Today Tonight presenter Helen Kapalos appears in Caravan company’s refugee spoof
Today Tonight presenter Helen Kapalos has appeared in a brand funded short film about refugees being given free caravans.
In the short film, rather than Today Tonight, Kapalos works for Tomorrow Whenever.
Kapalos interviews “Bob Green”
The film – called Caravans for Refugees – was financed by the owners of Australian caravan brand Elite Caravans. Elite caravans owner Adrian Cappola came up with the concept for the short film while Cappola and fellow Elite Caravans owner Peter Smith are executive producers on the project.
Seven’s Today Tonight has been accused of perpetuating stereotypes about asylum seekers on a number of occasions. In 2011, Today Tonight claimed that detained refugees lived “in four star luxury” in a “refugee resort”. One of the points of contention of Today Tonight’s claim was that it incorrectly stated asylum seekers and refugees received $400 a week from the government. The work features Kapalos reporting a story of how the government will pay $500 a week to subsidise putting a refugee caravan in people’s back yards.
(October 10 update: The makers of the film tell Mumbrella they were unaware of the Today Tonight piece at the time of writing the script.)
A tree-hugging politician in the video is portrayed as Senator Bob Green – a nod to former Greens leader Bob Brown.
The film was launched onto YouTube by its makers in the last few days. It was shot several months ago, after Kapalos had been dropped by Ten and before she began to present Today Tonight.
The film also features a caravan customised “for our Muslim friends” with a sign saying “no pork or alcohol” and a combined yoga mat/ prayer mat with compass to point towards Mecca.
A refugee family is portrayed as being in need of a bath before jumping into a swimming pool.
Former SBS and Ten news presenter George Donikian also features in the film, which was written and directed by Jim Shomos.
At the time of Kapalos’ casting she said: “It’s a chance for me to do something outside my comfort zone… and therefore an opportunity to embrace. From the moment I saw the script… I knew there would be a great synergy with this project.”
Shomos wrote of the Elite Caravans’ involvement: “I’ve enjoyed creating videos for Elite because the two partners, Adrian and Peter are always willing to let us push the boundary way past the boring industry norms.
“As our friendship has evolved over the last two years, you can only admire their entrepreneurial spirit, courage and hard work. Not only did Adrian come up with the concept for my last short film “Caravans for Refugees”, Peter and Adrian also funded the production.”
Tim Burrowes
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
Linkedin
Man, this is an outrage and I hope that all good people stay well clear of the (edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy)
User ID not verified.
Slow news day is it Tim? Clearly, this is another cheap shot at Kapalos. Look, I’m no fan of TT and most of its stories, but the link you’ve made to the show’s track record is irrelevant, because you’ve even acknowledge in your copy an article in The Age that states in the first par that Kapalos was doing it between gigs.
Funny thing, is you’ve placed the links to irrelevant TT stories higher in the copy to deceive readers and obfuscate reality in your relentless campaign against this woman.
This story is six months old and is not valid simply because the content owners posted it on October 1. If it was a worthy story, why didn’t you have a crack at Kapalos when The Age ran its piece??
I guess you can’t resist the opportunity for a ‘call to arms’ to your narcissist-skew readership. Being online and identifying a mass media target to bump up your numbers, doesn’t mean you should insult your audience with base content.
I hope your readers enjoy your breaking six-month-old news.
And I look forward to reading a dung pile of snide comments on about to be posted by overpaid readers in the Advertising industry that are so unhappy with themselves the slightest whiff of some crowd-sourced online thuggery is the highlight of their day.
User ID not verified.
Hello Media Whore,
Thanks for your comment. The film has only been released online this week, so can be viewed for the first time. It was previously, as I understand it, only shown at a short film festival and to the cast. You’ll often see news stories about casting for a film. That doesn’t mean it’s old news when the film launches.
It’s interesting to us on a number of levels. Not least because this is a piece of brand funded content. We write about this all of the time. In this case, it’s a very unusual piece of content.
