DAVID LOWE

David Lowe at Jessica Lowe's wedding, photo Ian Redpath


INTERACTIVE CV – AUGUST 2014


international tel 61 (2) 6627 4709
within Australia (02) 6627 4709
mob 0488 428 765
e-mail davidlowe@wwwires.com

Flickr gallery of photography here.

Vimeo streaming videos here.

Please go here for a print-friendly version of my CV in one page (PDF). There's a more detailed version here (PDF).


David Lowe and his sister Jessica as children, with pram


PERSONAL STATEMENT

As a BA student at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, my two major projects were short dramas, which I wrote and directed. Both have enjoyed international success. Streaming versions are available here.

I graduated from the AFTRS in 1997. Since then I've developed scripts for film, television and interactive media, and written both history and fiction. I've been to Europe as a guest of major film festivals, and travelled extensively within Australia.

I've pursued my interest in Australian history via projects including Wild River Blockade: the fight for the Franklin (a TV mini-series), Shadow Country (an alternative travel guide focusing on little-known historical sites), and Thunderbolt's Lady (a feature screenplay about Mary Ann Ward).

Following my earlier, award-winning interactive project Burning Moon, I've co-developed two massively multiplayer broadband interactive experiences, Fay and Mer.

I've also written and developed a number of feature film screenplays, including Cloudcatcher, One in a Million, and Human Race.

I'm working on a graphic novel, The Hourglass Conspiracy.


David Lowe shooting video at Doubtful Creek, 2013


Recently I've directed and co-produced (and edited/shot in most cases) numerous documentary films including Undermining Australia: Coal vs Communities (Lock the Gate Alliance), Protect Our Land and Water (NSW Farmers) and the feature length music movie Rock the Gate! (Lock the Gate Northern Rivers).

I've done stills photography for various publications (local and national) and contributed camera work and extracts of my films to recent productions including Fractured Country: an Unconventional Invasion (38 mins, LTG Alliance), Ten Bucks a Litre (Smith & Nasht, ABC), Our Land, Our Water, Our Future (The Sunrise Project), Aquarius in Lovemore (Paul Joseph/Rohan Langford), Knitting Nannas (Frogmouth Films) and Call to Country (LTG Alliance).


David Lowe in purple shirt and red scarf, photo Jane Foggon


PRODUCTIONS AS DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
- Lock the Gate: Leard State Forest (8 mins, HD, LTG Alliance, 2013, also editor/camera)
- Undermining Australia: Coal vs Communities (35 mins, HD, LTG Alliance, co-producers Annie Kia, Carmel Flint, Boudicca Cerese. Also editor/camera)
- Draining the Lifeblood: Galilee Basin at Risk (5 mins, HD, LTG Alliance, producer Carmel Flint. Also editor/camera)
- Protect Sydney's Water: Longwall Coal Mining Impacts (2 mins, HD, Protect Sydney's Water, 2013. Also editor)
- Circle of Life (5 mins, HD music video, 2013. Also editor/camera)
- Coal Free Bremer Valley (4 mins, HD, co-producer Carmel Flint, 2012. Also editor/camera)
- Sweet Dream (3 mins, HD multicam music video, 2013. Also editor/camera)
- Fall Into Feeling - online album launch (90 secs, HD, 2012. Also editor/camera)
- Rock the Gate! (87 mins, HD, 5.1 surround - co-produced with Heather McDiarmid, 2012) with Xavier Rudd, Drew Hutton, OKA, Jeremy Buckingham MLC, Dubmarine, Brian Monk, Luke Vassella, Steady Eddy, Renee Simone, Mandy Nolan, and many others. Selected cinema premieres August 2012 (DVD with extras coming soon)
- Protect Our Land and Water (15 mins, HD - 2012) with Drew Hutton, Fiona Simson, Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott, Dirtgirl and many others
- The People vs CSG: the Birth of CSG-Free Communities (5 mins, HD - 2012, producer/stills role, directed by Brendan Shoebridge) with Jennie Dowell, Annie Kia and the people of the Channon


