in the archive
Documentary production
Approvals 2013-2014

National Documentary Program
 

DNA NATION (working title)
3 x 52 mins
Blackfella Films Pty Ltd          
Producers Darren Dale, Jacob Hickey
Writer Jacob Hickey
Broadcaster SBS
Sales SBS Distribution
Synopsis This is an epic story of genetic time travel. A story about who we are, where we came from and how we are all related to one another.

PRISCILLA: MONSTER IN A PARTY FROCK
1 x 57 mins
Jungleboys FTV Pty Ltd 
Producers Jo-anne McGowan, Jason Burrows, Jen Peedom
Director Paul Clarke
Writers Paul Clarke, Alex Barry
Broadcaster ABC
Sales ABC Commercial 
Synopsis Monster in a Party Frock is the story of how an unlikely film changed the course of history and brought a celebration of gay culture to the world.

STOP LAUGHING, THIS IS SERIOUS
3 x 57 mins
Screentime Pty Ltd
Executive Producers Jennifer Collins, Bob Campbell
Producers/Writers Paul Horan, Paul Clarke
Broadcaster ABC
Sales ABC Commercial
Synopsis Stop Laughing:This Is Serious is a documentary series exploring the history of Australian comedy for ABC1.

BLOWN AWAY
57 mins
Brindle Films Pty Ltd and Nirvana Films Pty Ltd       
Producers Rachel Clements, James Bradley
Writer/Director Danielle MacLean
Broadcaster ABC
Synopsis The untold story of Cyclone Tracy 40 years on, exploring the myths and revealing new perspectives on one of the worst natural disasters in Australia's history.

INSIDE THE INFERNO – THE SCIENCE OF BUSHFIRES
2 x 52 mins
Smith&Nasht (co-production by Dragon Fly)
Producers Marcus Gillezeau, Ellenor Cox
Executive Producer/Writer Simon Nasht
Director Max Bourke
Broadcasters SBS and BBC
Sales Shine International
Synopsis To live in Australia is to experience bushfire. As our population grows and as the effects of climate change are felt, will Australia experience its worst bushfire season yet?

LEST WE FORGET
57 mins
Pony Films Pty Ltd
Producers Dylan Blowen, Rachel Landers
Writer/Director Rachel Landers
Broadcaster ABC
Synopsis Lest We Forget is a young woman’s exploration of Australia’s remembrance and forgetting of World War I.

CHANGED FOREVER
3 x 55 mins
For Valour Pty Ltd trading as Bearcage Television      
Producers Michael Tear, Harriet Pike
Writer Michael Cove
Director Serge Ou
Broadcaster Foxtel History Channel
Sales Umbrella Entertainment and Flame Distribution
Synopsis Those who shaped our country were themselves shaped by the Great War. This is their story.

SONGS FROM THE INSIDE
55 mins
Beyond West Pty Ltd
Producers Harry Bardwell, Kelrick Martin
Executive Producers Harry Bardwell, Ron Saunders
Writer/Director Kelrick Martin
Broadcaster SBS
Sales Beyond Distribution
Synopsis A documentary musical set in Berrimah Prison on the outskirts of Darwin.

VIETNAM ANZACS
57 mins
Battle of Balmoral Pty Limited
Producers Jenny Day, David Bradbury
Writer/Director David Bradbury
Broadcaster ABC
Synopsis An account of Australian soldiers' action in the Vietnam War and the tragedy of the post-traumatic stress that followed.

LIFE ON THE REEF
Northern Pictures
3 x 57 minutes
Producers Sue Clothier, Karina Holden, Matthew Tomaszewski
Director Nick Robinson
Sales Agent NH Media
Broadcasters ABC Television, Public Broadcasting Service
Synopsis Life on the Reef – a year on the world’s largest living structure.

WAVES OF ANZAC COVE
Essential Media and Entertainment
1 x 90 minutes
Producers Chris Hilton, Alan Erson, Owen Hughes
Writers Alan Erson, Owen Hughes
Director Tony Krawitz
Sales Agent Essential Media and Entertainment
Broadcasters ABC TV, Māori Television
Synopsis Sam Neill explores the ANZAC century, beginning with his own family’s long involvement in wars, and discovers how the ANZAC story continues to capture the hearts of two countries a hundred years on from Gallipoli.

