What is a Shaman?
What is a Shaman?
JOHN PAUL FISCHBACH (EAGLE HEART) -
Producer/Creator/Presenter
Many years ago, a series of ‘accidental’ co-incidences led to John Paul formally training as a Native North American Shaman. He studied across the US and Canada as well as in Africa, Peru and Europe with many masters including Grandmother Twyla, Harley Swiftdeer and Sun Bear. For thirty years, he has practised and refined his particular shamanic skills as a ‘ceremony man’, healer and ‘site whisperer.’ He has the ability to tune in to the echoes of people from the past and converse with spirits of the land.
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He has great respect for scientists, researchers and the elders and custodians of traditional knowledge. For him, pursuing spiritual dimensions is only worthwhile if it leads to a practical application in our earthly lives. JP holds a pragmatic scepticism about the more esoteric aspects of spiritual exploration. He is cautious about accepting spiritual beliefs or practices unless he has direct experience of the phenomena himself.
As a shaman of the 21st century, John Paul believes passionately in the need for all of us to rebuild a healthy relationship with our planet. In his travels as a site-whisperer, he has gathered advice, lessons and wisdom from ancient times when the residents of the site had a closer and more symbiotic relationship with the land. He now leads tours to, and shares the lessons, history and wisdom of these places.
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John Paul is a Canadian/American film and theatre director, arts business advisor and shaman. He is a capable, informed and enthusiastic person, equally at home directing a performance of Tosca, devising cash-flow strategies for a puppet company or healing with sound.
Dr. Serena Love - Co-Host Presenter
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Serena is an anthropological archaeologist with 30 years’ experience working in Egypt, Turkey, Israel, Iraq and most recently in Australia. She earned a PhD from Stanford University with a specialty in geoarchaeology and prehistoric architecture, where her research developed new methods for analysing mudbricks and theoretically blending phenomenology and archaeological science to reach innovative interpretations about social lives in the past. Serena’s publications have focused on symbolic landscapes in Egypt and the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Turkey. Serena has lectured internationally and taught archaeology at Stanford, Brown University and University of Queensland, and held a Senior Fellowship at Koç University in Istanbul in 2016. Serena is committed to science communication and community-led research and has spent the past 7 years working with Aboriginal communities in Queensland with grant writing, capacity building and developing curriculum aligned, archaeology themed teaching materials for Australian classrooms. Serena uses archaeology to connect the people of today with the people of the past and she is driven to constantly explore, learn and share the subject wherever possible.
ROS WALKER - Producer
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Ros has produced three feature documentaries in the past four years which all released in 2022.
Into the Deep (Sundance) is a Danish true crime feature documentary for Netflix.
Everybody’s Oma (Sydney, MIFF, Cinefest Oz) was nominated for an AACTA Award for Best Feature Documentary and Best Social Impact Documentary for the ATOM Awards.
Splice Here; A Projected Odyssey (SIFF) is still in the cinemas. Ros is also producing The 100 Project, an online series celebrating the lives and stories of 100-year-olds across Australia.
Ros has produced and line-produced a wide range of stories, including feature documentaries Not Quite Hollywood, Jabbed – love, fear and vaccines and Portrait (Nicole Kidman), feature films including Peaches, a kid’s TV comedy series, online comedy series and many short documentaries and dramas.
Her industry roles include Director of Screen Production at FTI (WA), Lecturer in Producing at the VCA School of Film and TV and Manager, Film Victoria. She has been a member of many industry groups and been on the boards of WIFT and Melbourne Fringe and she is currently Deputy Chair at Wide Angle Tasmania.
Ros produced a series of webisodes about outstanding women in science and a comedy web series directed by John Paul Fischbach, Sex or Breakfast, which has over 1.6 million views.
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SIMON NASHT - Producer
One of Australia's most experienced documentary filmmakers, Simon has run successful independent production companies in the UK, US and Europe. He has written, produced or directed more than 50 films including theatrical features, series and television productions. These have screened to audiences all over the world, and have garnered many festival screenings and awards including Logies, AFI, Awgie, ADG, Eureka, BANFF, World Congress of Science and Factual Producers, Jackson Hole Median prizes among others.
Simon Nasht has produced award winning documentaries for broadcasters including all Australian networks, BBC, Channel 4, ITV, PBS, Discovery, National Geographic, ZDF, NHK and ARTE. He has worked as a foreign correspondent, political reporter and is a best-selling author.
The Children in the Pictures, 2021, Producer
Quoll Farm, 2021, Producer
Howard on Menzies- Building Modern Australia, 2016, Producer
Motorkite Dreaming, Doc Series 2016, Exec Producer
Frackman, 2015, Producer
The Hobbit Enigma, Documentary 2010, Producer
GARY COOPER - Indigenous Producer
Western Australia Episode
Gary Cooper was born in Kalgoorlie and raised in the Goldfields, is a member of the Wongutha people and speaks the Wongutha
language. Kalgoorlie is home to Gary’s great grandmother and her people.
Gary was the first Aboriginal to graduate in Theatre at the
WA Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) and has had a successful career as a film, television and theatre actor in Australia and overseas.
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He has established himself as a distinguished director and producer in Film still based in Kalgoorlie.
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Snow Boy, Producer
Mystery Road: Origin, Producer
Sugar Bag, Director, Writer
Talkabout Walkabout, Director
Stone Bros, Actor
JOANNE DONAHOE-BECKWITH - Set-up Director
Joanne thrives on challenge and ground breaking content be it scripted or observational, ultimately for her it all comes down to story, originality, innovation and collaboration.
Joanne is an Australian Director and Director of Photography. Her directing credits, both second and main unit on a number of productions, include five episodes of Tony Matin's ‘A Quiet Word with…’ and Indigenous documentary 'Warrakurna Roads'. She is currently Director and Director of Photography on a Series of Cinema shorts promoting Yarraville.
She is one of Australia’s most experienced and diverse Directors of Photography, her work includes the comedy series ‘Utopia', 'It’s A Date' and 'How to Stay Married’. Australia's highest rating TV feature documentary 'Molly: The Real Thing’ as well as ground breaking series documentaries 'First Contact Series 2’, 'Filthy Rich and Homeless’, 'Everyone’s a Critic', and 'The Obesity Myth'.
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The breadth and variety of productions Joanne has worked on thankfully makes it difficult to pigeon hole her. From Feature Films, Comedy Series to Documentary each job comes with its own set of parameters and fundamentally comes down to telling stories.