David Lowe shooting Byron March in March, photo Eve Jeffery


AFTRS drama productions as writer/director (DVD available) include:

- The Two-Wheeled Time Machine (a 21 minute film - produced by Miriam Stein, 1997) with Matt Day, Essie Davis, Jacki Weaver, Steve Rosanove, Treffyn Koreshoff and Ellie MacCarthy
- Freestyle (a 12 minute film - produced by Matt Morgan, 1996) with Mary-Lou Stewart, Roy Billing, Monique Spanbrook and Greg Blandy

Before coming to the AFTRS, I wrote, produced and directed a number of community service advertisements for clients including:

-  The Red Cross (screened nationally)
-  Pedal Power (ACT)
-  Canberra Youth Theatre
-  AIDS Prevention Bus
-  ACT Rape Crisis Centre

I also created numerous short dramas and documentaries using non-broadcast equipment.


portrait of David Lowe by Peter Lowe (David's father)



BOOKS

- Triskaidekaphobia (a novel for young readers, 2010)
- Out of the Box: the amazing story of war hero and quiz champion Frank Partridge VC (a major, oral history-based biography, 2008)
- Forgotten Rebels: black Australians who fought back (a history of some personalities from the 19th century Aboriginal resistance, Permanent Press, 1995)



David Lowe, on location while directing 'The Two-Wheeled Time Machine', photo Chris Radford


WRITING FOR FILM, TELEVISION, RADIO & INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Original projects include:

- Wild River Blockade: the fight for the Franklin, formerly River Man (research and development of a 2 X 2 hour TV mini-series, with Matchbox Pictures, Screen Tasmania and Screen NSW, 2009-11)
- Human Race (development of a feature screenplay with Matchbox Pictures and Screen NSW, multiple drafts, 2005-10)
- Too Easy (proposal for a low budget comedy feature, 2008)
- One in a Million (first draft of a feature screenplay, with Panckhurst Productions, 2007)
- The Hourglass Conspiracy (proposal and short documents for a feature film, 2007)
- Ash Wednesday (two part TV mini-series proposal, with Wonderland Productions, 2006-07)
- Wounded Dog (screenplay for a short feature film)
- Playing the Fool (outline for a feature film)
- Ping Pong (script for a short TV drama)
- The Underworld Identity (script for a short TV drama)
- Daniel (outline for a low budget feature film)
- Velocity (screenplay for a feature film)
- Battler's Prayer (proposal for a three part TV mini-series)
- Cloudcatcher (screenplay for a feature film, with Panckhurst Productions, currently in development with the Australian Film Commission, invited to the AFC's intensive script workshop Spark in February 2004)
- Rosabel (script for a short film)
- Mer (outline for a massively multiplayer online game for teens and up, with Jane Foggon)
- Fay (proposal for a massively multiplayer online game for children, with Jane Foggon)
- Stranger Than Fiction (proposal for a radio series about history, for young people)
- Heart Spaces (proposal for a series of short radio documentaries, with Jane Foggon)
- Working Village (proposal for a series of short radio documentaries)
- Wild at Heart (proposal for a series of short radio documentaries, with Jane Foggon)
- Song (script for a short film)
- Inflatable Man (revised script for a short film)
- Daddy (rock video proposal for the band Koathanger)
-  Milk and Honey (outline for a feature film, with James Engels)
-  Gutterspunk (outline and scene breakdown for a feature film, with collaborators)
-  Whirligig Man (outline for a feature film)
-  Bad Monk (outline for a 3D action game)
-  Quiver (a feature screenplay - three drafts to date)
-  Redback (treatment for a telemovie)
-  Lucy Come Back and Ophelia (outlines for telemovies)
-  Triplicity (outline for a music theatre extravaganza, with Greg White)
-  Rank Strangers (a short play and a long short film)
-  Secret Men's Business (proposal for a comedy TV magazine show, with James Engels)
-  Ten Cent Lane (feature screenplay)
-  Thunderbolt's Lady (feature screenplay)
-  Burning Moon: an EXEC Adventure (treatment for an interactive drama, with Jason Wheatley)
-  Heron (outline for a telemovie and series)


