Talking about Documentary

After the stunning success of Netflix’s Making a Murderer and HBO’s The Jinx, it seems that true crime is on the mind of every TV commissioning editor the world over. These two shows are just the tip of the iceberg of an amazing array of documentary, factual and unscripted programming that are drawing in big business and big bucks for producers and broadcasters alike. Internationally, unscripted series such as 60 Days In are capturing audiences in unprecedented numbers. Locally, the success of programs like Conviction (ABC) and Deep Water (SBS) reveal that local commissioners can explore Australia’s most unsettling crimes to great acclaim. 
The verdict is in: True Crime is hot, and we want more of it. So how can producers tap into this trend and make successful and engaging content? What are broadcasters looking for? And how can we keep the genre fresh and exciting while remaining respectful to the subjects and stories we seek to tell? True Crime All the Time will canvass all of these questions – and more.

True Crime All The Time AIDC 2017

At a time when fake news is said to have helped swing an election result, finding varied and reliable sources of information has never been more important. But with traditional broadcast platforms under siege from a slew of digital competitors expanding at a rate of knots, how do we ensure the integrity of storytelling in our post truth world?
With social media posts and audience comment providing a constant feedback loop for the creation of their short form content, organisations like Buzzfeed can quickly rack up global audience numbers that most broadcasters and long form filmmakers can only dream about – think the Standing Rock Protest in the US - and they can also get their material out there far faster than long form filmmakers ever could. The traditionalists might argue that the short form model doesn’t provide for the context and rigorous examination that their subjects require. But are they doing themselves a disservice by ignoring what’s going on in the digital space and missing an opportunity to add vital weapons to their storytelling arsenal?
In this session, Nicola Harvey (Managing Editor, Buzzfeed Australia) joins award-winning director Anna Broinowski (Pauline Hanson: Please Explain!) and journalist Matt Davis (Foreign Correspondent) to explore the connection between social media and the political documentary and discuss how important the viral video can be to short AND long form video journalism.

Political Documentary In A Post AIDC 2017

No network – commercial or otherwise – has fully escaped being the centre of some kind of public outrage and disgust over the last few years. But is audience provocation in the factual space really such a bad thing? In the competitive world of television, a parade of “ground-breaking social experiments” are just some of the ways that networks can make their mark. 
Adrian Swift (Head of Content Production and Development, Nine Network) is no stranger to contentious factual programming. From Married at First Sight’s charges of sneaky producers and “unreality tv” to The Briefcase’s “poverty porn”, he has navigated public outcry and heated debate on more than one occasion. 
In exclusive one-on-one conversation, Adrian Swift shares with Denise Eriksen his unorthodox approach to creating controversial shows, considering what works, what doesn’t, and how far is too far when trying to capture an audience.

Stirring The Pot AIDC 2017

Fire At Sea is a masterly work of documentary filmmaking about the Mediterranean island at the epicentre of the refugee crisis in Europe.

Panel discussion by filmmaker and cinematographer Bentley Dean (Tanna) will moderate a discussion with lawyer, filmmaker and President of Liberty Victoria, Jessie Taylor; journalist and editor Michael Green (They Cannot Take the Sky, Behind the Wire); Behind the Wire contributor and former asylum seeker Aran Mylvaganam; and media professional and former Director of Multicultural Arts Victoria (MAV), Fotis Kapetopoulos.

Fire At Sea Panel Discussion

Masterclass with the creative team behind podcast Trace

Despite the global success of podcasts like Serial, the team behind Trace didn’t set out to emulate other popular true crime podcasts. Trace had a different ambition, chiefly to find justice and truth for the sons of Maria James, who was murdered nearly 38 years ago.

In this masterclass, the journalist, producer and sound designer will break down how they created ABC’s first ‘true crime’ podcast; from distilling a 16 month investigation in to a story structure, creating a soundscape that would captivate listeners, maximising ABC’s cross platform reach to harness new leads, through to the team’s journalistic intent at the heart of the creative storytelling.

