Sally Aitken is an Australian documentary film and television director, writer, and producer. She is known for ''Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story''; ''David Stratton: A Cinematic Life''; and ''Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles''. She is co-founder, co-principal (with Aline Jacques), and director of the all-female film production company SAM Content.
Career
Sally Aitken has produced, written, and directed several documentary films.
She is known for her work on the documentaries ''Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story'', ''David Stratton: A Cinematic Life'' (about film critic
David Stratton
David James Stratton (born 1939) is an English-Australian film critic and historian. He has also worked as a journalist, interviewer, educator, television personality, and producer. His career as a film critic, writer, and educator in Austral ...
), ''
Streets of Your Town
"Streets Of Your Town" is a song by Australian indie group The Go-Betweens that was released as the lead single from their 1988 album ''16 Lovers Lane''. Featuring polished production, a prominent backing vocal by Amanda Brown and a guitar solo by ...
'', and ''
The Week the Women Went''.
In 2022, she co-founded the production company Sam Content, with Aline Jacques. In the same year, her documentary ''Playing with Sharks'', which was produced by Bettina Dalton, was screened at
Sundance
A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony.
Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to:
Places
;Canada
* Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood
* Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town
;United States
* Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated pl ...
.
[
She co-wrote, directed and produced the documentary feature, ''Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles'', for ]Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
, released in 2023. Co-writer and -director was Fraser Grut, and Aline Jacques, Cass Avery, Daniel Story, and Fraser Grut were co-producers on the film.
She wrote and directed the feature-length documentary, ''Every Little Thing'', which was selected for screening in the documentary competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023.
The festival has acted ...
. The film was produced by Bettina Dalton,Adelaide Film Festival
The Adelaide Film Festival (AFF, formerly ADLFF) is a film festival usually held for two weeks in mid-October in movie theater, cinemas in Adelaide, South Australia. Originally presented wikt:Special:Search/biennial, biennially in March from 2 ...
in October 2024, with Aitken in attendance at the first screening. The film follows retired writer and teacher Terry Masear, who rescues injured and abandoned hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...
s at her bird rescue centre, the Los Angeles Hummingbird Rescue, for a season.
Accolades
Aitken was nominated for Emmy Awards
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
in 2018 at the International Emmy Award for Best Arts Programming
The International Emmy Award for Best Arts Programming is presented by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (IATAS) to the best arts programs produced and initially aired outside of the United States.
Rules and regulations
Und ...
for the documentary film ''David Stratton: A Cinematic Life'', and at the 43rd News and Documentary Emmy Awards for the documentary ''Playing With Sharks'' in 2022.
List of awards and nominations
Filmography
References
External links
*
SAM Content
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aitken, Sally
Living people
Australian women screenwriters
Australian documentary film directors
Australian women documentary filmmakers
Year of birth missing (living people)
Australian women film directors