MinterEllison Future Directors Initiative

Supporting our commitment to fostering the professional development of Australia’s next directors.

The MinterEllison Future Directors Initiative creates career pathways for aspiring theatre directors, contributing to both Melbourne Theatre Company's ongoing investment in local artists and to the sustainability of the arts sector.

Providing paid placements for assistant directors to work alongside senior theatre directors on a Melbourne Theatre Company production, the Initiative provides an invaluable opportunity for participants to learn about the process of developing productions for large-scale companies and will encourage fresh, new voices and perspectives to the stories we tell in the future.

Each assistant director will gain practical experience, hone skills and develop relationships that will support taking the next steps in their careers.

Learn more about past participants here.

Major Partner

Aubrey Flood

Never Have I Ever

Liv Satchell

The Removalists

Linnea Tengroth

Destiny

Marni Mount

Much Ado About Nothing

Aubrey Flood

Never Have I Ever

Aubrey Flood (she/her) is a Filipino-Australian director and performer based in Naarm. A graduate of the Ballarat Arts Academy in musical theatre, Aubrey has also trained extensively as an actor and theatre maker with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company in New York. She was a cast member of What If If Only (Melbourne Theatre Company) and participated in the 2023 Cybec Electric series alongside Trudy Dunn on Malacañang Made Us by Jordan Shea. Aubrey made her directorial debut with HOT.FAT.CRAZY (Melbourne International Comedy Festival/Melbourne Fringe Festival). The show won the South Australia Touring Award and received multiple Green Room Award nominations, including Outstanding Direction for Cabaret. Aubrey has also served as assistant director on Diwa and the new Filipino-Australian musical LOLA!. She is currently performing in Imagine Live!, which will tour nationally in 2025. Aubrey is excited to be part of the MinterEllison Future Directors 2025 cohort.

Liv Satchell

The Removalists

Liv Satchell is a theatre maker, writer, dramaturg and community organiser committed to building platforms for independent artists and producing original work through her company VIMH. She made her mainstage debut in 2024 with Nayika: A Dancing Girl (Belvoir), co-created and co-directed with Nithya Nagarajan. Her work through VIMH includes Ballkids (or, scenes from a friendship), co-directed with Julian Dibley-Hall (La Mama); The Grief Trilogy (La Mama); SIRENS by Benjamin Nichol (Melbourne Fringe Festival). She has been nominated for Best Director four times at the Green Room Awards and both I sat and waited but you were gone too long and let bleeding girls lie from The Grief Trilogy won Best New Writing for Independent Theatre. She was awarded the 2024 Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award and the inaugural New Writing Award, supported by Melbourne Theatre Company as part of Melbourne Fringe Festival, for Ballkids (or, scenes from a friendship).

Linnea Tengroth

Destiny

Linnea Tengroth is an award-winning theatre maker and performer, celebrated for her contributions to intercultural theatre with a focus on women's stories. She is a graduate of Calle Flygare Theatre School and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (2019). Linnea premiered her solo show Black Girl Rising (Melbourne Fringe Festival), earning the award for Best Work by an Emerging Artist, as well as a nomination for Best in Theatre and five Judge's Picks. Her credits include Plastic Planet (WAAPA), which represented WAAPA at the 2018 Asia Pacific Bureau Theatre Festival; Hair (Perth FRINGE WORLD Festival); HUNK (Livet Bitch Scenkonst); and Flamingos (Dead Puppet Society) at the 2023 Brisbane Festival. Linnea’s dynamic and original storytelling continues to captivate audiences across Australia and internationally.

Marni Mount

Much Ado About Nothing

Marni Mount is a director, actor, and dramaturg living and working in Naarm/Melbourne. She is a graduate of the Australian National University and the Victorian College of the Arts and has worked extensively as an independent artist in Naarm, and in her hometown of Canberra. Marni is delighted to be making her debut with Melbourne Theatre Company as part of the 2025 MinterEllison Future Directors Initiative, having interned with the company in 2023 on Escaped Alone and What If If Only. Recent directing credits include POTUS, Or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive (Lightning Jar Theatre); MinusOneSister (Double Bluff); The Camel (Flick Flick City), and the critically acclaimed world premiere of Trophy Boys (The Maybe Pile, Soft Tread Enterprises). Marni was the 2024 Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre Hansen Graduate Director and is a part of the 2025 Malthouse Artist Development Program.