Create NSW announces SheDoc recipients

Three female documentary filmmakers have been announced in funding by Create NSW, Documentary Australia Foundation and RØDE Microphones initiative, SheDoc.

They are NSW producer Charlotte Mars, Sydney producer, Philippa Bateman & NSW director, Vera Hong (pictured).

Recipients can use the grant, at up to $20,000, to support their project’s cost on travel, research, development, and/or other related expenses.

“We’re very excited to bring SheDoc back this year. The selection of the final three recipients was a tough decision because there were many fantastic applicants. We encourage women to continuously seek opportunities to develop themselves professionally, no matter how long they have worked in the industry,” said Mitzi Goldman, CEO of Documentary Australia Foundation.

“It’s exciting to partner with Documentary Australia Foundation once more to widen the opportunities for female documentary makers,” said Elizabeth W. Scott, Create NSW Executive Director for Investment and Engagement.

RØDE Microphones CEO Damien Wilson agrees: “As an Australian company producing essential tools for filmmakers around the world, the RØDE team are very proud to continue our support for SheDoc. The initiative’s mission to create opportunities for women to explore career and creative goals is a genuine step towards a more equitable industry and greater diversity of voices in the documentary genre.”

Mitzi Goldman, CEO Documentary Australia Foundation said, “The SheDoc program aims to make a pivotal intervention in a woman’s filmmaking career. By offering funding to facilitate opportunities that are self-directed and of benefit, our intention is to offer opportunities that would be difficult to undertake without our support.”

First launched in 2016, SheDoc is a Create NSW and Documentary Australia Foundation initiative to support female documentary filmmakers, proudly supported RØDE Microphones. The fellowship program aims to make a pivotal intervention in a woman’s filmmaking career and is open to women, resident in NSW, working in documentary at any stage of their career and in any key creative role.

The 2019 SheDoc recipients are:

NSW producer, Charlotte Mars, to support her move into directing and the development of her feature documentary, Muscle. Mars will undertake a mentorship with renowned visual artist and filmmaker Amos Gebhardt, who will come to Sydney for a creative development week on Mars’ feature, to be produced with Rita Walsh.

Sydney producer, Philippa Bateman, to undertake a producer placement with Academy Award ®, Emmy and Grammy Award winning feature documentary director and producer, Alex Gibney (Taxi To The Dark Side – 2008 Oscar – and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room – Oscar nominated 2006). Gibney has offered Bateman a producer placement at his company Jigsaw Productions in New York City for up to six weeks in the second half of 2019. Bateman will also advance the development and financing of her project American Hunter which Philippa is producing and co-writing with US based Australian filmmaker Alex Kershaw.

NSW director, Vera Hong, to develop a feature documentary about the repatriation of the ancestral remains of Mungo Man and kin to the Willandra Lakes Region in NSW, told through the voices of the Traditional Custodians, the Mutthi Mutthi, Barkandji and Ngiyaampa people. Hong will work closely with Mutthi Mutthi elder, Aunty Mary Pappin as writer and cultural advisor while also working with documentary mentor, acclaimed Sydney based film producer Bridget Ikin.