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‘Definitive’ Murdoch documentary to screen on SBS and UK’s ITV with Screen Australia funding

Rupert Murdoch and his empire will be the subject of a new documentary by Electric Pictures, having received funding from Screen AustraliaA documentary about Rupert Murdoch is to be funded by Screen Austraia, the organisation has revealed.

The taxpayer funded body said that the doco – titled Murdoch – will screen in SBS and on the UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster ITV.

Produced by Electric Pictures, according to the synopsis, the two-part series will be “the definitive account of how one man changed the face of the media and became one of the wealthiest, most powerful and enigmatic figures in the world.”

Electric Pictures was the production company that won a best documentary AACTA award earlier this year for Jandamarra’s War.

Written and directed by Janice Sutherland, Electric’s Andrew Ogilvie and Dinah Lord are producing.

A spokesman for Electric Pictures told Encore: “We won’t be commenting.”

The series is one of six documentaries announced by Screen Australia.

Five of the six already have international sales behind them. Not only will Murdoch screen in the UK, it will likely sell elsewhere around the world courtesy of sales agents BBC Worldwide and TenAlps.

The total Screen Australia investment for all six productions is $1.9m.

Four projects will be broadcast locally on the ABC while Sydney Harbour – Life on the Edge is scheduled for National Geographic Australia.

In regard to the high proportion of documentaries with international sales attached, Liz Stevens, Screen Australia’s documentary manager said: “It’s exciting to see that among the projects funded in this round are five international documentaries. International pre-sales and distribution are hard to secure at the moment, so it is a great reflection on the strength of these projects that they have brought home good deals from the international marketplace.”

The productions are:
Kakadu
Eye Spy Productions Pty Ltd trading as Northern Pictures
Producer Sue Clothier
Director/Writer Nick Robinson
Broadcaster ABC TV
Sales Cineflix
Synopsis: Kakadu, an epic four by one hour documentary series combining human and animal lives to tell the extraordinary story of a year in Kakadu National Park.

Murdoch
Electric Pictures
Producers Andrew Ogilvie, Dinah Lord
Director/Writer Janice Sutherland
Broadcaster SBS, ITV
Sales BBC Worldwide, TenAlps
Synopsis: The definitive account of how one man changed the face of the media and became one of the wealthiest, most powerful and enigmatic figures in the world.

Redesign My Brain
Mindful Media
Producers Paul Scott, Isabel Perez
Director/Writer Paul Scott
Broadcaster ABC TV
Sales Cineflix, Universal Pictures International
Synopsis: For the first time on TV the new science of brain plasticity is put to the test as a celebrity host experiences a radical brain makeover under the guidance of the world’s top neuroscientists.

Possum Wars
360 Degree Films
Producer Sally Ingleton
Director Bruce Permezel
Broadcaster ABC, SVT
Sales ZED, ABC Commercial
Synopsis: When possums and people vie for real estate – it’s war!

Sydney Harbour – Life on the Edge
Prospero Productions
Producers Ed Punchard, Julia Redwood
Director Russell Vines
Broadcaster Nat Geo Aus
Sales Content West
Synopsis: A fascinating quest to reveal the true heart of Australia – its life on the coast. The first ever complete 360º view of Australia’s unique Sydney Harbour from the sky, land and beneath the waves.

George Rrurrambu, produced by Night Sky Films’ Rachel Clements and Lisa Watts is the only production from the Agency’s national documentary program.

George Rrurrambu
Night Sky Films Pty Ltd
Producers Rachel Clements, Lisa Watts
Director Steven McGregor
Writer Lisa Watts, Steven McGregor
Broadcaster ABC TV
Synopsis: George Rrurrambu, legendary front man of the Warumpi Band, made an extraordinary contribution to contemporary Indigenous music and awakened the Australian consciousness of a third world in its own back yard.

 

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