Renewed: Outback Ringer

ABC factual series Outback Ringer has been funded for a second season along with Seven’s upcoming factual Nurses.

Screen Australia has announced $2.3 million of documentary production funding for eight projects through the Producer Program and two projects through the Commissioned Program.

Nurses is a 10-part series from ITV Studios Australia  about the nurses in NSW, from director/producer Lisa Storer, producer Lexi Landsman and executive producers Ben Ulm and Steve Bibb.

Outback Ringer series 2 is a seven-part series from Ronde Media for the ABC by series producer Liam Taylor, series director (field) Tom Lawrence, producer Jess Brown  and executive producer Ben Davies. They are joined by producer Cian McCue.

There are also other feature documentaries -although it isn’t clear if these are for television- about Australian music icons John Farnham, Ruby Hunter and Archie Roach, and legendary racehorse WINX; as well as Embrace Kids, a follow up to hit 2016 documentary Embrace. Production companies include Matchbox Pictures and Blink TV.

Alex West, Head of Documentary at Screen Australia said, “We’re proud to announce this impressive mix of projects which rounds out our documentary funding for 2019/20. It’s great to support so many feature documentaries covering a range of exciting topics, including shining a light on a number of Australian icons, and I’m confident they will captivate audiences.”

Nurses
10 x 60 mins
ITV Studios Australia Pty Ltd
Director Lisa Storer
Producers Lisa Storer, Lexi Landsman
Executive Producers Ben Ulm, Steve Bibb
Broadcaster Seven Network
Distributor ITV Global Distribution
Synopsis Save a life, you’re a hero. Save 100 lives, you’re a nurse. With privileged access to 3 hospitals in Sydney’s East and North, Nurses is an observational series that documents the great range of work undertaken by nurses in the NSW Health System. It’s a diverse, character filled workforce.

Outback Ringer Series 2
7 x 22 mins
Ronde Media
Series Producer Liam Taylor
Series Director (field) Tom Lawrence
Post Producer Jess Brown
Executive Producer Ben Davies
Broadcaster ABC
International Sales DCD
Synopsis Deep in the Australian Outback a handful of families risk their lives catching feral bulls and buffalo. Through the eyes of Australia’s feral bull catchers, see the Outback like never before.

Embrace Kids
1 x 90 mins
Body image Movement / SLA Films
Writer/Director Taryn Brumfitt
Producers Taryn Brumfitt, Anna Vincent, Bonnie McBride
Executive Producers Celeste Barber, Teresa Palmer, Natasha Stott Despoja
Distributor Transmission
Synopsis Filmmaker, author and globally heralded activist Taryn Brumfitt is at it again, this time turning the lens on the issue of kids’ body image to understand why 70% of Australian school kids consider body image to be their number one concern, and what can be done about it.

Gloriavale
1 x 80 mins
Forward Media Pty Ltd
Writer/Directors Noel Smyth, Fergus Grady
Producers Noel Smyth, Fergus Grady
Executive Producers Kim Ingles, Richard Fletcher
Synopsis An eye-opening look at the infamous Gloriavale Christian Community and the institutional failures that have allowed one of the world’s biggest and longest running cults to continue.

Ithaka
1 x 100 mins
Shipton House Pty Ltd
Director Benjamin Lawrence
Producers Gabriel Shipton, Adrian Devant
Synopsis A feature documentary that follows John Shipton’s battle to save his son, Julian Assange.

John Farnham: Finding The Voice
1 x 90 mins
Beyond Oz Pty Ltd in association with Blink TV
Director Poppy Stockell
Producer Olivia Hoopmann
Executive Producers Paul Clarke, Martin Fabinyi
Synopsis Nobody ever questioned that John Farnham could sing, but his journey to find an artistic voice and become Australia’s most beloved performer was a challenging one and took half a lifetime.

Knowing the Score
1 x 75 mins
Knowing the Score Pty Limited
Directors Janine Hosking, Simon Target
Writer Janine Hosking
Producer Margaret Bryant
Executive Producer Jonathan Page
Synopsis Simone Young’s achievements are phenomenal and unprecedented. Knowing the Score gets up-close and personal with Simone in this luscious music documentary exposing a struggle for gender parity and for artists to be valued in times of crisis, or sometimes even at all.

The Giants
1 x 90 mins
General Strike Pty Ltd & Matchbox Productions Pty Ltd
Director/Producer Laurence Billiet
Executive Producer Helen Panckhurst
Synopsis The Giants is a poetic, cinematic portrait of environmentalist Bob Brown and the Forest. This film draws on emerging science about trees and Brown’s experiences of activism to inspire a new chapter in our relationship with trees.

Wash My Soul in the River’s Flow
1 x 88 mins
Wash My Soul Productions
Writer/Director Philippa Bateman
Producers Archie Roach, Kate Hodges, Philippa Bateman
Executive Producers Emma Donovan, Ian Darling
Synopsis A portrait of two of Australia’s great artists: Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter. A story in song about loss, love and the redemptive power of music and Country.

Winx
1 x 90 mins
I Kandy Films Pty Ltd
Director Janine Hosking
Writers Andrew Rule, Janine Hosking
Producers Janine Hosking, Katrina McGowan
Cinematographer Kevin Scott
Distributor Transmission
Synopsis WINX is the untold story of one of Australia’s greatest living legends.