88
58 mins
Puksekey Productions Pty Ltd
Producer Michaela Perske
Director Adrian Russell Wills
Writers Adrian Russell Wills, Michaela Perske
Sales Agent Flame Distribution
Broadcaster ABC TV
Synopsis In 1988, over 30,000 Aboriginal people converged in Sydney for a march that would change the nation.

LIFE AT 9
2 x 57 mins
Life at 9 Pty Ltd
Executive Producer Jennifer Cummins
Producers Naomi Just
Writer/Director Jennifer Peedom
Broadcaster ABC
Synopsis Life at 9 continues the stories of 10 Australian children against the backdrop of the largest-ever longitudinal scientific study done on child development, this time looking at identity and creativity.

TAKING ON THE CHOCOLATE FROG
3 x 54 mins
Screentime Pty Ltd
Producers Bob Campbell, Simon Steel, Debbie Cuell    
Writer/Director Debbie Cuell
Sales Agent Banijay International
Broadcaster SBS Subscription Channel, STUDIO
Synopsis Taking on the Chocolate Frog is a remarkable documentary series that follows an unlikely bunch of Shakespearean wannabes.

THE WALER: AUSTRALIA'S GREAT WAR HORSE
57 mins
Paalma Pty Ltd trading as Mago Films
Producer Marian Bartsch
Writer Barry Strickland
Director Russell Vines
Sales Agent ABC Commercial
Broadcaster ABC TV
Synopsis Over 135,000 Australian horses went to the Great War. Only one came home. This is their story.

General Documentary Program

BATTLEFIELDS 
6 x 24 mins
For Valour Pty Ltd.
Producers Michael Tear, Harriet Pike
Director Serge Ou
Writer Michael Cove
Broadcaster FOXTEL History Channel
Synopsis How the ANZACs met and defeated the main force of the enemy on the Western Front.

CALL ME DAD
1 x 57 mins
Media Stockade Pty Ltd. 
Producers Madeleine Hetherton, Rebecca Barry, Ester Harding
Director/Writer Sophie Wiesner
Broadcaster ABC
Synopsis In the midst of a silent yet devastating epidemic of fatherlessness, this is a film about fathers at risk of or struggling with broken families whose children are vulnerable. Now, through a men’s program, they each have the chance to regain what’s lost, to transform himself and earn another shot at the title, ‘Dad’.

GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM SERIES 3
3 x 52 mins
Cordell Jigsaw Productions Pty Ltd
Executive Producers Nick Murray, Michael Cordell
Producer/Director Rick McPhee
Broadcaster SBS
Sales Cordell Jigsaw Distribution
Synopsis With major changes to government policy on boat arrivals, six Australians with strong views on the issue, embark on a life changing journey which will challenge their opinions to the very core. 

THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN FLY
1 x 57 mins
360 Degree Films Pty Ltd
Producer Sally Ingleton
Director Tosca Looby
Writers Tosca Looby, Sally Ingleton
Broadcaster ABC
Sales ZED Sales
Synopsis How a national nuisance helped shape Australia.

HARRY
1 x 52 mins
Jotz Productions Pty Ltd
Producer Tom Zubrycki
Director/Writer Jeff Daniels
Broadcaster SBS
Synopsis The story of an immigrant boy from Brazil who becomes an AFL star. A black man in a white world, Harry searches for his own identity in a country and culture that he feels never really accepts him. From the slums of Rio de Janeiro to the dizzying heights of Australian celebrity this is the story of a boy who becomes a man by forging his own perilous path through other's expectations.

KIDS UNPLUGGED
1 x 57 mins
360 Degree Films Pty Ltd 
Executive Producer Sally Ingleton
Producers Sally Ingleton, Alex Tarney, Tosca Looby
Directors/Writers Tosca Looby, Alex Tarney
Broadcaster ABC
Synopsis ‘Slow coach’ Carl Honore has five weeks to turn three busy families from stressed and hectic, to happy and unhurried – via the power of ‘slow’.

MISSING INGREDIENT
1 x 57 mins
Licketty Split Pty Ltd
Executive Producer John Moore
Producer Lisa Horler
Director/Writer Lucy Paplinska
Broadcaster ABC
Synopsis Missing Ingredient is an intimate and cautionary tale about secrets surrounding sperm donation ... and the donor conceived adults – and donors – who are demanding some answers.

