SBS Operations

[TV.Cynic]

Bold new voices: SBS, NITV and Screen Australia unveil Digital Originals shortlist for 2024

SBS, NITV and Screen Australia are proud to share the 10 projects to progress to the first round of this year’s Digital Originals initiative. Now in its fifth year, Digital Originals aims to develop exciting, innovative and risk-taking short-form drama projects to premiere on SBS On Demand, SBS VICELAND and NITV to uplift emerging screen creatives who are under-represented in the sector.

The 10 teams selected are currently undergoing an exclusive workshop in Sydney hosted by SBS, NITV and Screen Australia and featuring industry guest presenters Dylan River, Corrie Chen, Julie Kalceff, Clare Atkins, Mohini Herse, Taofia Pelesasa and Nicole Coventry.

The workshop will provide teams with the opportunity to expand their narrative-writing skillset and develop their projects in line with the SBS Charter, SBS Commissioning Equity and Inclusion Guidelines, and SBS and NITV platforms. The workshop will culminate in teams pitching to SBS, NITV and Screen Australia, with up to five projects selected to receive further development funding. Of these, up to three will be chosen for production funding and commissioning with SBS, NITV and Screen Australia.

SBS Head of Scripted, Nakul Legha, said: “We’re delighted to welcome this phenomenally talented cohort of storytellers to a brand new round of Digital Originals. The Digital Originals initiative is the only one of its kind in the world and remains unmatched in the ambition, impact and quality of the stories af0uj6te3nd storytellers that emerge from it. Selected from over 150 applicants, we’re thrilled to back these 10 teams with the resources, industry expertise and support to create stories that will surprise and delight audiences everywhere.”

NITV Head of Indigenous Commissioning and Production, Dena Curtis, said: “Digital Originals plays a significant role in developing and elevating First Nations voices. We are thrilled to see three First Nations projects take part in this year’s program and we look forward to supporting this new generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytellers, fortifying their experience in the industry.”

Screen Australia Head of Online and Games, Lee Naimo, said: “We’re excited to welcome these 10 talented teams to the Digital Originals cohort. This highly competitive initiative continues to attract top creators, with recent success stories like Appetite, Latecomers and Night Bloomers. It’s clear that Digital Originals is a powerful launchpad for emerging talent. Now in its fifth year, this program, in partnership with SBS and NITV, remains to be a one-of-a-kind initiative – giving teams a unique opportunity to receive this level funding and support to develop their projects and skills.”

The selected Digital Originals projects and the teams for the workshop, are:

Banana Milkshake! : When budding high school filmmaker Oliver Zhang and his older cousin Alan “Juicy” Yan discover their teacher’s affair, they hatch a plan to blackmail them for ransom using their filmmaking know-how, only to find themselves entangled in a web of deceit and danger that puts their futures at risk.
Team: David Ma, Johnathan Lo, Georgia Noe.

Front of House : A young Tunisian man immigrates to Australia and finds himself enticed by the underworld of the Melbourne hospitality industry.
Team: Sarah Ben-m’rad, Kay Lawrence.

Hardly a Wallflower: When a totally-blind romance novelist with writer’s block is forced to run her best friend’s flower shop in the lead up to Valentine’s Day, she learns the only way to get her writing back on track is to open herself up to love.
Team: Jessica Smith, Olivia Muscat, Scarlett Koehne.

In Her Body : Two unfulfilled immigrant women – corporate lawyer Vanessa Li and her house cleaner Thelma Alfonso – switch bodies and are forced to work together to figure out how to change back.
Team: Rae Choi, Rachel Maxine Anderson.

Mangrove Mansion: When her estranged activist dad refuses urgent medical care, legal-aid lawyer Sunny and fiancé Alex commandeer his houseboat to get him to the mainland. Crashing into a stinking mess of mud and mangroves, they must figure out how to survive and get unstuck.
Team: Rhianna Malezer, Mary Duong.

