The “Golden Era” of Australian TV Drama – How networking and collaboration have improved Australia’s television industry over the past five years

Just a short while ago, while flipping channels through Australia’s free-to-air stations, the average Australian viewer’s choices seemed fairly limited. Besides Seachange and Allsaints, it seemed the best we had on offer were Neighbours or Home and Away. And yet, in just a few short years, it would seem that we are now rather spoiled for choice. Puberty Blues, Redfern Now, Offspring, House Husbands, and Packed to the Rafters barely scratch the surface of what’s on offer on Australian screens each weeknight.

What caused this seemingly dramatic increase in quality over a short space of time? The basic principles underlying networked literacy, as outlined by Adrian Miles, advocate for a need to collaborate, to change the way knowledge and content are produced, and to look heavily at the way that content is distributed and shared within its audience. These are fundamental principles that can be applied both figuratively and literally to the world of Australian television production, and that may help to indicate the ways in which Australian writers, directors and producers are finally starting to get it right.

Imogen Banks and John Edwards are a creative duo whose names have flashed across suburban television screens for many years, often to the tune of Offspring’s jazzy tunes and retro graphics, or Puberty Blues’ ‘Are you old enough?’. The two are producers who have worked together on many programs over the last ten years, including Channel 9’s Tangle and the upcoming Party Tricks for Channel 10. The two seem to have something of a midas touch, as it would appear that nearly every program bearing their name is something of a work of gold. But what really differentiates this co-producing team and the work they create, is their ability to collaborate and pull together a team of highly talented and creative individuals. This concept of collaboration through networking fits in nicely with Adrian’s description of network literacy, as media creatives must cast their nets wide to uncover the most appropriate and talented individuals to contribute to their content, in the most resourceful way possible.

But the very concept of industry collaboration, represents another type of network in which producers and other industry heavyweights must become increasingly literate within. The downside of the increase in quality and quantity of Australian TV drama, is that the pool of talent becomes spread increasingly thin throughout the various programs and productions. This shows the need for forming connections within the different areas of the industry, as all sections of production and distribution become linked within a greater web or network and eventually encompassing and promoting more and more previously uncovered talent.

Another aspect of Adrian’s quote indicates the need for increased and improved content distribution, as noted in Duncan Watts’ piece ‘The Long Tail’. With digital advancement, comes greater opportunity for content distribution, as is given with Watts’ example of the music industry. From Watts, we learn that misses can also create profit, and that with greater and easier online content distribution, we can uncover huge niche markets who previously may have struggled for access to the content they desire. In the world of music, programs such as iTunes and Spotify have contributed greatly to this phenomenon, as we can see that without the limitations that physically buying content might have previously presented (such as the act of taking time to drive to a record store, particularly in rural communities, or the physical space that low-selling CDs take up on the racks), there are still a huge number of people who want access to this music. In television, the equivalent is online content, most notably through ABC’s iView program. iView allows users to access content that they may have missed, or that they desire to watch again, streamed through the internet. Added to the ease of this, the site is, as with its television counterpart, totally ad-free, adding to the convenience and pleasure of the activity.

Redfern Now is a program produced through a collaboration between ABC and Blackfella Productions, that details the intertwining lives of several Indigenous Australians living in the Sydney suburb of Redfern. The program is able to count a lot of its success through ABC iView, as each episode is kept available on the site for a number of weeks after its initial screening. I only came across the show through the website, and was pleased at how I was able to watch all of the season in one go. Had I had to wait each week for an episode to be aired at a certain time, there is a huge potential to lose interest. This shows how in touch the industry are becoming with the needs of their audiences for convenience and ease of viewing. In an increasingly busy society, viewers need to be able to watch what they want, whenever they want to, from the ease of their bedrooms and living rooms. As the industry becomes increasingly literate with the networking needs of their particular media, the content produced as a result can only improve.

Another example of the need for better understanding the needs of the audience for greater content distribution, is the comparison between Jane Campion’s recent tele-series Top of the Lake, and the recent Australian feature film The Turning. As is explored in this article on The Guardian, the success of Campion’s work when compared with the somewhat embarrassingly underperforming collaborative effort of 2013’s The Turning. The Turning seems to fit a certain niche market of people who may not feel as motivated to visit the cinema, and yet would prefer watching each story told within the film as separate episodes through ABC2. Top of the Lake, however, performed extremely well with ratings, and has had further success through DVD sales and other forms of content distribution. Many ask the question, would The Turning have worked better in a miniseries shown on television and then made readily available through online streaming and DVD production?

