Video
Australia’s Underground Psychedelic Psychotherapy
Researcher, Producer, Director
While psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, and DMT are most commonly associated with recreational highs and headtrips, a groundswell of academic opinion suggests that the substances could be utilised to serve a raft of therapeutic benefits as well. In Australia, official trials of medicinal psychedelics are only just starting to get off the ground.
But a small community of experimental psychotherapists—along with self-medicating users—have been using acid and mushrooms to treat mental health conditions for years, with promising results. We speak to some of the people who are at the coalface of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in Australia—and hear their views on how mind-expanding drugs could be the next frontier in mental health treatment.
Fire Front
Archival Researcher, Production Assistant
Leading Australian documentarian Eddie Martin puts viewers on the frontlines of the deadly 2019–2020 bushfires, capturing the catastrophe with a perspective and scale never before seen.
Fire Front is a powerful account of that calamitous antipodean summer, told from the ground where climate change took on the face of hell. Through first-hand footage from those on the ground, the audience is put directly on the frontlines of Australia’s most devastating bushfire season, delivering a uniquely powerful insight into a disaster that captivated the world.
The Birth of Melbourne’s Rave Scene
Researcher, Associate Producer, Director
In 1989, Melbourne’s rave scene exploded. Far away from what was happening in the UK and US, the city’s interpretation was unique. In this THUMP Special, we hear firsthand accounts from some of the main players involved in Melbourne’s biggest parties and venues of the 90s (Biology, Global Village Every Picture Tells A Story, M.U.D.). With all original footage and music from 1990-1999, you’ll be wishing you had a time machine.
MEDIA
COVID-19: How to support your local community & 10 documentaries on International Rave and Club Culture (CADENCE CULTURE)
Inside Melbourne rave history – including cyberspace, Julian Assange (CDM)
The Fashion that marked the birth of Melbourne’s Rave Scene (i-D)
Australia’s Queer Teen Formal
Researcher, Producer, Director
Each year, Minus18 host a queer formal for LGBTQI+ teenagers. The teens can wear what they want, go with who they like, and forget about the expectations and restrictions high school usually carries. As well as serving as an alternative for individuals who can’t, or don’t want to, go to their own formals, the events have also become a way for queer teens to connect and have conversations not open to them at school.
Despite the massive positive impact the formals have, this year attendees found themselves facing backlash from Safe School campaigners — some were even worried the event would be met with protesters. Instead, older members of the queer community came out to very literally support the teens, standing outside the venue to ensure no one interrupted their night. VICE went along too and hung out with some of the teens in anticipation for the event. They explained to us not only what the night means, but also how queer students can work together to educate each other. We discussed bullying, identity, friends, growing up and their commitment to supporting and protecting each other.
MEDIA
Vice heads along to the Minus18 Queer formal in new doco (SBS Queer)
Meet Vicki: The woman who lives with crocodiles
Researcher, Producer, Director
Wildlife carer Vicki Lowing is an animal lover, but she takes it further than most. Lowing has been living with crocodiles for thirty years, adopting them from former owners unable to meet their needs. Her beloved “pet” Jilly is thought to be one of the only saltwater crocs in the world raised to interact with humans non-aggressively.
Jilly as well as four friendly freshwater crocs are free to roam around Vicki’s suburban Melbourne house, leaving her menagerie of adopted cats, birds, and lizards unscathed. Vicki has dedicated her life to caring for crocodiles, and she stresses that these complex and intelligent creatures shouldn’t be kept as pets by non-specialist owners.
These New South Whales Tonight
Production
The Stay Inn
Associate Producer
VICE embed with the staff and residents of The Stay Inn, a motel that gets most of its clientele through prison and homeless services. Arrests and fights between residents are a common occurrence and everyone here has a past that involves tragedy, mental illness, drug abuse or incarceration. In the midst of an unprecedented homelessness crisis in Melbourne, we see members of The Stay Inn community hope and plan for a better future. But while they dream of breaking the cycle of poverty, The Stay Inn is as close to a home as most of them will get for now.