David at sea off Merimbula, photo Stephanie Kirkby


Commissioned projects include:

-  History Bytes (an educational interactive CD ROM, with Greg White - Shopfront Theatre for Young People)
-  Blue Silence (proposal for a feature film based on a true story - Tourist Films/Prodigy)
-  Rapid Response (storylining for a TV drama series - Southern Star Xanadu)
-  LoveCuts (script for a broadband interactive drama - NIDA/AFTRS dir. Denny Lawrence)
-  Triple 0 (storylining and character creation for a TV drama series - Southern Star Xanadu)
-  First Person (script outlines for a series of short, broadband interactive experiences, with Jason Wheatley - NIDA/AFTRS)
-  Big Sky episode 47: "Friends in High Places" (one hour script for an Australian TV drama series, with Bill Searle - West Street Productions/Southern Star Xanadu)
-  Earthsearch episode 5: "Afterworld" (one hour script for a US/Australian TV drama mini-series - Pro Television/Becker Group)


David Lowe shooting at Doubtful Creek in 2013, photo Eve Jeffery


While I was at AFTRS I wrote sixteen short scripts for single and multi-camera production, including:

-  Lost in Action
-  Parental Advisory
-  Miss November
-  Doubting Thomas (produced with Nicholas Hope and Claudia Karvan)
-  The Skeptic
-  One Plus One Equals Three
-  Surprise Surprise
-  Hard Women


David Lowe in chair, photo Jane Foggon


Works for film and television written before AFTRS include:

-  The Two-Wheeled Time Machine (short screenplay - second prize winner in 1993 Victorian Fellowship of Australian Writers Script Awards)
-  Riot Acts: the history of Australian rioting (historical outlines for a ten part TV documentary series)
-  Odd Man Out: the story of Ronald Ryan (proposal and outline for a three part TV drama mini-series)
-  You Are Here (script for a short film)
-  The Happy Conspiracy (outline for a feature film)
-  Can't Complain (script for a short film)
-  Gilbert's Ark (outline for a feature film)
-  Compliments of the Management (outline for a feature film)
-  Dissecting Mr Right (outline for a feature film)
-  Life Drawing (script for a short film)
-  The Hidden Agenda (outline for a thirty minute television comedy)

I have written numerous community service advertisement scripts and concepts for clients including the Nursing Mothers' Association of Australia, Bicycle Federation of Australia (1 & 2), the Wilderness Society and the National Threatened Species Network (1 & 2).


Wooden bridge, photo David Lowe


FESTIVAL APPEARANCES, TELEVISION SALES & AWARDS

The Two-Wheeled Time Machine represented Australia in the following international and Australian competitions and festivals in 1998:

-  Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (France - which I attended)
-  Tampere International Short Film Festival (Finland)
-  The Edge of the World Film Festival (Hobart)
-  Fiddle Film Festival (Sydney)
-  Flickerfest (Sydney)
-  Crows Fest (Sydney)
-  St Kilda Film Festival (Melbourne - joint winner Best Post-Production Sound)
-  Forum Cannes Festival (France - presented by Cinema Des Antipodes)
-  San Diego Film Festival (USA)
-  Short Film Festival of Drama (Greece)
-  Olympia Film Festival (USA)


David with Alice in Lily's buggy. Photo by Jane Foggon, 2004


The Two-Wheeled Time Machine was released theatrically in Australia in November/December 1997 in a program of shorts called Fistful of Shorts, put together by the AFI.

The film was screened at an AFC/AFI Industry Night in March 1998 (Sydney) and toured the country as part of the 1997 AFTRS graduate screenings. In 1999 it was one of five short films selected by FNAC for the Best of Oceanie video compilation tape, (sold widely in France and Europe).

Late in 2003, The Two-Wheeled Machine was selected to support Cosi in its 2004 DVD release (the first of 30+ AFTRS films to be honoured in this way by Village Roadshow). The film was also chosen by Cinema des Antipodes, in France, to appear as a bonus in a major Peter Weir Collector's Edition DVD box set, released in European in 2004.

