Chopper Rescue, a powerful documentary series based on Emergency Management Queensland’s (EMQ) helicopter rescue crews, will premiere on ABC TV at 8pm tonight.
This extraordinary four-part series follows EMQ rescue crews around the clock as they brave dangerous conditions to save lives from the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef to the remote outback.
Pacific Film and Television Commission (PFTC) Chief Executive Officer Robin James said Big Island Pictures’ Chopper Rescue is testament to the high calibre of documentary making underway across the state.
‘Chopper Rescue is a great achievement for a local creative team and demonstrates the high quality of documentary ideas being generated and realised in Queensland,’ Mr James said.
‘Documentary production in Queensland is at an all-time high. We have a number of experienced and talented writers, producers and directors who are creating fantastic factual entertainment for both local and international audiences.
‘Local producers continue to secure deals with broadcasters, cable networks and distribution companies at home and abroad.
‘Queensland’s prolific Big Island Pictures has become one of Australia’s most successful documentary production companies in the international marketplace.’
Written and directed by Jan Cattoni and produced by industry veterans Ruth Berry, Mark Chapman and Andrew Saw, Chopper Rescue was financed by the Queensland Government through the PFTC, in conjunction with the Australian Film Commission and ABC TV.
A diverse range of Queensland documentaries are currently in development and production, including Worms (Gulliver Media), Salt (Jerrycan Films), Loggerheads (Gulliver Media) and The Ian Fairweather Project (Fury Productions).
Award-winning Queensland documentary Nigger Lovers, directed by Rhonda Hagan and written and produced by Daryl Sparkes and Stephen Hagan, will feature at Canada’s OzFlix Australian Film Weekend on February 22-24.
[release from the PFTC]