WildBear Entertainment

25/06/2024

Congratulations to Tony Armstrong for his Logies nomination for the Most Popular Personality on Australian Television for Great Australian Stuff and ABC News Breakfast. Catch Great Australian Stuff on iview! 🇦🇺

21/06/2024

Exciting news - Wild Winter is now streaming on Stan! From the Polar North to the South Pole, landscapes that at first glance look uninhabitable are in fact home to many incredible animal species. These animals not only survive, but in many cases thrive, in these inhospitable sub-zero climates. Stream Season 1 on Stan now!

17/06/2024

You can now stream all eight episodes of Stuff The British Stole Season 2 on ABC iview!

In our second season, Marc Fennell goes around the world in search of the hidden histories of a whole new suite of artefacts, uncovering tales of heists, wars and skullduggery, revealing the truth about how these priceless treasures got there.

Episode one also premieres tonight on ABC TV. Tune in from 8pm AEST.

13/06/2024

“The sweet stories of these crazy little injured birds who want to take to the Hollywood skies is a big celebration of the smallest among us. I’m just so thrilled cinema audiences will meet Terry, Cactus, Jimmy, and the Wild Boys on the big screen.” Director, Sally Aitken.

Sally Aitken's feature documentary 'Every Little Thing' will have a cinematic release in Australia and New Zealand after being picked up for distribution by Umbrella Entertainment.

29/05/2024

Our film, Every Little Thing, will be showing alongside three other Sundance-selected documentaries in the DC/DOX Signature Screenings program at DC/DOX Film Festival in Washington! The other three documentaries in the category are Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, Look Into My Eyes and Luther: Never Too Much.

DC/Dox co-founder and festival director, Sky Sitney said “These four signature films capture important aspects of our human experience: resilience in the face of adversity, the beauty found in small acts of kindness, the power of art and music to unite people in our shared humanity, and the universal desire to find higher meaning in our lives.”

Every Little Thing will be the closing night film for the festival on Sunday, June 16.

27/05/2024

Catch our Sundance-selected film, Every Little Thing, at the Sydney Film Festival on Saturday 15 June - 9:15am at the State Theatre and Sunday 16 June 4:15pm at Event Cinemas George Street.

Exquisite hummingbirds fill the screen in Australian filmmaker Sally Aitken’s captivating story of a woman finding herself as she cares for the tiny birds.

Los Angeles resident Terry Masear nurses the many hummingbirds who fall foul of the environment. In nesting season, she takes hundreds of calls from people who’ve found traumatised mothers and chicks. Aitken (Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story, David Stratton: A Cinematic Life) follows Terry as she goes through her meticulous, time-consuming routine of feeding and grooming her fragile charges. In caring for hummingbirds, Terry finds a graceful way through her own traumas. The birds’ journey from injury to first flight is breathtakingly captured, revealing their oft-spunky personalities and resilient spirit. A compassionate and shimmering film to leave you humming.

The documentary is one of the few films nominated for the Documentary Australia Award, recognising the incredible artistry and tenacity of independent filmmakers.

21/05/2024

The second season of Stuff the British Stole premieres on Monday, June 17 at 8pm on ABC TV and iview.

In the second season of the series, host Marc Fennell ventures from Egyptian deserts to deep in the Amazon River and takes viewers from a shipwreck in the depths of the Aegean Sea to a robot laboratory high in a Tuscan mountain range. Legendary actor and writer Stephen Fry joins Marc in episode one for an investigation into arguably the most controversial museum display in Britain, the Parthenon Marbles. Along the way, Marc uncovers hidden tales of heists, wars, intrigue, and skullduggery.

An Australia-Canada co-production, Stuff the British Stole is co-produced by Wooden Horse, WildBear Entertainment, and Cream Productions (Canada) for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and CBC with major production investment from Screen Australia. The series is financed with support from Rogers Cable Network Fund, the Government of Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit, Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, Canada Media Fund | Fonds des médias du Canada, Create NSW, and VicScreen. FremantleMedia will distribute the series worldwide.