Television sales of The Two-Wheeled Time Machine to date include:

-  Spain (Canal+)
-  Poland (Canal+)
-  Italy (Telepiu)


Treffyn Koreshoff and Ellie MacCarthy in 'The Two-Wheeled Time Machine'


My previous film, Freestyle, represented AFTRS in May 1997 at the Forum Cannes Festival (France - presented by Cinema Des Antipodes), and was screened at an AFC/AFI Industry Night in March 1997. The film was released theatrically in 1997 as part of the Fistful of Shorts compilation, presented by the AFI.

Freestyle has won the following prizes:

-  The Golden Eve Award for Best Editing at the 1998 Festival dei Festival (Italy)
-  The Patrons' Award for Best Short Film at the 1997 San Diego Film Festival (USA)
-  Most Popular Short Film at the 1997 Australian International Film Festival (Canberra, now called Canberra International Film Festival)
-  Best Short Thriller at the 1998 Noir in Festival (Italy)

Freestyle has sold to television in the following countries:

-  France and Germany (Arte)
-  Spain and Poland (Canal+)
-  Australia (SBS)
-  USA (KQED-TV)
-  Italy (Telepiu)
-  Denmark (DR1 & 2)
-  Finland (YLE)
-  United Kingdom (Channel 4)


Bronte pool cave, location for 'Freestyle', photo David Lowe


Freestyle festival appearances during 1997 include:

-  Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (France - which I attended)
-  Tampere International Short Film Festival (Finland)
-  Flickerfest (Sydney)
-  Brussels International Festival of Fantasy and Action Films (Belgium)
-  St Kilda Film Festival (Melbourne)
-  Exposure Film Festival (Brisbane)
-  Cinema Jove Festival Valencia (Spain)
-  Hamburg International Film Festival (Germany)
-  Vila do Conde (Portugal)
-  Short Film Festival of Drama (Greece)
-  Nextframe/UFVA (USA and internationally)
-  Cork Film Festival (Ireland)
-  LA International Short Film Festival (USA)
-  Donne In Corto International Women's Film Festival (Spain/Italy/Denmark)
-  Olympia Film Festival (USA)
-  Filmtage Tubingen (Germany)
-  London Film Festival (UK)
-  Noir in Festival (Italy)
-  Alternativa (Barcelona)


David Lowe directing Mary-Lou Stewart in 'Freestyle', photo Simon Davidson


1998 Freestyle festival appearances:

-  The Second Australian Film Festival in Dublin (Ireland - which I attended)
-  Images Toronto (Canada)
-  Solothurner Filmtage (Switzerland)
-  Crows Fest (Sydney)
-  Mediawave 1998 (Hungary)
-  Noir in Festival (Italy - best of previous competitions)
-  New York City's Seventh Annual Australian Short Film Event (USA)
-  Sticky Shorts (Melbourne)
-  Bristol Short Film Festival (UK)

Freestyle represented Australia at AntennaCinema 1999 in Padua, Italy, and was selected to screen at the Fete du Cinema screenings organised by Cinedie and the French National Cinema in June - August 1999, in Paris. Freestyle returned to the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival in February 2004 as part of a retrospective program.

Late in 2005, the film was released by Village Roadshow on DVD, together with the Jim Sharman/Tony Buckley/Patrick White classic from 1978, The Night the Prowler.

Freestyle and The Two-Wheeled Time Machine are distributed internationally by the AFTRS and Omni Short Film Distribution (USA).


David Lowe (in helmet) with sister Jessica, as children


ARTICLES & PAPERS

I have written a number of feature articles on the subject of the nineteenth century Aboriginal resistance. In 1994 these articles were gathered together with an introduction and further reading list and published as Forgotten Rebels: Black Australians Who Fought Back, by Permanent Press, of Melbourne (ISBN 0 646 15686 1). The book went to a second edition in 1995.