Retracing Crafting a Story in Audio Documentary AIDC 2018

Editing Masterclass with Erin Casper

In this exclusive masterclass, Erin will share her personal approach to editing by thinking about the construction of each film as a language of its own, spoken cinematically through an editor’s hands.

Drawing on excerpts from her award-winning films such as Our School, American Promise, The Last Season and The New Black, this masterclass will explore her creative process, writing with images and crafting cinematic language in non-fiction films.

The Art of Cutting it Fine AIDC 2018

This talk celebrated International Women’s Day with local filmmakers telling powerful and revealing stories. Filmmakers Sari Braithwaite, Chloe Brugale and Santilla Chingaipe were in  conversation with Eloise Ross about their craft and processes, key collaborations and career pathways.

About the speakers

Santilla Chingaipe is an award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker. She spent nearly a decade working for SBS World News which saw her report from across Africa and interview some of the continent's most prominent leaders. Her work explores cultural identities, contemporary migration and politics. Last year she presented a one-off documentary for SBS, Date My Race. Santilla is currently directing and writing documentary on the complexities of Australia’s South Sudanese community. Her latest film, Black As Me, is a short documentary exploring the perception of beauty and race in Australia. She writes regularly for The Saturday Paper.

Chloe Brugale is a screen practitioner with more than fifteen years' experience working across drama and factual productions, distribution, events and festival programming. As the General Manager of Robert Connolly’s company, Arenamedia, Chloe has contributed to many culturally and artistically innovative features, including The Turning, Spear and the box office hit Paper Planes. She also oversaw the successful release campaign of the documentary Chasing Asylum. Chloe’s producer credits include [CENSORED], an experimental documentary by director Sari Braithwaite, and Black As Me, a short film by director Santilla Chingaipe. Prior to Arenamedia, Chloe held positions at the Melbourne International Film Festival as Next Gen and Short Films programmer, the education department of the Cannes Film Festival and the avant-garde Utopia Cinemas in Avignon, France.

Sari Braithwaite is a filmmaker who works across the disciplines of history and film. Her documentary films have played at MIFF, SFF, Adelaide Film Festival, Canberra Film Festival, Antenna Film Festival, and BFI London.  She was a recipient of the 2015 AFTRS Creative Fellowship to create an experimental work about Australian censorship. In addition to her own practice, Sari has also worked as a professional researcher on a wide variety of film and television documentaries, and continues to work in universities as a researcher.

Eloise Ross (host) is a writer, critic, and lecturer with a range of experience working with Melbourne film culture, both in organisational roles and as a qualified speaker. She has a PhD in cinema studies from La Trobe University and her research specialises in sound studies, Hollywood history, and the phenomenological experience of the cinema. Eloise has been widely published as a film critic, cultural commentator, and academic. She is a co-curator of the Melbourne Cinémathèque, currently teaches in the film department at Swinburne University, is co-host of the Senses of Cinema podcast.

ACMI Conversations: The Future According to Women Documentarians

In this talk we explore the creative, technical, cultural and collaborative practice of creating VR from personal histories for this moving new work.

A Thin Black Line is an immersive VR experience that follows one family in the aftermath of the bombing of Darwin in 1942, when half the population fled believing a Japanese invasion was imminent. Among them was Indigenous filmmaker Douglas Watkin’s mother, just five-years old at the time.

Director Douglas Watkin, VRTOV's VR director Oscar Raby, artist Vernon Ah Kee and lead 3D artist Kalonica Quigley shared behind-the-scenes footage and early drawings from their unique journey bringing oral storytelling to digital life through graphic and game design.

See A Thin Black Line free from 3 March in the Untold Australia VR Showcase in our permanent exhibition Screen Worlds.

About The Speakers

Douglas Watkin
Brisbane-based Indigenous filmmaker Douglas Watkin was born in Cairns, Far North Queensland. His broadcasting and filmmaking career began in television doing small news reports and producing various corporate videos, and has progressed to feature films, broadcast series and multimedia works for a range of clients and audiences. Douglas has been actively working in the film and television industry for over twenty years, including producing and directing multiple series for ABC and NiTV.