19/04/2024

Our hummingbird film, Every Little Thing, is migrating around the world and charming festival goers. The feature film recently won the Living With Wildlife category alongside Among The Wolves at the wildlifefilmfestival. Thank you to Sally Aitken, DogWoof, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios Screen Australia, Coneflower Studios, Dan Freene, Nathan Barlow, Screen Queensland, Tania Nehme, Caitlin Yeo and to all who helped give our feature documentary the wind beneath its wings!

15/02/2024

Sally Aitken's superb documentary Every Little Thing was one of two Australian films to premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Andrew reviews this tender tale of a hummingbird rehab facility in Los Angeles and the comforting carer, Terry Masear, who operates it.

Read more here:

https://www.thecurb.com.au/sundance-review-sally-aitkens-every-little-thing-is-a-tender-ode-to-life-and-death-through-the-prism-of-hummingbird-rescue/

08/02/2024

every little thing is heading to SXSW on the back of a positive reception from last month’s Sundance Film Festival, where it had its world premiere as part of the US Documentary Competition.

In her review for The Hollywood Reporter, Sheri Linden wrote that the film was “involving from start to finish” with its emotional hold “as powerful as the hummingbirds are fragile”. IndieWire‘s Kate Erbland was similarly positive in her assessment, describing every little thing as a “big celebration of tiny things and the special person who has made it all possible”.

Speaking to IF magazine, producer Bettina Dalton said it was exciting to see the film break through to the Sundance and SXSW line-ups.

“It’s a film for a time when people are hurting,” she said. “It’s not just about the magic and majesty of hummingbirds; it really is about healing dealing with trauma, so it’s very multi-layered. We’re thrilled because the SXSW audience is different again from the Sundance audience. [Austin] is a university town and [SXSW] is more accessible to attend than Sundance, so it’s a real honour to have the film screen there. There’s five or six hummingbirds that migrate through Texas, so there’ll be a local degree of appreciation as well that we are looking forward to sharing.”

The full article is linked in the comments.

23/01/2024

“One of the things actually, in thinking about the film, imagining the film, was the delight in thinking about how to see the tiniest birds writ large on a big screen. And that idea of those tiny birds and this sprawling metropolis of Los Angeles. And something in that going deep into the hummingbird realm, as Bettina says with this extraordinary cinematography in the film, it really was such a beautiful project as a director. So visual that iridescence on their throats, the colours. I mean, if you don’t even want to go with some themes and you want some visual delight, it’s just beautiful.” Sally Aitken, director of Every Little Thing.

Catch Sally and Bettina Dalton (Producer) in this Deadline video discussing the creation of the film after its World Premiere at Sundance on the weekend.

TITLE: Every Little ThingSection: U.S. Documentary CompetitionDirector: Sally AitkenScreenwriter: Sally AitkenLogline: Amid the glamour of Hollywood, Los Angeles, a woman finds herself on a tr…

09/01/2024

We are seeking an Executive & Production Assistant to work in our Brisbane office based in Woolloongabba! This role will work with the Executive Producer/Principal and senior production and development staff. While the role will be focused on day to day logistic support of the Executive Producer and general office administration, you will also have the opportunity to work with the production teams providing an entry level to the industry and room to grow with our Company.

Please refer to the position description and application requirements in the link below.

Applications close 5pm (AEST) 31 January 2024.
Please apply through the WildBear Job Board as applications sent by email will not be accepted.

Executive & Production Assistant WildBear Entertainment is one of the largest factual production companies in Australia, servicing the broadcast and government sectors domestically and internationally. Working in our creative culture, your skills and expertise will be encouraged to grow, providing y...

