Press release from SAFC
The South Australian Film Corporation is delighted to announce the teams selected to participate in The FACTory, a $2.1 million joint initiative between the ABC and SAFC aimed at developing original ideas for factual programs, to be produced out of South Australia and air on ABC1 in prime time. The announcement was made by Minister John Hill at the opening of the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) which begins in Adelaide today and continues through to 4 March.
"The FACTory initiative aims to provide a real shot in the arm to the local documentary sector. So many initiatives start with good intentions but ultimately fail to deliver – working with ABC TV and local producers on series ideas from development through to broadcast will deliver not only a serious scale of production but a level of engagement that will provide an important point of difference to other similar schemes. We are extremely excited about seeing the results” said SAFC CEO, Richard Harris.
Seven teams were selected from 23 applications by a panel comprising of Jennifer Collins, ABC TV Head of Factual Programming; Alan Erson, ABC TV Head of Documentary; Defrim Isai, SAFC General Manager, Industry Development and Production; and Viron Papadopoulos, SAFC Project Officer, Industry Development and Production.
The panellists were delighted by the high quality of the applications and the diversity of ideas presented, with concepts spanning science, history, gastronomy, wildlife, adventure, children’s stories and the trials and tribulations of the average, and not so average Australian.
Defrim Isai said
"The FACTory will have a significant impact on both established and emerging SA documentary companies working towards building a sustainable business in the state. This level of collaboration between the ABC and the SAFC is unprecedented and bodes well for the future of documentary in South Australia and the SAFC's vision to increase the level of South Australian production appearing on our national screens."
The FACTory participating teams are Mark Patterson and Kay Pavlou from GO PATTERSON FILMS; Matthew Bate, Sophie Hyde and Caroline Man from CLOSER PRODUCTIONS, Mike Piper and Corey Piper from PIPER FILMS; David Ngo, Emily Griggs and Nick Matthews from PROJECTOR FILMS; Kristian Moliere, Julie Byrne, Vikki Sugars, Jen Jones and Colin Thrupp from CINEUM; Quentin Kenihan and Shane McNeil from Q PRODUCTIONS; and Lindy Taylor and Justin O’Donoghue from THE SNOWGLOBE FACTORY.
FACTory teams will be immersed in a rigorous program of creative exercises, forums and discussions, where the teams can test out their creative ideas and approaches culminating in the selection of projects which will be progress to production.