Chasing the Screen

Adam Drummond and Pirie Martin
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  • TV & Film

The Australian screen industry has a problem. Great stories get stuck in development, films get made with no plan to find an audience, and too few people decide what gets made. In Chasing the Screen, producers Adam Drummond and Pirie Martin set out to build something better, and they do it on the record. Each episode takes one problem, brings in someone who has lived it, and moves the build one step forward. Along the way you'll hear from filmmakers, actors, data experts and industry insiders about what it really takes to get a story onto the screen. It's honest, it's unfinished, and they might not pull it off. That's the point.

Episodes

  1. 7h ago ·  Bonus

    Sustainability in film with Emmy winning producer Kirsty Stark

    Want to make a million bucks at the box office? It might be harder than you think. Emmy winning producer Kirsty Stark breaks it down for us. Kirsty Stark started out in the camera department. Now she's an Emmy Award-winning producer at Epic Films, the founder of CrewHQ, and a co-host of We Interrupt This Broadcast. In our very first guest interview, she talks about why every crew member is really running a small business, how to keep a set safe and honest, and who owns what once a project gets going. She explains why making a million dollars at the box office can still leave investors with nothing, and why the middle of the industry is disappearing. She also tells the story of Wastelander Panda: a three-minute teaser that went viral, a crowdfunding campaign, an ABC series and a graphic novel. Plus AI, rights, and the projects that matter most to her, First Day and Stateless. To finish, Never Heard of It: the guest's pick of a little-known film you've probably never heard of. Kirsty's pick is The Brink of Dreams. https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/the-brink-of-dreams Subscribe for free: https://chasingthescreenpod.substack.com/subscribe Listen and follow everywhere: https://linktr.ee/chasingthescreenpodcast Instagram TikTok Facebook LinkedIn Kirsty's links: We Interrupt this Broadcast: https://www.weinterruptthisbroadcast.com.au/ Epic Films: https://epicfilms.com.au/ CrewHQ: https://www.crewhq.com.au/ First Day (Julie Kalceff) on ABC iview: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/first-day First Day (where to watch) https://www.justwatch.com/au/tv-show/first-day Stateless (where to watch) https://www.justwatch.com/au/tv-show/stateless Stateless (Screen Australia) https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/Stateless/34299 Wastelander Panda (Screen Australia) https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/wastelander-panda/32401 Wastelander Panda: Exile (Screen Australia) https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/Wastelander-Panda--Exile/32918 The Wastelander Panda graphic novel (Gestalt Comics) https://www.gestaltcomics.com/shelf/wastelander-panda/ Chapters: 00:00 Cold open 00:25 Welcome to the bonus series 01:06 A note from Pirie: our first interview 01:29 Meet Kirsty Stark 02:45 CrewHQ, and why every crew member is a business 05:41 Keeping crews safe and well 07:34 Realistic schedules on small budgets 09:09 Choosing projects: First Day and Stateless 12:27 What kind of producer is she? 13:50 Who owns what: chain of title and IP 16:52 The finance plan and the equity pie 19:31 Film versus TV, and the million-dollar box office 21:29 Kate Separovich and reaching an audience 24:00 Where the money goes: production versus marketing 25:09 Wastelander Panda: going viral and crowdfunding 29:45 The Wastelander Panda graphic novel 32:09 AI and creativity 34:54 Rights: screening or reviving an old title 37:19 The vanishing middle 39:08 Which budgets are disappearing 40:39 Government funding and the entrepreneurial spirit 42:58 Never Heard of It: Kirsty's pick 45:19 Outro Hosted by Adam Drummond and Pirie Martin. Edited by Pirie Martin. Produced by WAGGAWAGGA.TV Pty Ltd. Thanks to Mary O'Neill for our Acknowledgement of Country. Read Mary's first book, Bipo and Roo: https://www.melissamaryoneill.com/ Music: licensed from Envato and the Free Music Archive. "Dark Cinematic Ambient" by Splashkabona, CC BY 4.0 Chasing the Screen is recorded on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri people in Wagga Wagga and the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains. Views are the speakers' own. General information only, not legal or financial advice. Support the show