18/12/2023

🌏🦎Exciting news from the 2023 World Congress of Science & Factual Producers!🏆✨ The Platypus Guardian has made it to the Stand Out List for Factual Producers! 🌟🍃 We're extremely honoured to be recognized on this global stage. Being acknowledged among standout productions is a testament to the dedication and passion of the team behind this film. 🌿📽

Thank you to the WCSFP for this incredible honor. Let's continue to spread awareness about the importance of protecting our environment and its unique inhabitants! 🌏💙 Join us in celebrating this achievement and advocating for the conservation of our precious planet.🌟🏆

The Platypus Guardian is now streaming on Apple TV and Amazon Prime. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-20UFhWLqc

06/12/2023

It’s time! Our feature documentary, ‘every little thing’ has been selected for the US Documentary Competition at 2024!

Amid the glamour of Hollywood, Los Angeles, a woman finds herself on a transformative journey as she nurtures wounded hummingbirds, unraveling a visually captivating and magical tale of love, fragility, healing, and the delicate beauty in tiny acts of greatness. The film will have its World Premiere at Sundance Film Festival from January 18th-28th.

The producer of the film, Bettina Dalton, “It is such an honour to have our documentary accepted into Sundance for a second time. We screened ‘Playing with Sharks’ in 2021 and are so thrilled to be back in 2024, this time in the US Documentary Competition - the only Australian film in this category. This selection is affirmation that our Australian films, no matter where they are set, can touch audiences universally on the world stage."

The director of the film, Sally Aitken, "It's not every day you wake up to this kind of exhilarating news. Incredibly proud and thankful to the team who were behind the vision for this film from day one. Sundance is one of the world’s premier film festivals where the bar is so high, and craft is paramount. To be invited for a second time is thrilling. We can’t wait to share this special story with the world.”

The film was co-produced with investment from WildBear Entertainment, Dogwoof and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios.

04/12/2023

We are pleased to announce that the Content Mint stock footage library has launched a brand new website, at the same location as before - see the link in the comments.

This new website improves customer experience, and facilitates licensing and footage enquires. Content Mint is part of the WildBear Entertainment group, and hosts an ever-growing stock footage library of HD and 4K clips, from across the globe, showcasing the natural world and beyond!

21/11/2023

Also airing tonight on the ABC is Believing In Australia! Catch it at 10pm.

Australians All Let Us Rejoice! Well, not quite. Because when it comes to matters of faith, it seems we’re an increasingly godless bunch. As every passing census confirms, we subscribe less and less to established religious doctrine. Yet religion has had a profound influence on Australia’s national story. Believing in Australia, a new four-part series for ABC by WildBear Entertainment, looks at how religion – its past, present, and in its many different forms – continues to be a powerful influence on who we are as a nation and a people.

Over four episodes, Believing in Australia series explores how religion has influenced our history, culture, and relationships from 1945 to the present day.

The latest census, taken in 2021, put Christians in the minority for the first time in the national survey’s history - at 44 per cent, down from 52 per cent just five years earlier. Our first episode looks at what drove so many Australians from the faith of their fathers and mothers from the mid-twentieth century onwards, exploring the social and economic forces that emptied the pews across all Christian denominations.

Financed with the assistance of the National Museum of Australia, ANU Australian Studies Institute, National Archives of Australia. Financed with support from the ACT Government and Screen Canberra.

21/11/2023

Yakka: Australia At Work airs tonight on ABC TV at 9.00pm.

From working the land, to digging up minerals, from manufacturing to the services industry, Yakka: Australia At Work explores how work has shaped Australia from the Second World War to the present. Each episode in the series is themed around a particular form of work.

The first, SOIL & TOIL, is about agriculture and how, since the Second World War, it has had to adapt to survive in changing global and domestic economies, a volatile political landscape, and face the challenges of an unpredictable climate.

Episode two, MAKING A NATION, explores the post-war work revolution in which Australia was transformed from an agricultural economy into a manufacturing one. Full employment guaranteed unprecedented prosperity for most Australians and a high standard of living.

Episode three, GROUNDBREAKERS, is about mining. From the 1949 coal miners’ strike which almost undid the economy (and certainly undermined the Labor government) to the ‘Axe the Tax’ demonstrations sixty-five years later, this episode is about the political power of miners and the mining industry since the Second World War.