Nailing It! : When a culturally estranged Aboriginal woman’s new nail salon becomes a gateway for ancient spirits, she must master the art of spiritual cleansing alongside cuticle care – or risk unleashing supernatural chaos on her unsuspecting clients while confronting her own cultural identity.
Team: Takani Clark, Kartanya Maynard.

Rejecting Elle : When chronically ill people pleaser Elle Cotton is faced with the agonising choice of whether to live or die, the real question is whether the life she has is one that’s worth fighting for.
Team: Lauren Rowe, Steve Anthopoulos, Mansoor Noor, Belinda Dean.

Staying Late : It’s a Melbourne heatwave but Kira and Lane’s love life is on the fritz (like their aircon). So when Lane succumbs to temptation and Kira’s new job takes a sinister turn, their crumbling rental becomes a pressure cooker of secrets.
Team: Isaac Elliot, Reilly Archer-Whelan, Chanel Bowen.

Tantrum: Varsha told best friend Jeev her gig was career-defining. Jeev brought their toddler anyway. When the kid’s meltdown ruins the show, Varsha loses it in a public outburst that goes viral. Soon the two friends are locked in a life-changing feud that has them questioning whether found family really is forever.
Team: Vidya Rajan, Jemma Cotter, Sunanda Sachatrakul.

Thirdwheel : A professional and perfectionist’s first date goes hilariously off-script when an unexpected guest forces her to embrace the chaos and discover that sometimes when things go wrong, they end up right.
Team: Douglas Watkin, Shontell Leah Ketchell.

The Digital Originals initiative continues to prove itself as an effective launchpad for under-represented creatives to help build their skillset and footing in the industry.

The projects selected for this week’s workshop are following in the footsteps of previous successful series commissioned through the Digital Originals initiative, including Night Bloomers (2023) which won the 2024 Australian Writers’ Guild (AWG) Award for Best Web Series; Appetite (2023) which premiered at the Canneseries TV festival ; Latecomers (2022) which also premiered at Canneseries and went on to win the 2024 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards for Best Online Drama or Comedy and the 2023 Casting Guild Australia Awards for Achievement in Casting; the AACTA award winning series A Beginner’s Guide to Grief (2022) and Robbie Hood (2019);and the AACTA nominated series Iggy and Ace (2021), The Tailings (2021), and Homecoming Queens (2018).

Alumni of the Digital Original initiative have also gone on to execute key creatives roles across the industry including: Appetite Writer and Director Mohini Herse who went on to become the set-up director of SBS Original drama, Four Years Later; Latecomers’ Producer Liam Heyen and Director Madeleine Gottlieb who reprised these roles on the SBS anthology series Erotic Stories, The Tailings Director Stevie Cruz-Martin who went on to Safe Home; filmmaker Dylan River (Thou Shalt Not Steal, Mystery Road: Origin) who directed Robbie Hood; and Corrie Chen (New Gold Mountain, Bad Behaviour) who directed and executive produced Homecoming Queens.

More information about Digital Originals is available in the initiative guidelines available on the Screen Australia website here.

[TV.Cynic]

SBS elevates the diversity of Australia across its commissioned programs, achieving ambitious equity and inclusion content targets

SBS has shared key insights into how it has reflected under-represented communities and voices through its commissioned content, meeting or exceeding the commitments outlined in the SBS Commissioning Equity and Inclusion Guidelines (2021-2024) to improve inclusion in the screen sector.

SBS has today published an overview of its performance against the SBS Commissioning Equity and Inclusion Guidelines (2021-2024), reflecting a strategic uplift in diverse representation across its commissioned content slate over the past three years.

The inaugural guidelines were developed in consultation with industry and stakeholders. They set ambitious, nuanced and comprehensive multi-year targets across SBS’s unscripted and scripted commissioned content, as part of its commitment to ensuring all Australians can see themselves and their communities in the stories told on screen. The focus was on increasing representation of people from five key under-represented groups: culturally and linguistically diverse, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, people living with disability, LGBTQI+, and women – also recognising intersectionality.

