About

Steph Vajda

Steph is a producer, director and editor who also shoots and pilots drones. For over ten years Steph has blended his careers in engagement and community arts with filmmaking, specialising in designing collaborative projects with storytellers and communities.

With a focus on inclusion, voice and social change, Steph brings a unique approach to filmmaking where participants are supported to share their stories through culture and place and to be actively involved in shaping narratives and the filmmaking process.

Over the past few years Steph’s documentary work has included themes of First Nations justice, creative approaches to mental health and suicide prevention, substance abuse and access to housing, delivered alongside a range of creative projects including music videos, web series and short films.

Supporting the next generation is an important part of Steph's work. As a 2nd generation settler in Australian (born in Magandjin-Brisbane) with Sri Lankan heritage, his work through Article One includes a strong focus on developing mentoring, training and experiential pathways for emerging First Nations filmmakers.

Steph and Dan formed Article One in 2021 with Sam joining the team in 2022.

Download Steph's profile HERE

Dan Baebler

Dan is a multitalented filmmaker adept in all stages of the filmmaking process – conceptualisation, shooting, editing, colour grading and audio mixing. 

Dan has created dozens of films including music videos, social advocacy, corporate video, event documentation and drama. Dan has a special interest in social justice and frequently mentors marginalised young people through filmmaking and digital storytelling. He has also worked with First Nations communities all across Queensland.

Prior to his career in film production Dan worked for 15 years as a multimedia communications designer, a skill-set that spans graphic design, motion graphics animation and video editing. This background dovetails with Dan’s cinematography skills to allow him to independently cover all aspects of film production. On large projects Dan has demonstrated capability in sub-contracting and directing other creatives as needed.

Outside of work, Dan has played for 20 years in punk rock band Sixfthick (and others) which was the subject of the 2010 ABC documentary Sixfthick: Notes from the Underground in which Dan scored the incidental music for this film.

Siena Stubbs

As a young Yolŋu woman, Siena grew up in the community of Yirrkala surrounded by her family and culture. Her love for learning and sharing knowledge guides her between both worlds; Yolŋu and Ŋapaki, and helped her graduate from Nhulunbuy High School in 2019 as the Co-School Captain, with a strong sense of self. Since graduating, Siena has begun working at The Mulka Project, further developing her skills as a Film Maker and Artist. In 2020, her work ‘Shinkansen (2020)’ was awarded the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award – Multimedia Prize. She also produced and filmed a story that featured ABC’s ‘Lockdown Stories (2020)’, telling the story of how her community faced COVID-19. Currently, Siena is about to graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film, Screen & New Media) from the Queensland University of Technology.

Siena joins Article One as an emerging editor with an interest in learning camera technique and Directing. Our team will provide support and mentoring for Siena through the post production process. 

Karina Hogan

Born in Logan on the south side of Magandjin (Brisbane), Karina Hogan is part of a big Aboriginal and South Sea Islander family. With a degree in Journalism and International Politics, Karina is a mother to two beautiful children and works as a journalist and content producer at ABC Radio Brisbane.

We collaborate with Karina on projects she produces outside of ABC as part of her personal practice. We also are developing concepts with her for future production. We love working with Karina who is a powerhouse networker and relationship builder with big dreams (that we share!) about the content she wants to create. ]

Check out Karina's latest project with Jenae - Bloodlines To Country

Brendan Blacklock

Blacklock Media is a proudly Aboriginal owned boutique film and video media production house creating music videos, television commercials, award-winning narrative and documentary short films, and corporate video. We collaborate with Brendan and the team on projects like the 2023 NAIDOC National Awards and NSW Health's Take Blaktion project, as well as providing sound recording, camera op and post production services where requested.

Check out Blacklock Media's website

Jenae Tien

Jenae Tien is a media professional with over 8 years of experience and spent an impressive six years at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

As a versatile multimedia producer, she excels in film, digital content, radio, producing and podcasting and is acclaimed for her award-winning work on the podcast "Bloodlines to Country." With expertise in interviewing, Jenae crafts inclusive and engaging stories. 

She is also the author of the educational resource "Deck of Diversity" and the founder of "Expand Your Library," a social enterprise promoting allyship and cultural diversity within organisations and educational settings.

Check out Jenae's latest project with Karina - Bloodlines To Country

The Big Anxiety - an initiative of UNSW

Last year we produced a few exciting film projects with Professor Jill Bennett (founder of The Big Anxiety) and her team based at UNSW in Sydney. In 2021 together we began working with the Warwick community on a co-designed augmented reality story project, Hard Place/Good Place. At that time, while in the community filming a Long Table dialogue on suicide and mental health, the opportunity to create a documentary about the a group of local women acting on their vision to create better local support structures. Changing Our Ways is a feature documentary currently entered into film festivals and seeking distribution. We also produced 2 short films, Slice/Silence and I'd Rather Die, both on mental health awareness raising and advocating for better understanding and support for people struggling with long term trauma. We also documented Big Anxiety Festivals in Magandjin (Brisbane) and Naarm (Melbourne). In 2024 we're hoping to continue collaborating with The Big Anxiety, particularly regarding men's mental health and suicide prevention needs.

Queensland Music Festival

In April 2022 we filmed and edited socials content for Queensland Music Festival through a glorious days filming at The Long Sunset, a music festival set in beautiful Canungra and featuring Angus and Julia Stone headlining. Since then we’ve filmed with the QMF team throughout 2023 around the state at a range of small community events, regional gigs and large festivals including Opera at Jimbour, Outback Trails, Shine on Gimuy (Cairns), Yarrabah Music Festival, Sweet Relief (Brisbane) and Between the Tides (Mackay). We also documented local landscapes, sights and people along the way including collecting some pretty amazing drone footage for QMF to deliver their own marketing directly. We look forward to an ongoing relationship working with QMF in 2024!

Check out one of the reels we created for them in 2022 HERE

First People's Disability Network (FPDN)

We’ve been working with FPDN since early 2023 to create a set of training resources and social media films that capture the unique stories and advocacy needs of First Nations people with a disability. Traveling to locations including Thursday Island, Cairns, Port Macquarie, Darwin, Alice Springs, Adelaide, Mt Gambier, Derby, Broome and Perth, we captured some of the most incredible stories and have turned those into a highly valued set of films that we hope to share soon. In total, we've produced 7 training films and 7 character portraits to support their advocacy work. 

We really appreciate the way that Carly and her team at FPDN operates, resulting in a genuine partnership and facilitation of film shoots that generated such real stories about often difficult topics. The relationship we’ve built with FPDN has directly led to the creation of a powerful set of films we hope can achieve positive outcomes in advocating for the needs of First Nations people with a disability.

Stay tuned for an exciting year in 2024 as we release 14 films we've been making, plan international advocacy trips to share the films and hope to expand the work to create new films.

SAE Creative Media Institute

Contemporary and inspiring, SAE courses are definitively high-tech and have their finger on the pulse of creative industries around the world. They offer courses in more than 20 countries with around 50 campuses, enabling collaboration with a world view! We work with SAE to create promotional film content for them, as well as supporting film students with placement options where there's a fit with our current project delivery. Check out their website.

The Crackup Sisters

Just in case you've been living under a rock and haven't heard of them, The Crackup Sisters are whip crackin' clowns from out Winton way, in Central West Queensland. We got to travel all aorund with them speaking to other artists who've loved their days working and traveling in outback Australia.

And from those adventures we've made a little 6 part web series called Outback Artists that you seriously need to check out once it's released. Stay tuned for more info! We're currently talking with Crackup Sisters about creating another series.

Watch the trailer HERE