Oscar Raby
Oscar Raby is an award-winning multimedia artist and Creative Director of independent digital production studio VRTOV. His Virtual Reality documentary Assent (2013), about the Chilean dictatorship, has been exhibited world-wide including screening at Sundance New Frontier, IDFA DocLab and Sheffield Doc/Fest where it received the Audience Choice Award for Cross-platform.

Kalonica Quigley
Kalonica is a 3D Artist and Game Developer who has developed award-winning games with small teams and independently. She currently works as Lead 3D Artist at VRTOV, an independent studio that crafts virtual reality experiences at the borderline of film and games.

Vernon Ah Kee
Born in Far North Queensland and currently living in Brisbane, Vernon is a member of the Kuku Yalandji, Waanji, Yidinji and Gugu Yimithirr peoples.

Vernon’s multi-faceted practice includes works that range from large-scale drawings of his ancestors to hard-hitting text-based works and installations. In his work Ah Kee fuses the history and language of colonisation with contemporary black/white political issues in an ongoing investigation of race, colour and politics. Through clever puns and plays on words and objects Ah Kee fuses the history and language of colonisation with contemporary black/white political issues to expose degrees of underlying racism in Australian society.

ACMI Conversations: A Thin Black Line

Robert Fernandez has been producing award-winning documentaries and commercials for over 25 years - yet he still loves getting his hands dirty on budget spreadsheets 'I love the numbers'. Working with Errol Morris since The Fog of War, Fernandez recently delivered their biggest project to-date: the Netflix series Wormwood. With no precedent for its hybrid format or production model, it took 1.5 years to develop and finance with Netflix, and 2.5 years to shoot. Fernandez is the master producer behind a master director, and the man that 'did the numbers' to produce the opus Wormwood, replete with a feature shoot's worth of drama and 10-camera interview setups.

AIDC 2018: Errol Morris' Wormwood ... like producing 3 films at once

How do we build stronger alliances and create impact campaigns that engage audiences on issues, to create lasting change?

The phenomenal rise of documentary impact campaigns in recent years, following the success of Good Pitch Australia and the growing field of expertise, means we now have a global community of impact producers and a rich library of case studies to learn from. There is also a plethora of online tools and organisations offering expertise in delivering impact campaigns. So what have we learned and where are we going? What is the best impact approach for your project and budget?

Through unpacking several environmental sustainability themed case studies, our panellists from very different corners of the industry demonstrate the wide variety of ways to achieve genuine social impact.

AIDC 2018: The Evolution of Impact

In an ever-changing media landscape, and with audiences savvy and cynical about advertising, brands are looking for more subtle ways to draw their customers in. Enter the documentary filmmaker. Does this offer an exciting new source of finance for documentary or is it a sell out? Is it still possible to make authentic stories within this form? Who has creative control in this environment? Why do brands give money to filmmakers and what do they want in return?

This session brings together a world-class panel of award-winning filmmakers, producers and broadcasters to share their first-hand experiences making documentary content for brands and the mechanics of building successful partnerships to do so. They will explore how brand funded content works, why they do it, how it is different to working within traditional funding pathways, and what the deals look like. Between them, our panel has made everything from online content to television to feature films, financed by brands. They will share the realities, the pitfalls and the opportunities of this new financial option in our documentary producing toolbox.

AIDC 2018: Brand + Filmmaker = Story

INNOVATION
Join Marshmallow Laser Feast’s Robin McNicholas as he sheds light on their multi-sensory experiences at the intersection of science, technology, art and nature.

What does it mean to experience tree-time? How do animals see the world? How does our breath connect us to the plant world?

In this session Robin McNicholas, creative director of Marshmallow Laser Feast, discusses their process of creating immersive works which enable us to shift our perceptions. Experiencing the world as tree, animal or air, can enable encounters with the wonder and interconnectedness of the natural world.

Marshmallow Laser Feast are a UK-based team who develop experiential work involving technology. Founder & Creative Director Robin McNicholas shares R&D strategies for innovation along with the challenges & opportunities for creators interested in making work for connected global audiences.

AIDC2020 - Masters: Multi-Sensory Perspectives with Robin McNicholas

CRAFT
BAFTA award-winner Ninder Billing shares her insights on how to turn an idea into irresistible factual content.

