PRODUCTION COMPANY SPOTLIGHT: Wheels Rolling
Western Australian production company Wheels Rolling, founded by Nel Minchin, is celebrating its first birthday and the release of its debut project, The Way We Wore, an illuminating three-part ABC documentary series hosted by Celeste Barber, exploring the cultural and historical significance of fashion in Australia.
Western Australian production company, Wheels Rolling is celebrating its first birthday and the release of its debut project, The Way We Wore, an illuminating three-part ABC documentary series hosted by Celeste Barber, exploring the cultural and historical significance of fashion in Australia.
Company founder, Nel Minchin is a director, writer and producer with a reputation for making smart, entertaining and thought-provoking documentaries. She has directed and produced multiple prime time TV documentaries including AACTA-nominated Matilda and Me (co-directed with Rhian Skirving), Capturing Cricket: Steve Waugh in India and The Truth about Anxiety with Celia Pacquola.
Her debut feature documentary Firestarter – The Story of Bangarra (co-directed with Wayne Blair) has screened at 35 festivals across the world winning the Rose D’Or for arts programming, the Walkley Documentary Award, Best Feature Documentary at Danny Glover’s Pan African Film Festival in LA, the AACTA for Best Documentary and the Adelaide Film Festival Documentary Award.
Over the past two years, Nel has lived and worked in Perth, delivering two prime time series, political sports documentary Folau and The Way We Wore. We chatted to her about moving home to WA, launching her company and what’s on her slate for 2024.
Nel Minchin and Celeste Barber on set, photographed by Mark Rogers.
Welcome home to WA and congrats on the launch of Wheels Rolling. How has the first year of running your own production company been?
Thank you! We hit the ground running with the biggest series I’ve ever made, so it’s been busy but fantastic. I have been able to employ a brilliant team who have been incredible throughout, so it’s been pretty fun overall.
It’s great to have you back in the state after a few years over east. Has the WA screen industry changed since you were last living here?
The WA screen industry does seem to have a real energy to it at the moment, lots of exciting productions being made here and loads of fantastic talent in the state as well.
Wheels Rolling’s debut project, The Way We Wore, has just premiered on the ABC. Tell us about how it all came together.
We wanted to make an Australian history series through the lens of fashion. Being fashion it needed to be fun, fabulous and look great – but for me it was really key that we tapped into the intimacy, vulnerability and memories our clothes evoke. Having Celeste Barber on board meant we could do all of that – give the series a sense of humour but also a sense of heart.
You recruited a number of WA filmmakers to bring the series to life including Siamese, Envelope and WA artist Tee Ken Ng. How did you assemble your crew and what drew you to working with each of them?
I was lucky to have worked with Envelope and Siamese on a previous series and have loved their craft. Tee Ken is an artist I have been a fan of for a while and I knew he would do a great job of tapping into the artistry and quirk of the fashion industry in his titles. I look for people who are ambitious and don’t take no for an answer, but mostly are nice to work with. We’re all on deadlines and are in this together – so teamwork is everything.
You’re a director and producer. What are your favourite parts of each role?
I started as a producer but realized through encouragement from mentors that I should try directing. Since then (about 8 years ago now) I haven’t looked back. I love the storytelling, the people I interview, and the creativity of directing. But directing is emotionally a much bigger ask! So although producing is often less exciting work (and you spend your life putting out spotfires!) you’re not putting your heart on the line with every decision you make – so it’s less taxing in a way – and I do find the business side of it all really interesting.
You’ve been an in-demand director for production companies across the country over the last few years, how did you find being your own producer?
It’s brilliant stepping back into a producing role with more projects behind me as it means I can get meetings a bit more easily now! But also great to have had production manager Rebecca Kelly by my side and the support of Stranger Than Fiction, our co-producers, to work with.
What’s on Wheels Rolling’s slate for 2024?
This summer is my development period which is great. At the moment there’s a few series, a feature doc and two possible scripted projects in the works. I am trying to keep it pretty low key for the next few months though to make sure we’re rigorous in development and making the right stuff with the right people.
How can people watch The Way We Wore?
You can binge all three episodes on ABC iview!
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