David Black interviews Albert Jamae for The Australian Short Film Network Journal
Community TV is a vital outlet for indie film makers in Australia. It is one of the few places where we can get our films seen by the general public.
Many years ago, when I was the editorial cartoonist for a national tabloid called The Truth, I started doing volunteer artwork to support a small group called SKA TV, which had the dream that one day community TV would become a part of the Australian landscape. That dream came true but I lost contact with them after the Melbourne Community TV Consortium was formed and Melbourne’s Channel 31 came into being.
Today, I am chatting to Albert Jamae, who is the Production and Development manager at Adelaide’s Channel 44. I want to find out everything about Community TV today and this is the man in the know.
The Butterfish Mob
DB – Thanks for taking the time to chat to me today Albert. Can you tell us a bit about Community TV? What services do you provide and how can film makers become involved?
AJ – Thanks mate. Our station here in Adelaide provides a range of services apart from still offering the free to air broadcast for program makers and sponsors. Our recent three year extension means we can provide a broadcast platform for emerging TV and filmmakers to showcase their work which we know is a great road test for any project before launching or pitching to bigger networks and streamers.
We also have our production crew on hand who are kept super busy with filming local events, livestream and pre-recorded, festivals, local sports, award ceremonies, church services, promo videos, documentaries, conferences, our own in-house programs - you name it we’re filming it!
Above all we’re here for the local community; content makers and content consumers. And we’re always looking for new content to help find and audience and mentor up and coming practitioners to build their confidence in their craft.
Deadline Gallipoli
DB – Albert, you came to the position of Operations Manager of Channel 44 with a wealth of experience, which includes being a performer, film producer, script writer and author. I hope I didn’t miss anything out there. Can you tell us a bit about your early experiences in showbiz and what attracted you to it?
AJ – Sure. Started at the age of 8 I think in a local theatre company and loved that make believe world! It was a place where people seemed so expressive and creative and always felt like a family. Its something you can’t recreate in any other industry (as biased as that may sound 😊). But looking back I think it was something fundamental that kept me involved.
I’ve done more than a hundred performances and directed/produced over 60 or 70 productions for various organisations and schools etc, and the one thing I have always been reminded of is resilience. There has never been a show or film or program I’ve been involved in that didn’t have its ‘drama’! Usually right up to the last minute in a final dress rehearsal, or minutes before you have to roll camera before you lose the light, all seems like its going to fail. You even wonder why the hell you chose to do this. But somehow the people around you, which in 99% of the time are there for the same reason you are, pull something miraculous together. Sometimes it works and sometimes it still bombs. Then youre surprised when a failure turns into a blessing!
It’s so predictably unpredictable that on the other side of each creation, you have that experience to share with those fellow creatives. You have a story to tell and lessons to learn. When I learned to embrace this, then any moment of tension of drama on a production is never a surprise to me and I always know there will be a corresponding solution. And I’m a sucker for creative folk – zero tolerance for the precious but all the time in the world for the passionate!
Sorry that was a long winded response but you got me on my soapbox there! 😊
Here's Humphrey!
DB – I was originally an Adelaide boy myself and grew up with “Here’s Humphrey”, so I just have to ask about that. Humphrey was my hero and I loved Patsy Biscoe. I believe that you hosted it in the 1990’s and even went on tour?
AJ – yeah one of the best gigs I had. So many awesome memories which I still have on vhs tape somewhere! I got the gig at 21 after a I finished a couple of dance tours overseas and interstate. Funny I remember on a school tour at the age of seven or eight, we visited the channel nine studios and I kissed Humphrey on the nose – 13 years later I was working with him!
I had 3 years there from 93 to 95. Lots of studio shooting and outside appearances at pageants and events etc. Can't remember how many eps I did but we were doing 90 a year and I may have done half of them each year as we had rotating hosts. We were the last hosts to have a live pianist in the studio as this was during the High Five days so the pressure to become more contemporary meant the music became pre-recorded.
To be honest it lost its charm and consequently episodes reduced over time as it couldn’t compete with the competition (I think the wiggles were on the rise as well). But I loved that time. Lots of pressure learning up to four or five scripts, song lyrics and (minor!) dance routines over the weekend to shoot from Monday. No teleprompters back then and often 8 or 9 minute segments with no edit points so you couldn’t stuff it up or you'd have to start again.
