An outstanding and timely documentary, DRIVE, is about to be released on ABC Tele­vision. This project involved a virtual collabo­ration between a home office in regional Northern Rivers NSW and an office of Big Hart Inc., in Burnie in the north west of Tasmania.

Co-Directed/produced by Director, Bronwyn Purvis and emerging film maker Telen Rodwell, DRIVE is a documentary exploring the needless deaths of young men in car crashes linked to drug and alcohol abuse.

Over the three-month edit period the consultant and the Drive team ‘met’ regularly.

They could see each other, talk to each other and were able to manipulate the documentary in real time, at different stages of the editing process. It was a powerful collaboration that led to a final product that will raise the profile of an issue that devastates too many communities in regional Australia.

"Cutting edge net based software programs allowed Catherine and the DRIVE team to travel over 2,000 km, ‘virtually’ without any of them setting foot outside of their offices in Clunes, NSW and Burnie, TAS. This saved significant dollars on accommodation and travel, put more budget dollars on screen and lowered the environmental footprint of the creatives who worked on the program. It also supported the employment of talented people who live in rural areas creating regional employment and business growth opportunities."

Catherine Marciniak, Documentary Director, Pandanus Media Pty Ltd