What makes a good production? With Andrea Gorddard from Australian Fixer HQ
Taryn Williams
Founder, CEO, Board Member. Current: #gifted, Wink Models Ex: Theright.fit & The Influencers Agency (exited)
Production was something that I was always going to fall in to. I am a teacher in a past life, I am super organised, can juggle a multitude of things all at once and have a good eye for detail. Throw an opportunity for creativity in the mix, a love of fixing problems and meeting people…so a career in television production was the suit that fitted me very well!
What’s a day in the life of Producer like?
A day can start with a schedule and all good intentions of a great plan, but as the day progresses, the plan can flip on its head in an instant and end up facing the other direction! As a producer, you need to be able to work with change, be very flexible and TRY and remain calm! Whether it be a television series with a complex schedule or a piece of social content shot in a day, the pre-production elements are exactly the same. Lots of planning, lots of communication and lots of ticking boxes! A Producer will lead the team right through to the filming day ensuring everything and everyone is good to go! On the shoot day itself the most comfortable pair of shoes in the cupboard are advised as the Producer in on their feet all day putting out fires, checking on the crew, looking after the client… keeping the wheels moving forward until wrap. Its all systems go!
What is the biggest/best production you have ever worked on and why?
I’ve been so fortunate to have had some amazing, memorable, pinch me moments working in this career. It maybe filming documentaries around the world with Qantas or taking 20 bike builders to Bike Week in Daytona Beach, Florida, but the very best unforgettable production I have worked on was for Discovery Channel US called ATLAS: AUSTRALIA. Here I had the privilege of filming every corner of Australia over an 18 months period!! Stories with indigenous Australians, farmers on the world’s largest cattle property…the Reef, the Daintree, the people and action at events such as the Birdsville Races in Queensland, all amazing! This epic production gave me the chance to meet Australians from all over the country, witness the country’s natural beauty and simply fall in love with the place!!
Where did the idea for Australian Fixer HQ come from?
Australian Fixer HQ was created after more than 20 years of filming production. I’ve been in the role of Line Producer and Head of Production at a number of production companies in Australia and spent many years budgeting and setting up shoots and overseeing teams of productions filming around Australia and overseas. Years of working on productions for Discovery Channel US, National Geographic, the BBC, many Australian broadcasters and Qantas led me to create the business. My brain is so FULL of all things logistics, crewing, travel and locations that I have brought it all together in one service! Australian Fixer HQ is here to help facilitate all filming elements in Australia for international (and local!) production companies.
Tell us why Australia is a great place to shoot?
Australia is a brilliant world-class location to bring you production down too!
For international producers the long haul flight “down under” is absolutely worth making and for the local market, there are fabulous regional towns that love crews visiting and the big city lights of our CBD have so much to offer. Filming in Australia offers the most diverse spectacular landscapes you’ll ever see: desert, rainforest, alpine, farming, tropical, coastal, historical towns, cosmopolitan cities – and much, much more! Extremely experienced crews renowned globally for their expertise, a great work ethic and sense of humour along with Australia’s natural beauty, make it a go to destination for production.
What makes a good production?
If on wrap, you have finished feeling exhausted, you’ve stretched yourself, you’ve learnt something new, you’ve created something you’re proud of, you’ve worked with a team that’s thrown their two cents worth in, you’ve expanded your network and you’ve had fun AND when it’s finally screened, beamed or streamed…… you’re feeling super proud of what you’ve been part of….then that’s a good production!
ABOUT ANDREA GORDDARD
Andrea’s career started in TV drama during a “golden era’ where many of Australia’s Hollywood and Oscar winning actors and crew commenced their careers with the ABC. It was here that communication, logistics and planning became Andrea’s expertise and she took this skill across to the Factual and Documentary genre where she spent the next 20 years Line Producing and overseeing as Head Of Production, countless hours of television programming for international broadcasters such as the BBC, Channel 4, Discovery Channel US, National Geographic, the ABC, SBS and the Nine and Seven Networks in Australia. In her work for Qantas, producing their internal documentaries, Andrea’s precision planning and high-level organisational skills were sought after and essential as she worked closely with the airline’s senior executives on location in Australia and around the world. Andrea’s experience is not contained to only filming production as she then produced many large-scale photographic and promo shoots for the Nine Network in Australia. In more recent times, Andrea has had the great opportunity to work in the Advertising industry for a global company where she supervised crews working at fast pace across TV commercials, social and content for many global brands. With so many production experiences, years of contacts and knowledge, Andrea has established Australian Fixer HQ based in Sydney Australia to be the go-to with all filming in Oz!
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