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Disabled Sydney to Hobart sailors for SBS doco
One of the yachts in the Sydney to Hobart race will feature in a documentary series that has been filmed for SBS.
disABILITIES skipper David Pescud led a disabled crew of blind, limbless and paraplegic sailors to the 29th place in the world’s toughest ocean race, coming second in their division.
The four part series disAble-bodied Sailors will follow the adventure as they find a crew, train a crew and then race a crew comprised of males and females with disabilities.
Director of Content – Television and Online Matt Campbell said, “This is an …
Bush Slam
Public broadcasters continue to upstage commercial Free to Air Networks over summer by providing first-run local content, that is also of a high quality.
Joining the ranks of SBS’ The Circuit and Secrets and Lives comes the ABC’s Bush Slam -a new six part series in which H.G. Nelson plays host to an original poetry contest in regional towns across Australia.
It doesn’t get much more Australian than this. In the first episode, set in Cowra, NSW, we learn about the town’s history during WW II when hundreds of Japanese soldiers broke free …
Top Gear loss “not the be-all and end-all”
TV Tonight continues its interviews with key executives in television. Following on from last week’s interviews with Seven, ABC, TEN and Nine, today the spotlight turns to SBS Director of Content Matt Campbell.
The last two weeks have not been without their challenges for Campbell, who learned the fate of Top Gear, a programme he had taken a punt on many years ago when no other network would touch it.
Having spent a lot of time trying to convince the BBC it should be staying at its natural home, he admits the loss …
Airdate: Secrets and Lives
New SBS documentary series Secrets and Lives will premiere Thursday 3rd December at 8.30pm.
The docos span a number of topics looking at Australian characters and subcultures: From a former chronic alcoholic attempting to save the lives of other sufferers in his suburban rehab, to a disabled crew battling nature in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
SBS Executive Producer Peter Newman, said, “Secrets and Lives programs are raw, visceral and at times confronting. But this doesn’t necessarily mean dark or bleak, there’s a strong sense of humour throughout the strand”.
Denise Eriksen, SBS …
More love for Big Love soon
SBS has some enticing titles coming up in its last quarter and into 2010.
It includes the second season of local drama The Circuit starring Aaron Pedersen, to begin in the first week of December. The long-awaited third series of Big Love will return over summer. The network also has the free to air rights to the award-winning miniseries John Adams, about the second US president.
There’s also a second season for Paul Fenech’s Swift & Shift Couriers.
Supernatural series, True Horror, explores vampires, demons, witches and exorcism and James May has his own …
SBS: More “Secrets and Lives” from WA
After announcing documentary initiatives in Victoria and New South Wales, SBS is now on the hunt for stories from Western Australia.
The Secrets and Lives strand is seeking stories on WA characters in a joint deal between the broadcaster and ScreenWest.
As with the Victorian and NSW docos, nine episodes will air as 3 x 3 stories in 2010. Up to $360,000 will be provided for the development and production of each WA series.
“Secrets and Lives will take viewers into the fascinating, compelling and entertaining world of WA’s real life characters,” Ian Booth, …
“Secrets & Lives” factuals for SBS
SBS will ramp up its factual slate with 9 x ½ hour programs under a new Secrets and Lives initiative.
Jointly funded by the New South Wales Film & Television Office (FTO) and SBS, Secrets and Lives promises to utilise “humour and surprising, innovative approaches to factual story telling to deliver tough subjects, entertaining and engaging journeys, strong characters and, ideally, tackle the major social issues of our time.” That’s quite a charter…
The initiative allows for both development of new ideas and production of previously developed ideas.
Denise Eriksen, Manager Production and Development …
Applications: Secrets and Lives
Film Victoria has been very busy this week, joining with SBS to produce a new documentary series titled Secrets and Lives.
Investing half a million dollars in the initiative, it becomes the biggest factual collaboration undertaken between Victoria and an Australian broadcaster. The series is expected to comprise up to 36 half-hour episodes in total, which will generate significant activity for the independent production sector, with up to 18 episodes exclusively using Victorian producers.
A call-out has gone out to independent documentary producers to develop ideas for the new series which will
tackle tough …