This is a Hypertext Database with the subject of Working Dog Productions an Australian Film, Television and Radio production company. The idea of the database is to allow the readers to create their own pathways along their own lines of interest. The database contains commercial information about the specific media productions, along with critical reviews, scholarly writing and interviews with members of the Working Dog team. In order to provide a starting point for the exploration of this database there will be short discussions of two aspects of the output of Working Dog. Specifically these are concerned with Globalisation of National Identity in the two Working Dog feature film productions, The Dish(2000) and The Castle(1997) and with the idea of Working Dog as Auteur. Links from these two discussions will take the reader to excerpts from a particular article, review or interview, where a link will be provided to view the complete referenced text.
The origins of the Working Dog team were formed in the mid eighties when Rob, Santo and Tom met while performing student reviews as the D-Generation. The same people developed into the creators of Frontline and other shows such as and The Panel. Their work has also included radio shows and some more independent work such as Sitch and Gleisner's 'A River Somewhere' and Cilauro's 'The Campaign'. The Working Dog team are most well known as the creators of the two successful australian feature films, The Dish (2000) and The Castle (1997).
The two feature films produced by Working Dog, 'The Dish' (2000) and 'The Castle'(1997) raise issues concerned with the idea of an Australian National Cinema and the affect on the conception of a national cinema that globalisation, and especially the influence of Hollywood may have had. In terms of Their mode of production, both films can be considered small scale and indicative of what L Mortimer has called a "cottage industry collective working in the mass media." (reference) 'The Dish' is an example of a negotiation between this 'cottage' mode of production and the global influence of Hollywood. As such many writers acknowledge the hybrid nature of the film as both a local and global product, and point to the success of the films as a possible justification for the "procession of globally recognisable images that reinforce the fabricated overseas perception of Australia."Here are several references concerning the matter of National Identity and Globalisation in the two films, 'The Dish' and 'The Castle'
Because of the continuity within the Working Dog production team and the productions themselves there is a strong case for the collaborative to be considered as auteur. Their collaborative nature is a strong basis for a consistent vision of Australia and also for a consistent mix of humour, irony, parody and satire. Working Dog have control over their productions at every level often including an on screen presence. The question becomes, whether they can maintain this vision within a filmmaking paradigm that also seeks to expand into foreign markets? Or have they already managed this?