March 2018:  Smart St has entered an agreement with ABC-TV to develop a documentary series for their digital platform.   RETRO REPORT AUSTRALIA is a web-based series of bite sized high quality news documentaries. Based on the U.S. version, currently hosted on the NEW YOR TIMES platform, RETRO REPORT will look at major news stories from the last forty years by producing stylish 10-12 minute films which summarise the news story, analyse the media coverage and using fresh interviews and research bring the story up to date casting light on policy making, Government and how the story’s consequences have affected us

In the increasingly hectic 24 hours news cycle significant stories often fade from view quickly. What happened in the end; to the disaster, the corrupt behaviour, or the personalities who were so high profile for a moment. RETRO REPORT is the final draft on the biggest news stories and a timely addition to the news cycle.  Using award winning producers, journalists and editors RR will go back over the source material, find eye witnesses and re-examine the news coverage to produce high quality short form documentaries.

#makeitaustralian

With Conservative Governments and Foreign combines once again pushing for Australian quotas to be removed from local TV it's probably an appropriate time to note that this struggle has been going on for more than fifty years and the local content we do have on TV has been hard fought for over those years.  

During the research for our award winning intelligence series PERSONS OF INTEREST we came across the film below in the Australian Intelligence & Security Organisation (ASIO) film vault.  It's a protest march organised by member of Actors Equity in 1956 to protest the lack of quotas for Australian content on TV and the consequent swamping of the airwaves with American product.  ASIO's interest in this was triggered by the fact that the Communist Party of Australia supported quotas for local content and in the illogical logic of the spymasters these actors were therefore a front for the Communist plot they never actually exposed.  This didn't stop ASIO from opening files on Actors Equity, Leonard Teale and a number of others featured in this film.  Sounds absurd all these years later but it's a sober warning that if you don't stand up for local production it can easily be smashed by those with no vested interest in it. Check #makeitaustralian

You can pick up the boxed set of PERSON OF INTEREST here. 

Coinciding with the release of the feature doco on film critic David Stratton here's an ASIO surveillance photo of David on his way to the Russian Embassy.  ASIO decided
that those interested in screening films from China or Russia had to be fellow travellers with the Communist Party.  This still is taken from our award winning series PERSONS OF INTEREST.  Note what a dapper figure David cuts.  He always took pride in his appearance.
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Our legendary Sydney street pic GOING DOWN has been invited to screen at VIVID Sydney 2017 in June.  The festival is creating a pop up cinema in the Kings Cross Hotel at the top of William St.  It's screening on June 2nd @ 8pm.  Should be interesting with much of the film shot within a stones throw of the venue.More details to follow.