Every year, Madeleine Genner (my excellent wife) and I gather up the sounds of the year and I break out the old ProTools to mix a mashup of the year in news, politics, sport, power chords and dead famous people.
And hoooo boy, was 2016 a doozy.
This is the 6th year we've made the montage for ABC Radio. It always provokes much argument in our house but we still do it.
Leave a comment if this makes you cry at any point. It'll validate this whole exercise.
Christmas cracker jokes are renowned for being terrible, but stand-up comic and dad Andrew Barnett is making them funny thanks to a very unfunny situation.
From drug addict to viral sensation, 21-year-old musician Tash Sultana taught herself over 10 instruments and is now taking the world by storm.
Dan Harmon is the creator of acclaimed comedy shows like 'Community' and 'Rick and Morty'. He talks about why the move from traditional networks to streaming platforms has been great for tv creators. Harmon also explains why he treats his hugely popular podcast as form of therapy, why internet geek culture needs to grow up and - yes - it turns out he did have a hand in the new Marvel movie 'Dr Strange'.
I took the former head of 20th Century Fox Movie studio to a video store (yes, a few still exist) so he could talk smack about Rupert Murdoch, James Cameron, George Lucas, Independence Day and hoooo boy... did he deliver.
For the first time, Junee Correctional Centre let cameras inside their prison for an exclusive look at the surprising program that is changing the lives of inmates.
It's very rare for me to be speechless in an interview but here we are. She also talks about her Tony-winning musical Kinky Boots and the one song that makes her see angels when she sings it.
This week on my radio show/podcast Download This Show we did something a bit different. Online Porn producer & director Michelle Flynn and Adult Performer Lucie Bee talk about the push to make ethical adult entertainment and how technology has been changed by erotic content and how porn is changing with new digital innovations like VR and more.
Umit Bali entered Australia on a tourist visa as a child, and spent the next decade hiding from authorities as they tried to gain residency. He's now a comedian who proudly calls Australia home.
Shot by Peter Mullins & Chloe Angelo
Edited by Marc Fennell
The SNL comedy stars Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer talk about how an accidental YouTube upload changed their careers. We also work out which company should buy Twitter and Snapchat release their own version of Google Glass. Sort of.
The interview is recorded as part of Marc's ABC Radio programme Download This Show which you can find on iTunes, Stitcher and where all good podcasts live.
What can you learn about human nature from animation? That is what Eric Darnell wants to know.
Eric is one of the pioneers of computer-generated movies, he was the director of blockbuster animations like ANTZ, the Madagascar movies, Penguins.
He's now decided the future of filmmaking is this: he has passed up the big bucks of Hollywood to run his very own Virtual Reality studio start-up Baobab.
He's realised that in order to make the ultimate Virtual Reality film, you need to understand the core elements of human nature.
Shot by David May
Edited by Marc Fennell
Hi,
As you may have read, on November 15, my tv home SBS2 will be transforming into a new channel in partnership with the one-time hipster bible turned Peabody and Emmy-winning youth publisher Vice.
The channel will be called....
My nightly programme The Feed will be a lynchpin of the channel alongside a bunch of shows. Some of those will be from Vice and some you already know from SBS2.
For me, It’s been super interesting to see the reaction to the SBS Viceland announcement. I kinda expected the usual “Ugh, why is SBS selling a channel to some US hipster douchebag corporation owned by Murdoch” garbage that comes with these things.
Translation: "Open your eyes, sheeple!"
For the incredibly-easy-to-Google record, 21st Century Fox has a 5% stake in Vice Media who, in turn, SBS is partnering with to build a new channel which SBS 100% owns and operates. No precious publicly owned spectrum is being auctioned off to Uncle Rupert. We are creating something new out of two broadcasters that have an incredible amount in common.
And special note for my beloved ABC colleagues who seem to forget that the ABC's entire publishing arm ABC Books is an actual part of News Ltd. I know this because they are lovely and I've released two books with them... which you should absolutely buy. #RIPMySoul.
And as for the hipster douchebag charge….. just you wait. When the Viceland move was first discussed internally at SBS months ago I took the time to go through all of the shows that Viceland had produced and I was floored. SBS will make an announcement very soon about the shows that will launch on the channel but let me assure you that I have seen stunning programmes on music, sexuality, feminism, technology, sports, food, alcohol, terrorism and yes, good ole fashioned drugs that simply blew me away. Beautiful filmmaking, great characters and stunning storytelling. There are programmes that both revel in hipsterism and utterly challenge it by showing you a world that almost never gets shown on tv. And certainly never shown with this panache.
