Introducing the 2025 JCAF Fellows and Mentors
As part of JCAF 2025, each Fellow will receive story mentorship and professional development opportunities to level up their audio storytelling skills.
The 2025 Fellows are Wing Kuang, Ben Haywood, Miles Mazzocato and Xanthe Smith.
The 2025 Mentors are M. Cristina Marras, Sam Loy, Miles Martignoni and Karla Arnall.
Wing Kuang
Wing Kuang is an audio producer and journalist in Sydney.
Currently completing a Master of Translation and Interpreting at Western Sydney University, Wing wants to explore telling multi-lingual stories through the form of audio documentaries.
Her bylines appear on SBS News, ABC News, The Saturday Paper, Al Jazeera and Guardian Australia.
Wing will receive story mentorship from M. Cristina Marras.
M. Cristina Marras
M. Cristina Marras is an independent audio producer with a background in media and radio journalism, acquired primarily in Melbourne, Australia, where she lived for 23 years.
She creates immersive narratives that blend engaging sound design with narrative complexity, often featuring unreliable narrators and mixing personal reflections with inventive storytelling techniques.
Her recent work includes award-winning projects such as the 2023 Transom Small, Random, and Meaningful prize, and features at Italian and international events including the Leipziger Sommerfest, Radiophrenia, Bagni Lucia, Sonic Dash, Audio Flux, and the UK International Audio Drama Festival.
She is currently based in Sardinia, Italy.
Ben Haywood
G’day I’m Ben, I’m a South Coast local born and bred in the Illawarra, Dharawal Country.
I’m pretty much your average 30-year-old going through a minor identity crisis, although I apparently have quite the knack for narrative style audio.
I stepped into the world of storytelling in 2024 for a creative outlet and it has quickly become a passion that rapidly turned into my entire identity and personality.
I enjoy telling real human stories that are emotionally relatable to audiences and at times require some deep thinking. In a way my storytelling is like Chrisco, not everyone gets it, but everyone wishes they did.
Ben will receive story mentorship from Sam Loy.
Sam Loy
Sam Loy makes audio documentaries, radio and podcasts.
His work focuses on the ordinary and everyday; interested in getting to the heart of his subjects, and what makes them tick.
He lives in regional Victoria and tries everyday to be a better audio producer than he was the day before.
Miles Mazzocato
Miles is an artist living on Gadigal land.
He has a bachelor’s degree in animation and a deep love of storytelling.
Passionate about speculative fiction, his work explores identity and how people socially navigate discomfort.
His work has been presented at Read To Me, a live graphic storytelling event, and published in Spineless Wonders 2024. Films he directed have screened at Short + Sweet and Big Teeth Small Shorts festivals.
Miles will receive story mentorship from Miles Martignoni.
Miles Martignoni
Miles Martignoni is the head of audio at Guardian Australia, where he has worked on award-winning podcasts including The Reckoning and Breathless, and Witch Hunt – an examination of #MeToo and what comes next. He is currently executive producer of the news podcast Full Story.
Miles also teaches radio broadcasting at Macquarie University, manages online and training projects at 2SER Radio, and runs the independent production company Heaps Good Media.
Xanthe Smith
Xanthe Smith was raised between Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia, and is a keen audio storyteller.
Her podcasting hones in on remote people and places, particularly those in Far North Queensland where she spent high school running around her family’s vet clinic.
She has a bachelor’s degree in science communication.
When she isn’t mixing up microphones she spends her time in the mountains: tramping, climbing, and looking for creatures under rocks.
Xanthe will receive story mentorship from Karla Arnall.
Karla Arnall
Karla is a Walkley finalist and award-winning independent producer who has worked at the forefront of the Australian podcasting scene for over a decade.
She’s led a number of high profile non-fiction and narrative shows for the ABC, SBS, Guardian Australia and Audible.
As an interviewer, Karla has a knack for cutting through the noise to get to the heart of a story, skillfully teasing out grabs and helping people find their authentic voice on tape. She excels at translating complex issues into plain language and turning dense exposition into evocative scripts.
Prior to becoming an independent producer, Karla worked across the country as a journalist for the ABC, including as Executive Producer of triple j’s news & current affairs show Hack.