NITV Head of Indigenous Commissioning and Production Dena Curtis on celebrating the diversity of First Nations experiences.
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Home to some of Australia’s favourite stories and cultural storytellers including Little J & Big Cuz, Incarceration Nation, True Colours and The First Inventors, the National Indigenous Television Network (NITV) delivers content for and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and culture.
Head of Indigenous Commissioning and Production Dena Curtis dropped by the Screen Australia Podcast to talk about the role of the broadcaster in showcasing the First Nations experience and supporting stories told by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners.
Throughout the episode, Curtis expands on her vision for NITV and gives advice for producers and filmmakers looking to pitch to the broadcaster. Curtis tells us about some of the great new titles joining NITV, including social justice documentary 2.6 Seconds, medical obdoc Our Medicine and comedy trivia series Big Backyard Quiz, and introduces her new team, including Senior Commissioning Editor Cieron Cody and Commissioning Editor Joseph Meldrum.
So, if you’re pitching to NITV, the team are looking for projects that reflect the diversity and breadth of First Nations peoples throughout Australia, subvert audience expectations for Blak stories on screen, and explore what Curtis calls the light and shade of the Indigenous Australian experience.
“Thinking about how NITV reflects the society that we live in or our experiences that we have within this country… there’s moments when we need to fight, but there’s also love, there is laughter, so we want to try and capture that within the content we’re commissioning and producing.”
But most importantly, NITV are looking to develop original content for NITV. “We really want audiences to feel that NITV is the home of First Nations content and for creatives to think about us as a place to come first,” Curtis says. “We want to tell bold stories that really celebrate who we are, our perspectives. We need to tell our stories, and we need to share our history.”
Curtis believes it’s important First Nations people are not only involved, but in control of when, how and why stories are shared.
“Really it’s about that authorship and, to a degree, ownership as well. I think it’s very important that we encourage filmmakers or First Nations practitioners to own their stories,” she says. “For a long time, there was a practice of non-Indigenous people telling our stories and speaking for us and we want to elevate those lived experiences and those stories from First Nations perspectives. I don’t think you can get that unless there is an Indigenous person telling that story. You cannot understand that perspective if you have not lived it.”
“Give us a call and have a conversation,” Curtis adds. The team are ready to discover the next great First Nations story.
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