With the conclusion of the initial three-year period and across the 62 programs, SBS and its production partners either met or exceeded targets set for on-screen, off-screen and career progression roles. The results show that SBS is closely reflecting the diversity of contemporary Australia, and in some cases exceeding population levels, while often being above industry levels. The results also highlight the continued work needed to improve representation of people living with disability across SBS’s commissioned content where there remains a gap between SBS programs and the Australian population.

SBS Director of Television, Kathryn Fink, said: “SBS is committed to ensuring all Australians see themselves – their communities, their cultures, their stories – reflected on our screens. That’s achieved not only through improving the representation we see in front of the camera, but importantly, in those who create and craft these stories. We’re pleased to see the impact we have had in our content and within the sector through the delivery of the SBS Commissioning Equity and Inclusion Guidelines over the past few years.

“We’re grateful for the collaboration of our partners in the sector in sharing our commitment to ensuring that whoever you are, there are no barriers to prevent you from sharing your story and pursuing a career in this industry. The last three years also provide valuable data in setting the direction we need to take in the years ahead to drive ongoing change and deliver on our distinct purpose for all Australians.”

Table: The Everyone Project data comparing representation for SBS commissioned programs, the broader TV and film industry, and the Australian population.

To track, analyse and report on progress against the targets – which included SBS providing yearly updates in its annual report – SBS uses data collected through its participation in The Everyone Project (TEP), an industry-wide commitment to measure cast and crew diversity across registered Australian film and television productions, led by the Screen Diversity and Inclusion Network (SDIN) of which SBS is a founding member.

SBS also uses Scripted Target Reports which are completed by partner production companies for scripted programming. The results for SBS Scripted commissions also included achieving on-screen genre-specific targets, such as ensuring at least two people who identify as culturally and linguistically diverse and/or First Nations were cast as main characters in programs. Shows focused on a particular under-represented community had further off-screen targets met for ensuring representation from that community, as well as at least 50% women, hired in key writing, director/producer and production roles.

Head of Creative Diversity, TV and Online Content, Yana Groves, said: “The SBS Commissioning Equity and Inclusion Guidelines set an important standard for our sector. This includes essential accountability for SBS to deliver on audience expectations as Australia’s multicultural and First Nations broadcaster. SBS remains committed to leading the way for a more inclusive Australian film and TV sector, both on-screen and off-screen. This is a key component of fulfilling the SBS Charter, made possible through these Guidelines and other inclusion initiatives we invest in. SBS remains committed to providing meaningful career development opportunities for under-represented talent, to support more enriched, diverse storytelling for all Australian audiences.

“I’d also like to acknowledge the work of my colleague Michelle Cheng, Head of Creative Diversity (on parental leave), who embarked on this important work over several years, developing and implementing SBS’s first set of guidelines. She has also led the development of our next iteration, with our Diversity and Inclusion Project Officer, Isabelle Beaupré, to be launched in the new year. I’m proud to be overseeing this project, working with the SBS Commissioning team and our production partners, and I look forward to an exciting year ahead for Australian storytelling on SBS.”

Next year, SBS will publish its second set of guidelines, to cover the period from 1 July 2025 – 30 June 2028. Until then, SBS is extending the existing targets to apply for a fourth year, from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025.

The Guidelines were developed to complement the range of screen sector initiatives and career pathways SBS invests in, including the successful and long-running Diversity Talent Escalator, and Digital Originals delivered in partnership with NITV and Screen Australia.

The SBS Commissioning Equity and Inclusion Guidelines (2021-2024) Target Report can be downloaded here. The current guidelines can be downloaded here.

[JohnsonTV]

The Sunday Telegraph reports today the federal government has rejected calls to relocate SBS from Artarmon to Parramatta.

A decade-long call for the north shore-based “multicultural mothership” SBS to relocate to its “natural home” in Western Sydney has been rejected with the Albanese government saying it costs too much.

The move follows ABC staff grumbling over their move to Parramatta, with claims of logistic issues and trouble luring talent.