And if I have to explain why the presenter of a controversial current affairs show with a reputation for going after refugees appearing in a spoof film as the presenter of a current affairs show featuring refugees is worth writing about, then I’m not sure I can allow you to go on calling yourself Media Whore…
And you may miss the point on the track record. This piece of work appears to draw on the disputed $400 a week claim made by Today Tonight when it talks about the $500 a week caravans. Either that or it’s one helluva coincidence…
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Media Whore seems quite well informed and perhaps quite close to the story…
User ID not verified.
Tim,
Some of TT’s stories on refugees, but really asylum seekers, have been of the gutter variety.
But it’s simply too convenient that you’ve linked an in-between job I assume Kapalos had agreed to before she knew about the TT gig.
I think given the fanciful associations thus far, the adjudicator will have to put the $500 a week caravan down as a helluva coincidence.
If you want to take a principled stand on media reporting of the refugee/asylum seeker issue, then you should declare war on the mainstream media which continues to play the whipping boy for politicians driving what’s essentially a non-issue to appeal to Australia’s redkneck element to boost their electoral fortunes.
I don’t see that happening Tim. You should have some real balls and kick off a campaign to go each and every media outlet, every time they run this non-story, not pursue soft targets like Kapalos.
While your comment about by Media Whoriness did prompt me to crack a smile, I’ll have you know that it quickly reverted to a look of solemn concern – Media Whores want high quality coverage, not low hanging fruit.
If all outlets become low rent, then the big picture is it damages the capacity of myself and every other media whore to showcase our whoresome talents!
Now would you stop being stubborn – could you pick up the phone and say sorry to Helen. I’m sure she has enough undermining going on in her own office without you providing further encouragement.
Sloppy ones,
Media Whore xo
User ID not verified.
Anonymous, if you’re thinking I’m some kind of TT-stooge then you can bit my ass!
I just looked at the story here and then my well-oiled journalistic wheels took over.
Plus, I’m not sure whether you’ve noticed, but there’s been a few cracks at Kapalos from this outlet and probably that’s enough.
There’s a fresh market of victims across the width and bredth of TV land that don’t have Kapalos’ grounding in journalism and who haven’t risen up the ranks the more difficult way she did.
In fact, if you positioned a spy cam properly, I reckon you’d get a heap of shots of some of these so-called TV presenters crawling our from under the producer’s desk and adjusting their lipstick.
They’re the ones you need to take the piss out of!
User ID not verified.
Actually Anonymous, stop hiding, come out and show us the real you!
Take off your burkak and put up your dukes – let’s settle this thing the way Media Whores and Anonymous comment posters used to back in the good old days!
User ID not verified.
As stated within the article – it’s a short film made for film festivals, shot several months ago and while Helen was between gigs. Perhaps people should see it for just what it is – a short film, shot several months ago while Helen was between gigs!!
Starting to think there’s some kind of weird vendetta between you and this woman!
User ID not verified.
isn’t she just piss-taking herself?
User ID not verified.
Hmmm – I’ll give this film at least 2 hours until it’s a major online news scandal. Channel 7’s PR team better be ready. Good luck. And Im a big fan of Helen!
User ID not verified.
Media Whore,
Sexist much? For future reference your commentary and views can still be provided without blatant and offensive sexist remarks.
“In fact, if you positioned a spy cam properly, I reckon you’d get a heap of shots of some of these so-called TV presenters crawling our from under the producer’s desk and adjusting their lipstick.
They’re the ones you need to take the piss out of!”
User ID not verified.
Well it helps that the good folk here have lined her up as the first item of the newsletter.
Pretty sad actually – there must be more worthwhile things happening in this industry!
User ID not verified.
Can someone clarify who the actor playing Senator Bob Green is? Is he the same guy who played Napoleon in “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”?
User ID not verified.
Good to see the problem of political and economical refugee’s – many fleeing from civil war – being taken seriously. What on earth are Elite Caravan’s doing getting involved with politics? Absolute garbage / redneck fodder
User ID not verified.
I think James Brown plays Bob Green
User ID not verified.
