Sally Aitken (director)

Sally Aitken
Occupation(s)Director, writer, producer
Years active2004–present

Sally Aitken is an Australian documentary film and television director, writer, and producer. She is known for Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story; David Stratton: A Cinematic Life; and Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles. She is co-founder, co-principal (with Aline Jacques), and director of the all-female film production company SAM Content.

Career

Sally Aitken has produced, written, and directed several documentary films.[1][2][3]

She is known for her work on the documentaries Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story, David Stratton: A Cinematic Life (about film critic David Stratton), Streets of Your Town, and The Week the Women Went.[4][5]

In 2022, she co-founded the production company Sam Content, with Aline Jacques.[6] In the same year, her documentary Playing with Sharks, which was produced by Bettina Dalton, was screened at Sundance.[7]

She co-wrote, directed and produced the documentary feature, Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles, for Amazon Prime Video,[8] released in 2023. Co-writer and -director was Fraser Grut, and Aline Jacques, Cass Avery, Daniel Story, and Fraser Grut were co-producers on the film.[9]

She wrote and directed the feature-length documentary, Every Little Thing, which was selected for screening in the documentary competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. The film was produced by Bettina Dalton,[7] and edited by Tania Nehme.[10] It also screened at Adelaide Film Festival in October 2024, with Aitken in attendance at the first screening. The film follows retired writer and teacher Terry Masear, who rescues injured and abandoned hummingbirds at her bird rescue centre, the Los Angeles Hummingbird Rescue, for a season.[11]

Accolades

Aitken was nominated for Emmy Awards in 2018 at the International Emmy Award for Best Arts Programming for the documentary film David Stratton: A Cinematic Life, and at the 43rd News and Documentary Emmy Awards for the documentary Playing With Sharks in 2022.[12][13]

List of awards and nominations

Year Result Award Category Work Ref.
2022 Nominated AACTA Awards Best Direction in Nonfiction Television Books That Made Us [14]
2021 Nominated Best Documentary Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story [15]
Nominated Australian Writers' Guild Documentary – Public Broadcast [16]
Won Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Film Festival World Cinema – Documentary [17]
Won Provincetown International Film Festival Best Documentary [18]
Nominated Sundance Film Festival World Cinema – Documentary [19]
2017 Nominated Cannes Film Festival Golden Eye David Stratton: A Cinematic Life [20]
Nominated AWGIE Awards Best Documentary Streets of Your Town [21]
2009 Nominated Leo Awards Best Documentary Program or Series The Week the Women Went [22]
2008 Nominated Gemini Awards Best Reality Program or Series [23]

Filmography

Year Title Director Writer Producer Note
2024 Every Little Thing Green tickY Green tickY Documentary
2023 Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Documentary
2021 Books That Made Us Green tickY TV series
2021 Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth Green tickY Documentary
2021 Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story Green tickY Green tickY Documentary
2019 The Pool Green tickY Green tickY 2 episodes
2018 Nolan – The Man and the Myth Green tickY Green tickY Documentary
2018 The Pacific: In the Wake of Captain Cook with Sam Neill Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 6 episodes
2017 David Stratton: A Cinematic Life Green tickY 3 episodes
2016 Streets of Your Town Green tickY Green tickY Documentary
2015 Getting Frank Gehry Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Documentary
2015 Imagine Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY TV series
2015 The Great Australian Race Riot Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Documentary
2013 Air Rescue Green tickY 6 episodes
2012 Family Confidential Green tickY Green tickY 1 episode
2011 Seduction in the City Green tickY Green tickY Documentary
2009 Ultimate Engineering Green tickY Green tickY 1 episode
2008 The Week the Women Went Green tickY Green tickY 8 episodes
2007 National Geographic: Engineering the Impossible Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 1 episode
2006 The Blonde Mystique Green tickY Green tickY Documentary
2006 Warrior Empire: The Mughals of India Green tickY Green tickY Documentary
2004 Colonial House Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 2 episodes

References

  1. ^ ""The Natural World and Our Interconnectedness": Director Sally Aitken – Playing With Sharks". filmmakermagazine.com. 29 January 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  2. ^ "24 Hours With… TV director Sally Aitken". mumbrella.com.au. 9 November 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Australian TV Veterans Launch Production Banner Sam Content". hollywoodreporter.com. 26 September 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  4. ^ "David Stratton: A Cinematic Life". timeout.com. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  5. ^ "The week the women left". news24.com. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Sally Aitken and Aline Jacques Launch SAM Content With Quartet of Australian Film and TV Shows". Variety. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Australian titles The Moogai and Every Little Thing selected for Sundance Film Festival 2024". Screen Australia. 8 December 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Wiggles tale has 'deep universal themes of any heroic journey' says director". smh.com.au. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles (2023)". Screen Australia. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  10. ^ "Every Little Thing (2023)". Screen Australia. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Every Little Thing". Adelaide Film Festival. 27 October 2024. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  12. ^ "2018 International Emmy Awards Nominees". iemmys.tv. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  13. ^ "NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR THE 43RD ANNUAL NEWS & DOCUMENTARY EMMY AWARDS" (PDF). theemmys.tv. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  14. ^ "AACTA reveals 2022 film, TV nominations". news.com.au. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  15. ^ "AACTA Award for Best Documentary". aacta.org. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  16. ^ "AWGIE Awards 2021: nominees". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  17. ^ "AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS". mspfilm.org. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  18. ^ "PROVINCETOWN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2021 WINNERS". provincetownfilm.org. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  19. ^ "2021 Sundance Film Festival: Full Program Announced". sundance.org. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  20. ^ "FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY NOMINEES". aacta.org. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  21. ^ "AWGIEs Wrote This: Winners Announced". filmink.com.au. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  22. ^ "2009 LEO AWARD NOMINEES & WINNERS" (PDF). leoawards.com. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Nominees in major categories for the 23rd Gemini Awards". thestar.com. Retrieved 10 July 2022.