ON her first day as chief executive of the South Australian Film Corporation, Courtney Gibson has paid tribute to founder Gil Brealey, who died on Sunday, aged 85.

Appointed by Labor Premier Don Dunstan to fulfil his dream of an SA film industry, Brealey was behind seminal SAFC films based on Australian novels, Picnic at Hanging Rock and Storm Boy.

“(He was) a great visionary of our industry, whose imagination, commitment and keen eye for talent drove the agency and the wider Australian screen sector into its renaissance in 1972,” Gibson said.

Brealey was appointed chair and director of the SAFC in 1972 and stayed for only four years. His legacy included a film based on the shearer’s lament, Sunday Too Far Away, which launched Jack Thompson’s career.

He later revealed the outback film was almost a disaster, with its director and distributor abandoning it before Brealey organised a massive recut.

He blamed job stress for his decision to leave in 1976 but returned in 1993 as short-term manager.

He went on to chair the Tasmanian Film Corporation and was awarded the Order of Australia in 1976.