED, filmed in Central Queensland.

Website: nyawapictures.com
Instagram: @travakbar