DOCUMENTARY
Heidi Lee Douglas is an award winning Australian documentary director whose work has focused on social change storytelling. She is widely known for her powerful autobiographical documentary DEFENDANT 5 (ABC & Al Jazeera) about her battle with logging giant Gunns Ltd, which was awarded Best Short Film at Green Film Festival in Seoul 2016; was nominated for the Golden Kapok Award, Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival 2015 and led Heidi to be honoured as a “Heritage Hero” by the German Government at the opening ceremony of the World Heritage Committee’s meeting in Bonn, 2015.
Heidi is currently developing the feature documentary SEEKING SALI with Consultant Producer Tom Zubrycki; two factual lifestyle series with Gardening Australia Guest Presenter Hannah Moloney; and has recently completed development of the fine art series ELEMENTAL with support from Screen NT. Recently Heidi was Director of Photography on Kelli-Jean Drinkwater's feature documentary NOTHING TO LOSE (SBS); shot and edited for Behind the Scenes documentary shorts for Deadhouse Films/Rockzeline's feature SKINFORD 2 and web series PET KILLER; edited the one hour version of Neil Lawrence's directorial debut TO SPRING FROM THE HAND and the short film SOULS KITCHEN, about the life and work of artist Paulus Berensohn.
Heidi's other broadcast credits include Editor, VOICES IN THE DARK (30 mins, ABC Arts), Online Editor, PORTRAIT OF A DISTANT LAND (3 x 30mins, SBS), Second Camera and Director's Attachment THE MISSION (3 x 30 min, ABC Compass), Second Camera WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BRENDA HEAN? (90 Mins), and Additional Camera on Vu Die Ciele (ARTE) and THE LAST VALLEY (60 mins, ABC). Her archival footage has featured in broadcast documentaries worldwide.
Heidi has worked extensively as an independent producer/director/shooter/editor creating pioneering social change documentary and web-content for arts, environment and Aboriginal organisations across Australia and the South Pacific, through which she gained rich life experience, multifaceted production expertise and strong leadership skills.
Before relocating Dark Lake Productions from Hobart to Sydney in 2012 Heidi produced and directed a series of lifestyle programs for government organisations. These included creating the MAP OF A DREAM OF THE FUTURE climate change education kit, and using the kit to lead subsequent creative writing in class primary schools in regional Tasmania (Arts Tasmania); EAT WELL, GROW WELL a web series on how to establish community gardens (Eat Well Tasmania); ACTIVE KIDS, a web series on enabling primary school children to stay active and healthy through a school led program; and STILL GARDENING, a gardening web series to enable elderly people to stay in their homes (Hobart City Council).
Passionate about empowering minority voices, Heidi has provided video production training in remote communities in the Pilbara, Arnhem Land, Cape York, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and regional Tasmania with organisations like Big hART, Wan Smolbag, Chuulangun Aboriginal Corporation, Martu Media and the Yugul Mangi Rangers.
EARLY CAREER
Heidi felt a bolt of lightning when she picked up a video camera at age 17 and begun filming documentaries, and went on to major in Video Production major (Bachelor of Arts, Media and Communications Studies) at the University of Newcastle whilst being mentored and working as Production/Camera Assistant on Catherine Marciniak's acclaimed documentary about the closure of Newcastle's BHP, STEEL CITY (ABC).
Heidi's graduate films focused on social change documentary storytelling. After university Heidi independently produced, directed, shot and edited the award winning half hour documentary FOOTSTEPS (2001) about Aboriginal land rights issues in arid South Australia. After travelling throughout war-torn East Timor and providing footage for Reuters, Heidi went to Tasmania to make a documentary about community division over logging. She independently produced and directed the 45 minute documentary THE TREES THAT ATE TASMANIA, which was strategically released during the Tasmanian state election campaign in 2003. Heidi was then approached by The Wilderness Society who created a position for her as their in-house national Video Producer.
Over the next six years Heidi wrote/produced/directed/shot and edited numerous game-changing short documentaries and pioneering web-content about critical Australian environmental issues. Her films won international awards and were highly influential. Significantly, Heidi's films and footage archive was used globally to draw attention to the destruction of Tasmania's ancient forests, leading to her being targeted by a massive SLAPP suit to try and silence her work. Logging company Gunns Ltd sued Heidi and 19 other critics for over $6.4 million dollars in an unsuccessful test economic tort that challenged the right to free speech. During this five year court battle Heidi documented the case and set up Dark Lake Productions, to allow her to diversify into broadcast documentary and drama film production.
