James Armitage, Regional Coordinator, SA Indigenous Policy & Service Delivery Branch
Australian Government, Attorney-General’s Department, July 2009
The 10×14 Bricks DVD not only provides an account of crime prevention strategies from the ‘world of the young offender’
but has provided the Department with an ideal medium and resource for new recruits and graduates who are wanting to
work with Indigenous young offenders and the juvenile justice system. The DVD has great potential to be used as a tool
for the Department’s induction process when new recruits commence working in the Indigenous Justice arena.
Sally Chance, Artistic Director
Australian Festival for Young People 2007
The appeal of the project and resource for me lies in the legacy of skills development that is built into young people’s documentary making. Techniques of video production are developed through professional development for teachers and hands-on training for young people, alongside concept development, which needs to be the primary motivation for making a film.
Alex Kelly, Producer, BigHart Npartji Npartji; Alice Springs, 2006
I have known Carl and Jennifer and their work for several years and regard them as very passionate and hard working filmmakers. That they are making these valuable skills easily accessible to educators is exciting.
In addition to the opportunity to gain media skills the process of telling stories through film has been very positive. I have seen this model employed in other cultural community development projects with fantastic outcomes.
There are few resources and opportunities in remote communities and the energy that tallstoreez team brings is invaluable.
Graham Cox, Department of Education SA
Policy and Program Officer, Arts Learning Outcomes & Curriculum Group, 2006
Students are powerful teachers of each other and the student-devised examples of documentary film making practice, which the resource features, will be a strong motivating aspect along with the practical activities for teachers.
Directing the Hero Within has considerable potential to advance media literacy and support engagement in digital storytelling and is aligned with several recommendations made by Thinker in Residence Peter Wintonick’s in his report Southern Screens: Southern Stories.
I feel that teachers across Australia and beyond will welcome Directing the Hero Within as a useful and practical guide to filmmaking and youth empowerment.
Peta Pash, Department of Education SA
TAFE SA Statewide Program Leader Creative & IT Industries, 2006
I have followed the development of the Hero Project and its resource with interest over the past years. tallstoreez productionz have impressed me with their passion and commitment to empowering young people to make films and tell their own stories. I strongly recommend their unique approach to link empowerment, youth health and innovative digital arts education.
From the South Australian Office for Youth website, 2006
The Directing a Hero Within project has allowed young people to express themselves and their thoughts about their community in a new medium,” Minister for Youth Caica said.
A training DVD, produced as part of the project earlier this month, won a national Australian Teacher of Media (ATOM) Award for the best instructional/training resource, which is a testament to the quality and sense of collaboration the project engendered.