In conversation with Ninder Billing promises to be a fascinating journey through the sometimes unforgiving landscape of factual television with one of Britain’s most respected and innovative television executives. From prime-time factual formats, access documentaries and authored films, Ninder navigates us through the creative path she’s beaten as both creator, producer and commissioner.

Ninder has never been one to ‘stay in her lane’ as she delights in moving broadly between genres, subject and form. She has launched genre-busting factual formats such as Operation Live, overseen celebrity-authored films, produced current affairs investigations, and created kid’s factual entertainment. At the heart of her programming is a keen awareness of audience and a passion for improving diversity in the media.

Ninder will share her insights on how to turn an idea into irresistible factual content and offer her tips on the best way to grab the attention of commissioners.

AIDC2020 - Masters: Ninder Billing on How to Make Programs That People Will Watch (and Not Sell Out)

CRAFT
John Smithson discusses the creative challenges in crafting story in his new true-crime series I, Sniper.

High-end crime serials have become the pinnacle of factual, and the rise of streaming services offer an enticing opportunity with the budgets and the time to enable some serious creativity.

For four years Arrow Pictures, the new label of Creative Director John Smithson, has been working on I, Sniper. This 6 x 1hr serial tells the story of the DC Snipers, the two men who terrorised Washington DC in a city still traumatised by 9/11 one year earlier, killing people at random over 23 days of terror. This is the definitive account of an iconic American crime, told with law enforcement, survivors and victims’ families and, uniquely, in the words of the surviving shooter, in a series of calls from his supermax cell.

In conversation with Rachael Brown, John Smithson talks for the first time about the creative challenges of the genre, ahead of I, Sniper’s release.

AIDC2020 - Masters: Creative Producing with John Smithson

CRAFT
Emmy-Award nominated Director S. Leo Chiang takes a deep dive into finding and developing complex documentary characters.

In this craft session, Emmy-Award nominated Director S. Leo Chiang discusses the art of finding and unravelling multifaceted characters who share a common sense of idealism against the odds. Films such as Our Time Machine and A Village Called Versailles often focus on character development over obvious plot twists in order to highlight the powerful transformations the characters go through rather than the devastating losses they face.

Join Leo in conversation with Jeanie Davison (Development and Investment Manager of Documentary at Screen Australia) to unpack how he gains trust and develops relationships often in diasporic and marginal communities to tell heartbreaking stories of love, loss and standing up for what you believe in. Through personal anecdotes, Leo will give insight on a few of the major lessons he’s learned along the way.

AIDC2020 - Upskill: Creating Character with S. Leo Chiang

COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE
Meet the producer and creative director at the heart of one of the world's most enduring and celebrated documentary collectives.

For over 50 years, Gordon Quinn and Kartemquin Films have been at the forefront of documentary making in the US, not only embracing but also epitomising collaborative practices, championing new voices, and leading the way in the fight for independent media. All of these resonate with current discussions, both locally and globally around democracy and social justice, as well as AIDC 2020’s theme of collective intelligence.

Join Gordon in conversation as he discusses the essential role of documentary in a fair and just society through some of his key works from Inquiring Nuns and Last Pullman Car to Hoop Dreams, The Trials of Muhammad Ali, Minding the Gap and 63Boycott. Talking through his 50-plus years of experience, Gordon will expand on how to sustain documentary making amidst constant assaults on truth, and finding new ways to regenerate the form and industry. He’ll also discuss the expanding role of the producer in nurturing new talent and promoting and enabling diverse voices to tap into hyper-local stories that also reverberate with global audiences. This session promises to be both thought-provoking and inspiring.

AIDC2020 - Masters of Producing: Gordon Quinn of Kartemquin Films

COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE
Is Australian press freedom an endangered species? What can be done to prevent the media being portrayed as the enemy of the people?

Australia has some of the most draconian anti-media laws of all Western countries. Police raids on journalists, national security laws that criminalise journalistic activities, attacks on whistleblowers, archaic defamation laws and restricted access to information have stifled the ability of journalists to hold power to account.

