AIDC 2024: ABC unveils new Australian Features doco strand
Submissions open for a new Australian Features initiative for ABC iview.
- Published by David Knox
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Last night at the opening of the Australian International Documentary Conference ABC Head of Factual Susie Jones (pictured) announced a new premium documentary strand for ABC iview.
An Australian Features initiative will commission documentaries ranging in genre and format, including true-crime and investigations, observational access, extraordinary stories of everyday Australians, unknown stories of well-known Australians, and first-person unfolding narratives.
Starting from today, submissions can be made to commissioning editors and development executives in the ABC Factual team.
“In a streaming era, feature documentaries are more important than ever, and audiences consistently gravitate towards them,” Jones said.
“Australian documentaries are world class and have the ability to entertain, enlighten, move and inspire. We want ABC iview to be the premier destination for the very best Australian documentaries.
“We’re very open to pitches for this strand, so be ambitious and present us with your biggest and best idea. We expect these documentaries to attract broad audiences and garner critical acclaim.”
Since 2020, the ABC has commissioned on average over 100 hours of documentary and factual content per year (excluding the 2021 financial year where production shut down due to COVID).
Last financial year, the ABC commissioned over $24m in documentary and factual content with the production sector, which generated nearly $52m of total production in Australia.