Major essays include Emotion Pictures (an examination of the ways in which history films emotionalise the past), Stanley's Families (an examination of physical and meta-familes in the films of Stanley Kubrick), An Outlaw Industry: Bushrangers on the Big Screen 1906-1993, Movies in the Mirror and WOMADelaide '93: Adelaide Throws Its Arms Around the World.

Commercial articles include a number written for publications such as Australian Videography and Commercial Photography in Australia (1990-1992). Recently I've completed an article about Kim Batterham ACS, to be published in Australian Cinematographer in 2011.

In 1987 I won first prize in the Chartered Institute of Transport essay competition, and in 1986 I won first prize in an essay competition run by the Australian Federal Police.


David Lowe, before going to AFTRS, with scribbly gum, photo Jane Foggon


SHORT STORIES
Prize-winning and/or published stories include:

-  Piconcagua ($3000 first prize, 1994 City of Springvale Short Story Awards, 21-26 years)
-  Hunted (commended in 1994 K & M Teychenne Victorian Fellowship of Australian Writers Short Story Award, commended by Hunter FAW Short Story Competition)
-  Two Suns (third prize in 1994 Annual Reading in St Kilda Short Story Awards)
-  Dead Heat (second prize - shared with Freestyle - in 1993 Victorian FAW Frank Dalby Davison Short Story Award, second prize in 1992 Hunter FAW National Short Story Competition)
-  Music of the Spheres (commended by 1993 Victorian FAW Frank Dalby Davison Short Story Award)
-  Freestyle (second prize in 1992 Western Australian FAW/Lyndall Hadow national short story competition, highly commended by 1992 Writers World national short story competition, commended by 1992 Annual Reading in St Kilda Writing Competition and published in accompanying anthology Tropical Lust)
-  The Magician's Assistant (highly commended by 1992 Writers World national short story competition)


Sea cliffs at Bronte Pool, photo David Lowe


BLACK & WHITE EXHIBITION PHOTOGRAPHY

In 1994 See No Evil and Ground Zero were exhibited at the University of Canberra Photo Focus Competition. Also in 1994, the Six Stages of Grief series (dealing with the themes of Denial, Guilt, Limbo, Anger, Depression and Hope) were exhibited at AFTRS.

Cloud Boy and Now? (created together with Jane Foggon) were exhibited in the previous years' UC Photo Focus Competition, with Now? winning first prize.

In 1995 I was the stills photographer for a seven minute AFTRS film, Capital V for Virtue (director Roland Gallois, producer Kylie Du Fresne). I also produced a series of multiple-image publicity photographs for the film (based on my own script and directing actors in the studio) dealing with the themes of Courage, Hope, Justice, Temperance, Faith, Prudence and Charity.

In the last few years I've been doing lots of digital photography, especially for the anti-CSG cause. These shots have been published in places including ABC News Online, The Australian, The Byron Shire Echo, Echonet Daily, The Northern Rivers Echo and the Nimbin GoodTimes.

Check out my Flickr site to see this work.


Beautiful draft horses from Jane's grand-parents' farm


PAID & VOLUNTARY WORK EXPERIENCE BEFORE AFTRS

-  Parliamentary Press Gallery with Mungo MacCallum
-  Canberra Times Photographics Section
-  Film Australia
-  National Recording Studios

Prior to attending AFTRS, I also worked extensively for the NRS Group and Prime Time Video/Howe Electronics in roles including sound recordist, vision switcher and camera operator, as well as driving taxis.

In 1989 I wrote an intensive, two day hands-on video editing workshop for small classes, which I taught regularly at Independent Video, in Canberra (ACT), until 1991. I was a member of the Independent Video Inc. Board from 1989-1991.


David Lowe's birthday party, as a child


OTHER AWARDS & MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

In February 2004 I attended the Australian Film Commission's second residential intensive script workshop, Spark, in regional Victoria, with my feature film screenplay Cloudcatcher. Advisers included Geoff Stier, Greg Widen, Lynda House, Joan Sauers and John Collee.

In 2003 I was one of three judges at the inaugural South-East Film Festival.

I worked as a script doctor with Greg White on the 'Get Into the Arts' community advertising campaign, which screened in cinemas 2000/2001. Early in 2000 I was a visiting lecturer at AFTRS, contributing to the intensive short course 'Writing the Short Film'.