As industry heavyweights begin to focus on becoming increasingly network literate, we can see the overall quality and success of content produced increase over time. The industry in itself is a form of network, and by forming more and more connections between sections of the industry, the network or industry thus becomes stronger, and allows opportunities for newcomers to rise within it, supported by the surrounding web. Producers and executives must also become clearer with the needs of their audience, pertaining to the guidelines of networked media explained by Adrian Miles, in order to produce and distribute content that reaches the greatest audience possible. This points to the need for content makers and producers to incorporate collaboration in a resourceful and supportive way, and be in touch with the needs of their audiences in the way that they produce and distribute their content.

Soon after publishing my most recent post, I came across the blog of Caitlin’s, who has included this image:

The interconnectedness of humanity astounds me, and this simple word seems to sum it all up. Thank you Caitlin for sharing this with me – it would be interesting to consider the lengths of the anthills that surround you with your own story, and that of mine, and whether the two ever have the opportunity to connect? The world revolves on 6 degrees of separation, after all.

In other fiddly, many-tab-open, peer critiquing news this week – it seems to be getting even harder to find updated blogs within the Networked Media blogging sphere this week to comment on.

I really enjoyed the fun and energy that Callista brings to her blogging, and her engagement with the course is so evident! She seems like such a sweetie and offers some pretty in depth insights into the content.

Mia writes really clearly and intelligently – she knows exactly what she’s talking about and her zest for overseas travel is fairly contagious – combined with the fact that I had a very long dream about travelling to America by myself last night, my mouse is hovering dangerously close to the SkyScanner tab I have saved as a favourite on Safari…

The main thing that stood out to me from this week’s symposium was Jason’s comment that network literacy is not limited to technology – that it can instead also be applied to biology or any form of interconnected structure. This really caught me by surprise as I must admit I had been enduring this course with technology and the internet solely on my mind.

I am really excited by the idea that I can apply my own network literacy to further areas, particularly sociology and look deeper at human social interaction. It would also be pretty cool to look at this from the framework of Barabasi’s 80/20 rule.

‘The Long Tail’ was a really interesting read, and it uncovered a few unsettling facts about society’s needs and wants – in particular our assumption that only hits are worth producing, and yet any miss sold fills a margin just as clearly as any hit.

It reminds me of all those reports of albums such as Robin Thicke’s latest only selling 56 copies in Australia – and makes me wonder who were those 56 poor and potentially misogynistic souls feeding Thicke his royalties? The concept of going to a record store to buy the latest pop album is bizarre enough in itself – let alone a really bad pop album. (If it wasn’t for my dad’s insistence on monthly family outings to Basement Records in Fitzroy, I’d be struggling to understand the concept of buying CDs altogether).

I still remember going into JB HiFi with dad as a 5 year old to buy Vanessa Carlton’s single of 1000 Miles and the excitement that brought with it.

Are there still people around buying these CDs? Profitability suggests that there must be and yet they have become nearly a foreign concept by 2014.

In the coastal town of Queenscliff, there is an old bookshop stacked to the roof with walls of old paperbacks, and that accompanying old book smell. My mother and I go there to buy bizarre art and non-fiction books published in the 60s and filled with images ideal for collage. About to begin a collage on the weekend, I remarked to mum that I felt bad cutting up this enchantingly wacky picture book (‘Australian Indoor Plants’ by Stirling Macoboy if you’re interested (I can only assume that’s his real name)). She reminded me of the store we had just been in – and the fact that without turning them into art it is unlikely that these books will ever achieve a second life.

The world is filled to the brim with worthless artefacts that are the individual results of months and years of efforts and creativity.

While I understand that misses are profitable economically, are they ecologically?

Post assignment submission, and motivation levels are at a steady decline.

The only thing that motivated me in the past was the requirement of posting something non-course related, which for the sake of my writing and my engagement in the course I may have to return to.

On the weekend just past, I ran a camp for 31 young people from all over Victoria, aged 14-18 years old.

On the Friday night of the camp, we arrested the group for the following offences:
a) failure to actively create the life you want
b) failure to take ownership of your own life
c) failure to live up to your potential
And then held a trial accordingly.

On the Saturday morning, we pushed the participants and ourselves to our own physical thresholds, creating a tough mudder exercise course that was completed over an hour and a half and culminated in a giant soap fight. We asked the participants to track their thoughts throughout the process, particularly the voice in our heads that urges us to give up when things become difficult.

Reflecting on this experience, each person on the camp was able to pull an extraordinary amount of learning from the activity which they could apply to other areas of their life. I realised that its a fairly similar voice that tells me to give up after a ten minute jog as the one that tells me not to write my weekly posts until 9.30pm the night before, or the one that presses the snooze button at 7am.

