Circa 1899-1968

A senior producer at the Australian National Film Board (later to become Film Australia) under Stanley Hawes, in 1947 Jack was given control of a small unit of his own to make the Australian Diary series. These were produced from the Sydney Department of Information head office by his staff of two cameramen and edited at Fox Movietone. He was responsible for over 125 episodes of Australian Diary between 1947 and 1963 and for over 25 episodes of Australian Colour Diary between 1957 and 1963. He retired in 1964.

His other credits as director include Sun Gods of the Surf (1945), Surf Patrol (1950), The Farmer was a Fighting Man (1953), Saga of a City (1957), Talkabout Australian Territories (1963) and Place for a Village (1966), and as producer, Jungle Patrol (1945), One Man's War (1951), Menace (1952), Training Champions (1957) and You and Your Vote (1963).

Link to Jack S Allan films on the Film Australia website

Born 1950, Croydon, UK

An award-winning artist, author, designer and animator, Jeannie has published ten picture books internationally. Her extraordinarily detailed collage constructions have been in travelling exhibitions in North America, Europe and throughout Australia and are now held in many public art collections. Her latest book is The Hidden Forest (2000).

Her other animation credits include Where the Forest Meets the Sea (1987).

Link to Jeannie Baker films on the Film Australia website

Born 1956, Wollongong, NSW

David played an integral part in the establishment of the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) in 1980. He has worked with Bush Mechanics co-director, Francis Jupurrula Kelly, the Warlpiri Media Association and the community of Yuendumu for over two decades. A freelance documentary writer, director and cinematographer, he is currently based in Broome.

His other credits as director include the Manu Wana TV series (1994), Jila-Painted Waters of the Great Sandy Desert (1998), Bush Mechanics (1999), Rodeo Road (2000), Bush Mechanics-The Series (2001) and Sisters of St John of God (2002).

Link to David Batty films on the Film Australia website

Born 1932, Melbourne, Victoria

Gil was a high school teacher before joining ABC TV in 1963 where he directed Jackeroo (1965) and a series based on My Brother Jack (1966). In 1969, he was employed as a producer at the Commonwealth Film Unit (later to become Film Australia) where he supervised films directed by Peter Weir, Donald Crombie, Phil Noyce and Chris Noonan. In 1972 he became the founding Chair of the South Australian Film Corporation and in 1977 founding Chair of the Tasmanian Film Corporation. He was awarded an Order of Australia in 1976 and retired to the Hawkesbury River in 1996.

His other credits as producer include Sunday in Melbourne (1958), Grampians Wonderland (1959), The Line (1970), Flashpoint (1972), Sunday Too Far Away (1975), and Manganinnie (1979), and as director, Annie's Coming Out (1984).

Link to Gil Brealey films on the Film Australia website

Born 1927, London, UK

In 1956 Ian joined the Commonwealth Film Unit (later to become Film Australia) where he began making ethnographic films with a series that followed nomadic Aboriginal families in the Western Desert. In 1969 he filmed the initiation ceremonies of the Baruya of the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Then in 1970 he started a long-term film project with the Yolngu of Yirrkala in northeast Arnhem Land. His work has focused on traditional Aboriginal communities in change, their strong spiritual life and relationship to the land.

His other credits as writer/director include 19 films in People of the Australian Western Desert series (1965-1970), 9 films in Towards Baruya Manhood series (1969-1992) and 22 films in The Yirrkala Film Project (1970-1996).

Link to Ian Dunlop films on the Film Australia website

1921-1987 Born Sydney, NSW

Keith's career began as a theatre director, designer and actor for the Newcastle Workers' Theatre and later the New Theatre in Sydney. He joined the film industry in 1949 working as a crew member. In the 1950s, with Norma Disher and Jock Levy, he formed the influential Waterside Workers Federation Film Unit. They produced 11 films on issues affecting workers including The Hungry Miles and Hewers of Coal. In 1959 Keith joined the Commonwealth Film Unit (later to become Film Australia) working as senior cameraman, director and producer. He co-wrote The Cars That Ate Paris with Peter Weir and Piers Davies.

His other credits as director include Australian Geography (1970), Our Asian Neighbours TV series (1975), And Their Ghosts May Be Heard (1975), History of Australian Cinema: Now You're Talking 1930Ð1940 (1979), Law TV series (1980), Women of Utopia (1983) and The Human Face of Russia (1984), and as cinematographer The Builder (1959), From the Tropics to the Snow (1962), The Change at Groote (1968), The Line (1970) and Big Island (1970).

