Podcast – Sue Masters on commissioning Australian TV
Sue Masters - former SBS Head of Scripted, Network Ten Head of Drama and Head of Drama at ABC - gives her advice.
Safe Harbour, Sue Masters, The Hunting
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In this episode of the Screen Australia podcast, producer and writer Sue Masters draws from her incredible career in the screen industry to discuss commissioning, developing, and producing Australian television.
Masters led the drama commissioning team at SBS, and worked across titles including The Family Law, Deep Water, Dead Lucky, On the Ropes, Robbie Hood, International Emmy-winning Safe Harbour and The Hunting, which became the highest-rating SBS commissioned drama of all time.
Masters talks through the choices behind some of those commissions, including how she first came across Safe Harbour through a one-page document with an excellent premise, and how with The Hunting, Closer Productions used their development money to deliver one of the best TV bibles she had ever seen.
Throughout the episode, Masters also talks about internal pitching, her advice for teams wanting to work together, and her rationale in embracing online programming like Homecoming Queens and initiatives like Digital Originals.
Sue also discusses her key takeaways from working at other broadcasters, such as her years as a Head of Drama at Network Ten working on series such as The Secret Life of Us, and being Head of Drama at ABC during the Seachange years.
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