Courtney Gibson wearing a red blazer and glasses
Red capital letter C on a transparent background.

Strategic by nature,

Creative by design.

Logo with red circle featuring letter 'C' next to text 'Type'

Bio.

Roles

Courtney Gibson Chan is a recognised leader and changemaker in Australia’s screen, arts and cultural sectors, with a track record across executive leadership, content strategy, industry development and public policy.

As a CEO, senior executive and board director, Courtney has helmed government agencies, broadcasters, production companies and arts organisations, removing barriers to access to build thriving creative ecosystems underpinned by innovation in storytelling, and leading through periods of transformation to deliver record increases in audience and investment.

Strategy and Leadership

Courtney’s roles have spanned the public and private sectors: From national broadcasters to state screen agencies, and production companies of all sizes, her leadership has helped shape the screen and creative industries from every vantage point. With deep expertise in strategy, partnerships and investment, Courtney has a rare ability to bridge government, business and creative practice. 

C-Type

As the founder and principal of C-Type, Courtney works with business, government and creatives to reimagine the future, offering strategic insight, executive leadership and a rare ability to align creative ambition with structural and strategic rigour.

Widely respected for her ability to inspire teams, navigate complexity and build consensus in fast-changing environments, Courtney brings purpose and passion to every engagement: Whether leading strategic reviews, envisioning cultural places and precincts or developing creative and business strategies, she offers a unique combination of creative intuition, operational pragmatism and fearless leadership, always with a focus on impact, advocacy and access.

Courtney Gibson with glasses wearing a shirt with different coloured sleeves against a plain background.

C-Suite Roles.

    • Made successful business cases to secure three brands new strands of state government funding: Games Development; First Nations; and Screen Business Development.

    • Partnered with Tourism Events Queensland and City of Gold Coast to attract the AACTAs to locate to the Gold Coast.

    • Secured state funding to partner with Screen Producers Australia and City of Gold Coast to host Screen Forever on the Gold Coast.

    • Worked with staff and Board to finalise the 2023-2026 SQ Strategic Plan

    • Oversaw management of state screen infrastructure across multiple studio sites.

    • Attracted large-scale local & international production including Mortal Kombat II, Apples Never Fall, La Brea, How to Make Gravy and Spit. 

    • Made a successful proposal for new state funding, delivering the inaugural Made in NSW fund, enabling NSW to remain Australia’s lead state for screen production.

    • Under my leadership NSW increased its share of the national Drama Production spend from 40% in FY2015 to 55% in FY2016.

    • High-profile projects attracted to the state included Peter Rabbit, Jackie Chan’s Bleeding Steel, Ridley Scott’s Alien Covenant and Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake: China Girl

    • The 50:50 by 2020 Gender Target mandated female participation in TV Drama & Features, delivering gender parity for female key creatives within two years.

    • Screenability NSW provided paid attachments for practitioners with disability; expanded to become Createability NSW, with paid attachments across the arts and creative industries. Screenability continues as an annual Sydney Film Festival sidebar, while Createability is set for a national pilot.

    • Partnered with Australians in Film (AiF) to co-found Charlies, the AiF HQ in Los Angeles, providing workspaces, screenings and partnered industry development programs for Australian screen creatives in Hollywood.

    • Introduced myriad new partnered programs, including: 

    • The ABC-Screen NSW Arts Documentary Feature Fund in partnership with the ABC & Sydney Film Festival.

    • 360 Vision, Australia’s first XR conference, with ABC, Austrade, Event Cinemas, Screen Australia, AFTRS & Carriageworks 

    • SheDoc with Documentary Australia Foundation and RODE Microphones 

    • She Shoots, a skills development program placing women in Reality TV camera & audio roles, in partnership with Matchbox, Women NSW, Foxtel, Seven, VA Digital Hire & AFTRS.

    • Created several high-profile annual awards: 

    • The Sydney UNESCO City of Film Award, presented at the Sydney Film Festival to a screen practitioner whose work stands for innovation, imagination and impact. Winners include Debbie Lee, Leah Purcell, Warwick Thornton, Lynette Wallworth and Blackfella Films. 

    • The Annette Kellerman Award, in partnership with Australians in Film & Vogue Australia, presented in LA to an Australian female ‘doing it her way in Hollywood.’ Winners include Hannah Gadsby, Ruby Rose & Handmaid’s Tale Director Kate Dennis.

    • Led the transformation of South Australia into an international production destination by securing Warner Bros’ Mortal Kombat, delivering $70m in state spend & adding a new flank of the country to Australia’s international production attraction offering.