SMGR
1 x 52 mins
Artemis International
Producers Celia Tait, Brian Beaton       
Director/Writer Russel Vines
Broadcaster SBS
Synopsis Celebrated comedian and writer journeys to the East to discover the oldest religion in the world to help him better understand his own relationship with God.

STRUGGLE STREET
3 x 52 mins
KEO Films Australia Pty Ltd
Producers Leonie Lowe, David Galloway
Broadcaster SBS
Sales Hat Trick International
Synopsis A three-part observational documentary series that will feature the voices and stories of a cross-section of struggling western Sydney residents and families as they try to get by, despite overwhelming personal and social challenges.

WKCR
1 x 55 mins
Artemis International Pty Ltd
Producers Brian Beaton, Celia Tait
Director Michael Muntz
Writer Michael Muntz, Celia Tait
Broadcaster Channel 7
Synopsis A murder investigation and trial divides a city, and the legal fraternity.

THE WAY OF THE CROSS
26 mins
Mark Gould Productions Pty Ltd
Producers Trevor Graham, Mark Gould
Writer/Director Mark Gould
Broadcaster ABC TV
Sales Ronin Films
Synopsis Media personality Geraldine Doogue makes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at Easter 2014, searching for what she believes is the essence of her Catholic faith.

KING’S SEAL
Mav Media Pty Ltd
1 x 60 minutes
Producers/Directors Kim Mavromatis, Quenten Agius
Associate Producer Stephen Goldsmith
Writer Alexis West
Broadcaster NITV
Synopsis Conspiracy, treason, betrayal, rape and murder: welcome to the free-settler colony of South Australia.

THE WHISTLEBLOWERS (working title)
Mint Pictures Pty Ltd, Identity Films Pty Ltd
1 x 26 minutes
Producers Dan Goldberg, Adam Kay
Director Danny Ben-Moshe
Writers Dan Goldberg, Danny Ben-Moshe
Broadcaster ABC 1
Synopsis The Whistleblowers follows the parallel journeys of a strictly Orthodox father and his now-secular son, after the son goes public with his story of being sexually abused as a student.

CRASH TEST MUMMIES AND DADDIES
6 x 30 mins
Southern Star Entertainment Pty Ltd
Producers/Writers Judith John-Story, Claire Haywood
Sales Agent Endemol Worldwide Distribution
Broadcaster ABC2
Synopsis A snapshot of contemporary Australian parenting as four very different parents face the challenges, pressures, tears and laughter that accompany the biggest life-changing event in their lives – the birth of their first child.

FAMILY CONFIDENTIAL SEASON THREE
6 x 30 mins
Kalmedia Pty Ltd & Southern Pictures
Producers Laurie Critchley, Heather Nash, Robyn Smith
Directors Kay Pavlou, Heather Nash, Laurie Critchley
Broadcaster ABC
Synopsis Six highly crafted half-hour films reveal the secret stories behind some of Australia's most famous families.
 
OUTBACK CHOIR
57 mins
Heiress Films Pty Ltd
Producers Jennifer Cummins, Seema Khanna
Writer/Director Lisa Nicol
Broadcaster ABC1
Synopsis An intimate portrait of growing up in regional Australia, and the huge difference one small choir can make.

WHO WE ARE 3
60 mins
CAAMA Productions Pty Ltd
Producers Alice Taylor, Nicolas Lee
Writers Larissa Behrendt, Suzi Taylor
Sales Agent Ronin Films
Broadcaster Foxtel
Synopsis Through the eyes of six young Australians we explore and celebrate the diversity of contemporary Indigenous Australia.

International Documentary Program
 

AFTER THE WAVE: THE WORLD’S GREATEST FORENSIC DETECTIVE STORY
75 mins
Flaming Star Films Pty Ltd     
Producer Lavinia Riachi
Executive Producer Sharyn Prentice
Writer/Director Amanda Blue
Broadcaster SBS, Discovery (UK)
Sales TVF International
Synopsis The Boxing Day tsunami in 2004 was the most devastating natural disaster in modern times, killing 228,000 people across 13 countries in just a few hours. On that perfect day, from Indonesia to Thailand, Sri Lanka and as far afield as the Maldives, this catastrophic collision between the natural world and humankind would have far-reaching consequences on humanity and science forever.