The final episode, AT YOUR SERVICE, is about two things: women and the services industry. Today, women are dominant in the Australian workplace because they are equipped intellectually to take advantage of an economy which is more about brains than brawn.

Financed with the assistance of the National Museum of Australia, ANU Australian Studies Institute, National Archives of Australia. Financed with support from the ACT Government and Screen Canberra.

17/10/2023

WildBear Entertainment and Park Circus are pleased to announce the theatrical release of Ford v Holden, a feature-length documentary unpacking the fierce rivalry of the two iconic Australian car brands, arriving in Australian cinemas this Thursday on the 19th of October. Funded with the support of Screen Queensland, Ford v Holden delves into the history, technology, and culture of these rival companies and their impact on the Australian psyche and automotive landscape.

Narrated by Shane Jacobson, the film features interviews with experts, historians, broadcasters and former employees of both Ford and Holden, as well as rare footage and photographs from the archives, diving into the design and engineering innovations that have driven the companies’ success, covering the marketing strategies and advertising campaigns that have helped to build their brand identities. See the link in the comments to see where it’s showing!

03/10/2023

'Gem Hunters Down Under' Season 2 is on TONIGHT on 7mate at 8.30pm 7mate Screen Queensland WildBear Entertainment - Huge shout out to our stakeholders, amazing creative team and the fabulous cast who bring this treasure of a show to life!
💙🟢🔷🟩

03/10/2023

The first episode of Australia After War, Exit Wounds, airs tonight on ABC at 9.30pm.

The series explores the cultural, political and personal significance of Australia’s returned veterans (including nurses, artists and more) and looks at how the returned themselves experience their returns, how society responds to their return and how, over the course of more than a century, they have shaped Australian life.

Supported by the National Museum of Australia, the National Archives of Australia, The Australian National University and Screen Canberra, the series combines fascinating archival footage with personal stories of those who've returned, alongside commentary from leading academics and experts, such as General Sir Peter Cosgrove, Tony Briggs, Jano Caro, Mick Bainbridge, Joan Beaumont, Alistair Thompson, Marilyn Lake, Ben Quilty and Dr Jackie Huggins to name a few.

15/09/2023

We are pleased to announce that RIDE: A Brutal Fairytale has been selected for the Newport Beach Film Festival! Showcasing over 350 films to an audience of 58,000 people each year, the festival is one of Southern California’s largest film events. The film premieres on October 15. 🚲

11/09/2023

Catch the second episode of Makers Of Modern Australia, Innovators, tonight on ABC and ABC iview at 9.30pm!

The series is a four-part history, narrated by Shaun Micallef and told through the stories of some of the country’s most intriguing and influential figures: the leaders, rebels, artists and innovators who made modern Australia.

From the turmoil of the 1930s and ‘40s, to the turn of the twenty-first century, our nation’s modern history has been shaped by countless Australians, from all walks of life, who have risen to the challenges of their times. Whether leading the nation from high office, or vehemently opposing the government of the day; whether dedicating themselves to a life of creative expression or doggedly pursuing a new scientific discovery, these people have all played a part in shaping Australia’s past and its future.

Supported by the National Museum of Australia, the National Archives of Australia, The Australian National University and Screen Canberra, Makers of Modern Australia explores the contributions of a select number of makers. Their stories are told using archive, most of it drawn from the ABC’s rich collection, and through interviews with a diverse cast of experts.

06/09/2023

The third and final episode of “Building The Snowy” airs tonight on SBS (also available on SBS demand)!

THE LEGACY looks at the lasting impact of the original scheme, and the legacy that is being built now by the successors of that first workforce in the building of Snowy 2.0.

Over almost eight decades, the Snowy transformed the environment and people around it. From Alpine skiing to towns that were built and towns that were moved, from new industries to “New Australians”, the legacy of The Snowy is unique.

