John Smithies has studied and worked extensively in the field of cinema programming, new media arts and screen education. John was Director of the State Film Centre of Victoria, then CEO of Cinemedia. He became the first CEO for the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in March 2002 with responsibility for opening the new public facilities at Federation Square. John resigned from ACMI in April 2004, taking on shorter term management and consulting roles. 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.