    Sustainability in film with Emmy winning producer Kirsty Stark

  2. 8h ago ·  Bonus

    An indie film success story with Brendan Cooney

    From self-finance to Sitges festival; actor/producer Brendan Cooney shares the rollercoaster story of releasing indie film Within The Pines. South Australian actor and producer Brendan Cooney put about $40,000 of his own money into Within the Pines, a near-silent survival thriller shot in Mount Crawford Forest. It went on to screen at Sitges, take first prize at Rhode Island, sign with Umbrella in Australia and Buffalo 8 worldwide, and land on Prime Video. Interviewed in his backyard during the shoot of Ballad of a Sundowner, Brendan talks budgets, distribution deals, festivals, a self-run screening that sold 440 tickets, and what's wrong with Australian film. Subscribe for free: https://chasingthescreenpod.substack.com/subscribe Listen and follow everywhere: https://linktr.ee/chasingthescreenpodcast Instagram TikTok Facebook LinkedIn In this episode 00:00 Cold open 00:22 Welcome to the bonus series 01:28 Meet Brendan Cooney 02:16 The crew barbecue and the family feel on set 03:47 Within the Pines lands on Prime Video 04:40 Making it in 2022, and a screening for his dad 06:36 From munchkin to police officer to actor 08:21 How Within the Pines came together 10:57 Paul E.T.'s YouTube channel 12:01 Finding the audience, and the $55,000 budget 13:30 Paying for a forest, an armourer and the catering 16:15 What it really cost once you count everyone's time 17:20 The Umbrella deal 20:21 Festivals: Rhode Island and Sitges 24:21 Why everyone talks about the sound 25:57 Lighting a forest at night 27:18 A self-run screening: 440 tickets at the Regal 29:17 Buffalo 8 and a producer's rep 31:30 Channel Nine and how streaming pays 33:38 What's wrong with the Australian film industry? 36:14 What filmmakers and audiences can do 40:21 Never Heard of It: Brendan's pick 43:24 Outro Mentioned Within the Pines (Australia): https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/within-the-pines Within the Pines (worldwide): https://buffalo8.com/project/within-the-pines/ Sitges Film Festival 2024: https://sitgesfilmfestival.com/en/film/2024/within-pines Ballad of a Sundowner (Matthew Holmes): https://www.filmink.com.au/the-sun-comes-up-on-the-sundowner/ Paul E.T. on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@paul_et Foley Man (short film): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1DVmp222GY "You can make a Netflix documentary about anything": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BUrNe3Vhtk Psychosis (Pirie Martin): https://piriemartin.com/en-aud/pages/film Circus Road Films (Glen Reynolds): https://www.circusroadfilms.com/ Glen Reynolds interview on Film Courage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtPv_ppbN0E One Battle After Another: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/the-battle-of-baktan-cross Never Heard of It pick: You'll Never Find Me: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/youll-never-find-me Danny and Michael Philippou (RackaRacka): https://www.youtube.com/@Therackaracka Talk to Me: https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/talk-to-me-2022 Some figures may be misrepresented by guests or hosts from memory. Correct sources: Mount Crawford Forest is managed by ForestrySA, not National Parks: https://www.forestrysa.com.au/visit-our-forests/mount-crawford-forest/ Netflix's 2025 revenue was about US$45 billion: https://thedesk.net/2026/01/netflix-q4-2025-earnings-report/ Thanks Thanks to Mary O'Neill for our Acknowledgement of Country. Read Mary's first book "Bipo and Roo" here: https://www.melissamaryoneill.com/ Credits Hosted by Adam Drummond and Pirie Martin. Produced by WAGGAWAGGA.TV Pty Ltd. Edited by Adam Drummond. Guest: Brendan Cooney, actor and producer, Within the Pines. Music: Tension Documentary (cleanmindsounds), Documentary Cinematic (Sawtooz), Documentary Background Music (SigmaMusicArt) and Documentary Music (MDFactory), licensed from Envato Elements. Sound effects: Songbirds Early Morning (WistanSound) and park ambience (Sound Ideas). Chasing the Screen is recorded on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri people in Wagga Wagga and the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains. Follow Chasing the Screen Newsletter: https://chasingthescreenpodcast.substack.com Views are the speakers' own. General information only, not legal or financial advice. Support the show

    An indie film success story with Brendan Cooney

  3. 9h ago

    Ep. 1: “Great idea...don’t do it!”

