Australian TV veterans Sally Aitken (Playing with Sharks) and Aline Jacques (Lindy Chamberlain: The True Story) have teamed up Sam Content, a new production banner that will operate out of Sydney.
Partners planning to serve as co-founders and co-CEOs said the new company will be an Australian domestic platform and international
market.
Sam Content will be launching four projects at various stages of production with the ABC and screen agencies. These include an untitled project with Augusto Entertainment’s Cass Avery and Daniel Story on the wildly popular Australian ban The Wiggles, and Unbelievable: The Secret Business of Breeding Humans , journalist Sarah Dingle, an SBS documentary on the investigation, found out at the age of 27 that her mother was pregnant with an anonymous donor’s sperm. Both projects received production funding from Screen Australia. An architectural series and a feature music documentary are also in development, with more details to be announced at a later date. The partners say more projects will be announced in the coming months.
Founders Aitken and Jacques bring a diverse experience to Sam Content. Aitken’s latest film as writer and director Playing with Sharks premiered at Sundance to strong reviews and received 2022 Journalism and Documentary Emmy nominee. Her debut feature Life in Film appeared in 2017 the official competition of the Cannes Film Festival, she Also nominated for the Golden Camera. Other major titles include Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth (2021); Pacific: Captain Cook ) with Sam Neill (2019); and with Frank Gehry (2015).
Meanwhile, Jacques has developed and produced documentaries of various genres for broadcasters and distributors, including ABC, SBS, BBC, National Geographic, Arte, PBS, Curiosity Stream and Discovery, as well as theatrical distributors Madman and Universal Pictures. She has worked with Sam Neill on shows like The Pacific: In the Wake of Cook Captain ; Slim and Me; Miriam Margolyes: Almost Aussie and The Living Universe .
Interest and curiosity, and look forward to continuing to develop our documentary and theatrical projects with other like-minded creatives,” the two partners said in a joint statement “With several projects underway, and more development and imagination, our doors are open to seasoned and emerging filmmakers who came to say hello to Sam, a trusted, bold idea and Lots of humor where great stories can be realized. “
