Heather Croall

Heather Ann Croall AM (born 1967) is an international arts CEO, artistic director and documentary producer, best known for leading Sheffield Doc/Fest which she grew to be one of the best documentary festivals in the world and Adelaide Fringe where she has taken ticket sales from 500,000 a year to a million each year and won many awards for the festival. She is also known for her work on live music / archive films including The Big Melt, From the Sea to the Land Beyond, Girt By Sea, From Scotland With Love, Atomic, Living in Dread and Promise

Heather Croall AM
Born	1967 (age 57–58) Blackpool
Nationality	Australian and British[1]
Occupations	CEO and Artistic Director, Adelaide Fringe Director, Crossover
Known for	Co-producer, The Big Melt, From the Sea to the Land Beyond, From Scotland with Love, Girt by Sea, and others

In 2024 Heather Croall AM was awarded an Order of Australia for her services to the arts and film. In 2023 Croall won SALife Person of the Year and graduated from MIT Sloan School of Management. In 2022, Croall won the Festival Management CEO of the Year 2022 (Australia) as voted by CEO Monthly magazine. Heather Croall won the Leadership Award at the 2020 SA Woman Awards and in 2021, Croall was nominated as Leader of the Year in the South Australian Woman of the Year Awards. In 2011 Croall was named one of Realscreen's annual trailblazers, and in 2013 the Alliance of Women Film Journalists named Croall Ambassador of Women's Films for the year, for her work "to boost documentary film and open opportunities for women filmmakers". In 2014 Croall was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University. In 2015 she received Sheffield Doc/Fest's Inspiration Award. In 2021 Croall was awarded the Superhero Award at the DocEdge Festival in New Zealand. In 2023, Croall was listed in Top 10 Most Admired Women Leaders.^[2]

In February 2015 she left Sheffield Doc/Fest to take up the position of CEO and artistic director of the Adelaide Fringe, with her contract there extended until 2027.

Early life

Croall was born in Blackpool in 1967 and lived in Sheffield until the age of five, when her family emigrated to South Australia.^[3] She grew up in Whyalla, South Australia and went to boarding school at Pembroke in Adelaide. After graduating from high school in 1983, she lived in London for some years where she worked at Sadlers Wells Theatre.

Career

In 1993, Croall set up a production company, Re Angle Pictures, to produce and direct documentaries. In 2020 she Produced and Directed a documentary about her dad and her home town of Whyalla called “Yer Old Faither” it won the audience award at Adelaide Film Festival and was selected for Glasgow Film Festival and others. Her 1999 film Paradise Bent: Boys will be Girls in Samoa won the Silver Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival.^[4] She continued her career at the South Australian Film Corporation, and also produced digital and documentary strands at the Adelaide Fringe.^[4] In 2001, she developed Crossover, an organisation which works with technologists, coders, artists, performers, filmmakers, writers and more to create new interdisciplinary projects.

From 2003, Croall worked for the Australian International Documentary Conference, where she became CEO and Festival Director and developed the MeetMarket pitching event.^[1] Croall then set up the MeetMarket at Sheffield Docfest in 2006 and it is still a central part of that festival.

Sheffield Doc/Fest

In 2006, Croall was invited to become CEO and festival director at Sheffield Doc/Fest.^[5] When she joined the festival, it was a two-day event attracting 500 delegates and 2000 public attendees. Croall widened it to a five-day event with 3000 delegates and 25,000 public attendees.^[6] She found new funding which tripled the budget in two years,^[7] and changed the date of the festival from November to June. She brought in the MeetMarket pitching forum, which in 2011 generated £5.6 million worth of business for producers.^[8] She also added year-round training and events alongside the festival.^[3]

Variety magazine said Croall lifted Doc/Fest "into the premier league of international doc events".^[9] In 2012 Croall sat on the US Documentary jury at the Sundance Film Festival,^[10] and she was on the 25th anniversary advisory committee for PBS's POV documentary series.^[1] In 2015 she was awarded Sheffield Doc/Fest's Inspiration Award.

