APSA Advisory Board

Michael Hawkins is a company director of diverse commercial experience. In addition to being the Executive Chairman of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, his roles include Executive Director of the National Association of Cinema Operators – Australasia, Chair of the Australian International Movie Convention and Director of the Intellectual Property Awareness Foundation Ltd. He is also Deputy Chairman of Screen Queensland and a director of several other private companies. He serves on the Foundations of the Queensland State Library and the University of Queensland Diamantina Research Institute. He was formerly CEO of Australian Multiplex Cinemas Ltd. He is a lawyer by training and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Des Power AM is an award-winning filmmaker, a writer, former journalist and foreign correspondent and chairman of a number of prominent boards in the film and events industries in Australia. He was instrumental in the development and establishment of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and the global partnerships with UNESCO and FIAPF – International Federation of Film Producers Associations. During APSA’s detailed four-year feasibility stage (2003-2006), he conducted more than 100 face-to-face meetings with members of the international film industry, broadcasters, governments and cultural organisations, and led the APSA team from its inception in 2007 until 2013. In 2006, he was honoured with an AM – Order of Australia – for his services to tourism, film, broadcasting and the community.

As Chairman of Rowland, one of Australia’s premier strategic communication organisations which is globally affiliated with one of the world’s largest communication groups FleishmanHillard, Geoff is widely recognised as a leader in the profession, bringing exceptional experience to the Asia Pacific Screen Awards Advisory Board. He is also currently Deputy Chairman of St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace, a Director of the Lord Mayor’s Business Round Table, a Committee Member of the Edmund Rice Foundation, a Strategic Adviser to InterFinancial Ltd and an Adjunct Professor of the University of Queensland School of Journalism and Communication. He has held a number of other Board and committee positions over the years, as well as several key industry positions, including Vice President of the Public Relations Institute of Australia (Qld), Chairman of the Registered Consultancies Group, and Executive Councillor of the Australian Marketing Institute. In 2012, Geoff was named “Business Person of the Year” at the Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Business Awards.

Harvey Lister is the Director of AEG Ogden, with 21 venues under management as part of the AEG Worldwide network of 130+ venues. In Brisbane, AEG Ogden operates the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre and Suncorp Stadium. Harvey is a 40 year veteran of the sport, entertainment, live theatre, conventions and exhibitions industries, with the past 30 years of which including management of major public assembly facilities throughout the Asia Pacific region. He is currently a Founding Member of the Venue Management Association (Asia Pacific), Member of the International Association of Venue Managers, and an Adjunct Professor to the School of Tourism at the University of Queensland. Harvey was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in 2002 for his contribution to the entertainment industry, the Queensland Premier’s Special Award in 2012 for outstanding contribution to Queensland’s export profile, the University of South Carolina, USA International Executive in Sport and Entertainment Award in 2007, and the Washington DC Feld Entertainment Barnum Award in 2009 for excellence in global venue management.