    Two Aussie producers start a journey to solve the big issues facing the screen industry, but will this challenge be too much for them? Adam Drummond rang his mate Pirie Martin to quit. By the end of the call he was more in than ever. In the first episode of Chasing the Screen, a producer from Wagga and a filmmaker from Adelaide set out the problems facing the Australian screen industry: inflated budgets, the loss of mid-budget films, government money that funds projects but never finds them an audience, and an Australian share of the box office of only 2%. With Kirsty Stark, Kate Separovich and Nick Hayes's report ‘Made, Not Seen’, they dig into the numbers, land on the idea of a slate of horror films, and decide to build a new model in public, while you listen. Subscribe for free: https://chasingthescreenpod.substack.com/subscribe Listen and follow everywhere: https://linktr.ee/chasingthescreenpodcast Instagram TikTok Facebook LinkedIn Our guest's links: Kirsty Stark's podcast 'We Interrupt This Broadcast' Kate Separovich's Australia in the Cinemas Nick Hayes' 'Made, not seen' report Chapters: 00:00 Cold open 00:26 The call that started it all 01:12 Video diary from Screen Forever 01:31 Welcome to Chasing the Screen 01:56 Acknowledgement of Country 02:17 Something's broken 03:12 Who are these two blokes? 03:32 Meet Adam 04:55 Meet Pirie, and Psychosis 06:05 Meeting on the set of Ballad of a Sundowner 07:27 A small online group 07:54 The first meeting: "It just all seems very bleak" 08:28 Scott McDonell's challenge 08:57 The usual problems 09:34 Kirsty Stark and the million-dollar myth 10:53 The vanishing middle 11:29 Funding that never finds an audience 11:53 Nick Hayes: Made, Not Seen 12:31 Kate Separovich crunches the numbers 13:21 2% of a billion dollars 14:21 Two films and the outlier effect 15:01 A24 and Blumhouse 15:38 Alister Grierson and the slate 17:14 Art versus finance 18:00 Where we landed 19:31 Taking it to Screen Forever 20:19 Bonus episodes 20:42 This could be you: sponsor spot 21:40 The phone call to quit 22:02 Melinda: "You've got a lot of things on your plate" 22:33 Doubt sets in 22:58 The feedback: "Why you?" 23:18 Pirie on going full-time in the arts 24:33 Burnout, ADHD and new tablets 25:12 The catch: "This is too big" 25:41 Pirie talks Adam back in 26:26 Building in public, and StartUp 27:27 Alex Blumberg replied 27:40 Where to next 28:33 Coming up this season 28:54 Next time 29:17 Get involved 29:44 Credits Other links: Ballad of a Sundowner film: https://www.filmink.com.au/the-sun-comes-up-on-the-sundowner/ Psychosis film: https://piriemartin.com/en-aud/pages/film Independent Cinemas Australia: https://independentcinemas.com.au/ Hosted by Adam Drummond and Pirie Martin. Edited by Pirie Martin. Produced by WAGGAWAGGA.TV Pty Ltd. Also heard: Monika Lapka, Melinda, Kirsty Stark, Kate Separovich, Alister Grierson, Matthew Holmes and Scott McDonell, plus grabs from guests coming up this season. Thanks to Mary O'Neill for our Acknowledgement of Country. Read Mary's first book, Bipo and Roo: https://www.melissamaryoneill.com/ Music: licensed from Envato and the Free Music Archive. "Buffering" by Quiet Music for Tiny Robots, 2015, CC BY 4.0 "Dark Cinematic Ambient" by Splashkabona, CC BY 4.0 "Find a Peaceful Place" by ROZKOL, CC BY 4.0 "25 Keys Dream" by Tommaso Croce and Jangwa, CC BY 4.0 "Away" by Meydän, CC BY 4.0 "Flying Economy" by Tommaso Croce and Jangwa, CC BY 4.0 Chasing the Screen is recorded on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri people in Wagga Wagga and the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains. Views are the speakers' own. General information only, not legal or financial advice. Support the show

  4. Season 1 Trailer

    Season 1 Trailer: building a better screen industry

    The Australian screen industry is struggling. Two producers set out to learn what's wrong, then build a solution in public. Adam Drummond and Pirie Martin talk to producers, actors, distributors, cinema owners and startup founders about what's working, what's broken and what's been overblown, and share everything they learn along the way. Featuring opinions from Kirsty Stark, Kate Separovich, Dr Tara Lomax, Brendan Cooney, Peter Szilveszter, Nick Hayes, Paul Wiegard, Alex Blumberg, Les Hill, Damian Callinan, Stephen Follows, Matthew Holmes, Russell Cunningham, Alister Grierson and Scott McDonell, plus many others to come in future episodes. Season 1 starts Tuesday 3 November. New episodes on the first Tuesday of every month, with bonus interviews in between. Subscribe for free and we'll remind you when the first episode drops: https://chasingthescreenpod.substack.com/subscribe Listen and follow everywhere: https://linktr.ee/chasingthescreenpodcast Follow the show on socials: https://www.instagram.com/chasingthescreenpod https://www.tiktok.com/@chasingthescreenpod https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61591549862870 https://www.linkedin.com/company/143989416/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSCOCR5Vye-0L-Saqj42gkw  Thanks to Mary O'Neill for our Acknowledgement of Country. Read Mary's first book "Bipo and Roo" here: https://www.melissamaryoneill.com/ Credits Hosted by Adam Drummond and Pirie Martin. Edited by Pirie Martin. Produced by WAGGAWAGGA.TV. Artwork by Pirie Martin. Music: "Buffering" by Quiet Music for Tiny Robots. Edited for length. Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Quiet_Music_for_Tiny_Robots/QMTR_2014/01_Buffering/ Views are the speakers' own. General information only, not legal or financial advice. Support the show

    Season 1 Trailer: building a better screen industry
  • 1 Trailer
    3 Episodes

Trailer

About

The Australian screen industry has a problem. Great stories get stuck in development, films get made with no plan to find an audience, and too few people decide what gets made. In Chasing the Screen, producers Adam Drummond and Pirie Martin set out to build something better, and they do it on the record. Each episode takes one problem, brings in someone who has lived it, and moves the build one step forward. Along the way you'll hear from filmmakers, actors, data experts and industry insiders about what it really takes to get a story onto the screen. It's honest, it's unfinished, and they might not pull it off. That's the point.

Information

  • Creator
    Adam Drummond and Pirie Martin
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Chasing the Screen
  • Show Website
    Chasing the Screen