Chloe Cassidy
Documentary Producer, Ten
Written by Lauren Crawford on 2009-10-05
Chloe Cassidy works as a Brisbane producer at Channel Ten’s in house documentary unit which produces 16 hours of Australian documentary content per year. Some of her nationally broadcasted work includes: Diamonds in the Rough, Life in a Colony, On the Ball and the Network Ten / CBBC co-production mini-series Outback Eight.
Why did you decide to pursue a career in the media and communications industry?
The idea of being a producer has appealed to me since the age of 16, considering it is a field that offers so much variety in terms of combining both creative and organisational business thinking. It was not until my third year of studying film and television at QUT that I realised my passion was for documentaries and the stories of real people. As part of my degree, we produced a documentary which was initially going to cover the science behind insomnia and sleep deprivation. However, by the time we had finished the documentary I had managed to turn it into a ten minute piece which re-told the story of a young man who had fallen asleep at the wheel and suffered a brain injury. I am fascinated by the subtleties of human nature, the complexity of human relationships and the way in which people interact with the world around them to shape their own stories. The intimacy and immediacy of television offers the perfect medium for sharing these stories.
How do the types of programs produced in Brisbane compare to other Australian states?
Brisbane and greater Queensland has a healthy television production industry. Channel Ten in Brisbane, produces documentaries as well as children’s television series Scope, Totally Wild, Toasted and Puzzle Play. Like Channel Ten the other networks produce and support a wide variety of production genres and programs here in Brisbane.
What has been your most memorable experience working as a part of Brisbane’s media landscape?
My most memorable experience, has been following the story of five homeless soccer players for the 2008 documentary On the Ball. I first heard about the Queensland Street Socceroos (a team of homeless soccer players who train every week in New Farm Park) after reading a small article in the Brisbane News Magazine in early 2006. However, because of the sensitivity of the subject matter and uncertainty of the players’s circumstances, it took me almost three years of negotiations and relationship building to get the documentary off the ground. The relationships I formed with the players allowed me to capture intimate details of their lives and document the day to day physical and emotional trauma of being homeless in Australia. By tracking their individual stories, my aim was to explore the issue of homelessness at a human level while allowing the audience to look past the stereotype, connect to the characters and understand their situation.
Both personally and professionally, the documentary was the hardest thing I have done. The trust of the players and their willingness to so openly share their stories gave me insight into society and the human condition that I will never forget. It allowed me to see how easily people can fall into a cycle of suffering and how difficult it is to get yourself out.
What are the most important/valuable skills that graduates can bring to your industry?
Quite simply I think the most valuable attribute any graduate can bring to television and in particular documentary production is a passion for stories, a curiosity for understanding other people and an ability to listen and be interested.
In your opinion, what is the most prominent trend in the television industry at the moment?
In television the most prominent trend at present is cross-platform content and the development of content that can be communicated across multiple platforms (television, online, on mobile and gaming). Today’s audiences (especially young audiences) do not just want to watch a program, they want to be able to participate and share their opinions. People also want choice as to when, where and how they view content.
What changes do you see happening over the next five years in the television industry?
The change to multi-channelling and the development and broadcast of content for niche markets is already in full swing. This can be seen in the new digital free to air channels, for instance Ten’s sport’s channel ONE, The ABC’s children’s channel ABC3 and Nine’s youth driven channel Go . However I believe the extent to which the television industry changes over the next five years will be determined in the most part by audiences and their ever growing appetite for entertainment and engagement. While the way we view content is changing, I think television will remain as the core medium from which everything else will flow. We can only hope that as the industry diversifies and fragments, Australian content requirements are still upheld.
Do you see yourself pursuing this career long-term?
I would like to continue to pursue a career in the production of documentary content however full-time employment in Australian documentary production is difficult to come by. A majority of documentary content broadcast on Australian television is produced by independent producers and then purchased (usually on pre-sale terms) by the broadcasters. On the one hand, working as an independent producer allows you more creative freedom, but on the other hand it is a difficult environment to operate within financially as there is always concern about funding, or on a personal level where is my next pay cheque coming from.