SBS independent (SBSi) operated as the commissioning house for Australia's multicultural public broadcaster, the

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

(SBS), between August 1994 and December 2007. It was instituted via the landmark "Creative Nation" cultural policy initiative released in October 1994 by the Keating Government. The core purpose of the institution was to commission multicultural content from Australian independent film and television producers. At the end of December 2007, SBSi ceased to function as an administratively independent institution, and was merged with the SBS Content and Online Division. For the thirteen years that it operated, SBSi commissioned more than 810 titles spanning feature film, animation, television drama, documentary, comedy, variety and reality programs, totalling over 1500 hours of content. This content was often commissioned from inexperienced and early career television and filmmakers, many of whom come from non-English speaking and Indigenous backgrounds. SBSi titles have attracted significant critical acclaim internationally, winning in excess of 450

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

s, including a 2003

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Adam Elliott's animated short film, ''Harvie Krumpet''. SBSi was a significant cultural institution that reshaped production and representational practices in the Australian film and television sectors. Most significantly, through collaborative partnerships with other federal and state film financing organisations, SBSi helped to nurture a new generation of Indigenous filmmakers including Ivan Sen, Warwick Thornton and Rachel Perkins. Its commissioned works have been widely recognised through film and television awards and acknowledged by broader community response throughout Australia and overseas. SBSi commissioned

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

s, drama series,

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

, single

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

, and documentary series.

Productions

A comprehensive list of SBS Independent productions can be found at th
SBS Independent Commissioned Content
Database. The titles listed below is a small sample of the more popular programs that gained distribution beyond their initial television exhibition.

Animation

Animated Tales of the World ''Animated Tales of the World'' is a 2001 animated series that aired on HBO and S4C. It was produced by Children's Television Trust International and Christmas Films for S4C and Channel 4. The series is an anthology serie adapting a unique st ...

Bobtales ''Bobtales'' is an Australian animated series of aboriginal dreamtime stories produced in Perth, Western Australia in 1997 and aired in 1998. Thirteen 5-minute episodes were produced by independent film company Gripping Film and Graphics and th ...

Harvie Krumpet ''Harvie Krumpet'' is a 2003 Australian clay animation psychological comedy-drama short film written, directed and animated by Adam Elliot, and narrated by Geoffrey Rush. It tells the life story of Harvie Krumpet, a Polish-Australian man whose ...

John Callahan's Quads! ''John Callahan's Quads!'' (or simply ''Quads!'') is an adult cartoon produced by Nelvana. It was created by and based upon the work of John Callahan, who also created another Nelvana-produced cartoon, ''Pelswick''. The show aired on Teletoon a ...

* Leunig *

The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello ''The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello'' is a 2005 Australian animated short film. It was developed and produced in association with the Australian Film Commission; developed and produced with the assistance of Film Victoria ...

Comedy

* Wilfred *

Pizza (TV series) ''Pizza/Fat Pizza'' (titled ''Fat Pizza: Back In Business'' from season six onwards) is an Australian comedy television series created by Paul Fenech. The series premiered on SBS on 24 April 2000 where it aired for its first five seasons betwe ...

Documentary

*The Prodigal Son * Australia By Numbers series * Fond Memories of Cuba *Golden Sandals: The Art of

Reg Mombassa Christopher O'Doherty, also known by the pseudonym Reg Mombassa, is a New Zealand-born Australian artist and musician. He is a founding member of the band Mental As Anything and member of Dog Trumpet (alongside his brother Peter O'Doherty). Ear ...

John Safran's Music Jamboree ''John Safran's Music Jamboree'' (or just ''Music Jamboree'') was a light-hearted Australian music documentary television series, hosted by John Safran for SBS television. The program was produced by Richard Lowenstein, Selin Yaman and Ghost P ...

John Safran vs God ''John Safran vs God'' is an eight-part television documentary series by John Safran which was broadcast on SBS TV of Australia in 2004. It has been described in a media release as "John Safran's most audacious project yet". It had a much more ...

* Nerds F.C. *

Poles Apart "Poles Apart" is a song by Pink Floyd from the band's 1994 album, ''The Division Bell''. Lyrics The lyrics speak to ex-bandmate Syd Barrett in the first verse, and Roger Waters in the second, according to co-writer Polly Samson. As such, the seco ...

*Sydney 2000 *The Animated Leunig *

Decadence The word decadence, which at first meant simply "decline" in an abstract sense, is now most often used to refer to a perceived decay in standards, morals, dignity, religious faith, honor, discipline, or skill at governing among the members of ...

*Bush School

Films

References