23/08/2023

Episode one of ‘Building the Snowy’ - THE IDEA airs tonight on SBS at 8.30pm AEST. THE IDEA focuses on the challenges—and solutions—involved in building such mighty projects, the original Snowy and Snowy 2.0. The political manoeuvres that were necessary to get the idea off the drawing board, the problems posed by the land and the climate, the solutions found for a country that, at the time, lacked both the people and the machinery to get the job done.

21/08/2023

WildBear Entertainment’s new documentary series ‘Building The Snowy’ begins airing and streaming on SBS Australia this Wednesday at 8.30pm AEST. The series tells the remarkable story of “The Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric scheme” and its modern day expansion, “Snowy 2.0”.

Through three episodes, we follow the story of The Snowy from that original idea to the present, when once again, massive machinery and an international workforce are building for Australia’s future with Snowy 2.0.

With unique access to the Snowy Hydro archive, and featuring interviews with historians, experts, and former and current Snowy employees, 'Building The Snowy' is a fresh look at the iconic scheme. The story of The Snowy is an engineering story, an industrial and an environmental story. But it is much more. It is a story about a project whose impact reached across Australia and whose influence changed Australian society.

04/08/2023

'The ABC and Canadian public broadcaster CBC have ordered a second season of the Marc Fennell-fronted docuseries Stuff The British Stole.

The second instalment of the series will offer, over eight episodes, an in-depth exploration of eight new remarkable treasures acquired through the years of the British Empire.'

The ABC and Canadian public broadcaster CBC have ordered a second season of the Marc Fennell-fronted docuseries 'Stuff The British Stole'.

27/07/2023

The Q&A cinema tour around NSW, VIC and ACT for Rachel's Farm has begun! But if you're in QLD, catch Producer, Bettina Dalton, at a one-off Q&A screening at New Farm Cinema in Brisbane this Sunday with a panel of farmers, scientists and experts in regenerative culture.

We can't wait to share this hopeful film with audiences across the country. Find your local screening and grab your ticket at the link in the comments.

04/07/2023

Rachel's Farm is touring cinemas throughout July & August for a special series of Q&A screenings with director Rachel Ward, plus a raft of special guest hosts including Bryan Brown, Joost Bakker and more! Find details and tix at the link in the comments. 🌾🐄

In this triumphant film, Rachel voyages from wilful ignorance about the ecological impacts of conventional agriculture on her own rural property, to embracing a movement to restore the health of Australia’s farmland, food and climate.

22/06/2023

The Black Hand airs next Tuesday, June 27, on ABC and ABC iview.

Through the frame of his own family and experience, Anthony LaPaglia unravels an era of extortion, arson, kidnap, mayhem and murder by The Black Hand, Italian criminals targeting their migrant countrymen in Australia’s deep north.

Across a decade of bloodshed through the rise of Italian fascism and a looming world war, a besieged Italian population finds the courage to battle old world ways and grasps the opportunity to thrive.

Screen NSW, Screen Queensland, Screen Australia and eOne.

12/06/2023

The Platypus Guardian airs tonight at 8.30pm on ABC and ABC iview! The film follows obsessive guide, Peter Walsh, reveal the secretive life of a female platypus and the threats she faces trying to survive in the increasingly depleted habitat of Hobart’s waterways.

Peter Walsh faces a challenge when he’s diagnosed with a brain injury. He finds solace by the Hobart rivulet, where he meets a platypus named Zoom. After finding Zoom tangled in plastic, Pete realises that the platypus are in trouble. With the help of experts, Pete explores the rivulet’s health and gets to know the platypus population, revealing intimate details about their lives.

When bulldozers and a flash flood on the rivulet cause Zoom to disappear, Pete launches a grassroots conservation effort to engage the community and save his platypus friends before it’s too late.

With stunning natural history footage, The Platypus Guardian captures unique, never-before-seen footage of one of the world’s weirdest animals, revealing a secret magical world that exists in the shadow of the city and Pete’s race against time to save it.

The project is supported by Screen Australia, Screen Tasmania and Content Mint.