Link to Keith Gow films on the Film Australia website

Denise Haslem is a producer and editor with over 20 years' experience in the film and television industry. She produced and edited the award-winning Mabo-Life of an Island Man, and has also produced Doc-A Portrait of Herbert Vere Evatt and A Calcutta Christmas, co-produced Risky Business and Steel City and was consultant producer of Ordinary People. As well as the Film Australia's Outback DVD, she is also presently producing Law and Order for Film Australia.

Denise's editing credits include many award-winning programs: Custody, My Life Without Steve, Canto a la Vida, The Night Belongs to the Novelist, Six Pack, Admission Impossible, Australia Daze, For All the World to See, The Opposite Sex, Aeroplane Dance, Mystique of the Pearl, Our Park, Hatred, Tosca-A Tale of Love and Torture and Minymaku Way.

In 1998-99 she was the President of Australian Screen Editors (ASE), the guild devoted to protecting, promoting and improving the role of the editor.

She also occasionally teaches Editing and the Art of Documentary classes at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS).

Link to Denise Haslem films on the Film Australia website

1905-1991 Born London, UK

Stanley worked with colleague John Grierson as a producer and director in the UK and Canada and was loyal to the Grierson ideal of "the classic documentary" throughout his long career. From 1946 until 1969, he was the first Producer-in-Chief of the Australian National Film Board, later to become Film Australia. In 1970, he was awarded an MBE and the Raymond Longford Award from the Australian Film Institute. He chaired the National Film Theatre of Australia between 1970 and 1974, and in 1971 was appointed chair of the Film Board of Review.

His other credits as producer include Timber Front (1940), Heroes of the Atlantic (1941), Women are Warriors (1942), Crocodile Hunters (1949), Darwin-Doorway to Australia (1949), The Shearers (1950), Snowy Waters (1952), Outback Patrol (1952), Across the Frontiers (1953), Bush Policeman (1953), Melbourne Olympic City (1956), Bring out a Briton (1958), Welcome Your Majesty (1958), The Queen Returns (1963), The Presidential Tour (1966) and the Expo 70 series (1970), and as director, The Home Front (1940), Flight Plan (1950) and The Queen In Australia (1954).

Link to Stanley Hawes films on the Film Australia website

Born 1952, Wellington, New Zealand

Paul was a high school teacher before training as a producer/director with Television New Zealand in 1979 and working in current affairs. After emigrating to Australia in 1985, he worked as a freelance filmmaker. Since 1997 he has concentrated on writing, combined with corporate video and commercial work, and has returned to live in New Zealand.

His other credits as director include the Overseas and Undersold TV series (1987), Australia in the Balance (1988), Literacy for a Lifetime (1990), A Fighting Chance-A Big Country (1991), Sydney Downunder (1992), The Hidden Killer (1993), Stepping Forward Looking Back (1994) and The Resurrection of the Batavia (1995).

Link to Paul Hawker films on the Film Australia website

Born 1943, Quairading, Western Australia

After graduating from university, David worked as a teacher for three years. He joined the Commonwealth Film Unit (later to become Film Australia) in 1968 and directed documentaries for the next two decades. He is now the live-in manager of a holiday resort in Pittwater, near Sydney.

His other credits as director include Let's Talk About It (1981), Mary Durack (1983), Spirit of the Tall Ships (1987) and the TV series The Human Face of Indonesia (1979), Striving (1984) and Storymakers (1987).

Link to David Haythornthwaite films on the Film Australia website

1916-2001 Born Devonport, Tasmania

John began his career as a sound engineer and cameraman with Efftee Films in Melbourne, and later worked with Zane Grey and Cinesound. In 1944 he joined Ealing Studios where he worked on The Overlanders. He joined the Australian National Film Board (later to become Film Australia) as a producer in 1945 then left in 1948 to form the Shell Film Unit (Australia) where he made the outback masterpiece The Back of Beyond. He was awarded an OBE in 1974 for achievements in cinema.

His other credits as producer/director include Native Earth (1946), Lamb (1947), Born in the Sun (1947), Men and Mobs (1947), Turn the Soil (1948), Cane Cutters (1948), The Valley is Ours (1948), Kill As We Go (1949), The Back of Beyond (1954) and The Reef (1978).

