Powering Fundraising Through Your Networks & Communities  Masterclass: Online

Join us online at 10am on Tuesday 29 July for an inspiring masterclass exploring how to effectively leverage the power of networks and communities to drive successful fundraising campaigns. 

The panel includes: 

• Katrina Lucas - Producer, Songs Inside 

• Sal Balharrie - Director, Like My Brother 

• Petrina Dorrington - Executive Producer, Like My Brother 

• Kate Hodges - Executive Director, Shark Island Foundation 

• Moderated by Documentary Australia CEO Dr Mitzi Goldman,
  

Katrina, Sal and Petrina will share firsthand experiences on how developing a strong community, cultivating meaningful networks and building key stakeholder relationships have helped bring their powerful stories to the screen.

 

Kate will provide insights into the philanthropic landscape and offer valuable advice to filmmakers seeking grants and philanthropic funding. 

Together, they will discuss practical, actionable strategies for developing funding partnerships and engaging supporters, and explore how a combination of techniques, alongside traditional funding avenues such as grants and philanthropy, can be the perfect recipe for fundraising success. 

About the panellists

Katrina Lucas

Katrina is a multi-skilled, independent documentary filmmaker with over 15 years of industry experience. Her work has travelled to screens around the world including ABC, SBS, Al Jazeera, the UN Headquarters, Berlinale and Sundance. She spent over 10 years with award-winning production company Budaya Productions working with international and Australian TV broadcasters, NGOs and with First Nations communities. Katrina went on to join Closer Productions and produced A Field Guide to Being a 12-year-old-girl for ABCME, which won a Crystal Bear at the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival, and the animated documentary series A Game of Three Halves, which screened at Hot Docs 2021. Katrina is currently producing Songs Inside, a feature documentary and impact campaign focused on incarcerated women that won the 2024 Adelaide Film Festival Audience Award for Documentary and the 2025 Sydney Film Festival Documentary Australia Award. 

Sal Balharrie 

Sal’s creative journey started in advertising, where she wrote and directed over 20 short films for clients such as Ray Ban and The Australian Ballet. 

In 2013, Sal launched Naked Emperor, a production company with a focus on telling factual stories on the theme of ‘women as explorers, on some kind of adventure and what it takes to achieve personal best’.  

Her most recent project - written, produced and co-directed by Sal and Danielle MacLean - is the critically acclaimed, feature documentary Like My Brother, which premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival 2024 before a broader festival run and an Australian cinemas release with distribution by Mushroom Studios. 

 Riding the success and ongoing impacts of Like My Brother, Sal is set to direct her next feature Why Push It, exploring the competitive mindset of elite, female cyclists. 

Petrina Dorrington 

With over 30 years’ experience in the not-for-profit sector, Petrina Dorrington has held executive roles with Kids Under Cover, the Consumer Policy Research Centre, and the Melbourne International Film Festival, as well as holding board director positions at the Royal Children’s Hospital and the Spectrum Migrant Resource Centre. She’s known for turning bold ideas into impact, co-creating initiatives like Homes for Homes, Donate Your Car, and the Cubby House Challenge. 

For ten years, Petrina co-founded and ran the Café Pigdon 5-Minute Film Festival – a grassroots celebration of creativity that raised funds for Kids Under Cover while giving amateur filmmakers a big-screen moment. 

Driven by a belief that “if you don’t ask, you don’t get,” Petrina brings a fearless approach to fundraising. As Executive Producer of feature documentary Like My Brother, Petrina helped build a donor network that turned passion into tangible impact. 

Kate Hodges 

Kate is a documentary producer and Executive Director of Shark Island Foundation. Producing highlights include feature documentaries Wash My Soul in the River’s Flow, The Department and Frackman. She is Executive Producer of Shark Island’s recent release The Pool, and is currently in production on The Valley. Support for Frackman through Good Pitch Australia introduced her to the world of impact producing and she’s overseen the release and outreach strategies for a range of social issue films through Screen Australia-backed Screen Impact. Motivated by the potential of creating real conversation and community around documentaries, Kate is delighted to be supporting the sector through Shark Island Foundation. 

About Shark Island Foundation

Shark Island Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation dedicated to funding documentary filmmaking in Australia. We look to support outstanding stories that can add to the national conversation and help create a healthier and more just society. Through a series of grants, the Foundation supports a broad range of filmmakers, from established artists to new voices, telling stories from all perspectives, across a variety of subjects, capturing the full range of human experience.  

About the films

Like My Brother is a portrayal of four young Indigenous girls from the Tiwi Islands who dare to dream of playing Aussie Rules down south. Watch trailer.

Songs Inside is a compelling feature-length documentary that chronicles the transformative journey of a small group of women from the Adelaide Women’s Prison who, over six months, discovered the healing power of music. Watch trailer.

This masterclass is presented as part of the Impact Producer Program, which is supported by its major partners, The Snow Foundation, Screen Australia, Screen NSW, Minderoo Foundation and Dyson Bequest, plus venue partner Shark Island Institute.