Ben Ferris - Sydney Film School
I have no hesitation writing a testimonial for Piers Morgan, who worked as a part-time General Manager of Sydney Film School (“SFS”) from April 2015 to December 2016. He was engaged to work two days a week but for most of that period he worked considerably more hours than that to manage the non- educational side of the business and to implement changes in a timely manner.
The School’s administrative systems were outdated. Piers implemented many important changes to processes and procedures, including the adoption of computer packages, to improve the systems used to manage School activities and meet increasingly onerous regulatory reporting requirements to the Federal Government. There were also difficult staff matters to resolve and Piers played an important part in managing the transition of staff in and out of the School during his time with SFS.
Outside that brief, the senior management team of three, including Piers, had to deal with the unexpected sale of the leased premises the School had occupied for more than ten years. That process resulted in a successful merger with the International Screen Academy in Waterloo in December 2016, and the relocation of Sydney Film School to their premises earlier this year. As part of the process, economies were required and Piers’s role was made redundant as part of that process.
Dealing with the merger required much additional work in secret and under considerable pressure. It would have been very difficult if staff knew about the proposed deal before it concluded.
Piers did an excellent job managing the demanding work load and managing staff during his time at SFS.