Adelaide Fringe

In February 2015, Croall left Doc/Fest to become CEO and festival director of the Adelaide Fringe, with her contract extended to 2020 after two successful festivals.^[11][12][13] Her contract was extended again to 2024 and to 2026.

Croall has taken Adelaide Fringe ticket sales from 500,000 to 1 million a year. She has spearheaded the philanthropic arm at Adelaide Fringe, setting up the Donor Circle and other donation avenues and fundraising which has led to $1million per year in grants being dispersed to artists. Croall has grown the marketplace outcomes at Adelaide Fringe 10fold in her time at the organisation.

In August 2016, under Croall's leadership, the Adelaide Fringe began an official partnership with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.^[14]

Filmography

Croall has co-produced a number of films, in which directors edit together archive footage on a particular theme, soundtracked by original music.^{[citation needed]}

• In 2020 Croall produced and directed “Yer Old Faither” a documentary about her father who immigrated from Glasgow to the remote town of Whyalla. The film was supported by the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund and Screen Australia and the South Australian Film Corporation as well as significant crowd funding through Documentary Australia Foundation. “Yer Old Faither” premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival where it won the Audience Award. It also screened at Glasgow Film Festival and is available on the DocPlay channel in Australia.
• In 2012 Croall commissioned and co-produced a project at Doc/Fest especially for the festival,^[15] From the Sea to the Land Beyond. This is a documentary made up of archive footage from the British coast, directed by Penny Woolcock with an original soundtrack by British Sea Power.^[16] In 2013 Croall co-produced The Big Melt, a documentary by Martin Wallace and Jarvis Cocker that similarly fused original music with archive footage. It was made to celebrate 100 years of stainless steel in Sheffield, with a live soundtrack scored by Jarvis Cocker. She also followed up From the Sea to the Land Beyond with its Australian equivalent, Girt by Sea, which was made for the Perth International Arts Festival on the theme of the Australian coast. Shane McNeil directed, with music by The Panics.^[17]
• For 2014 Croall co-produced three films, again fusing archive footage with new, original soundtracks. Velorama told the story of a century of the bicycle. It was commissioned to mark the arrival of the 2014 Tour de France in Yorkshire, and directed by Daisy Asquith with a soundtrack by Bill Nelson and Chumbawamba.^[18] Love Is All brought together director Kim Longinotto with Sheffield singer/songwriter Richard Hawley, formerly of Pulp, to explore the theme of love.^[19][20] And From Scotland with Love was commissioned as part of the Cultural Festival accompanying the 2014 Commonwealth Games, directed by Virginia Heath with a soundtrack by King Creosote.^[21]
• In 2015 Croall co-produced two films, both for Storyville. Atomic, Living in Dread and Promise^[22] was directed by Mark Cousins and soundtracked by Mogwai (who released the music as the album Atomic). The Show of Shows: 100 Years of Vaudeville, Circuses and Carnivals^[23] was directed by Benedikt Erlingsson with music from Sigur Rós, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson and Kjartan Dagur Holm.^{[citation needed]}

Accolades

In 2024 Heather Croall AM was awarded an Order of Australia for her services to the Arts and Film. She won the Festival Management CEO of the Year 2022 (Australia) as voted by CEO Monthly magazine.

In 2023 Heather Croall was named SA Person of the Year at the SALIFE Absolute Best Awards.^[24]

In 2020 Heather Croall won the Leadership Award at the SA Woman Awards and in 2021, Croall was nominated as Leader of the Year in the South Australian Woman of the Year Awards.  

In 2015 Croall received Sheffield Doc/Fest's Inspiration Award.^[25] In 2021 Croall was awarded the Superhero Award at the DocEdge Festival in New Zealand.

In 2014 Croall was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University.

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists named Croall 2013's Ambassador of Women's Films for her work "to boost documentary film and open opportunities for women filmmakers",^[26] and in 2011 Croall was named a trailblazer by Realscreen.^[27]

Croall was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2024 Australia Day Honours for "significant service to the performing arts, as an administrator, advocate and film maker".^[28]

Media appearances

She has appeared on BBC Two's The Review Show^[29] and BBC Radio 4's The Media Show.^[30]