Press release from ABC
Stuart Menzies, currently the Head of ABC TV Documentaries, has today been appointed the Controller of ABC2.
In this role, he will be responsible for the channel’s strategic vision, for all its commissioning and programming, and its branding. He will start in late July
and be based in Sydney.
Menzies joined ABC TV in 2004 as Head of Documentaries, and in this role has been responsible for commissioning over 225 hours of production, across all genres, excluding arts.
This included Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler – the highest rating Australian documentary on ABC TV and 2007 Logie award-winner; The Bridge – a 2008 Logie winner; and AFI Award-winning documentaries Hunt Angels (2006), Oasis (2008) and Solo (2009).
Prior to joining ABC TV, Stuart was a partner and producer for six years with one of Australia’s leading documentary producers, Melbourne-based December Films.
Kim Dalton, Director of ABC TV said “Stuart will bring to this new role a long and diverse background in film and television along with a strong commitment to public broadcasting and Australian content.
“His overriding achievement at the ABC has been to put Australian independently produced documentaries back at the centre of our prime-time schedule and to develop consistent, at times very large and always appreciative audiences for them.
“I am confident Stuart will take ABC2 into its next chapter with large measures of both determination and imagination,” he said.
Before specialising in television, Menzies worked in film in the 1980s and 1990s, in an array of positions. These productions included The Man From Snowy River 2, The Lighthorsemen and His Masters’ Voice.
Stuart Menzies said “ABC2 has enormous potential to grow and mature as a distinctive and unique channel as part of the suite of channels ABCTV now offers the Australian audience. I am thrilled to be part of the team that will lead it forward.”