Category Archives: Documentary

ScreenAus’s optimism not shared by ADG

Directing, Documentary, Latest News, Television, , , , , ,

Australian documentary makers are struggling to make a living and are losing the
grip of their rights to their own intellectual property, Kingston Anderson, general
manager of Australian Directors Guild told the Australian International
Documentary Conference in Adelaide yesterday.

The comments came after Ruth Harley, Screen Australia CEO on Tuesday told the
conference as a keynote speaker, the value of documentary production was the
highest on record to date and driven by more hours of high production value series.

In Tuesday’s address, Harley said: “It’s been a great year for documentaries with 430
hours of Australian documentary projects made in 2010/11 and a total of $133
million spent on documentary production. This is above the $118 million five-year
average for documentary production.”

Anderson’s point was backed by an ADG survey which showed that the income levels
of documentary makers have declined further in the last 12 months, from 55.5% of
2011 respondents earning less than $45,000 compared to 58.6% of respondents in
2010 earning less than $60,000 per annum. This is below the average Australian
wage for August 2011 of $68,700.

Continue reading ScreenAus’s optimism not shared by ADG →

Katrina Sedgwick swaps jobs with Amanda Duthie to take Head of Arts

Documentary, Latest News, Television

The former director and CEO of the Adelaide Film Festival, Katrina Sedgwick, has
been appointed the new ABC TV Head of Arts in a seeming swap. She replaces, in
part, former ABC content head of arts and entertainment, Amanda Duthie, who was
appointed director and CEO of the Adelaide Film Festival in December.

The move comes after criticism of the ABC’s perceived diminution of arts
programming after the axing of production staff in Melbourne and the weekly arts
program Art Nation.

In a statement announcing Sedgwick’s appointment, director of ABC TV Kim Dalton
said, “This new stand alone position reporting directly to me will provide stronger
focus on our arts programming. As a result of changes to our arts production and
line up last year we have increased the resources committed to prime-time arts
programming to be commissioned from the independent production sector,” he said.

Sedgwick will begin the newly-created role, based in Sydney, on 11April.

From The Australian. Michael Bodey. ABC TV names new Head of Arts
February 24, 2012 1:26PM

More Here:
Google: ABC TV names new Head of Arts

Grand Designs – Building egos as well as homes

Documentary, Latest News,

Grand Designs – Building egos as well as homes

OPINION: Michael Duffy – SMH – February 20, 2012

I have a recurring dream in which the television program Grand Designs becomes
mixed up with Midsomer Murders. A serial killer is taking out all those irritating
couples in their North Face leisure wear, splattering viscera over the bare white
interiors of their concrete brag boxes in the English countryside.

This uncharitable vision stems from my love-hate relationship with Grand Designs,
which cleverly applies the hero’s journey to home building. In a typical program
Kevin McCloud, a natural television presenter, takes us through the journey of a
wealthy couple who overcome adversity to complete their building. He manages to
express telegenic surprise when deadlines are missed and budgets exceeded – as
though this were completely unexpected – and, at the end, blesses the enterprise with
an emotional, if somewhat vague, homily, such as: ”Although it is a very assertive
building, it’s also very subtle and sensitive” and “this brilliant, if unfinished, building

was snatched from the jaws of doom … buildings like this need heroes and heroines.”
The show is watched by a million Australians and its success tells us a lot about the
way we live now.

Continue reading Grand Designs – Building egos as well as homes →

Julia Overton honoured by AIDC

Documentary, Latest News

22 February 2012

Julia Overton has been awarded the 2012 AIDC Stanley Hawes Award. She will
accept the award at the opening of the Australian International Documentary
Conference (AIDC) being held in Adelaide, South Australia from February 27 – March
1.

According to the AIDC commendation, ‘during her time at the Australian Film
Commission, the Film Finance Corporation, and most recently, at Screen Australia,
Overton was known to be the human element within the bureaucracy. She was
always willing to look at guidelines as guidelines and not interpret them as rules. She
will go to great lengths to assist individual filmmakers and promote the documentary
genre as a whole, and has opened more doors for documentaries, both in Australia
and to the rest of the world, then anyone in the business.

‘Besides her work at the agencies, she has a multi-faceted track record in production,
encompassing feature films (Cut, Spider and Rose, Fistful of Flies, Until the End of
the World, Travelling North), TV drama (Aftershocks, The Long Ride, Tudawali) and
the multi-award winning documentary (Black Man’s Houses). Prior to her work as an
independent producer Overton worked on documentary programs for CBC Canada
and drama for London Weekend Television, UK.’

Mitzi Goldman, Co-Chair of the AIDC Board describes Overton as a ‘powerhouse’ and
says that, “Julia’s imprint on Australian documentary has been immeasurable and
AIDC is absolutely delighted to honour her with this year’s Stanley Hawes Award”.

Following the Award Ceremony on Monday 27 February, Overton will deliver the
Stanley Hawes Address.

The Stanley Hawes Award was established in 1997 to honour Stanley Gilbert Hawes
(1905 -1991) who was the first Producer-in-Chief of the Australian National Film
Board and Commonwealth Film Unit. The award recognises the significant support
Hawes gave independent filmmakers in the documentary sector and is awarded to a
person or organisation that makes an outstanding contribution to the industry in
Australia.

Storytelling in Documentary

Documentary, Screenwriting, ,

STORYTELLING IN DOCUMENTARY – THE UK’S JOHN SMITHSON

One of the late entries to AIDC 2011 was this masterclass with UK producer John Smithson, of 127 Hours and Touching The Void fame. As the publicity announced, John would arrive in Adelaide hot from being nominated for 6 Oscars – and unfortunately he didn’t win any. Even more unfortunately, he had been pipped for Best Oscar by the Aussie film (sort of) The King’s Speech.

Despite that, his session on storytelling was one of the best at AIDC.

“It’s really stating the bleeding obvious that the story is the heart of everything we do,” John began. “Storytelling is what gets me out of bed in the morning and keeps me in too many bars at the small hours of the night.”

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Screen Australia at AIDC in 2011

Documentary, ,

Last year Screen Australia held a session at AIDC to talk about their new documentary guidelines. Here is my coverage of that session in Screen Hub:

SCREEN AUSTRALIA

Today Screen Australia posted their brand spanking new draft guidelines for Documentary Programs.

The surprises?

A few.

Ross Mathews announced that he is not the Colonel Gaddaffi of the film industry, and Screen Australia is not going to dictate to the industry or decide what is going to be made. However they do reserve the right to make a decision when faced with more projects than available funds, which is increasingly the case.

Screen Australia have maintained the funding available for documentary at $16.5 million over all programs, but they have shaved funds off existing programs to make room for a new program, All Media, which will cost $500,000 a year. Details on this new program to be advised.

Continue reading Screen Australia at AIDC in 2011 →