Advance Awards Commercial Creatives Category Finalist
A global leader shaping film and television industry policy, Jess Conoplia has actively lead on-screen sector development, diversity and advocacy for members world-wide. As President of the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI) Jess is at the helm of the only global organisation bringing together film commissions, government stakeholders and industry to inform on best practice and drive economic growth. She works to ensure connectivity between these parties in the continents where AFCI members operate. Under Conoplia’s leadership, AFCI has grown to include members in countries such as Mongolia, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Greece, Panama, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Estonia and Cyprus. She advocates for a strong screen sector where both infrastructure and professional development are supported in a fair, sustainable and diverse manner. Further, she believes that, the might of the film and television industry can play a significant role in fostering economic recovery post-COVID.
Jess has over 20 years of experience across both public and private sectors including Global 500 companies. She has held senior roles with the British Film Commission and Screen Queensland, which attracted billions of dollars in inward investment and, resulted in resulting in sizable industry growth during her tenure (The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, The Mummy, Transformers: The Last Knight, Jurassic World, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Outlander, The Night Manager. In addition to her Film Commission work, she was Global Executive Director of the China Hollywood Society is a member of BAFTA LA and was elected to its Film Committee in 2020. She is also a member of the Advisory Board for WIFTI (Women in Film and Television International) alongside other leaders in the global screen sector. In the last 12 months at AFCI, Jess has founded and helmed a number of critical studies including the first-of-kind, worldwided Diversity Report 2020 in partnership with TIME’S UP Foundation and the Best Practice in Screen Sector Development report, conducted by Olsberg SPI (UK). This report is considered the blueprint for sector development, globally.
