David Wenham hopes series will reverse decision over ABC Archives
David Wenham's new series The ABC Of... could not exist without the work of ABC Archives, and he hopes it will push management to rethink a devastating decision.
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The timing of David Wenham series The ABC Of… and a controversial decision to cull staff from ABC Archives could not be more bizarre.
The series featuring six famous Australians reflecting on historic footage of their younger selves could not exist without the work and devotion of Archives staff.
“We wouldn’t have been able to do it the way we did it, in the time we did it, without those amazing people who work in the Archives,” says host David Wenham, “particularly a man called Michael Osmond. He’s spent his life in the ABC doing this. And that’s the difference ..to have people who have been through the Archive, know it inside out. He could pull on his experience and tell us exactly what type of clips would work for us.
“I can’t tell you how impossibly difficult it would be without archivists and librarians working there.
“I’m very hopeful that the decision is reversed. If this show can go some way in forcing a reversal of that decision, I think that would be a very, very positive thing.”
It was producer Jon Casimir (Enough Rope, Gruen) who invited Wenham to turn interviewer for the series.
“Jon would say that he thought an actor would probably be an ideal suit for the role, for a number of reasons. They didn’t want a normal host or an interviewer because it sets up a certain power dynamic. An actor, however, has been on the other side of the chair on numerous occasions. I know what it’s like,” he continues.
“He thought that it might actually lead to a different type of conversation with the guests.
“The key to it is exactly (the same as the key) to good acting: simply just listening, taking it all in, thinking about it and then responding in kind.
“I had the most incredible experience sitting in that chair”
“I had the most incredible experience sitting in that chair. It was a privilege and a pleasure to be able to sit there and listen to these remarkable people talk about their lives, and then off that be able to go down little pathways that they had laid for me.”
The six Australians who feature are Ita Buttrose, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Wil Anderson, Garry McDonald, Sarah Ferguson, and John Howard.
None were told what footage ABC had unearthed in order to capture authentic reactions on camera.
“We talked to the ABC Archives, and we picked out bits of footage that we think are either key moments of their lives, or they might be really curious moments that relate to them in some way. They may not feature those guests, but they may be linked in some way to the guest,” Wenham explains.
“That’s the treasure of the show.”
“The great joy of the show, is firstly for the audience to watch those incredible pieces of archival footage. But also watching the guest reacting to seeing themselves. That’s the treasure of the show.”
The first episode uncovers Ita Buttrose at age 17 on her very first job as a journalist, and travels to the miniseries Paper Giants. In another episode Garry McDonald is gobsmacked to witness the pilot of The Norman Gunston Show. Even a normally-private Wil Anderson opens up on camera.
“He hides in plain sight the whole time”
“It was amazing that he did say ‘Yes,’ because Wil will admit, he doesn’t like to reveal very much of himself at all. The way he puts it, he hides in plain sight the whole time. So for him to sit down and talk about things – many he had never shared publicly before- was obviously very novel for him. Having said that, he was he was fantastic in terms of being willing to engage in a conversation and being very honest about many of the situations, he’s found himself in.”
The series hopes to illustrate how we change and how the world changes, in which the viewer gets to watch someone meet their earlier self and reflect on how they’ve changed.
Just two of the guests were locked down when Wenham became involved in the project, with another two being his direct suggestion to producers (he won’t reveal whom).
But while Wenham has a long list of potential candidates should the show proceed to a second season, he is keeping his powder dry.
“There’s a very long list but if I tell you it might put the kibosh on it. We’ve spoken about some pretty fantastic people who haven’t really ever opened up or really been interviewed to any great extent. There’s a nice little, handful of some amazing ‘gets’ if we could get them.”
The ABC Of… airs 8pm Tuesday on ABC.
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9 Responses
The ABC archives were a pile of old tape and film that needed conservation, and a lot of it wasn’t to save a few dollars. If you build a digital archive and develop processes for adding to it, you don’t need an archive dept. with specialist knowledge. It is just part a regular part of working with digital media. Some of it should probably be in the National Archive, which is underfunded.
so who exactly in the ABC has made the decision to cut back the archival staff and why?
without getting too political, was part of this due to funding cuts made to ABC by the former federal government?
ABC management makes those decisions, operating on budgets from previous govt. It will take a while before Labor outlines next triennial funding.
“without getting too political” no … back in April 2012 then MD Mark Scott outlined “a significant number of redundancies” as a result of implementing “new technology” … this is just a continuation of that … not that the “efficiency” cut by Tony Abbott and the “indexation pause” by Malcolm Turnbull had no effect – of course they did, but the overall policy of doing away with people and using technology to replace them had been in place long before “the former federal government” got their grubby little hands on the purse strings … and I doubt very much whether the triennial funding will be changed much by the new government as it takes effect in a week’s time … the next funding round isn’t due until 2025 !!!
… back when the ABC was a real ‘Broadcasting’ organisation (it’s what the ‘B’ in ‘ABC’ actually stands for) and not the “news organisation” (his own words) that former MD Mark Scott has turned it into, I was the federal senior executive responsible for what was then called Archives and Library Services … it did, and does, an invaluable service which people really don’t understand … in today’s ABC the mantra seems to be that everything can be done by people who call themselves journalists using a computer screen … it happened to what was TV Resources, it happened to Regional (and parts of Metro) radio and now it’s happening to Archives … unless this is reversed and the ABC goes back to being what its Charter requires ie a ‘Broadcasting’ organisation with the obligation to “inform and entertain” rather than just churning out repetitive hours of “news”, there will soon be nothing left to save …
If anyone from abc reads this comment please release back drama from 1997 children’s hospital, there is no trace of it online or DVD, if the abc archives have it please release it onto iview or dvd
Love David – he has always been one of my favourite actors.
Really looking forward to The ABC Of…
The processes and archival methods at ABC seem to be old and outdated. At the same time, their staff that are involved in the archiving have a great knowledge of the archives. There’s great value in the archives and I learned a lot about Australia from before my time just from older content, which has been beneficial.
There are times when I don’t like or don’t agree with some editorial, documentary content or political narratives, though that aside there is value in maintaining the ABC archives. It may also become very useful into the future, and losing archival staff and resources is one of those decisions that might be regretted in hindsight.
I started my career at the ABC in the archives and it was an amazing place to work. I don’ think most folks appreciate how much of a treasure trove that department is, but more importantly is accessed on a daily basis. Every story on the 7pm news, 7.30, 4 Corners – any program that needs file footage. I am devastated that my former colleagues are being diminished in the way they are. As is outlined in this piece (thank you David), many staffers there have decades of experience and knowledge of the history and the catalogue itself. Irreplaceable.