Instead, The Sunday Telegraph can exclusively reveal SBS will build a new Western Sydney-based “production hub” with a TV studio able to host live audiences, radio/podcasting booths and collaboration spaces.

The decision to establish a new hub instead of relocating the entire business comes amid an ongoing revolt among ABC staff over its move to Parramatta, with staff reportedly “grumbling” about logistic issues, including difficulties in luring on-air talent to the studios.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/albanese-government-says-moving-sbs-to-natural-heartland-of-sydneys-west-is-too-costly/news-story/b05e43779f65de0c2402803b33ad856b

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Government announces $5.9m funding boost to enable SBS' expansion into...

[TV.Cynic]

Statement on the appointment of Dr Nicholas Pappas AM to the SBS Board

The SBS Board and Executive have welcomed the appointment of Dr Nicholas Pappas AM as a Non-executive Director of the SBS Board, following the announcement today by the Minister for Communications, The Hon Michelle Rowland MP. Dr Pappas fills the vacancy on the SBS Board arising following the departure of Peeyush Gupta AM, who concluded his second term in October 2024.

Dr Pappas is a Non-executive Director and Lawyer serving on a number of Boards, including as Chair of the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Bank of Sydney, as President of The Hellenic Initiative Australia, and as a non-Executive Director of the Steve Waugh Foundation. His previous roles include serving as former President and Board member of the Powerhouse Museum.

Dr Pappas AM joins the SBS Board of Directors which consists of Chair George Savvides AM, Deputy Chair Christine Zeitz, and Non-executive directors Vic Alhadeff OAM, Aaron Fa’Aoso, Andrew Lu AM, Katrina Rathie, Cassandra Wilkinson OAM, and SBS Managing Director, James Taylor.

[TV.Cynic]

Nominations open for the Australia for UNHCR – SBS Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition

Nominations are now open for the fourth Australia for UNHCR – SBS Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition.

The award aims to recognise an individual with lived experience as a refugee who has generated positive awareness about refugees, helped create a positive understanding about the situation of refugees and, in doing so, built a more diverse and inclusive Australian community.

It is named after beloved sports broadcaster Les Murray AM, who hosted SBS’s The World Game football program and was himself a young refugee who arrived in Australia in 1956 at the age of 11 from Hungary.

“There are many refugees across Australia who have overcome adversity to enrich our country with their dedication and hard work. We call on the community to help us celebrate these achievements by submitting nominations,” said Australia for UNHCR’s CEO Trudi Mitchell.

SBS’s Managing Director James Taylor said the award is dedicated to Les Murray’s legacy. “As SBS looks ahead to its 50th anniversary on 9 June 2025, we’re proud to recognise the contributions of all Australians. This award celebrates those who have built new lives here as refugees, making a significant social impact and contributing to a better Australia.

“Now in its fourth year, this initiative acknowledges the role of refugees in enriching our shared communities – reflecting Les’s own journey as a refugee from Hungary who became an Australian icon, creating positive change through his passion for the world game and building a deep-rooted sense of connection and belonging for all.”

In 2024, the Australia for UNHCR – SBS Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition was presented to former Afghan refugee Hedayat Osyan, founder of a leading social enterprise that employs refugees in the construction industry. In 2023, former South Sudanese refugee Anyier Yuol won the award for her diverse achievements across sport, women’s empowerment and refugee advocacy. In 2022, the inaugural award was presented to former Yugoslav refugee Danijel Malbasa, who donated his time and expertise as a lawyer to work with refugees.

This year’s winner will receive $10,000, donated by SBS, to encourage positive awareness for refugees.

Nominations should be emailed to LMA@unrefugees.org.au. The closing date is 28 February 2025. Submissions must include a 250-word biography, examples of work, details on the nominee’s community work and two references.

[TV.Cynic]

SBS Learn shares the Year of the Snake with classrooms this Lunar New Year

SBS Learn is celebrating Lunar New Year, providing teachers with an exciting and creative resource to share a greater understanding of the cultures, traditions and festivities.

