Lugers and lies, and beheading of spies – it sounds like a plot for a primetime drama, but in Execam’s case, truth is infinitely more interesting than fiction.
Production company Execam’s Asian Television Awards (ATA) Superpitch winning documentary pitch Coast Watchers of the South Pacific looks into Australia’s Coastwatchers organisation which placed men and women in New Guinea, The Solomon Islands and other locations – including Japanese occupied territories – in the South Pacific during WWII to warn Allied Forces of Japanese planes and ships. Essentially spies working behind enemy lines, the coastwatchers became a critical source of intelligence for the Allied Forces in the Pacific, often at great personal cost – more than 30 coastwatchers were beheaded in the heat of WWII.
“Execam had done several military history documentaries, so this was a natural fit,” says Brent Baader, Director of Major Projects at Execam. “Our chief historian Hugh Ambrose had worked on The Pacific, and assisted his father in the research for Band of Brothers. Hugh, like us, is fascinated with the Coastwatcher story. It was not well known during the war due to its secret nature, and many of these men and women never got the recognition they deserve. Through exhaustive research, we found the last four surviving coastwatchers, and as they tell their story of living in the jungle – always on the run, you can’t help but ask, ‘Could I have done that?’”
Over the years Execam has produced documentaries such as Last Man Standing, a story about New Zealand’s last WWI soldier; Then & Now – A Century of New Zealand Soldiering; Keeping the Peace, about New Zealand’s peacekeeping operations around the world; and Murder – Whodunnit?, an unprecedented full access to a murder investigation in New Zealand. The New Zealand-based production company also shot three series of Extraordinary Kiwis – an observational documentary series of 30-minute per episode for Prime Television. Execam also produced the WearableArt Awards for Prime TV with TVNZ.
Execam’s WWII documentary work has also brought them to old battle grounds outside of Asia-Pacific. For El Alamein – Crucible of Fire, the crew followed five New Zealand WWII veterans back to El Alamein in Egypt for the 50th anniversary of the conflict. In Kiwi Nightmare – The Battles of Monte Cassino, Execam examined New Zealand’s involvement in the Battles of Monte Cassino in central Italy, and revisited Kiwi General Bernard Fryberg’s controversial order to bomb the ancient Benedictine monastery in the mistaken belief it was occupied by German soldiers.
Execam has been in the business of TV and video production since 1992. Execam’s Managing Director Jim Greenhough, who has been reporting and producing television shows for over 30 years, admits the hardest part of the job is closing that crucial airtime deal. “Selling the concept to a broadcaster [is challenging]. The rest is relatively easy – find the subject, research it thoroughly, then shoot and edit.”
At the Asian Television Awards (ATA) Superpitch in December, Baader presented Coast Watchers of the South Pacific to senior executives from AETN All Asia Network, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, and Channel NewsAsia.
“I was so impressed with ATA Superpitch. Aside from our success with Coast Watchers, I met some terrific people there and got some great ideas. I really got a sense the center of the media world is shifting from New York to Singapore based on my experiences at Superpitch,” Baader shares. “It’s a great format. It’s so hard for video producers to get in front of the real decision makers. The group I presented in front of was blunt with their feedback – and that is very helpful. Sitting in the session, I totally got a sense of what they were looking for,” he adds.
“Even before I left ATA Superpitch, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific expressed interest in the project. To date, we have had a couple of conference calls with them. I have been talking with Vikram Channa, Vice President of Production and Development and Kevin Dickie, Senior Vice President of the Content Group. Although there is no firm commitment yet, they have expressed a strong interest.”
While talks continue, Execam is busy shooting Coast Watchers of the South Pacific. “Because of the age of all the people involved in the programme, we began filming several years ago – long before we knew if any network would carry the programme. One of the key people, Martin Clemens, has since passed away,” Baader explains. “Part of the programme will focus on Eroni Kumana – a scout working for Australian coastwatcher Arthur Reginald Evans. Eroni found John F. Kennedy and his crew from PT 109. He was just 15 years old when he found the future American president. With the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination coming up, the story of the coastwatchers will be back on everyone’s minds,” he adds. “To date, we have shot Coast Watchers on location in Melbourne, Canberra, Newcastle and Townsville, Australia, Honiara and Gizo in the Solomon Islands, as well as Auckland, New Zealand, Los Angeles, California and Helena, Montana in the U.S.”
Documentary production may be hard work, but it seems to suit Execam just fine. “We want to have fun doing what we do – making great television. It beats actually having to work for a living,” Greenhough says.
