National Features and Documentary Series 2020

Meet the producers, mentors and selection panel for the National Features & Documentary Series 2020.

Each year the National Features & Documentary Series trains and mentors emerging producers through the Community Media Training Organisation to produce a feature for national distribution.

2020's features will be heard on Australian community radio stations and available online at the end of the year.

Producers

	Mel is a rookie audio producer with a background in law and visual arts. In 2019, she was a participant in the Transom Travelling Workshop, a week long radio story-telling intensive led by Rob Rosenthal (Transom) and Georgia Moodie (ABC RN).  She has produced work for FBi's story-telling program All The Best, and volunteers at 8CCC in Alice Springs. She thinks radio is rad.  Picture by Sara Maiorano.
	Bernadette Nguyen is a producer, writer and editor based in Sydney. She has a background in film and television and began exploring audio by producing stories for All The Best Radio. She currently produces the Breakfast program on FBi Radio and is a podcast producer at Audiocraft. As a child of Vietnamese refugees she is passionate about sharing diverse Australian stories.
	Max Rowley grew up around radio. His father was blind and listened religiously, with radios in every room of the house — often two or three playing at once. That early education has made its mark; Max is now a host and producer for 4ZZZ’s news and current affairs program Brisbane Line, with special interest in social affairs and documentary storytelling.
	Megan began making radio with 3CR at the start of 2019. Starting with weekly campaign updates from Friends of the Earth, Megan co-produced a history series into Friends of the Earth's 45 years of Creative Resistance and now produces for the national program Earth Matters. They are passionate about environmental and social justice with a background in science and activism.
	My name is Victor Weetra and I am a Nurrunga man living in Adelaide.  I have been in radio for over 10 years. I enjoy the people and learning new things. The radio community is a part of my life and love hearing stories. I was apart of the Nunga Wangga team until iI got my own time slot. Now I have been doing Yarnin Country for nearly 3 years. I have been studying screen and media for the last two years and want to start telling my stories and sharing.
	Dione has a background in print journalism, activism and charity work. They first discovered radio in 2016 via Bay FM 99.9's Community Newsroom, and began to nuture a love of producing and presenting local news stories. In 2018 they decided to focus more on positive stories, and began presenting their own morning magazine style show called Make a Change which aims to inspire positive change in the community, the environment and the self. Dione lives in Mullumbimby with a teenage son and a very cheeky Jack Russell.
	Danni Stewart has been at FBI Radio for two years working as both a producer and presenter in that time. Danni is also a Community Coordinator for storytelling podcast, All The Best and has produced stories exploring high school nostalgia, tree’s emotions and food allergies. Outside radio, Danni also works as a freelance writer and DJ.
	Holly Alexander is a Melbourne based songwriter and radio broadcaster. She creates music with her band Signal Chain and present a music program on 3CR: Shindig! which is a program focusing on 1960s music and music which has been influenced by that era
	Fiona and Killian host ElectroFri on 107.3 Heritage FM in Perth In 2016 Fiona and Killian were nominated for a CBAA Community Radio Award for Excellence in Spoken Word, News and Current Affairs Programming. Fiona has worked in news, TV production and marketing.

