EXCLUSIVE: Last month, Michael Sheen appeared in a new BBC interview series The Assembly has popped up on social media, and now Australia’s biggest and brightest names are getting the chance for a similar experience.
We can announce that public broadcaster ABC has ordered an Australian version The Assembly (also known as The A talks), with Mark Fennessy’s Helium Pictures attached to produce a six-part series. Production will be announced shortly at ABC’s Upfront in Sydney today.
The Assembly is adapted from a French hit The Papotin meetingswhich started two years ago on France 2. Helium began production yesterday and will continue for six weeks, with a possible network premiere date in the third quarter.
The Australian show follows a group of autistic student journalists as they prepare for an interview with six of the country’s biggest names, including Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The other stars are secret, but Fennessy told Deadline, “You can call them national treasures.”
Leigh Sales, one of Australia’s top interviewers, will mentor and prepare the journalists to learn their craft – how to research the week’s interviewee and work through spin to reveal the persona behind the public figure. The highlight of each episode is the joint questioning of the famous name.
Sales is best known as a long-time moderator of 7:30 – ABC News and as host of the country’s federal election and budget night shows. In particular, she has interviewed every living Australian Prime Minister as well as Hollywood stars such as Leonardo di Caprio. She was awarded an Order of Australia medal for her services to journalism.
All students undertake a specially designed Macquarie University journalism course, the first of its kind in Australia. The show is produced with support from Aspect, Australia’s largest service for people on the autism spectrum, and Bus Stop Films, an Australian social enterprise that supports people with disabilities in filmmaking.
Helium produces for ABC, with production funding from Screen NSW. Melissa Maclean is showrunner. She is also an executive producer alongside Fennessy, Therese Hegarty and Julie Hanna, ABC’s Editor-in-Chief of Factual TV.
In the United Kingdom, Its dark materials Star Sheen’s interview with the BBC resulted in several viral clips in which 35 young journalists criticized him in unconventional, funny and charming ways. The show was linked to Autism Awareness Week.
The original version featured French President Emmanuel Macron, as did Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in the Danish version: A special conversation (A special interview) on DR1. The first international version was for Warner Bros. Discovery’s TVN in Poland, while Antonio Banderas was the first guest on Telecinco’s Spanish remake. 100% unique.
“The Assembly is as honest and authentic as it gets,” Sales said. “The student journalists don’t give guests a chance to hide behind spin or obfuscation, and it’s so nice to see our interviewees adopting a new way of interviewing. I look forward to sharing my knowledge and experience with this curious group and helping them discover new opportunities for themselves.”
In an interview with Deadline, Maclean said that while Australia “has generally not been great when it comes to diversity and autism in the media, there is a desire for change and so it is the right time for it.” The Assembly.”
She revealed that autistic people have been hired for numerous off-camera roles, adding a layer of authenticity to the narrative. “It was a wonderful process,” she added. “If you create an autism-friendly world, it is a friendly world for everyone. These different perspectives can surprise us all.”
“Every now and then a groundbreaking idea comes along that gets to the heart of the importance of diversity in Australian media,” Hanna said. “We are incredibly proud to bring this authentic series to audiences as six extraordinary Australians are interviewed by the autistic student journalists.”
“It is a great privilege to recognize the value and real talent of autistic people – to include diverse voices and hear new perspectives in conversations of national interest,” added Helium founder and chief creative officer Fennessy. “The Assembly promises to be truly compelling, groundbreaking television. With no theme, our viewers can look forward to interviews full of joy, chaos and revelation.”
Fennessy, who produced the Australian versions of Nursing home for 4 year olds And The chorus of hard blowsadded that socially engaged formats “that are touchstones for a wider community” played a key role in shining a spotlight on people from different backgrounds and different socio-economic conditions.
Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache – the French film directors behind it The untouchables, The special offers And That’s life! – created the format originally produced by Kiosco.TV & Quad+Ten. International distribution is carried out by Can’t Stop Media, the Anglo-French format house headed by Matthieu and Damien Porte as well as Arnaud Renard.