Hi Currie Communications. I’m Jimmy. Nice to meet you.

I’m a filmmaker based in Townsville, QLD, which has been my hustle for the last 8 years, since moving to Australia from Berlin Germany. I learnt video-production there, working my way through the ranks from Intern to Producer at VICE Media’s Berlin studio.

After a couple of challenging years finding my footing as a filmmaker in regional Australia, I found my documentary groove again field-producing and shooting as a Unit DoP for the likes of Netflix, Stan and the BBC. This included coordinating and filming a lot of interviews with experts from the Australian Institute of Marine Science and James Cook University.

Over the past four years, my business has evolved. I now specialise in producing three-to-five-minute films for local scientific and government organisations. This is why I’m writing to you.

A big part of my job now involves refining large amounts of information into a digestible story….

  • Understanding each client’s story and goals

  • Reviewing large amounts of written resources and raw footage

  • Developing the story for shooting and identifying the key characters

  • Crafting interview questions and performing interviews with a focus on provoking emotional and passionate responses

  • Working with hours of interview transcripts to find the strongest expressions of the story

  • Delivering an engaging and concise short-film, often with teasers in different aspect ratios for socials.

I have (by accident) developed a communications skill-set, and am looking for advice on where to go from here.

I understand the world of film-production from the inside, but my experience with the communications industry has been limited to working with comms-teams as a contracted shooter-producer, remotely.

How do I augment my current skill-set with learning or experience to lean further in to something that I am clearly capable of, that also sets me apart from the other filmmakers here?

Please take the time to peruse the examples of my work below.

I would be extremely grateful if you would allow me a minute of your time on the phone as an exercise in networking and careers-advice.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Jimmy

The Northern Australian Marine Monitoring Alliance

Directed, Produced, Edited, After Effects titles and graphics by Jimmy Purtill, Interviews by Various, Interviews at AIMS by Jimmy Purtill

I had to digest a trove of text based resources and preview hours of raw footage, before sitting down with representatives from AIMS and NAMMA to understand where the focus of the story should be. In this case the purpose of the film was to explain the project and its benefits in a non-convoluted way, to help look for further funding.

I crafted interview questions and organised a day of interview shooting at AIMS.

From 4 hours of interviews, using transcripts and a refined information processing workflow, I produced the following film. The 1 minute preview contains graphics which I have built from scratch in After Effects.

Monitoring fish communities with Manbarra Traditional Owners

Directed and Produced by, Sound, Drone, Editing, Interviews: Jimmy Purtill, Camera: Nick Bent

For this film a camera-operator and I spent 3 days at a remote marine research station during a knowledge exchange between Manbarra Leaders and Elders, and scientists from AIMS, JCU and USQ. I saw a unique opportunity to capture interesting conversations as they unfolded, which meant capturing audio with a boom-pole. This gave the film an immersive documentary feel.

Signet Magnetic Island Koala Hopsital

Directed, Produced, Interviews, Edited by Jimmy Purtill. Camera: Cody Smith-West, Jimmy Purtill. Animation: Brentos,

Signet came to me with access to this amazing story, and very vague ideas for a video-mini-series. I poured my heart and soul into helping them achieve something special within their limited budget.

The resulting series of six films is the most comprehensive effort in story-telling I have undertaken to date. I had to identify the multiple themes that would carry the series, set them up in the early episodes and organise filming each time a chance would offer itself to progress those stories. I was incredibly personally invested in making this series happen. I approach all my films with the same commitment,

“ Finding the right filmmaker for our latest sponsorship project wasn't easy. With our subject matter on the other side of the country, an unpredictable schedule and very little notice before key moments unfolded, we needed someone we could trust completely. Jimmy proved to be exactly that...

  • From the outset, he took ownership of the production, handling everything from directing and filming to interviewing, audio, editing and managing with the people involved in our sponsorship. He travelled independently, captured events as they happened, and took the very limited direction we could give him and turned it into something that genuinely exceeded our expectations.

    Although we're not usually comfortable handing over that level of creative control, Jimmy quickly earned our trust. Time and again, he took loose ideas and turned them into thoughtful, high-quality content that genuinely reflected what we were trying to achieve. He worked closely with our team, listened to the little feedback we gave him and refined every piece to make sure it aligned with our vision. His professionalism, initiative and ability to adapt to changing circumstances made the entire process straightforward and enjoyable.

    We wouldn't hesitate to recommend Jimmy to anyone looking for a talented, reliable and creative filmmaker. He has an incredible instinct for storytelling, solved problems as they arose and consistently delivered work of an exceptionally high standard. We couldn't have asked for a better partner on this project.

    - Andrew Hibbins - Manager Content and Sponsorship - Signet Australia. ahibbins@signet.net.au

Creating Impact through Partnerships

Directed, Produced, Interviews, Editing by Jimmy Purtill. Camera: Various, see film credits.

This film is one of a series of four films I was commissioned to make for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (the premiere Marine Biology Institute globally at the time).

I setup a backdrop and had an assistant man the cameras, whilst I recorded sound and interviewed 17 scientists over the course of 3 days. I was provided with hours of footage captured by scientists in the field.

Ark Energy - Chillumbin Windfarm

Directed, Produced, Interviews, Drone, Edited, by Jimmy Purtill. Camera: Nick Bent, Jimmy Purtill

The story below was a last-minute attempt to counter the misinformation campaign against the proposed Chillumbin windfarm (later renamed Wooroora windfarm). I had 1 week to digest text based resources, get my head in story, develop a shooting-schedule, before heading up to Ravenshoe to meet the team from ARK Energy. We spent 5 days filming, then I came back and had the first draft edited in 3 days.