David Court is a restless innovator who has made a 40-year career in the film industry as an adviser, financier, publisher and teacher. While still in his 20s he was the architect of a film bank that invested more than a billion dollars in Australian films and
TV shows. Later he led the feasibility study for Sydney’s first major studio development; co-wrote a groundbreaking review of the New Zealand film industry with filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson; and pioneered a Hollywood-style greenlight process to identify promising medical research at the Sydney Children’s Hospitals. He has been involved in the financing of such hit films as Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom, John Weiley’s
Antarctica and Dean Covell’s The Wiggles Movie. Court was the founding Head of Screen Business at the Australian Film Television & Radio School and now leads the Compton School, Australia’s first business school for creative people. His PhD, from the Australian National University, mapped the political economy of the copyright system. ‘The movie industry is a crucible where money and talent are refined down to their essence. It has so much to teach us about business, creativity and human nature.’