TV Format Lab
Kirk Docker is one of Australia’s finest storytellers and content creators. He is co-creator and director of ABC show You Can’t Ask That, now in its 7th season. The show has been awarded a Rose d’Or, AACTA and Walkley Award and the format sold to 14 territories around the world. Kirk is regarded one of Australia’s best interviewers, with no subject off topic. His interviewees range from ex-politicians to ice users to sexual assault survivors. He works with a deep curiosity, compassion and playfulness to facilitate honesty from his interviewees, many of whom have never been interviewed before.
Speaker
With decades of experience helping member-based organisations create community, Jonathan is working to help Mercury CX members connect and collaborate.
1:1 Pitches, Mentor
Previously an award-winning filmmaker, Stephen is now Manager of Documentaries at the ABC and oversees many of the national broadcaster’s biggest hits, including Love on the Spectrum, Fight for Planet A, Big Weather, Australia’s Ocean Odyssey, Revelation, Exposed: The Case of Keli Lane, War on Waste and Employable Me. Stephen is passionate about telling stories with real world impact. In 2020, Stephen headed up several ground-breaking shows and game-changing impact campaigns around climate and the environment. Outside of work, he likes tennis, mountain-biking, and dogs. Oh and his kids, he definitely likes them too.
1:1 PITCHES – WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Format: Episodic, Documentary
We are looking for Bold documentaries (30 or 60 mins) or factual series of 30min or 60min episodes, hosted or unhosted, featuring diverse stories form a range of perspectives.
Short form is hard for us to program currently
Mentor
Kingston was most recently the CEO of the Australian Directors Guild and Australian Screen Directors Authorship Collection Society. THE ADG represents over 600 Australia directors including BAZ LUHRMANN, GILLIAN ARMSTRONG, PETER WEIR and PHILLIP NOYCE to name a few. He comes from a theatre and film background working as a theatre director, film and television producer as well as a consultant for screen organisations across Australia. He was the Film commissioner for the state of New South Wales in Australia and has served on a number of boards including the ASSOCIATION OF FILM COMMISSIONS INTERNATIONAL (AFCI). He currently sits on the board of the AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY CONFERENCE (AIDC) and the AUSTRALIAN COPYRIGHT COUNCIL (ACC). He has been a judge for the documentary category of the Australian Walkeley Awards, the Australian Subscription Television & Radio Association Awards and on the jury for the Oceania Film Festival . He has produced a number of documentary programs for Australian television including the series “TAXI SCHOOL” for SBS Television Australia and ‘A FRONTIER CONVERSATION’ and ‘KULKA’ for National Indigenous Television (NITV). He was also one of the producers on the SBS drama “AFTERSHOCKS” about the devastating Newcastle earthquake that was based on a verbatim account of events. This film won the Best Actor Award at the Australian Film Institute Awards for its lead Jeremy Sims. He is currently producing for his company WONDERLAND PRODUCTIONS and has a slate of documentary, drama and comedy projects in various stages of development and production.
1:1 Pitches
Mat Kesting is a film curator, exhibition and event specialist having worked in the sector for over 20 years and is CEO/ Creative Director of Adelaide Film Festival (AFF), an organisation he has held a long love for. The most recent edition of AFF was in October 2020 and the next will be presented in October 2022. Mat was previously the Exhibition Manager at Adelaide’s Mercury Cinema where he oversaw all curated and theatrical screen programs including the Adelaide Cinémathèque, Silent ReMasters, the Australian International Documentary Conference’s Doc Week, Seniors on Screen and the Adelaide Festival Centre’s OzAsia Festival film program among others. Previously he was Program Manager at the Brisbane International Film Festival. He has sat on various competition juries and program advisories and had formerly worked across various festivals, events and screen organisations in Melbourne and the UK. Mat holds degrees in Media and Cinema Studies and Environmental Science.
1:1 PITCHES – WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Format: Features, Documentary, Childrens, Animation
Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund (AFFIF) seeks to support projects with creative, cultural and economic benefits to South Australia.
Creative: Projects must display bold and innovative storytelling, a striking use of screen language and a strong creative team.
Cultural: Projects must demonstrate the short and long term benefits for the South Australian film industry and broader community, e.g. creative and development opportunities for individuals and organisations, branding opportunities, partnerships with national and international organisations and events, and the ability of the project to raise the profile of South Australia.
Economic: Projects must demonstrate measurable economic development outcomes for South Australia, such as direct and indirect expenditure in South Australia, employment of local cast, crew and businesses, and the potential for direct financial return from the equity investment.
There are no deadlines for the AFFIF, although we anticipate that most feature projects are locked approximately 12 months out from their premiere at the Festival.
WE are not looking for projects that fall outside of our guidelines…
Projects must:
-Be an Australian feature film/creative documentary with theatrical and/or broadcast potential to have its World Premiere at the next Adelaide Film Festival
-Provide a fully developed finance plan which along with the creative component of the project will form the basis of the recommendation to the Board
-Demonstrate an advanced stage of financing through recognised market attachments, with financing to be completed for delivery to
Projects will be given preference if they:
-Demonstrate a net economic benefit to South Australia
-Are produced and/ or post-produced in South Australia
-Use South Australian crew, cast and facilities where possible and appropriate.
