CHERIE NOWLAN
In conversation with Rowan Woods
The Australian Directors Guild with the University of Technology Sydney present the Directors’ Deep Dive 2025 series featuring Australian screen directors in conversation, introduced by Associate Professor Alex Munt (UTS) and moderated by acclaimed director Rowan Woods (ADG). This new series will focus on the working life of Australia’s screen directors in the face of rapid technological change and reconfiguration of the’ screenscape’, across film, streaming television and digital media.
Cherie Nowlan, whose directing career spans continents, formats, and genres, kicks off this series, in conversation with fellow director and ADG board member Rowan Woods.
Tickets are for ADG members only, and available for FREE HERE
Cherie Nowlan is an awarding winning director and executive producer of film and television, working extensively in the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Cherie is an Executive Producer and Director of the critically acclaimed Netflix series, THE SURVIVORS (2025), produced by Tony Ayres Productions. The series reached #2 on the Netflix global streaming charts. Cherie’s career has spanned film and television in Australia and the USA. Her many credits include some of Netflix’s biggest hits – YOU, OUTERBANKS, and CLICKBAIT, as well as Amazon’s SNEAKY PETE and THE WILDS, which was nominated for a GLADD award, and Hulu’s REPRISAL and HELSTROM (Marvel). She also directed two US pilots including MISTRESSES for ABC as well as SUITS, ANIMAL KINGDOM, SEAL TEAM, HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, GREY’S ANATOMY, THE GOOD DOCTOR, LAW & ORDER ORGANISED CRIME, CHICAGO MED, CHICAGO PD, RIVERDALE and the comedy series, YOUNG ROCK, CLAWS and SPEECHLESS. Cherie’s Australian credits include the multi award-winning limited series, MARKING TIME, for which Cherie won an AFI (AACTA) Award for Best Director. Her 2007 feature, CLUBLAND (aka INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS), starring Brenda Blethyn, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for 11 AFI (AACTA) awards including Best Director and Best Actress. Cherie’s first feature, THANK GOD HE MET LIZZIE (1997), starred Cate Blanchett, Frances O’Connor and Richard Roxburgh, and was nominated for 5 AFI Awards.
Rowan Woods is an Australian screen director and Board Member of the Australian Directors Guild (ADG). He is also Coordinator of the Australian Coalition for Cultural Diversity (ACCD), consisting of major Australian screen organizations, guilds, and collection agencies. He recently completed a 6-year stint as Head of Directing at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) and is currently completing a PHD at the University of Technology in Sydney. Rowan Woods’ debut feature film THE BOYS premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival (1998) and won Best Director at the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards. His second feature film LITTLE FISH (2005) starred Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving and was nominated for 13 AFI Awards. Rowan Woods has also directed many TV and streamed series. Highlights include: an ADG Award for Best Direction in a Telemovie for THE BROKEN SHORE (2013); Special Jury Prize at Series Mania for THE KETTERING INCIDENT (2016); and a BAFTA for NOWHERE BOYS (2019).
