Freehand Productions (or simply Freehand) is an Australian

television production A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

company, founded in 2004 by producers John Gregory, Peter Abbott and Chris O’Mara. Since its inception, Freehand has produced or co-produced various genres of content, including light and factual entertainment, observational documentary, specials and children's television, for Australian commercial broadcasters, public broadcasters and

subscription television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, but ...

channels. Notable productions include ''

Top Gear Australia ''Top Gear Australia'' was an Australian motoring reality television series, based on the British BBC series ''Top Gear''. The programme first premiered on SBS One on 29 September 2008. A second season was ordered following the high ratings for ...

'', ''

Freshwater Blue ''Freshwater Blue'' is an Australian reality-drama series created by Toby Yoshimura and Ben Alcott for MTV Australia. The series follows the lives of twelve friends who have completed their secondary education and face the challenges of friendsh ...

'', '' Missing Persons Unit'', ''

Planet Cake {{Use Australian English, date=January 2016 ''Planet Cake'' is a reality television series that follows the daily operations of one of Australia's most renowned cake businesses under the tight rein of Paris Cutler, known to her eclectic team of d ...

'' and ''

Joker Poker ''Joker Poker'' was a late night Australian poker program on Network Ten which aired in 2005 and 2006. The 2005 edition was hosted by Adam Spencer, with the second and final edition hosted by Mike Goldman. Both were co-hosted by New Zealand po ...

''.

History

In 2007,

BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetises BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...

acquired a 25% stake in Freehand Productions for a reported A$2.5 million, which was the first time BBC Worldwide purchased a stake in an existing company rather than set up their own. BBC Worldwide divested its stake to co-founder Peter Abbott in 2012. Co-founder Chris O'Mara departed the company in 2009. In 2010, Freehand produced the first local commission for

MTV Australia MTV is a 24-hour general entertainment channel specialising in music and youth culture programming which serves Australia and New Zealand. It is operated by parent company Paramount Networks UK & Australia headquartered in London with a local of ...

, in reality show ''

''.

Productions

Production credits include ''

'' (Lifestyle Food), ''Matt Wright: Outback Wrangler'' (National Geographic Channel), ''

'' (MTV), ''

'' (moving from SBS to Nine Network in 2010), ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'' (Seven Network), ''Bush Slam'' (ABC), ''

Costa's Garden Odyssey ''Costa's Garden Odyssey '' is an Australian television documentary series gardening program hosted by landscape architect Costa Georgiadis Costa Georgiadis (born 1 January 1964) is an Australian landscape architect and television presenter. H ...

'' (SBS), '' Missing Persons Unit'' (Nine Network), ''An Audience with Michael Parkinson'' (UKTV) and ''One Small Step: The Australian Story'' (BBC Knowledge and BBC HD). In 2008, Freehand joined forces with Blink Films to produce the children's program ''

Escape from Scorpion Island ''Escape from Scorpion Island'' is a BBC children's TV adventure game show in which contestants try to 'escape from an exotic island with a mind of its own' by doing various challenges to improve their chances of escaping. Series 1 was made by ...

'' (ABC) and together were successful in securing the inaugural commission for CBeebies Australia with the magical show for pre-schoolers, '' Penelope K, by the way''.

Production credits

*'' Meet the Hockers'' (

9Go! 9Go! is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Nine Network on 9 August 2009, replacing Nine Guide. It is a youthful channel that offers a mix of comedy, reality, general entertainment, movies, anim ...

) *''

A League of Their Own ''A League of Their Own'' is a 1992 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Penny Marshall that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The film stars Tom Hanks, Geena Dav ...

'' (Ten) *''Some Say Love'' - Pilot (UKTV) *''

'' (Lifestyle Food) *''Matt Wright: Outback Wrangler'' (National Geographic Channel) *''

'' (MTV) *''Goa Hippy Tribe'' (SBS) *'' Penelope K, by the way'' (CBeebies) *''Costa's Arnhem Land Odyssey'' (SBS) *''

'' Series 1 and 2 (SBS) *''Bush Slam'' (ABC) *'' One Small Step'' (BBC Knowledge) *''An Audience with Michael Parkinson'' (UKTV) *'' The Nest'' Series 1 and 2 (SBS). *''

'' Series 2 - 5 (with RDF for ABC and BBC) *''

'' Series 1 and 2 (BBC Worldwide and SBS) Series 3 and 4 (BBC Worldwide and Nine Network) *''

'' (Seven Network) *'' Missing Persons Unit'' Series 1 - 5 (Nine Network) *''Great Australian Homes'' (How To Channel) *''Owner Builder'' (How To Channel) *'' Outback Wildlife Rescue'' (Seven Network and BBC Worldwide) *''The Great BBQ Challenge'' (XYZ Lifestyle Food) *The 2005 and 2006

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (also known as the KCAs or Kids' Choice) is an annual American children's awards ceremony show that is produced by Nickelodeon. Usually held on a Saturday night in late March or early April, the show honors ...

*''

Honey, We're Killing the Kids ''Honey, We're Killing the Kids'' is a BBC Three television series in which parents are shown the consequences of poor parenting. The program shows computer-generated images and technology of what their children may look like as adults if they ...

'' (Ten Network and BBC Worldwide) *''Skating On Thin Ice'' (Nine Network) *''

My Restaurant Rules ''My Restaurant Rules'' is an Australian reality television series that aired on the Seven Network. Overview The series pits five couples, one each from Australia's five largest cities, to compete against each other in opening a successful resta ...

'' (Seven Network) *''

Queer Eye For The Straight Guy ''Queer Eye'' is an American reality television series that premiered on the cable television network Bravo in July 2003. Originally ''Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'', the title was later shortened to broaden the overall scope. The series was cre ...

'' (Ten Network)The Age Queer as blokes
/ref>

References

External links

* {{officialwebsite, http://www.freehandtv.com.au Television production companies of Australia Mass media companies established in 2004 Film production companies of Australia Companies based in Sydney