Heidi Lee Douglas is an award winning Australian documentary director whose work has focused on social change storytelling. She is widely known for her powerful autobiographical documentary DEFENDANT 5 (ABC & Al Jazeera) about her battle with logging giant Gunns Ltd, which was awarded Best Short Film at Green Film Festival in Seoul 2016; was nominated for the Golden Kapok Award, Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival 2015 and led Heidi to be honoured as a “Heritage Hero” by the German Government at the opening ceremony of the World Heritage Committee’s meeting in Bonn, 2015.
Heidi is currently developing the feature documentary SEEKING SALI with Consultant Producer Tom Zubrycki; two factual lifestyle series with Gardening Australia Guest Presenter Hannah Moloney; and has recently completed development of the fine art series ELEMENTAL with support from Screen NT. Recently Heidi was Director of Photography on Kelli-Jean Drinkwater's feature documentary NOTHING TO LOSE (SBS); shot and edited for Behind the Scenes documentary shorts for Deadhouse Films/Rockzeline's feature SKINFORD 2 and web series PET KILLER; edited the one hour version of Neil Lawrence's directorial debut TO SPRING FROM THE HAND and the short film SOULS KITCHEN, about the life and work of artist Paulus Berensohn.
Heidi's other broadcast credits include Editor, VOICES IN THE DARK (30 mins, ABC Arts), Online Editor, PORTRAIT OF A DISTANT LAND (3 x 30mins, SBS), Second Camera and Director's Attachment THE MISSION (3 x 30 min, ABC Compass), Second Camera WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BRENDA HEAN? (90 Mins), and Additional Camera on Vu Die Ciele (ARTE) and THE LAST VALLEY (60 mins, ABC). Her archival footage has featured in broadcast documentaries worldwide.
Heidi has worked extensively as an independent producer/director/shooter/editor creating pioneering social change documentary and web-content for arts, environment and Aboriginal organisations across Australia and the South Pacific, through which she gained rich life experience, multifaceted production expertise and strong leadership skills.
Before relocating Dark Lake Productions from Hobart to Sydney in 2012 Heidi produced and directed a series of lifestyle programs for government organisations. These included creating the MAP OF A DREAM OF THE FUTURE climate change education kit, and using the kit to lead subsequent creative writing in class primary schools in regional Tasmania (Arts Tasmania); EAT WELL, GROW WELL a web series on how to establish community gardens (Eat Well Tasmania); ACTIVE KIDS, a web series on enabling primary school children to stay active and healthy through a school led program; and STILL GARDENING, a gardening web series to enable elderly people to stay in their homes (Hobart City Council).
Passionate about empowering minority voices, Heidi has provided video production training in remote communities in the Pilbara, Arnhem Land, Cape York, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and regional Tasmania with organisations like Big hART, Wan Smolbag, Chuulangun Aboriginal Corporation, Martu Media and the Yugul Mangi Rangers.
EARLY CAREER
Heidi felt a bolt of lightning when she picked up a video camera at age 17 and begun filming documentaries, and went on to major in Video Production major (Bachelor of Arts, Media and Communications Studies) at the University of Newcastle whilst being mentored and working as Production/Camera Assistant on Catherine Marciniak's acclaimed documentary about the closure of Newcastle's BHP, STEEL CITY (ABC).
Heidi's graduate films focused on social change documentary storytelling. After university Heidi independently produced, directed, shot and edited the award winning half hour documentary FOOTSTEPS (2001) about Aboriginal land rights issues in arid South Australia. After travelling throughout war-torn East Timor and providing footage for Reuters, Heidi went to Tasmania to make a documentary about community division over logging. She independently produced and directed the 45 minute documentary THE TREES THAT ATE TASMANIA, which was strategically released during the Tasmanian state election campaign in 2003. Heidi was then approached by The Wilderness Society who created a position for her as their in-house national Video Producer.
Over the next six years Heidi wrote/produced/directed/shot and edited numerous game-changing short documentaries and pioneering web-content about critical Australian environmental issues. Her films won international awards and were highly influential. Significantly, Heidi's films and footage archive was used globally to draw attention to the destruction of Tasmania's ancient forests, leading to her being targeted by a massive SLAPP suit to try and silence her work. Logging company Gunns Ltd sued Heidi and 19 other critics for over $6.4 million dollars in an unsuccessful test economic tort that challenged the right to free speech. During this five year court battle Heidi documented the case and set up Dark Lake Productions, to allow her to diversify into broadcast documentary and drama film production.
