John Smithies, Director, (appointed December 2005)
John has studied and worked extensively in the field of cinema programming, new media arts exhibitions, and screen education. He studied at the Tasmanian School of Art, the South Australian School of Art, Monash University and the Academy of Fine Art Karlsruhe, Germany. From 1992, John was Director of the State Film Centre of Victoria until its merger with Film Victoria in 1997 to form Cinemedia. At Cinemedia, John was Deputy Director, with prime responsibility for developing the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI). John was Chief Executive Officer of Cinemedia in 2000, and became the first CEO for the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in March 2002. He was responsible for opening the new public facilities at Federation Square in Melbourne in October 2002. In addition to his role as Director of CDN, John still works on new and innovative technology based projects and is returning to development of his own arts practice.
Contact John

Kim Dunphy, Program Manager (appointed October 2004)
Kim came to CDN after experience in local government at the Cities of Hobsons Bay and Melbourne. Kim’s long standing interest in the contribution of arts to community life has been played out in diverse roles including those of community artist and educator in primary, secondary, tertiary and community sectors. Kim’s Masters thesis investigated the role of community cultural groups for Maori migrants in Melbourne and her work in the area of movement and dance for people with intellectual disabilities was distilled into the book Freedom to Move (McLennan and Petty, 2003). Kim has been a dance critic for The Age and managed community centres in Hampton and Altona North. Between 2002 and 2008, Kim was also Director of Kita Performing Arts Company where she worked with Asian artists to share their cultural traditions with Australian audiences. She is Past-President of Ausdance Victoria, a Board member of the Arts Management Advisory Group and Vice-President of the Dance Therapy Association of Australia and has been a panel member for Arts Victoria’s ‘Arts Creation’ category. Kim works part-time with CDN while she completes her PhD thesis exploring the role of participatory arts in social change in East Timor.
Contact Kim

Lyndall Metzke, Administrator (appointed September 2010)
Lyndall discovered her passion for music when she was six years old while attending a school in upstate New York during a one-year family exchange.  When she was ten she began clarinet lessons and this led to her later gaining a music scholarship to University High School. Lyndall attended the Conservatorium at the University of Melbourne specialising in Arts Administration and has a Master of Arts and Entertainment Management from Deakin University. Lyndall has worked for a variety of arts organisations during her twenty-year career including the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, the Melbourne International Festival for the Arts and the Faculty of the Victorian College of the Arts and Music, the University of Melbourne. One of the highlights of Lyndall’s career was working in orchestra management at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London for a production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle conducted by Bernard Haitink. Lyndall is a keen advocate for community arts and had been a member of the Stonnington Arts Reference group since 2003. She is also an Advisory Group member for the Melbourne Prize for Music.
Contact Lyndall

CDN Contractors

CDN’s work is supported by a team of specialist contractors:

Meredith Windust of Figures Are Us
Kitka Hiltula of Kitka Web Design
Alan Reddick of Reddick Design

CDN Support Team 2010

CDN support team 2010 (from L to R back):

Meredith Windust (finances), Lyndall Metzke (Administrator), John Smithies (Director), Kim Dunphy (Program Manager), Kitka Hiltula, (website), Monique Mahony (intern)
(front): Alan Reddick (IT/membership system),  Jon Hawkes