We Interrupt This Broadcast

In this episode, Kirsty chats to Screen industry consultant Dan Fahy about the evolving global marketplace for television, focusing on revenue trends, the importance of community, and the impact of data analysis on content creation.
Dan outlines the opportunities for producers in a changing market with an emphasis on adaptability and innovation.
Plus, the five realities buyers are facing that you should check your content against if you’re involved in the creation of stories.
Listen to hear Dan discuss:
His work for Paramount, BBC Studios and Nine, and why data analysis is crucial for understanding market trends.
The slowing in revenue, leakage of revenue and concentration of revenue that are affecting content buyers globally.
How children’s content presents great opportunities that we aren’t capitalising on in Australia.The five ways producers can adapt to make their content more favourable to buyers.
Why the future of the industry relies on innovation and adaptability.
Follow Dan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danfahy100
This Deep Dive interview is hosted by Kirsty Stark and edited by Brandon Boyer and Kirsty Stark.
If you’re enjoying the podcast, please leave a rating on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and we’d love you to forward this episode to a friend!
Follow us on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠
This episode is sponsored by AFTRS, the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Head to aftrs.edu.au to find your course and enrol.

In this special bonus episode of We Interrupt This Broadcast, we're joined by Sam Buckland, the Programming and International Engagement Director at AACTA.

With the AACTA Awards and AACTA Festival kicking off next week on the Gold Coast, we wanted to share a preview of some of the events that will be happening alongside the Awards.

It's an incredible line-up, and the full We Interrupt This Broadcast team will be there, ⁠hosting a panel⁠ at 5:30pm on Thursday (register and say hi!), and running a special activation to capture your big ideas about the future of the industry.

If you can't be at the Festival, you'll still have a chance to contribute, so make sure you follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn for more details once the Festival kicks off.

https://www.instagram.com/weinterruptpodcast
https://www.linkedin.com/company/weinterruptpodcast

Tune in to hear all of Sam’s highlights for the Festival, from the Awards and screenings to panels, special events and even karaoke!

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AACTA Festival takes place from Wednesday 4th to Sunday 8th of February on the Gold Coast. See the full program and register for the sessions you want to attend at https://www.aactafestival.com.

We Interrupt This Broadcast is an official Media Partner for this year's event.

Happy New Year, and welcome to 2026!
With Julie Eckersley departing We Interrupt This Broadcast for her new role at Screen Queensland, we’re excited to welcome Loani Arman, Aven Yap and Robbie Miles, who will be joining Kirsty Stark as hosts.
We’re thrilled to expand the WITB team with a great mix of people and personalities who all have the best interests of the industry at heart - and we have big plans for the podcast this year!
Tune in to this episode to hear more about who we are and what we’re excited about.
Plus, we announce our upcoming first appearance as a team at AACTA Festival, where we’ll be hosting a panel (register and say hi!), and running an activation to capture your big ideas about the future of the industry (more news in the episode!).
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Loani Arman is a writer, director, and screen executive with over 20 years in the Australian screen industry, including her AIDC Award winning documentary My Body Says and as executive producer of the AACTA-winning series Latecomers. She most recently co-wrote a feature film adaptation of a hugely popular horror title.
Aven Yap is a producer, writer, content creator working across Australia and Asia, and founder of Nimbus Creative. His credits span scripted and documentary projects for ABC, Nine, Disney+/NatGeo, and his award-winning short Piano Mums has a feature adaptation in development with investment from Screen Queensland and Screen Australia.
Robbie Miles is a producer, educator and screen industry strategist with a deep interest in how creative work actually gets made. He currently leads industry engagement at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) and develops projects across film, television and digital platforms through Miles Ahead Productions.
Kirsty Stark is an Emmy award-winning producer at Epic Films with a strong commitment to industry support, particularly in areas that promote career sustainability for freelancers and industry growth. She is the founder of CrewHQ, a nationwide crew database, and CrewCon, a conference for freelance crew. Kirsty is also Deputy Chair of The Mercury, and a host of We Interrupt This Broadcast.
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Our podcast schedule for 2026:
Last Tuesday of the month - Monthly round-up episode

All other Tuesdays - Deep Dive interviews

Next week’s episode will be a special bonus AACTA Festival preview with Sam Buckland, with our regular schedule kicking off in February.
Listen on Spotify, YouTube or Apple Podcasts.
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Links for your enjoyment:
Aven crashes out in Sunnybank Plaza: https://www.instagram.com/p/DTJ5xttDI_K
Robbie Miles in The Guardian: What It’s Like Winning Mastermind Australia: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/jul/19/mastermind-australia-sbs-winner
See you in February, and don’t forget to sign up for our mailing list to get all of our episodes in your inbox when they’re released!
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If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple or give us 5 stars on Spotify to help us spread the word.
We Interrupt This Broadcast is hosted by Kirsty Stark, Loani Arman, Robbie Miles and Aven Yap. This episode was edited by Kirsty Stark.
This episode is sponsored by AFTRS, the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Head to aftrs.edu.au to find an AFTRS course that’s made for you.

