Significant 7: Television creatives
From drama to reality and factual – meet the production house powerhouses responsible for Australia’s greatest television.
Andrew Denton
Owner/ Creative guy
Zapruder’s Other Films
The Gruen Transfer, Hungry Beast, Country Town Rescue, Randling
With producers Anita Jacoby and Peter Thompson, Andrew Denton’s Zapruder’s Other Films is known for intelligent and often funny television.
Denton came to prominence as the host of ABC’s 1988 comedy show Blah Blah Blah and was quick to get involved behind the scenes. His first executive producing credit came in 2001 when he gave The Chaser team their break with The Election Chaser.
Denton is responsible for adland favourite The Gruen Transfer, with five series including Gruen Planet and Nation under its belt. The show is one of the ABC’s highest rating formats attracting international interest.
Denton’s great skill is fostering young talent with his 2008 Project Next experiment resulting in Hungry Beast. Denton says: “The show won a Walkley and, with just 15 hours of TV, they achieved an amazing amount for a group of newcomers.”
Zapruder’s 2012 slate includes more Gruen as well as Country Town Rescue and game show Randling which sees Denton return to front of camera for the first time in four years.
Des Monaghan
Executive chairman
Screentime
Underbelly, Brothers in Arms, Crownies, Cloudstreet
Des Monaghan is a multi-award-winning television producer with more than 35 years experience.
He started at New Zealand network TVNZ, “I literally swept the floors”, before working his way to director of programming and production for channels TV1 and TV2. Monaghan then set up his own production company South Pacific Pictures which he sold in the early 1990s. Bob Campbell, Seven’s one time managing director then lured him to Australia where he headed up program development for the channel.
In 1996 Campbell suggested they form their own production entity and Screentime was born. The company’s first work included an adaptation of Bryce Courtney’s much loved novel The Potato Factory and one of the earliest reality offerings, Popstars. More recent programs include the highly successful Underbelly franchise for Nine, Showcase miniseries Cloudstreet and ABC’s Crownies.
Next for Monaghan, a contemporary Underbelly and six-part bikie series, Brothers In Arms.
Penny Chapman
Creative director
Matchbox Pictures
The Slap, My Place, The Straits, RAN: Remote Area Nurse
Penny Chapman is the creative director of the award-winning production company Matchbox Pictures, responsible for such drama hits as The Slap and My Place.
Chapman was head of TV drama before becoming head of TV at the ABC during the 1990s where she produced acclaimed miniseries Brides of Christ, and the classic Australian crime drama Blue Murder.
Chapman went on to write and produce The Cooks before the 2006 miniseries RAN: Remote Area Nurse won her three AFI Awards including best miniseries or telemovie.
In 2008 Chapman created Matchbox Pictures with fellow producers Helen Panckhurst, Tony Ayres, Helen Bowden and Michael McMahon, producing powerhouses themselves with credits including Bogan Pride, He Died with a Felafel in His Hand, and The Home Song Stories.
“We have a very detailed business plan for the next three to five years,” Chapman says. “We will be doing a range of programming for as many of the Australian broadcasters as we can.”