We did two shows a day and time pressure as the same crew and to leave to shoot the news by 6pm. The cast and crew were fab and we got up to a lot of mischief! Some of the rehearsals were far from being G rated I can assure you 😊. In 95 I was offered to do Humphreys 30th birthday tour around regional Australia with my then wife (who also hosted) and 2 year old son. We traveled most of outback Australia for 2 months. Mental but again lots of fun.
DB – You have a few IMDB credits as an actor and producer. Has the experience of being involved in making films at the indie level been of benefit with working on a TV station that shows films from Indie film makers?
AJ – Hell yes. Having been used to creating productions on the proverbial shoestring budget means I have an understanding on the restrictions we have as content creators. Also in my years teaching emerging performers and seeing them go on to do wonderful things, I also have that insatiable appetite to see new voices emerging in the indie film making sector.
I can always see past the technical side of things to (hopefully) see the intended vision. The story someone is trying to tell, which to me and many others in my industry is what its all about. You can always find ways to improve the technique side of things (be it with budget or mentorship) but the ability to tell story is inherent within someone or not.
Ive learned a lot about my own processes and abilities (or lack thereof!) by watching others as they come in and if there's a way I can offer some guidance to help someone realise their vision then that’s a bonus too. It’s a privilege to be in this position and one I’ll never take for granted.
The Art of Reconciliation
DB – Many of our readers have supported community TV for years and have let their voices be heard whenever the government was reviewing the broadcasting licenses. Ch 44 and Ch 31 recently won a 3 year reprieve, which had many indie film makers breathing a sigh of relief.
Still, many are worried about the future. Can you tell us of any plans in place and let us know what we can do to support Community TV?
AJ – Yes it has been quite an upheaval to get to where we are now. Thanks to the tireless work of the General Managers of both stations (Shane Dunlop C31 and Lauren Hillman C44), and others within their respective teams, we have finally got some breathing space to do what we do best!
One of the exciting endeavours for the future (and one we’ve been planning for some time) is the recent launch of our own streaming platform CTV plus (CTV+). As the last two remaining stations, we have always been passionate about bringing the entire country of emerging content creators together on a national platform to showcase the immense spool of talent that exists within our backyard.
We have always had faith in this process and despite the powers to be that may shun our validity, we maintain the ethos that local audiences want to see local content. We know we can also generate a healthy economic benefit for our country if this is supported by government as well.
Community media has always been the grass roots foundation for many successes over the years with far too many to list here. Our new (free) platform is our chance to showcase this quality of talent to look out for. It has a long way to go to represent the diversity of makers out there but we’re on the path. I guess to help this process we want to hear from all emerging and established makers from around the country.
We know there are brilliant projects that may have had their festival or broadcast run in the past that can still find a home on community tv/stream. Its not just about the new stuff. Ive seen many great films or tv/web series that have done the festival circuit, had their YouTube release, perhaps had some exposure and then just sit there doing nothing. Why not find another audience? Especially while we have the broadcast, there's an audience who wont see your work if its on the internet.
On another note, its all about momentum. While you're working on your next project, see if you can get a run on Community TV, which I've seen get content maker’s confidence up when often times are tough to get anything off the ground. That’s what we’re here for.
DB – Thanks for taking the time to chat to me today Albert. Do you have any links where our readers can follow your work?
AJ - Sure, below is a comedy and two of the docos I’ve done
AJ – Comedy short Film “Red Wire Blue Wire” – winner best comedy at the SA Screen Awards 2019
Documentary for NITV’s Our Stories and Adelaide Film Festival “The Butterfish Mob”
https://vimeo.com/282172382 (password bmob)
Documentary for C44, commissioned by local councils Port Adelaide Enfield and City of Charles Sturt for reconciliation week “The Art of Reconciliation”
https://tinyurl.com/7dcjk5dy (will have to scroll through c44’s productions to look for this one!)
And if you want to check out our emerging CTV+ platform go to www.ctvplus.org.au