DEATH OR LIBERTY
57 mins
Roar Film Pty Ltd
Producers Steve Thomas, Kath Symmons, Anna Grieve, Rebecca O’Malley
Executive Producers Craig Dow Sainter, Stephen Rooke
Directors Steve Westh, Keith Farrell
Writer Tony Moore, Steve Thomas, Keith Farrell
Broadcaster ABC TV
Sales TVF International
Synopsis Death or Liberty is the story of how political radicals exiled to Australia during the 19th century helped to create the world's first true democracy.   

REDESIGN MY BRAIN SERIES 2
3 x 60 mins
Mindful Media Pty Ltd
Producers Isabel Perez, Todd Sampson
Executive Producer Paul Scott
Director Jeff Sibbery
Writers Paul Scott, Todd Sampson
Post-producer Mark Barlin
Broadcasters ABC TV, Discovery Network International, Discovery Science USA
Sales Discovery Communications
Synopsis Redesign My Brain series 2 shows how we can train the brain to be resilient against the many psychological problems facing humanity today.

TRUCK IT
44 mins
Prospero Productions Pty Ltd
Producers Ed Punchard, Julia Redwood
Director Roger Power
Broadcaster Seven Network Australia
Sales NGTI
Synopsis Truck It follows road train drivers as they battle against the odds on some of the toughest and most demanding journeys across Australia.

URANIUM – TWISTING THE DRAGON’S TAIL
3 x 60 mins
Genepool Productions Pty Ltd
Producer Sonya Pemberton
Executive Producers Sonya Pemberton, Michael Cordell
Director/Writer Wain Fimeri
Broadcaster SBS Australia, PBS
Sales SBS International
Synopsis An epic journey through the untold story of the most wondrous and terrifying rock on Earth.

THE AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL
10 x 30 mins
Eyeworks Television Pty Limited
Producer/Writer/Director Janine Hosking
Executive Producer John McAvoy
Broadcaster Foxtel History Channel
Sales Agent Eyeworks Distribution
Synopsis In the lead up to the 100^th anniversary of the First World War, international broadcaster and renowned historian Neil Oliver takes us behind-the-scenes of one of the world’s most iconic institutions, the Australian War Memorial. With unprecedented access to the memorial, its staff and its rarely seen precious archives, this landmark documentary series will follow all the action across its busiest and most momentous year to date.

ISLANDS OF OZ
3 x 47 mins
Prospero Productions
Producers Ed Punchard, Julia Redwood, Bill Jones, Philippa Braithwaite
Writer John McCourt
Broadcaster Seven Network
Sales DRG
Synopsis Islands of Oz is a documentary series that follows acclaimed actor and comedian Martin Clunes as he explores the most diverse, intriguing, remote and spectacular islands that surround Australia.

THE CAMBODIAN SPACE PROJECT: NOT EASY ROCK N' ROLL
60 mins
Star Films Pty Ltd & Ronachan Films
Producers Richard Kuipers, Marc Eberle
Executive Producers Sharyn Prentice, Angus Macqueen
Writer/Director Marc Eberle
Broadcasters ABC, BBC, SVT, DR
Synopsis When wandering Australian musician Julien Poulson meets Cambodian karaoke singer Srey Thy, the result is a cross-cultural rollercoaster and the birth of multicultural rock band The Cambodian Space Project. Filmed over four years and told from the inside, this is the story of two struggling performers whose rise from obscurity, poverty and trauma to relative fame is a psychedelic journey into rock'n'roll– where nothing is ever easy.

BIG RED
52 mins
Wild Fury
Producers Bettina Dalton, Veronica Fury
Writer Bettina Dalton
Directors Jens Westphalen, Thoralf Grospitz
Broadcaster National Geographic Australia
Sales National Geographic Channel International
Synopsis This blue-chip natural history documentary tells the remarkable life story of a single red kangaroo.

GREAT WHITE MATRIX
48 mins
Shark 360 Pty Ltd trading as Northern Pictures
Producer Karina Holden
Writer/Director Matt Tomaszewski
Broadcaster Nine Network Australia, Discovery US
Sales ABC Commercial
Synopsis Off the Australian coast, scientists work barehanded with deadly sharks to determine the driving forces of shark predatory behaviour.

THE FLYING MINERS
3 x 57 mins
Screentime Pty Ltd
Series Producer David Peters
Sales Agent Banijay International
Broadcaster ABC
Synopsis A high-stakes contemporary story about everyday Australians who travel far and wide to make it in the mining industry. 