Chaos in Trump’s Australia
Associate Producer
Alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos’ intensely controversial speaking tour arrived in Melbourne. VICE spent time with Campaign Against Racism and Fascism and far right group Patriot Blue in the lead up to the event, and followed them as they confronted each other during a heated protest outside a public housing block. Amid the resulting chaos, violence and pepper spray, both sides reflect on Australia’s political divide and how the country has absorbed global rhetoric on racism and xenophobia
In Bloom
Researcher, Associate Producer (Series)
In Bloom is a six-part video project in which young Australians’ burning questions about life online, school pressures, puberty, heartbreak and sexuality answered by “inspirational” peers. Exploring relationships, life online, school pressures, puberty, heartbreak and sexuality, In Bloom is an honest, informative and entertaining look at the tricky obstacles to be navigated when coming of age.
Lead by a range of talent aged between 18-25 years old, all filmed on mobile, with talent aiming to answer a range of questions submitted by the public in a way that’s frank, helpful, and speaks to their personal experience. While not expert advice, young viewers will hopefully walk away feeling supported and enlightened, with new tools to employ in their life.
The Suburban Exorcist
Researcher, Producer, Director
Lizzy Rose saw her first exorcism when she was 14 years old. Over 30 years later the professional psychic, witch and mum carries out hundreds of ceremonies a year. From her home in the Melbourne suburbs, she helps people rid themselves of demons, spirits, curses and all kinds of bad vibes. Her clients come from all backgrounds and religions, but they all have one thing in common: they have a supernatural entity they need her help with.
My Car, My Castle: A Homeless Artist and Her Holden
Producer, Director
Jacqui, a talented homeless artist with a long history of abuse and neglect, has lived in her beloved car, Barney, for the past 11 years. As a single, older woman, she is part of Australia’s fastest rising homeless demographic, a group forced to pay the price of a lifetime of gender discrimination.
The Geelong resident, whose work featured in a recent exhibition by disadvantaged artists, fled multiple abusive relationships before becoming homeless. She now lives around rural Victoria in her veteran vehicle, finding reprieve in art when she can, and staying on high alert.
Nailympia
Producer, Director
Each year, the best nail artists from around the globe descend on Australia for Nailympia — one of the most prestigious nail art competitions in the world. The entries challenge and defy our ideas of what a manicure can be. These works of art go beyond polish and shape, to incorporate complex and magical 3D creations.
As well as being a hub for talent, the strict commitment to impartial judging and carefully enforced regulations means Nailympia has earned a reputation as one of the fairest competitions currently running.
i-D x New Balance: The Moment That Made Kwame
Associate Producer
Queer Ideas Festival
Producer, Director
Video used as part of the Young & Queer Report for the Victorian Government put together for the Victorian Government. The Queer Ideas Festival is run by youth LGBTIQ+ organisation, Minus18. The festival sat down with 120 LGBTIQ young people, to ask what they want from their government, community, and from organisations.
The Young & Queer Report is filled with their solutions, from sexual education to action against bullying, from connection with LGBTIQ community to supporting trans and gender diverse students.
Use the Young & Queer Report to inform programs, strategy development, and support your funding applications. And of course, to find out what queer youth believe will lead to a brighter future.
Off The Record
Producer (Series)
Off The Record uses animation to tell the stories of anonymous confessional phone calls from people wanting to tell their story. The results are uplifting, moving, strange, and thought provoking.
Off The Record: Gay Conversion Therapy
Off The Record: Professional Orgy Organiser.
Off The Record with a bushfire Arsonist.
Focus Point
Producer (Series)
Meet a Professional Poo Diver
Producer, Director
Next time you’re having a shit day at work, spare a thought for Australia’s professional poo divers. They’re tasked with making sure the country’s sewerage processing plants are running well. They suit up and dive down into toxic ponds of excrement to clear obstructions and manage the huge machines that keep things regular.
In the nation’s poop they’ve found teeth, undies, and a lot of corn. The job is hard, they’re submerged in thick sludge, working in the pitch dark, with nothing to guide them other than their instincts. But what sounds like hell to us, they find strangely peaceful. And the smell? To them, it just “smells like money.”
Meet The Gold Coast’s 24 Hour Nang Delivery Driver
Producer, Director
Jayson is the go-to nang supplier for the Gold Coast, delivering 24 hours a day.