Investigative journalism is under threat globally and increasingly in countries where democracies have historically prevailed. At a time when attacks on press freedom around the world are on the rise, the risks faced by news, journalism and documentary are very real. But what can be done to stem the growing culture of secrecy and counter the epidemic of fake news, disinformation and manipulation that is eroding public discourse and democracy?

Join a distinguished panel of news, documentary and investigative journalists including ABC News’ Gaven Morris, filmmaker Yaara Bou Melhem and University of Queensland’s Professor Peter Greste to discuss the threat posed to press freedom. This session is a timely discussion of why public interest journalism should be protected and how the industry can help educate the public about their right to know before Australian journalists are labelled the enemy of the people.

AIDC2020 - The War on Press Freedom (and What to do About It)

CRAFT
Meet the key people behind hit ABC shows that have delivered real world impact, and find out what’s next in 2020.

Commissioning distinctive TV that has a real-world impact on Australians and their communities is a major goal of ABC’s Factual and Documentary teams. The ABC has been leading the way with this form of programming through acclaimed series such as Old People’s Home for 4 Year Old’s, Employable Me, Don’t Stop The Music, Love On The Spectrum and War On Waste. In 2020, the ABC is presenting two major climate-themed series with Fight for Planet A: The Climate Challenge exploring how we can all help reduce both our individual and collective carbon emissions and Big Weather (and how to survive it) offering insight and practical advice on how to survive and thrive in a time of increasing extreme weather events. We will also see Shaun Micallef return to our screens as he delves into the nation’s relationship with alcohol, with Shaun Micallef’s On The Sauce.

All of these shows demonstrate the importance of content that not only informs and entertains but has the power to connect the nation and drive real-world awareness and change.

In this session you will hear insights from key people on these shows, both in front of and behind the camera as well as the ABC’s Impact Producer. All have been pivotal in developing and delivering TV with a social purpose that resonates with audiences across all platforms.

This session features Craig Reucassel, Debbie Cuell, Karina Holden and Teri Calder and will be moderated by Stephen Oliver.

AIDC2020 - Real World Impact: TV with Social Purpose

CRAFT
Leading factual producers reveal how they tackled projects of scale … and scale doesn’t always mean big budget. 

Leading factual producers discuss and demystify the oft-used term ‘scale’.
From giant crews, fixed rigs and far-flung locations, to leading a tiny team shooting across a long timeframe – scale calls for precise decision making in the development process and in designing your production model.
 
What are the different production approaches that can be scaled to get the most out of the story and budget? Do you go big, long, lean, broad or deep to best access your story? How can you invert your production approach on the same story material?
 
Debbie Cuell, Jocelyn Little and Ben Ulm’s careers embody the full spectrum of scale, from big blue-chip to lean ob-doc. They will dissect making recent and upcoming series Ed Stafford: First Man Out, Old People’s Home for 4 Year-Olds, One Born Every Minute, Who Gets to Stay in Australia and Wild City. 
 
Moderator Sarah Thornton (Network Ten) springboards this conversation from a Network commissioning perspective. Scale used to mean big budget but what does it mean in the current factual market?

AIDC2020 - Niche to Broad, Big to Lean: Concepts of Scale in Factual

CRAFT
Director Jen Peedom discusses her story-focused approach to documentary writing, from pre-production through to editing.



What does it mean to ‘write’ a documentary?

For BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Jennifer Peedom (Sherpa, Mountain), writing — and re-writing — defines each step of the filmmaking process. Emphasising the difference between covering an issue and telling an emotional story, this session will explore lessons borrowed from drama storytelling in shaping Jen’s compelling on-screen characters and journeys: encompassing thoughtful planning in research and pre-production, course-correction through principal shooting and interviews, and an openness to challenging feedback throughout editing.

Further points of discussion for this session include the differences between writing historical and unfolding stories, writing observational documentaries (when the outcome of a situation is unknown at the outset), and incorporating additional editorial tools (such as graphics and cards) at the editing stage for clarity.

AIDC2020 - Upskill: Writing Documentary, Shaping Story with Jen Peedom

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Talking about Documentary

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