SBS Learn is entering the Lunar New Year with a curriculum-aligned teacher resource, highlighting the Year of the Snake and including a range of engaging activities catered for primary and secondary students in classrooms Australia-wide.

Lunar New Year is one of the largest multicultural celebrations in Australia and observed by two billion people across the globe. SBS Learn helps spread the joy to classrooms with icebreakers, guiding questions for deep discussion, and an exciting new video resource, teaching students how to make snake-inspired fans with SBS Korean Executive Producer, Leah Hyein Na.

SBS Learn’s Education Lead, Emily Yong said, “Lunar New Year is the most significant celebration of the year for many communities in Australia and SBS Learn is proud to make this cultural celebration more accessible to all Australian students.

“Sharing cultural knowledge helps students better understand each other and their neighbours and SBS Learn is ideally positioned to do this important work.”

This year’s resource provides a range of activities for students, giving the opportunity to learn more about the Year of the Snake and join Lunar New Year festivities. The activities included in this year’s resource can be used as standalone tasks and will help teachers and students to better understand some of the traditions observed by multicultural and multilingual communities that live in Australia.

The SBS Learn resource enables teachers to share the celebrations of Lunar New Year with classrooms from Foundation to Year 8 and is available to download for free from the SBS Learn website. Download here.

[TV.Cynic]

SBS boosts commitment to Indigenous leadership and innovation with Executive team update

Tanya Denning-Orman takes on expanded senior role as Director, First Nations, reflecting the national broadcaster’s commitment to amplifying the voices and perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the network.

A proud Birri and Guugu Yimidhirr woman, Tanya Denning-Orman has been announced to lead an elevated network-wide strategic approach to Indigenous content across all SBS channels and platforms as Director, First Nations, for SBS.

In addition to building on the network’s growth and success in First Nations storytelling and coverage, she will lead strategies to further embed Indigenous cultural perspectives throughout the organisation. The new role will also be focused on enhancing organisational capability, supporting community engagement and partnerships, and driving the ongoing development of Indigenous staff and the employee experience.

SBS Managing Director, James Taylor, said: “Indigenous content, cultures, and leadership holds an integral place in our network today, and in its future. We’re proud at SBS to have a strong record of championing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories and perspectives, and Tanya’s appointment as Director, First Nations reflects our commitment to continuing to grow that legacy.

“As well as leading the evolution and expansion of the Indigenous content strategy across SBS, Tanya will play a critical leading role in continuing to evolve and transform SBS as the national, contemporary public broadcaster for all Australians. She will further embed Indigenous cultural perspectives in our strategy, impacting how we meaningfully engage with communities and how we operate and innovate as a network.

“This reflects our ambition as a network to continue to deepen our approach, and builds on the achievements Tanya has been instrumental in driving across the network, her extensive experience and expertise, as well as SBS’s role and responsibility as an Elevate RAP partner, and the growth and success of NITV.”

Denning-Orman added: “This marks another chapter for SBS in bringing Australians together to benefit from increasing understanding and connection with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories, cultures and history. It demonstrates the vital role First Nations perspectives have as part of a network that has a history of being a pioneer in ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have an authentic voice and a platform in the national media, and an ambition and commitment to reach higher, and continue to do more.

“We are seeing more Australians connect with our content – we’re sharing more First Nations stories than ever before across SBS’s news and current affairs, and in more than 60 languages across SBS Audio. But the opportunity ahead for SBS is not only in building on our unique content and coverage, but in how we operate as an organisation, the way we support our people and work with each other, how we engage and partner with communities, how we collaborate across our industry, and as an innovator in an ever-changing media landscape.”

Denning-Orman moves into this new role after almost five years on the SBS Executive team as SBS’s Director of Indigenous Content, and 12 years of running National Indigenous Television (NITV) as part of the SBS network. Under her leadership, SBS has significantly increased its Indigenous content output and grown audience consumption of Indigenous content across its platforms, while NITV has experienced increasing TV audiences, growth in commercial revenue, and has continued to increase investment in the Indigenous production sector delivering award-wining and critically-acclaimed programming. With her new appointment, Denning-Orman will now step back from the management and operations of NITV, while continuing to work closely with the team in the delivery of the network-wide Indigenous Content Strategy.