Mentors

	Belinda Lopez is a writer, documentary (audio) maker and researcher. She got her start at 2ser and was later EP of All the Best. She was a producer on the international human rights documentary show The State We’re In and co-founder of ABC’s This is About. Her work has been recognised by the Vogel’s, Human Rights Commission, Amnesty, the UN and New York Festivals.
	Having worked for media in Australia, Italy, Japan, and the Philippines, Celeste Macintosh is an experienced cross-platform journalist with a master's degree in Management. She also holds a Certificate IV in Training and Education and has 10 years of international training experience including work with the United States Peace Corps.  Currently, she is a Queensland correspondent for SBS's radio and online platforms; and produces and hosts two jazz programs on Radio 4EB's Global Digital in Brisbane. Her two-part radio series 'The Love-Hate Relationship of Music and Health' was a finalist in the 2018 CBAA Awards.
	Anthony Frangi has over 30 years' in media management, broadcasting, journalism education, training and consultancy. He began his broadcast career at Radio 4EB in Brisbane. Anthony is author of 'Radio Toolbox ‘, 'So you want Media Coverage' and 'Presentation Skills’. He is the Founder of Pop Up Radio Australia and former General Manager for the Fairfax Radio Network in Queensland. Other roles include CD, broadcaster, producer and mentor at the ABC. Anthony was a PD at the School of Journalism and Communication at The University of Queensland where he created the first 24/7 online radio station. He continues teaching in journalism & communication today.  Anthony is also a regular conference speaker and international trainer on radio and the coverage of natural disasters.
	Richard Dinnen started in community and commercial radio in the 1980s, before doing 27 years with the ABC as a radio and TV reporter, announcer, foreign correspondent and audio producer. He’s worked all over Australia and the Pacific region. These days Richard is a freelance writer, emergency response broadcaster, podcaster and media skills trainer based in tropical far north Queensland.
	Hamish Sewell has studied at UTS in Sydney and at the University of Queensland. He has a bachelor in communications, first class honours, a masters in creative writing and is now enrolled in a PhD with Macquarie studying locative media. After Hamish produced his first radio piece, The Interminable Son, in 2000, he never looked back. In response to the parlous direction radio was going in Australia, and the work he was doing in regional NSW, Hamish founded the immersive audio app, Soundtrails in 2013. He is keenly awaiting the new V2 Soundtrails app, which will be operative in late 2020 with a range of opportunities for sound producers around the world. For more about Hamish Sewell visit https://storiedland.com/
	Ira Glass of This American Life once said "Rob Rosenthal is, arguably, the best radio teacher in the U.S." Since 2000, Rob has taught legions of audio producers who now work at radio stations, networks, and podcasts including This American Life, Radiolab, Gimlet Media, Neon Hum, 99% Invisible, and NPR. He also produces podcasts, documentaries, audio tours… anything with a mic.
	Agnes Cusack is a journalist and communications professional with a strong interest in community media.   Agnes was an ABC correspondent in London and Washington, winning a Walkley Award and a Knight Fellowship for Professional Journalists at Stanford University, USA. She founded the journalist-mentoring program the Multicultural Media Exchange and is currently working on media skills within Indigenous communities in the NT.
	Lynda McCaffery is the Principal Producer with Beautiful Productions, the business she established in January 2016 and operates from her home office and studio in Darwin.  Lynda is an award-winning Radio Producer who got her start as a volunteer with 2SER  She has 30 years experience in the Australian radio industry – and within the tertiary education – at Monash, RMIT and James Cook Universities and Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education.
	Sharon Davis is a multi-award winning investigative journalist and audio producer.   She is currently working as consulting producer on a number of podcasts, including “All Things Equal”.  As well as working  for ABC TV, Radio and Online, her programs have been broadcast around the world - on the BBC, major U.S. networks and throughout Africa. She is a four-time winner of Australia’s most prestigious journalism award, the Walkley Award and has also won awards at the New York International Radio Festival and Chicago's Third Coast Festival as well as the United Nations Media Peace Prize on four occasions. Sharon’s radio career began at 2SER, and she is a passionate supporter of community radio. While living in South Africa after the first democratic election, Sharon helped set up community radio stations and training throughout the country. Sharon is a regular mentor for the CMTO and also lectures in journalism and media at the University of Technology in Sydney.

Selection Panel

• Scott Black is the Station Manager for Brisbane's Reading Radio 4RPH, comedian, screenwriter, and owner of a vintage toaster! He was previously the manager of Briz31, and is a member of the Community Broadcasting Foundation's Development & Operations Grants Advisory Committee. He has been involved in community broadcasting for over 15 years and in radio broadcasting for 25 years.
• Gavin Ivey is an experienced Program Manager with a wealth of experience in the Arts, Media and Entertainment Industries. He has been involved with Koori Radio 93.7fm off and on since 1994, and has held many roles during that time, including his current program management role. He is currently a board member for the Community Media Training Organisation, and publishes his own audio works through www.tunnelroadproductions.com .
• Allison Chan is an audio producer, radio trainer and documentary radio enthusiast, and was the Executive Producer of the Australian community radio storytelling program All The Best from 2018 to 2019. She currently teaches podcasting at Western Sydney University and produces podcasts at University of Technology Sydney. 
• Angela Catterns is a well-known and much admired Australian media personality and radio presenter. Best known for her work on Australian radio, Angela has presented Mornings on Triple J, the National Evening Show on ABC Local Radio, and Breakfast on 702 ABC Sydney, where she went to number one in the ratings in 2003. She has also broadcast on commercial radio in Sydney and in Washington DC.  Angela is an independent podcast producer, voice-over artist, MC and a writer of short stories and feature articles.  She currently lives and broadcasts on the North Coast of NSW.
• Benjamin Erin is the Station Manager for community radio station 8CCC in Alice Springs & Tennant Creek, a mentor in the CMTO’s ‘Think Big’ program and a keen audio and radio producer and trainer.
• Penny Terry is an expert in community storytelling who loves a good yarn. She spent 10 years as an ABC radio presenter, broadcasting more than 20,000 stories from diverse perspectives; from politicians to prisoners, talkback callers to ted-talkers and in 2016 founded Healthy Tasmania Pty Ltd with her sister Lucy Byrne, an expert in health promotion and community-wide initiatives. Recently with Launceston's City Park Radio, Penny produced and presented the Health Speak podcast and radio series.
• Abe Killian began his radio career in 1997 at 2RRR – this was the beginning of a winding journey – from delivering training at 2RRR and TAFE NSW, to panelling and Producing at 2GB and 2UE, then moving to Operations Manager at 2UE, Radio Operations Supervisor at SBS, Producer at ABC, and leading Operations Teams at Macquarie Media. Becoming the Content Services Manager at the CBAA brings the opportunity to bundle this experience and again enjoy people’s passion for creating good radio content.