Link to John Heyer films on the Film Australia website

1875-1939 Born Queensland

Bert was appointed as the second official Government cinematographer in 1913. From 1921, together with producer, Lyn Maplestone, he was in charge of the newly formed Government Cinema and Photographic Branch. He was an outstanding and adventurous cinematographer even though his location work mostly consisted of travelogues and films on agriculture and industrial processes. Bert worked continuously with the Branch until 1939.

His other credits as a cinematographer include Angel of His Dreams (1912), Life of Adam Lindsay Gordon (1916), The Opening of Canberra-Australia's Capital City (1927), Glimpses of Australia: Adelaide (1928), Station Life (1928), Civil Aviation in Australia (1928), Ocean Booty (1930), Sydney's Harbour Bridge (1933) and Among the Hardwoods with Lacey Percival (1936), and as director, Australia Calling (1932) with Lyn Maplestone co-directing.

Link to Bert Ive films on the Film Australia website

Born 1945, Zambia, Africa

David studied anthropology and sociology at Sydney University before winning an ABC TV traineeship in 1969 where he worked on the Chequerboard series. He has been a freelance documentary director since 1973 and has directed many films with Aboriginal people, beginning with a documentary on the Stolen Generations in 1971.

His other credits as director include Walya Ngamardiki-The Land My Mother (1978), Three Dances with Gulpilil (1978), Images of Man (1979), Uluru-An Anangu Story (1985) and the TV series Roads to Xanadu (1989), Mini Dragons (1992) and The Irish Empire (1998).

Link to David Roberts films on the Film Australia website

Born 1947, Wellington, New Zealand

Philip made documentaries at Film Australia between 1970 and 1985. In the late 1980s he became Executive Producer at Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) and Imparja Television based in Alice Springs. He moved to Hong Kong in the 1990s to take up a position as executive producer in Hong Kong University's Centre for Media Resources. Philip is currently a lecturer in the School of Contemporary Communication, Central Queensland University.

His other credits as director include The Yirrkala Film Project: At the Canoe Camp and Dhapi Ceremony at Yirrkala (1972), Three Communities: Belonging, Coping, Changing (1978Ð79), Making It (1983), The Human Face of the Pacific: Fiji-Legacies of Empire (1983) and Real Life: Getting Straight (1987).

Link to Philip Robertson films on the Film Australia website

Born 1923, Cooma, NSW

Lee was a Second World War correspondent who began work as a director at the Commonwealth Film Unit (later to become Film Australia) in 1946. For four years, he spent every winter in the Northern Territory making films about the outback. In the early 1950s, he formed a production company, Southern International, with actors Chips Rafferty and John McCallum. He is still developing film projects.

His other credits as director include Namatjira the Painter (1947), Crocodile Hunters (1949), Bush Policeman (1953), Phantom Stockman (1953), Walk into Paradise (1956), Dust in the Sun (1958) and Bring out a Briton (1957). His credits as producer include Skippy (1966) and Bailey's Bird (1977) TV series, and as executive producer, the Boney (1972) TV series and Attack Force Z (1982).

Link to Lee Robinson films on the Film Australia website

Born 1943, Keswick, South Australia

Dean trained as a news cameraman at ABC TV before joining the Commonwealth Film Unit (later to become Film Australia) in 1971 as a cinematographer and documentary director. He went freelance in 1981 to shoot Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and a decade later won an Academy Award for cinematography for Dances with Wolves. He was awarded an Order of Australia in 2002.

His other credits as cinematographer include Where Dead Men Lie (1972), Outback Supply (1977), Do I Have to Kill My Child? (1976), Bodyline TV series (1984), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Dead Calm (1989), The Three Musketeers (1993), Waterworld (1995), The Bone Collector (1999) and We Were Soldiers (2002). His other credits as director include The Patriot (1998).

Link to Dean Semler films on the Film Australia website

After graduating from AFTRS in Producing and Directing with the multi award-winning short, Smacks and Kicks, Kate worked in the educational video sector for some years, writing and directing dramas such as This Time - a video about AIDS for teenagers that received top awards in both the UK and US. She then spent five years managing the archives and library services for Network Ten, leaving in 1997 to resume freelance film production.

In a broad-ranging career, Kate has also written and produced television news, written for Play School, and script edited animation, documentaries and features. She brings this combined background in producing, writing, and archives research to the production of Film Australia's Outback DVD.