2003 - 04 Annual Report - Sbs

5Australian Programs Commissionedby SBS IndependentA total of 135 hours of SBSi-commissioned programs(289 titles) were broadcast by SBS during the year. Theseincluded first-run and some repeat broadcasts (Appendix6). In 2003-04, SBSi commissioned 110 hours of primetime documentaries, drama and feature films.SBS INDEPENDENTSBS Independent (SBSi) heralded its 10th year with moresuccesses: an Academy Award for its commissionedanimation, Harvie Krumpet; a Logie for the two-partdocumentary, Dying to Leave; and a film, Somersault,in the Un Certain Regard section of the officialcompetition at the Cannes Film Festival.In order to better showcase the increased number ofdiverse quality documentaries commissioned by SBSi,a new programming strand ‘Storyline Australia’ wasintroduced into the Television schedule in the primetime viewing slot of Thursdays at 8.30pm. Launched inMarch 2004, with the feature-length documentary, ThePresident vs David Hicks, the ‘Storyline Australia’timeslot has attracted a loyal viewer following andconsistently good ratings. In the first six months of 2004,three documentaries – Welcome to the Waks Family,Sandman in Siberia, and The Original Mermaid– attracted audiences in excess of 400,000.SBSi’s commissioning editors continued to activelyassist Australian filmmakers to source finance for theirproductions abroad. The year saw progress on severalbig international series including the rural documentaryseries, Desperately Seeking Sheila, to be broadcaston SBS Television in late 2004, and The Colony, a ‘livinghistory’ series scheduled for broadcast on AustraliaDay 2005. Development work continued with Japanesebroadcaster NHK on Ulysses, an English languagedrama miniseries. Written by an Australian and withJapanese and Australian directors, Ulysses is scheduledfor transmission in late 2005.SBSi Commissioned Productions Australia WideSBSi maintains funding and creative alliances with allFederal and State film and television agencies in order tomaximise opportunities for program makers nationwideso that stories from all over Australia are available forAustralian audiences.This year, new production collaborations were establishedwith the Australian Film Television and Radio School(AFTRS) in Sydney and the Australian Centre for theMoving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne.Complementing the hour-long documentaries of ‘StorylineAustralia’, a second regular prime time programmingstrand was developed for half-hour documentaries. The‘Inside Australia’ timeslot – Sundays at 7pm – focuseson Australian subjects and their unique stories and waslaunched in October 2003 with the quirky, The Troublewith George.