In 1999 I became one of six emerging directors to be shortlisted for the prestigious Australian Screen Directors Association Attachment Scheme.

In July 1999 a book, "Ecrire un court métrage" ("Writing a short movie"), by Jean-Marc Rudnicki, was published by DIXIT in Paris. The script for Freestyle was used as a major example of a successful short screenplay.

In May 1997 Brilliant Digital Entertainment/Sega-Ozisoft announced that Burning Moon: an EXEC Adventure was one of the winners of their national multipath movie competition.

In 1996 the Movielab Award for a third year film ($2000) was awarded to The Two-Wheeled Time Machine. In 1995 the Atlab Award for a second year film ($2000) was awarded to Freestyle.


David Lowe in 1990s, with scribbly gum, photo Jane Foggon


Between 1992 and 1994 I won $4000 in competition prize money for short stories.

I am an experienced user of various computer hardware and software systems and the internet (including writing HTML), and am familiar with both traditional photographic darkroom practice and modern digital image manipulation technology.

I am a member of the Australian Writers' Guild, NSW Greens, Animals Australia, The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Bicycle NSW and the Commonwealth Clydesdale Horse Society.

Having conducted over one hundred interviews in the course of my project, Out of the Box, I am familiar with the theory and practice of oral history.

To date I've written 188 song lyrics and poems. I play the WX7 MIDI wind instrument and guitar. I am experienced with straw bale building, and am training Lachlan and Lily, our Clydesdale heavy horses, to tow various strange vehicles around the countryside.


David Lowe with Kirkby family and Lachlan the Clydesdale, 2003, photo Mark Kirkby


PLANNED PROJECTS

- The Word is Out (production of a feature length music documentary, with Luke Vassella)
- Alchemy (research for a drama about Brett Whiteley)
- Cagetrader (screenplay for feature film)
- Aspirational (development of an interactive reality opera)
- The Sandcastle (a feature film adaptation of the Iris Murdoch novel)
- Heartstring (screenplay for a short feature)
- Fay (a series of childrens' books, companion to the online interactive experience, with Jane Foggon)
- Tooth and Claw (a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game for children)
- Quiet Time (a relaxation program for children, to be delivered via book and audio, with Jane Foggon)
- Shadow Country (an alternative, state by state Australian travel guide focusing on little-known historical sites)
- Troublemakers (an oral history of Australian activism)
- Burning Moon: an EXEC Adventure (a novel)
- Anomaly: an EXEC Adventure (a novel)
- Song (development of a short feature film)
- Live Wire (a drama about rock legend Bon Scott)
- Wandering Spirit (a horse drawn oral history education concept, with Jane Foggon)
- Born to Rule (development of an interactive fantasy for women)


David Lowe and sister Jessica with father Peter Lowe, on holiday at Gold Coast, 1970s, photo Margaret Lowe


PERSONAL REFERENCES

- Ron Blair (former Head, Screenwriting Department, AFTRS)
- John Lonie (Lecturer, Screenwriting Department, AFTRS)
- Mary Anne Hession (Red Cross Australia)
- Andrew Pike (Ronin Films)
- David Syme (Conflict Resolution Service)
- Barrie Smith (former Editor, Australian Videography)
- Dave Southgate (Pedal Power)
- John Cope (former Principal, Lake Ginninderra College)


Mount Abrupt/Murdajoog, Gariwerd National Park, photo David Lowe


LINKS

- Internet Movie Database
- Bob Dylan official site
- ABC Radio National
- McSpotlight
- Stop Motion Pro
- Online Shakespeare
- Australian War Memorial
- National Library of Australia
- Nordoff-Robbins Australia
- Sea Shepherd Conservation Society


David Lowe in field at wedding of Jessica Lowe and Nathan Kesteven, October 2000, photo Iris Lowe


This site designed and maintained by David Lowe.
Please let me know if you find any broken links or have any comments:
e-mail: davidlowe@acr.net.au

visitors since 9 March 2004