    • Attracted a further $30m+ production expenditure with highly successful series such as Stateless, Upright, Aftertaste, Wanted, First Day & The Hunting

    • Introduced a period of unprecedented investment in SA, from 3% of the national drama spend in FY2017 to 10% in FY2018; with a further rise to 15% of the national spend in FY2019. 

    • Expanded the SAFC remit to include games development and podcasting. 

    • Oversaw management of state screen infrastructure – studios as well as a full precinct with 50+ screen business and games developer tenants.

    • Created of the Adelaide Studios Artist Residency, in partnership with the Samstag Museum, the Adelaide Film Festival and philanthropic sources. 

    • Created and recruited Indigenous Executive & Disability Strategy Executive roles, both CEO-direct reports. 

    • Introduced the Doing It Differently initiative to re-think conventional, non-family-friendly production methodologies in response to research by Women in Film & Television (WIFT) Australia and RMIT. 

    • Conceived and co-developed Centralised, an indigenous skills & content development initiative in South Australia & the NT, in partnership with Screen NT, Screen Australia, the ABC, SBS and AFTRS. 

    • Delivered gender parity for female key creatives in SA across TV drama, factual and feature films in the 2018-19 year. 

    • Led the ABC TV genre heads to develop a three-year network Content Strategy and managed the development, financing, commissioning and production of all Australian programs & content on ABC1, ABC2, ABC Online and then-fledgling ABC iView, including then-brand-new ABC iview, including Factual, Science, Natural History, First Nations, Documentary, Arts, Drama, Entertainment, Comedy, Sport and Events.

    • Collaboratively developed & communicated the creative vision for the broadcaster to all teams and stakeholders.

    • Highlights of this time include conceiving & facilitating the drama series Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo, securing the TV adaptation of The Slap; driving the development & production of Q&A; live coverage of The Apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples in 2008, the annual Anzac Day services at Gallipoli and Villers-Bretonneux, and developing & implementing the ABC Sports strategy, with its focus on indigenous, Women’s and Paralympic sport, including the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.

    • Developed & delivered some of the most successful shows in the network’s history, including Spicks & Specks, The New Inventors, The Einstein Factor, Chris Lilley’s We Can Be Heroes and Summer Heights High, The Chaser’s War on Everything, At the Movies with Margaret and David, Strictly Dancing, The Book Club with Jennifer Byrne and Triple J TV, along with history series The Way We Were and the annual public-voted specials My Favourite Book with Jennifer Byrne, My Favourite Film with Margaret Pomeranz and My Favourite Album with Myf Warhurst.

    • Led the development, financing, commissioning and production of arts series made in partnerships with Australia’s Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums, including Hidden Treasures with Betty Churcher and the National Gallery, and Face Painting with Bill Leak with the National Portrait Gallery.

    • Led the development, financing, commissioning & production of of 100+ hours of music, comedy & theatre specials in partnerships with Australia’s major festivals and performing arts organisations & venues.

    • Partnered with Penrith Regional Gallery and Campbelltown Art Centre to celebrate 50 years of public broadcasting by allowing 50 artists unfettered access to the ABC Archives to make new art work for the joint exhibition Yours, Mine and Ours, as well as a prime-time long-form documentary about same.

    • Member of Nine’s Programming Executive and Executive in Charge of Production on Married at First Sight (Series 1), Australia’s Got Talent & The Great Australian Bake Off.

    • Initiated the development of No Activity for Stan, the first original series to be developed & commissioned by an Australian streamer. 

    • Worked with the founders as they reframed the company profile to expand its output from Comedy to Drama.

    • With UNSW I co-created The Cli-fi Partnership, engaging ABC TV, AFTRS and Screen Australia to bring twelve of the world’s leading climate scientists together with around fifty of Australia’s leading screenwriters and producers, to develop climate fiction series.

    • Home of Big Brother, , Offspring, Puberty Blues, Hi 5, Deal or No Deal. Led the development & production of the non-scripted slate.

    • Commissioned long-form prime-time documentaries and factual series, including long-running migration series Tales from a Suitcase and regional series Australia by Numbers, as well as a range of documentaries focused on the Stolen Generations, all written, produced & directed by the first wave of Australia’s indigenous screen makers.

Recipient of the 2017 Cecil Holmes Award.

Presented occasionally by the Australian Directors’ Guild, the highest honour it bestows. 

“The ADG is presenting this award to Courtney Gibson in recognition of her work in promoting female directors through her positive programs at Screen NSW. She single-handedly initiated programs and policy that ensured female directors would be more equally represented in all screen production.”