WIZARDS OF OZ
2 x 57 mins
Mint Pictures Pty Ltd, Serendipity Productions Pty Ltd
Producers Margie Bryant, Dan Goldberg, Adam Kay
Author Howard Jacobson
Director Paul Clarke
Sales Agent TCB Media
Broadcaster ABC1, BBC4
Synopsis Man Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson sets off on a journey of discovery to understand why Barry Humphries, Robert Hughes, Germaine Greer and Clive James left Australia in the 1960s and how they became cultural icons – and iconoclasts – in London and New York.

Signature Documentary Program
 

A COLD WAR
85 mins
Sling and Arrow Pty Ltd
Producers Juliet Lamont, Julia Overton
Writer/Director Juliet Lamont
Synopsis A Cold War explores the dirty tactics at play as Greenpeace takes on Russian energy giant Gazprom in one of the most gripping environmental battles of the 21st century.

BAXTER AND ME
85 mins
Gecko Films Pty Ltd
Producer Sue Brooks
Director Gillian Leahy
Distributor Ronin Films
Synopsis One independent woman's life with and without men, but always with dogs.

ECCO HOMO
85 mins
Ghost Pictures
Producers Richard Lowenstein, Maya Gnyp, Andrew de Groot, Lynn-Maree Milburn
Directors Richard Lowenstein, Lynn-Maree Milburn
Distributor Apparition Entertainment
Synopsis Ecco Homo is a psychological detective story of secrets and lies, sexual abuse, incest, transgender, fame and HIV in the life of an elusive, wilful, wicked and ultimately doomed chameleon. 

IN THE LAND OF WOLVES
90 mins
Brian McKenzie Film Productions Pty. Ltd.
Producer Brian McKenzie
Director Grace McKenzie
Synopsis A portrait of a village in the Caucasus soon to be shaken from its medieval languor.

THE OPPOSITION
70 mins
Media Stockade Pty Ltd
Producers Rebecca Barry, Madeleine Hetherton
Director Hollie Fifer
Synopsis The Opposition delves deep into the David vs Goliath battle over a slice of Papua New Guinean paradise, between the leader of the Paga Hill Settlement and an Australian land developer.

WHEN THE CAMERA STOPPED ROLLING
77 mins
Bower Bird Films Pty Limited
Producer Pat Fiske
Director Jane Castle
Synopsis A daughter is catapulted on a journey of discovery following the disturbing and uncanny death of her mother, a pioneer Australian filmmaker.

WINTER AT WESTBETH
75 mins
Unicorn Films
Producer Adam Farrington-Williams
Executive Producer Lizzette Atkins
Director Rohan Spong
Synopsis In New York’s West Village, the elderly residents of the Westbeth Artist Community are dancing as though their lives depended on it.

DRIVING MY MOTHER SANE
Paul Gallasch Films
Producer Katrina Lucas
Writer/Director Paul Gallasch
Synopsis A son returns home to his mentally ill mother in an attempt to fix her ills, her loneliness and ultimately his own overbearing guilt.

GAYBY BABY
Gayby Baby Productions Pty Ltd
Producer Charlotte Mars
Director Maya Newell
Synopsis Four kids raised in same-sex families are coming of age in a year that is seeing the strongest political battle for the legalisation of gay marriage.

NIGHT PARROT STORIES
Looking Glass Pictures Pty Ltd
Director/Producer/Writer Robert Nugent
Producer Mitzi Goldman
Synopsis Entanglements between a lost bird and the man-made world.

PUTUPARRI
John Moore Productions
Producer/Writer/Director Nicole Ma
Producer John Moore
Broadcaster NITV
Distributor Ronin Films
Synopsis Spanning a decade and set in the remote Kimberley region of Australia’s North West, Putuparri explores our entangled Indigenous and colonial history and one man’s monumental struggle to fulfil his destiny.

SNOW MONKEY
Unicorn Films Pty Ltd
Producer Lizzette Atkins
Co-producer Piraya Film, Norway
Director George Gittoes
Synopsis Snow Monkey is about whether the ideals and dreams fostered in Afghanistan during the time of its foreign military occupation can continue once outside protection has gone.      

ONE SLASH ZERO CONFLICT AND THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION
Studio Antibody Pty Ltd
Producer Andy Nehl
Writer/Director Patrick Clair
Synopsis One Slash Zero is a transmedia journey through the critical flashpoints and compelling conflicts of the digital revolution.