• • 2023

• min

The Giants

• • 2023

• min

Synopsis

The Giants explores the intertwined fates of trees and humans in this poetic yet high-octane portrait of Australian environmental folk hero and gay icon Bob Brown who harnessed people power to take green politics from the fringes to the centre of power. From a seedling to forest elder The Giants interweaves Bob’s extraordinary story with the life cycle of the ancient trees he is fighting for. Epic and cinematic, The Giants is a masterclass in activism that ignites an urgent conversation about the right of the Forest to exist and challenges the audience to write the next chapter.

Biography and filmography

Laurence Billiet is a co-founder of production company General Strike. In 2001 she founded Lonely Planet Television and executive produced dozens of TV including Lonely Planet Six Degrees for Discovery. She was the first Producer ever to secure original commissions from US digital platform Hulu and Al Gore's Current TV. Laurence also executive produced hundreds of online videos for Vice, i-D, Hulu, Babelgum, Facebook Live and Youtube. After several years overseas, Laurence moved back to Melbourne to establish General Strike and pivoted to directing the films she produces. The first full-length film she directed, FREEMAN, which premiered on the ABC TV, was the most watched documentary of 2020 on Australian TV. Laurence is the recipient of the prestigious 2021 Betty Roland Award for Scriptwriting at the NSW Premier Literary Awards and the 2021 Australian Directors Guild Award for Best Direction in a Documentary one-hour.  Rachael Antony is a co-founder of General Strike and the studio’s head writer. Rachael has over 20 years’ experience as a writer and journalist, having written for television, online and print. She has worked as a writer/researcher for television series, such as Lonely Planet Six Degrees (SBS, Discovery) and Family Footsteps (ABC). She has scripted and produced around 100 short form videos including the Webby award-winning series Freewheelers. She spent several years in Paris where she oversaw editorial and community for Silicon Valley news app Flipboard and curated news coverage of events such as the Paris terrorist attacks, the World Cup and COP 21. Most recently she acted as Script Editor for FREEMAN (ABC TV).

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