Main Course Films has hired Catherine Waldby to serve in the newly-created role of head of business and strategy.

Waldby, whose background is in financial services across banks such as Macquarie Group, Credit Suisse, Citibank, Barclays and Westpac, now joins the company formally after having acted as an advisor since January.

Main Course Films managing director Ben Allan said he was thrilled to have her on board.

“As head of business and strategy her formidable skills and connections will help us expand our international focus and deal making capacity across our diverse portfolio of film and TV projects,” Allan said.

Among Main Course Films’ projects is feature film Dark Noise, written and directed by co-creative director Clara Chong. The film is currently screening in cinemas, with the producers following a “geoinverted distribution strategy” to target suburban and regional markets before building towards prestige metro theatres at the end of the film’s run.

“The rapidly changing economics of the industry as we settle into the second stage of the streaming age and the changed relationship between the audience and cinemas in the post pandemic world have created a whole new set of challenges and opportunities for independent films,” Allan said.

On its development slate is an eight-part family action-adventure TV series set in both modern day and samurai Japan, and a feature film based on the re-imagining in Australia of the Japanese folk story Urashima Taro.

“The pace of change in the film and TV sector at the moment makes this a very significant time to be at the cutting edge both in terms of technology and how the market is changing around the world. I’m excited to be part of Main Course Films advancing in all of these areas,” said Waldby.

Waldby will represent Main Course Films at this year’s Screen Forever conference on the Gold Coast.

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