The ICONS of the title are people and places and stories. The people are
prominent Australians from many walks of life – sport, entertainment and the
arts, politics, science.  The places are our national institutions –
Parliament, the museums, the art galleries, the War Memorial. And the
stories are what bring the people and the places together – a personal
memory, a special exhibit, or a personality.  What ever gives the place
special meaning for the iconic person becomes the story they tell us in
their episode of “Icons”.

Writer, actress and comedian Fiona O’Loughlin, mother of five and third generation Australian, was conscious of her Irish heritage but not sure what it meant.  Her eight great grandparents migrated from Ireland in the closing decades of the Nineteenth  Century; what influence has that fact had on Fiona?  More broadly, what influence has Irish migration had on Australia’s way of life?  As Fiona puts it on her journey from coast to coast: what have the Irish ever done for us?

Michael is Managing Director and co-founder of Bearcage Productions.

In 2010 Michael produced the ten part series As Australian As for FOXTEL’s Bio Channel and 1 x 55 minute Blessed Mary which is the highest rating program on the History Channel for 2010.

In 2009 he has produced two documentaries for Foxtel, the Astra nominated  For Valour for History Channel, the highest rating program for the channel that year and Framed for Bio Channel.  Michael produced the short film Shockwaves that was recently selected for international competition at the prestigious Tampere Film Festival and the Boston and St Kilda Film Festivals.

In 2007 Michael produced the Astra nominated series Icons for Foxtel’s Bio Channel and has completed two documentaries, Strong Men of Nguiu for ABC Television and One Place.

Michael is currently serving as Chair of the ScreenACT Board.  He was a member of the Cultural Council (2002-2005) advising the ACT Minister for the Arts on Arts Policy.  He is Deputy Chair of QL2, one of Australia’s premier youth dance companies. Michael was recently appointed to the Federal Government’s Creative Industry Innovation Centre Advisory Board. The CIIC is assisting the Federal Government to develop a range of policies through the Enterprise Connect program to help build sustainable companies in the creative industries.

Bearcage Productions is Canberra’s largest independent production company  with 20 years experience in the production of television commercials, corporate videos, short films, documentaries and tele-features.

Bearcage offers a full service facility – concept, edit, design, 2D & 3D animation, sound design, package and delivers to producers, broadcasters, agencies, the public and private sectors. Bearcage’s offers “everything needed” in a highly collaborative video production environment based on Apple Mac Pro Final Cut Studio suites, 18 terabytes of Xserve RAID, and an Xsan storage area network solution.

Official Selection 2009  Boston International Film Festival.

Official Selection 2009 Encounters International Film Festival (UK).

Official Selection 2010 Flickerfest.

Nominated best film, best director and best screenplay 2009 St Kilda Film Festival.

Winner best editing 2009 St Kilda Film Festival.

How would you complete the sentence “As Australian As…”? Vegemite? Holden Cars? The Harbour Bridge?

For Peter FitzSimons the answer is aviation pioneer Charles Kingsford Smith, for Cathy Freeman it’s her mum, for Caroline O’Connor the Sydney Opera House and for George Negus, it’s football.

In ten half hour episodes, ten eminent Australians amusingly, movingly and provocatively give their thoughts on what it means to be “As Australian As…” .

Medical researcher, child health specialist and former Australian of the Year Fiona Stanley takes us into the remote heart of Western Australia; actors John Wood and Bojana Novakovic, fashion designer Alex Perry, writer Anne Summers and musician Jon Stevens give us their always entertaining and often surprising responses.

The story of Mary MacKillop is full of drama, intrigue and controversy as well as piety, devotion and faith.

It unfolds against a background of dynamic change in Australia and in the Catholic Church both here and around the world.

Host Alan Jones visits some of the most significant places in Mary’s life and we learn of the mission, the vocation, the trials and the opposition.  The documentary was the highest rating History Channel documentary in 2010.

Serge was born in Geneva, his parents are of French, Armenian, Chinese and Russian background; he was educated in the United States before settling in Australia. Serge and partner Michael Tear met at the University of Canberra, where Serge graduated in creative writing.  The pair founded Bearcage Productions on completion of their studies.

In 2010 Serge directed the ten part series As Australian As for FOXTEL’s Bio Channel and 1 x 55 minute Blessed Mary which is the highest rating show on the History Channel in 2010.

In 2009 he has directed the documentary For Valour (History Channel Foxtel) which was the highest rating show on the channel that year.  For Valour received outstanding reviews.  Several newspapers identified For Valour as their pick of the week – the Adelaide Advertiser labelling it “too hot to miss”, it was “top pick” in the Sunday Age, “pick of the day” in the Daily Telegraph, “week’s best” in the Weekend Australian and “best of the week” in the Sun Herald which described it as an “outstanding documentary”.  The Sunday Age used the same words, The Age called it “a fine tribute” and “a stirring but sober documentary” and Perth’s Sunday Times said that “the stories in this production are inspirational”.

In 2007 Serge directed the series Icons for Bio Channel Foxtel.  In 2008 he directed the $1.5m multi-media theatre experience Circa for the National Museum of Australia and the short drama Shockwaves which was selected for Official Competition in the Tampere, Boston Festivals, St Kilda and Revelations WA International Film Festivals.  It has been nominated for 4 awards including best film and best director at the St Kilda Festival

At the end of the nineteenth century soldiers from Australia came under fire in Africa – they were the first of one and a quarter million Australian men and women to serve their country in war and conflict and in every continent except the one they called home.

Amongst them were the first of more than one hundred thousand to die in the service of Australia.  The chronicle of Australia’s soldiers from then till now is full of heroism, humour, mateship and larrikinism.  It has bred perhaps the most enduring Australian icon – the digger.  This is his story.