Saturday afternoon, we created a series of activities designed to push participants to practice the learnings they had discovered through the tough mudder activity. My activity involved each participant singing on stage in front of their group, and if the participant began to ‘cop out’ in any way (i.e. not backing themselves, making a joke out of it, mumbling etc), then I would throw water bombs at them. The balloons represented the criticism, both internal and external, that we are faced with everyday and must push through for the sake of our performance.

Saturday night of the camp was a chance to show a side of yourself that people don’t get to see very often, a side that we need to show more in order to get what we want out of life. Participants sung, acknowledged others in the room, tried to mend their broken hearts, told the group that they were beautiful, danced and read pieces of poetry. To sit among a group of young people embracing their vulnerability in such a powerful way was the type of inspiring that you can only write about with cliches.

I feel so lucky to live the life that I lead.

I really appreciate Louis’ love of the meme.

Rachel has actually succeeded in convincing me of my need for the new Apple watch. $349 – bargain!!!!

Visting Nicola’s Wonderland, I can empathise with her lack of motivation for posting anything of any depth/pizazz. I’ve noticed a common downwards trend in the overall quality of blog posts within the Networked Media cohort ever since our blog posts were handed in for assessment… A trend that this post itself has certainly fallen prey to is the poster child for.

Week 8 and my brain is somewhere under the Eiffel Tower…..

This week’s symposium………… Neutral technology??

How many products exist that are used most commonly for a purpose other than the intended? Orange is the New Black instantly springs to mind (after finishing season 2 last week I’ll take any chance to bring it up as I grieve the season’s ending). On the show, set in a women’s prison, the resources available to the inmates are obviously limited. They (or the creators of the show) are incredibly imaginative with what they come up with – using sanitary pads as slippers, food as beauty products, and Poussé’s funnel invention that allows inmates to avoid touching the toilet seat on cold Winter’s mornings.

Outside of the TV-prison world, there are countless inventions used everyday that were originally designed for other purposes. For example, Coca-Cola was originally designed as an alternative to morphine addiction (whaaaat?), and to treat headaches and anxiety.

This Buzzfeed list is a twist on this idea – with a list of inventions that we haven’t quite been using to their potential all this time.

I found Watts’ piece really enjoyable, as he managed to take several would-be ‘boring’ topics and personalise them into an educational narrative.

The bit about the runner’s pack mentality was something that makes a lot of sense that I’ve never really thought about before. I wonder how many other things are influenced by this sort of pack or mob mentality? The potential for exploration that this fusion of sociology and mathematics provides is surprisingly interesting to me. I have always enjoyed maths, but its meeting point with human behavior seems to add another layer.

In high school I studied Psychology, assuming the subject would involve exploring human thought from a scientific approach (and was terribly disappointed when the subject focused almost solely on the biological interactions of the brain and the eye and rote-learning the sleep-cycle). The potential in this topic, especially what it presents for technological advancement, is endlessly fascinating, and something that should be looked at more in schools – perhaps an effective way to get more girls students into science.

It would appear that the majority of my peers have cruised through mid-sem break and carried its air of laidback relaxation through to Week 7 as I’m struggling to find any blogs with posts created since August 27.

In Nicola’s most recent piece, she comments that she doesn’t believe the act of blogging is inherently narcisstic (phew). I’m not really sure where I stand on this topic, although I must admit a niggling suspicion that perhaps my enjoyment of the act of writing about myself – which is what blogging must come down to, at its core – has less to do with the writing part and a lot more to do with the ‘about myself’ part. My blog’s byline – a daily fix of narcissism – is barely an understatement. But perhaps the difference is choice. If I was to take a friend out for ramen and spend an hour and a half talking about my opinions and my experiences and my confused nostalgia for an era I never lived, without letting them get a word in, that may be bordering on self obsessed. But I don’t force people (other than my mum) to read my blog. So perhaps by getting my dose of talking about myself down on paper (so to speaK) each day, I’m actually getting that all out of the way. So that when I find myself at Shop Ramen later tonight, I’ll be able able to sit in peace with my udon and best friends and engage where needed in conversations about politics and literature (lol). Either way – I’m still divided as to whether the “artform” is inherently narcissistic, or perhaps, scary as it is to admit, whether just the way I’ve been using it is.

Nicola finishes with a Frida Kahlo quote –
“I paint myself because I am so often alone, and because I am the subject I know best.”

And I will finish with –
“Write what you know.”
– Any halfway decent High School English teacher ever