In this final episode of We Interrupt This Broadcast for 2025 (and Julie’s last episode as a host), Julie and Kirsty wrap up the month’s industry news, including the new streaming quotas legislation, the Screen Australia Drama Report, the Netflix / Paramount / Warner Brothers Discovery saga, and our Spotify Wrapped stats for the year.
Plus: all of your December screen industry news headlines from around the country...
This episode is sponsored by ⁠AFTRS⁠, the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Use the code SUMMER2026 for a 15% discount⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on all summer short courses. Head to aftrs.edu.au/shortcourses to find your course and enrol.

00:00 Intro
00:41 Kirsty’s Japan Prize Trip & Julie Starts at Screen Queensland
02:45 Our Spotify Wrapped Results for 2025
04:27 Streaming Quotas
05:58 Screen Australia Drama Report
10:06 U16 Social Media Ban
12:51 Warner Brothers Discovery + Netflix or Paramount
17:36 Letterboxd’s Video Store
19:32 Industry news, key appointments & opportunities
25:10 What we’ve been watching
28:32 What’s in production around Australia
29:03 Farewell, Julie & see you all in 2026!
30:28 Outro & Acknowledgement of Country

Links:
Our Spotify Wrapped for 2025: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7402212521182744576
Streaming Quotas: https://deadline.com/2025/11/australia-streaming-quotas-sworn-into-law-1236630348
Screen Australia Drama Report: https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2025/12-02-drama-report-2024-2025
Warner Bros. Discovery + Netflix or Paramount: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-13/warner-bros-discovery-paramount-skydance-netflix-battle/106126968
U16 Social Media Ban: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/dec/09/australia-under-16-social-media-ban-begins-apps-listed
Letterboxd’s Video Store: https://letterboxd.com/video-store
AACTA Nominees: https://www.aacta.org/aacta-awards/winners-and-nominees
AACTA Wake In Fright Recipient: https://www.aacta.org/aacta-development-initiatives/wake-in-fright-development-initiative
AACTA Reg Grundy Award: https://www.aacta.org/our-news/media-room/top-5-finalists-announced-for-the-aacta-reg-grundy-award
ASSG Awards: https://if.com.au/better-man-narrow-road-to-the-deep-north-lead-winners-at-assg-awards
ASE Ellie Awards: https://if.com.au/the-order-apple-cider-vinegar-win-at-ellie-awards
ACS State Awards: https://cinematographer.org.au/state-and-territory-awards
Cameraimage Golden Frog: https://www.filmink.com.au/public-notice/australian-cinematographer-benjamin-bryan-takes-home-the-golden-frog-at-camerimage-2025-for-feature-documentary-iron-winter
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple or give us 5 stars on Spotify to help us spread the word.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple or give us 5 stars on Spotify to help us spread the word.
We Interrupt This Broadcast is hosted by Julie Eckersley and Kirsty Stark. This episode was edited by Kirsty Stark.

In this episode, Producer Daren Smith returns to share more about his production fund for independent features. Daren was previously a guest on Episode 34 and is back to answer all of the questions you submitted after listening to the episode.
He shares insights on marketing, building relationships with investors and understanding market needs, how each film's finance structure works, and how to manage the uncertainty of the industry.
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This episode is sponsored by ⁠AFTRS⁠, the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Use the code SUMMER2026 for a 15% discount⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on all summer short courses. Head to aftrs.edu.au/shortcourses to find your course and enrol.
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Listen to hear Daren discuss:
Brotherhood: A Cinematic Musical, the first film being greenlit under Producer Fund 1
why you need to start marketing on Day 1
finance plans for independent films, and why they shouldn't be 100% equity
why he's chosen to release his films theatrically
how to reach out to investors and the importance of continued outreach over time
tracking progress and analysing your numbers

Follow Daren and his work:
Daren on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darentsmith
Daren on IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2743912
Craftsman Films: https://www.craftsmanfilms.co
Get your free copy of Daren's book, Blockbuster: https://www.craftsmanfilms.co/blockbuster

Follow Brotherhood - Producer Fund One's first film:

https://newsletter.craftsmanfilms.co/posts/brotherhood-update-composer-sessions-social-media-now-live
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brotherhoodmusical/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brotherhoodmusical
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BrotherhoodMusical
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2qxWEdMELDtPnr5qvq7Rsq
This Deep Dive interview is hosted and edited by ⁠⁠⁠Kirsty Stark⁠.
If you’re enjoying the podcast, please leave a rating on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and we’d love you to forward this episode to a friend!
Follow us on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