‘It’s all a set-up’: the ‘fake’ Australian documentary TV series mining governments for millions
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- Electric Pictures' Aussie Gold Hunters received more than $4.7 million from WA's Screenwest between July 2015 and June 2022, with $4.1 million directly earmarked for the show, according to funding data seen by Guardian Australia.
- Prospero Productions' Outback Opal Hunters received more than $850,000 from Screenwest since 2018, and production notes obtained by the Guardian instruct crews to 'ramp up the drama/chaos,' manufacture rock falls and fake cliffhangers, and even have a 'diesel digger to inexplicably die.'
- A former Electric Pictures employee said Discovery Channel executives pressured crews to make scripted events happen on cue, including a scene in which off-camera crew sprayed a hose to simulate rain because the Kimberley wet season refused to arrive on schedule.
- In April, an anonymous group of WA film industry insiders demanded Screenwest investigate the funding, arguing the shows rely on 'engineered jeopardy, manufactured cliffhangers and personality clashes' and fail the Acma documentary test requiring subject matter 'grounded in fact.'
- Between 2015 and 2022, Electric Pictures and Prospero Productions together received 32% of all documentary-eligible production funding from Screenwest, with the two shows alone accounting for 16% of that pool.
- Screenwest has hired two former leaders from the implicated production companies: Rikki Lea Bestall, previously Prospero's head of production for Outback Opal Hunters, became Screenwest's CEO in May 2021, and Ingrid Longley, formerly Electric Pictures' head of production, was appointed head of industry development in 2026.
- Electric Pictures CEO Andrew Ogilvie defended the show's compliance with funding guidelines, and Prospero Productions managing director Julia Redwood said stories are 'authentic and based on extensive discussions with our contributors,' though neither addressed specific allegations that staff played scripted characters; Warner Bros Discovery did not respond.
Why it matters: The two shows consumed nearly a third of WA's documentary-eligible public funding for years, while Screenwest — the very body that awarded the grants — is now led by executives who came directly from the production companies in question. If Screen Australia and Screenwest tighten enforcement of the Acma documentary test, Prospero and Electric Pictures could lose eligibility for the 30% producer tax offset and future Screenwest grants, potentially redirecting millions toward genuinely factual documentary makers in the state.
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