For those wondering how the Viceland content fits within the SBS charter....
How is Viceland as SBS2 in line with SBS's charter?
— Gus (@gusk) October 4, 2016
....I totally get it. It seems like an odd fit, right? Except when you see the content you will realise that the whole goal of Viceland is to explore a multicultural world through the prisms of music, sex, the environment, film, food and more. It’s globally focussed, it’s diverse, it’s fun and defiantly open-minded journalism and entertainment. As some of you know, I've been a passionate SBS presenter since I was a teenager with questionable choice in neckwear (see below). I believe deeply in SBS's capacity to capture the diversity of the world in a way that is informative and utterly entertaining. Frankly, this move will bring SBS2 far more in-line with our charter than some of our existing content. Certainly not "losing our way" as some have suggested.
Marc Circa A Time We'd Rather Forget.
Is a lot of the Viceland content produced by UK & US producers? Yeah. But we’re also bringing you a lot of those iconic programmes that only SBS can. That’s why it’s a partnership.
Oh and as an aside: By simple virtue of having The Feed, SBS Viceland will still have more first-run, live, original primetime Australian content per week than ABC2 has ever had per week.
Ever.
Don't get me wrong, I love my weekly dose of Good Game and those sassy Tom Tilley specials but - on a per week basis - they don't add up to 3 years of live, nightly original journalism, comedy, forums and documentaries that The Feed has (and will) deliver.
Come November 15, SBS Viceland & The Feed will bring you Walkley and Logie-nominated Australian storytelling every night that is diverse, fun and generally bats way above its average for a multichannel. And as for the shows around us on the channel and on SBS OnDemand? Well, as I said…. just you wait.
Or give us a call and tell us what you want to see.
Around five years ago, Nicola Scott realised that all she loved to draw Wonder Woman all day, and there was an actual, real-life job where you got to do that. She talks about how she sold all her stuff and went and got it her dream.
Shot by David May
Edited by Marc Fennell
Shot by David May
Edited by Marc Fennell
Outspoken comedian Margaret Cho talks about sexism, misogyny and the shock of losing Robin Williams
Shot by David May
Edited by Marc Fennell
William Shatner with Marc Fennell - The Feed"When I married Narine I thought that the love I felt for her would displace whatever hole there was in her soul that the drink was filling up... and nothing worked."William Shatner opens up to Marc Fennell (That Movie Guy) about his one-man show, losing his wife to alcoholism, and what he's learned over fifty years in showbiz.
Posted by SBS 2 on Thursday, October 15, 2015
Shot by Miles Bence
Edited by Marc Fennell
Legendary punk rocker Henry Rollins talks to Marc Fennell about the enduring impact of his father and how death has changed him.
Shot by Pete Mullins + Mark Tadic
Edited by Marc Fennell
He was one of the skinniest kids in his martial arts class as a kid. He went on to be one of the defining action men of the 80's and 90's. But what is JCVD *really* like in person? Well, the answer is below.
The Muscles from Brussels sits down with Marc Fennell to talk about how to make a great martial arts scene, his first breakup, and why he didn't take the lead role in Predator. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thefeedsbs Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefeedsbs Insta: https://instagram.com/thefeedsbs Tumblr: http://thefeedsbs.tumblr.com/
Shot by David May & Mark Tadic
Edited by Marc Fennell
The joke is that Steve Wozniak is the "Other Steve" in the history of Apple. But while Steve Jobs may have gotten all the attention for co-founding one of the most transformative companies of our time, Woz has crafted his own path that is inspiring, surprising and occasionally just odd.
And his unvarnished thoughts on Steve Jobs are gold.
Steve Wozniak built the first Apple computer. He tells Marc Fennell about prank calling Henry Kissenger, Steve Jobs, and his favourite product ever. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thefeedsbs Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefeedsbs Insta: https://instagram.com/thefeedsbs Tumblr: http://thefeedsbs.tumblr.com/
Shot by David May & Mark Tadic
Edited by Marc Fennell
And if you want to hear a full unedited version of that discussion you can hear it in this episode of Download This Show
