Bond University Council and Senior Management held a joint strategic planning day on 10 March to consider a ten-year vision for the university.

The Business Council of Australia this week released a report entitled "New focus needed on business innovation", that questioned the 'workplace-readiness' of Australian University Graduates. To read our Chancellor's response to the issues raised in the report, click here.

The Chancellor also recently addressed the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), sharing his insights into 2006 in a speech titled "Bull or Bear?". To read the speech, click here.

Chancellor Trevor Rowe AM hosted a lunch in Sydney yesterday, where Adjunct Professor The Honourable Richard Alston was the guest of honour. There were many high profile leaders from the worlds of finance and business in attendance.

Bondy Caroline Gerard is a former corporate lawyer who is making a name for herself in the competitive Australian film industry, with the premiere of her first feature film – The Bet.

Caroline wrote and produced the film, which premiered at the London Australian Film Festival in a sell-out session last week.

Directed by actor Mark Lee of Gallipoli fame, The Bet also starred some big names of the Australian film and television industry, including Matthew Newton (Looking for Alibrandi, My Mother Frank, Changi), Sibylla Budd (The Bank, Secret Life of Us), and Aden Young (Molokai: The Story of Father Damien, Cousin Bette), who also has a leading-role opposite Cate Blanchett in the Off-Broadway Sydney Theatre Production of Hedda Gabler in New York next month.

Caroline describes The Bet as a gripping story of ambition and love and says in writing the screenplay she followed the golden rule of "write about what you know".

"The plot is drawn from what I observed while living in Sydney – watching high-stakes gambles and big deals go down every day on the harbour’s edge. I consider The Bet my insider’s perspective on the mercurial heart of the financial world," she said.

Caroline said she was thrilled to be able to premiere the film in London , "the banking capital of the world".

"I was particularly pleased to hear that it was one of the fastest ticket sellers – specifically attracting the City crowd, which was terrific.

"The audience embraced the film whole heartedly. They laughed in all the right places, and loudly! It was fantastic. Mark (the Director) and I were thrilled," she said.

But a little under ten years ago, Caroline would have never imagined herself at the London Premiere of her first feature film. Rather, the ink was barely dry on her Bachelor of Laws from Bond University, and she was looking forward to a year of travel before taking up a graduate position at Sydney law firm Mallesons Stephen Jaques.

"I had always expected to study law, since the age of around twelve. And while I look back on my life and can see that I always had a desire to tell stories on screen, I just didn’t realise that at the time.

"I wrote plays all through junior school and used to perform them with my sister to my parents. But drama wasn’t something my parents really encouraged, so I took what I thought would be the creative path of law, believing I would become a flamboyant barrister.

"My interest in storytelling, and specifically film, grew over the years. I came to realise it was a life passion of mine, and after a year of travel and almost four years practising corporate and commercial law, I finally had to acknowledge that it was the only career that would truly fulfil me."

But despite her career change, Caroline does not regret putting herself through the rigours of studying Bond’s law program. In fact, she says her degree and the furthering of her career path, especially in a firm like Mallesons, was fundamental to the success of her new career in film.

"Producing is about being exceptionally organised and having the ability to talk to investors in their language. You have to know how to manage people and create an environment in which your staff give you their best and enjoy doing so.

"Bond taught me about mental and practical discipline and the importance of striving for the best results – and that has stood me in good stead in a capitalistic society," she said.

But Caroline says the relationships she made at Bond have been just as valuable.

"I believe Bond graduates are generally more closely-knit, in terms of an official Alumni group, than most other Australian universities. The ties that bind through the uniqueness of the Bond experience are strong, and the Alumni network is a great thing. It’s all about contacts, helping each other out, and having a great time together.

"The film industry is a business in which contacts rule, and a Bondy based in London has already been very helpful in terms of putting me in touch with a distributor who I’m very interested in talking to about releasing The Bet over there.

"I was also delighted to catch up with the Bondies who attended our Premiere in London ."

Although she says the experience of producing her first feature film was tough – especially given she was solely responsible for securing private investors to fund the film’s budget – Caroline says she’s looking forward to doing it all again.

"I hope to make bigger and better feature films, along the lines of Brokeback Mountain, Good Night and Good Luck and Closer – beautiful, inspiring, strong, sometimes political, touching and occasionally very funny human dramas.

"I also think there’s a novel in me somewhere and I’m definitely keen to write some plays. I should probably try and introduce a bit more of a work/life balance into my life as well!"

Determined and ambitious, Caroline Gerard is a name you should remember, so one day, when she’s accepting an Oscar for Best Screenplay, you can say – ‘she's a Bondy'.

For more information about The Bet, visit www.thebet.com.au.

After successfully turning his hand to careers in graphic design, hydroponic farming, stockbroking and jewellery design, Austrian-born Peter Heitzinger is now taking the hospitality world by storm, thanks to his innovative Spoon Deli Café chain.