@Sara I – apologies for any offence caused by stating a well-known industry fact. As a consolotion, I suppose there’s also an increasing number of guys crawling out from under the producer’s desk too! He, I should know… I’m a whore
@ Drew – did you pitch this to the Tele? Some guy at news.com.au decided to do a story rehashing Mumbrella’s breaking story about a six month old story, topped off with a rehash of a previous story they’d run about Kapalos left high and dry by her incompetent producers…
Well actually, it was another crack at Kapalos over the on-air happenings during the Labor leadership spill, but those who think about it a bit would know that the behind the scenes support couldn’t have been all that good.
In light of that Drew, a “major online news scandal” would seem to compete in ferocity with the impact of an unidentified wet lettuce!
Anyway, the news.com.au reporter appears to be another work experience student transformed miraculously into a cross media rehasher!
His name is Sam Clench and that’s a surname that suggests some sort of muscular contraction of the butt cheeks.
That’s rather ironic because a similar muscular contraction around that part of the body appears to produce most of the Terrorgraph’s copy!
User ID not verified.
@media whore – no I did not pitch the story to news.com.au. Believe it or not, mumbrella is a trade blog for the media and quite a few journalists actually read it!! Also, having worked in the media for many years, I’d like to think i have a good sense for what is news, especially the type of story that makes a great scandal.
Tick, tick, tick – this story had all the right elements. As I said, I actually like Helen, I think it’s great she has a sense of humour. It’s a great Aussie attribute; to be self deprecating. Meanwhile, for what it’s worth, I think it was a very dangerous campaign for this caravan producer to embark on.
User ID not verified.
Omg it’s a film! It’s supposed to be move shock or entertain! Perhaps one should avoid films such as The Wizard of Oz… Seriously disturbing when we see the attempted ‘silencing’ spread across every medium! The freedom of creative expression now appears to stand on the precipice to extinction….. Imagine ‘that’ world, it may not be far off…. I suggest celebrating the zany and politically incorrect while we still have this ever decreasing right to do so. I haven’t viewed said film yet, but when I do, I’m sure I’ll get a laugh and perhaps I’ll even purchase a caravan, who knows!
User ID not verified.
Much ado about nothing. The original mUmBRELLA story is fine, if anything, it doesn’t go far enough.
I don’t see the production as red neck fodder or underhand political comment , I see it as an unskillful attempt at comedic political/social comment, by using a brand, familiar faces and blatant stereotypes.
The script is simplistic, predictable and corny. The direction is lame and ill prepared, without any sense of intent or form in its execution.
A common old mistake has been made yet again, where because a person is actually a news reader or presenter, the director assumes that this person will be best placed to act themselves. The result is invariably the same, the character ends up walking and talking in a way that they assume represents reality.
I’m giving it 1and a half stars….for camera work.
User ID not verified.
Random Writer nailed it! It really is sad that world’s population at large is so bent on being politically correct and essentially, have lost their sense of humour!
User ID not verified.
As the writer/director (& co-producer with Pete Garnish) I don’t want to spoil some of the extreme drama above but I will chip in with some clarification:
1. Anon#2: yes Terri Camilleri plays Senator Bob Green and he was Napoleon in Bil & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Wonderful actor and man.
2. Helen’s casting was pure serendipity. I approached her 2 days after the Ten axing late last year, and we shot 2 days after she got verbal confirmation of the TT gig. Helen was an absolute pro and graciouss with her time with everyone involved… and brave
3. My Islamic “script consultant” is an Iraqui refugee and one of the most inspiring people I have met. She and her Muslim friends love the film
4. Many other talented and caring people worked on the film, including George Donikian & Santo Cilauro. None of them would have been involved if the project was anti-refugees or racist.
5. Peter & Adrian from Elite Caravans are supporting original Australian content. They did not compromise the creative execution in any way. We need more brands like them in Oz.
6. Richard Ross; thanks for focusing on the actual content. I agree with you, apart from the performances. I think the director made a hack of a good script 🙂
User ID not verified.
Jim’s right – Helen is a pro, gracious and brave. Such authentic and amazing qualities are rare these days. #teamhelen
User ID not verified.