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Home • Made in WA • From Here to the World: Film and TV made in WA • Boomtown West

Boomtown West

In a city famous for its prosperity and 'can do' attitude, we enter the exciting and surprisingly diverse world of Perth entrepreneurs to discover the secret of their success.

Documentary Documentary Series
Length
6 x 27 mins
Release Year
2013
Genre
,
Production companies

Electric Pictures

Region filmed
Perth

Synopsis

WA’s mining industry is the driver of Australia’s 2-speed economy. To many the West is home to billionaires and bogans – cowboys just lucky enough to be living on a mountain of iron ore. But it’s not all about mining. Perth likes to boast the highest proportion of self made millionaires of any capital city in the world. We spent a year following seven remarkable entrepreneurs through triumphs, life changing innovation and battles for survival to bring you the real stories of Boomtown.

Photo credit Alison James © Electric Pictures

Watch the trailer

Production Information

Directors

Alison James

Chester Dent

Writers

Roz Silvestrin

Jonathan Rowdon

Series Producer

Roz Silvestrin

Line Producers

Rose Grandile-Pizzi

Sharron Ashworth

Assistant Producer

Anthea Smyth

Executive Producers

Andrew Ogilvie

Andrea Quesnelle

Distributor

EP Independent (ANZ)

ABC Commercial (INT)

Key Locations

—

Narrator

Sam Longley

Camera

Chester Dent

Alison James

Location Sound

Kim Lord

Richard Glover

Glyn Jones

Editors

Jonathan Rowdon

Teresa Ashton Graham

Sound Editor and Mixer

Kim Lord

Filming in Mount Magnet

Chester Dent has worked as a director in the television industry in both Australia and in the UK

With prime-time credits for the BBC, Channel 4 and DCI. Originally trained as a drama director under Mike Leigh and Stephen Frears at the UK National Film & Television School, Chester directed large budget television drama before re-inventing himself as an observational documentary filmmaker.

Find talented Directors in our Crew Directory
Photo credit Alison James © Electric Pictures
Director Chester Dent on location in the Pilbara
Photo credit Alison James © Electric Pictures
Mike at Blue Duck breakfast in front of the beach.

Life in the Wild West

Many West Australians feel the rest of the country just doesn’t get them

To those in the ‘Eastern States’, the people of Boomtown are seen as having the dumb luck to be sitting on a mountain of iron ore that they just need to dig up and ship out. WA is driving the nation’s economy and West Australians are justifiable proud, but it’s not all about mining. WA is a breeding ground for successful entrepreneurs across all industries and the idea for this television series is to explore why this is and to correct a few misconceptions about what life in like in Boomtown.

Find 'The Boomtown' in our Locations Gallery
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Acknowledgement of Country

NGALA KAADITJ WHADJUK NOONGAR MOORT KEYEN KAADAK NIDJA BOODJA

 

We acknowledge Whadjuk Noongar people as the original custodians of the land on which the Screenwest office is located.

 

Screenwest acknowledges and pays respect to all Traditional Owners of Country across the State of Western Australia and their Elders, past, present and emerging. We recognise and respect their cultural heritage, spiritual beliefs and relationship to land and waters and acknowledge that they are of continuing importance to the people living today. We extend this respect to all Indigenous language groups.