“This shift will also continue to support NITV’s trajectory,” Denning-Orman continued. “Since joining the channel in 2007, I’ve been a part of its evolution into the loud and proud voice for mob it is today, and seen the growing influence it has as part of SBS and the wider media sector. This has been possible because of the trailblazing work of those who paved the way decades ago for the right for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to have our unique stories, languages, cultures and aspirations accurately reflected and celebrated in the national media landscape, and because of the dedicated NITV team today who are continuing the work, guided by a strengthened leadership team taking the channel to new heights. I look forward to working with the NITV team, along with colleagues across SBS, in more exciting work ahead.”

NITV will recruit a new position of General Manager with editorial and operational responsibility for NITV, a role that recognises the strength of the NITV senior leadership team across the channel’s strategy and day-to-day operations… Jason Oakley, Head of Business, Relationships and Community Impact at NITV, will be Acting General Manager, with a process to be undertaken for the role ongoing.

[JohnsonTV]

SBS Media sustainability challenge open for applications

The challenge offers brands and agencies $500,000 in advertising inventory for the best TV creative normalising sustainable behaviour and highlighting better environmental consumer practices.

SBS has opened applications for SBS Media’s Sustainability Challenge aimed at encouraging brands to normalise sustainable behaviour and highlighting better environmental practices for Australian consumers.

As a leader in sustainability within the media industry, SBS is offering $500,000 in advertising inventory to the winning campaign, as determined by a jury of leading industry professionals.

Video: To help launch the SBS Media Sustainability Challenge, jury member Adam Liaw has filmed a video encouraging brands and agencies to enter.

Kate Young, National Manager of SBS CulturalConnect said: “in launching the SBS Media Sustainability Challenge, we’re asking brands and agencies to work with us to drive positive change to protect our planet by rethinking how they authentically represent sustainability in their marketing campaigns.

“SBS has made serious inroads in measuring and working to reduce our environmental footprint, but we know change only comes about when we work together, and through this initiative, we’re providing a platform to elevate creative ideas that normalise sustainable practices to Australian audiences.”

Young noted that SBS Media has a history of using such challenges to drive positive change across the industry:

“In 2017, SBS Media launched the Diversity Works Challenge designed to encourage Australia’s advertising industry to rethink how diversity is represented in their marketing campaigns.

“We’ve seen the impact inclusive marketing has had in Australia, and we are again putting up significant inventory to help drive creativity and innovative thinking in normalising sustainable behaviours.”

The challenge is open for submissions until March 31 with brands and agencies asked to go to online and submit a 30 second television script. The jury will judge the script and rationale, with entries to be shortlisted in April and a final winner announced in Q3 of 2025.

“This is such a strong opportunity for brands, many of whom are already doing great work in this space, to produce something really creative and interesting that will get noticed and help spark positive conversation around sustainable behaviours,” said Young.

SBS confirmed the jury for the SBS Media Challenge would consist of: Adam Liaw, host of SBS’s The Cook Up and Co-Chair of Sustainable Screens Australia; Jane Palfreyman, SBS Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer (Chair); John Pabon, Sustainability Author and Consultant at Fulcrum Strategic Advisors; Abigail Thomas, SBS Head of Sustainability, and Kate Young, National Manager CulturalConnect.

The winning ad will also receive consulting services and training through Sustainable Screens Australia to help ensure the advertisement meets best practice for sustainable production.

“I’m very proud to be involved in the SBS Media Sustainable Media Challenge,” said Liaw. “As Co-Chair of Sustainable Screens Australia (SSA), I know this is such an important initiative. The Cook Up with Adam Liaw is the first Australian television program to have its carbon footprint approved by Sustainable Screens Australia, and we want to encourage more productions and advertisers to be thinking about the carbon footprint of their productions.”

Interested agencies and brands should go to the SBS Media Challenge website for more information.