Local documentary series Big Fish Big Adventure can now be streamed on Amazon Prime while the Discovery Channel is looking to hook the distribution rights in international markets.
The eight-part series was shot and produced by local filmmakers David Quarrell and Johnny Nicol and shines a spotlight on the Bundaberg Region coastline in an Australian-first extreme fishing adventure.
The co-producers couldn’t be more thrilled with the interest they are receiving for Big Fish Big Adventure after listing it with a distributor about eight months ago.
“We have got a fair bit of interest from bigger national broadcasters here,” David said.
“The fact that they are looking at it and are interested is a good sign to start with.
“What it’s been good for, for Johnny and I, is that its opened doors to look at and work with other production companies.
“The Big Fish Big Adventure has been an excellent platform for our careers in that broadcasting space as producers.”
David said their biggest signing to date was Amazon Prime which had made the series available to its Australian and New Zealand customers, equating to about 1.7 million potential viewers in Australia alone.
He said they had requested it be “geo-blocked” to Amazon’s international viewers while they investigate their options with overseas markets with interest in India through the Discovery Channel.
“Once they’ve exhausted those options then we’ll remove that geo block so it will be accessible to the rest of the world,” David said.
A Middle East and North Africa (MENA) telecommunications provider has also made Big Fish Big Adventure available through its streaming service.
“I think they’ve got a population of about 400 million … so that’s pretty cool.”
If the series proves popular it could well mean that with Big Fish the local filmmakers have hit the big time with streaming companies paying per view.
David said it would be great if locals could get behind the local producers and show their support by watching Big Fish Big Adventure on Amazon Prime.
With Amazon affiliated with Internet Movie Database (IMDb), he said another way residents could show support was by leaving a review online.
“Your show gets rankings and stuff by people going on to IMDb,” David said.
“So that would be something that would be good if we’ve got locals here that have watched it and loved it if they can get on to IMDb and leave us a rating.
“It helps us with placing [on Amazon Prime].”
The success of Big Fish Big Adventure has opened plenty of doors for the pair.
“We’ve got another couple of series at the moment,” David said.
“We’ve been asked to go on set and help with a few other big productions for other production companies.
“We’ve pitched some of our ideas that they’re rolling with.
“We will start filming on those series in the next week.”
While David was unable to release too much information just yet he said any new releases from the pair would continue to showcase Queensland.
He said the biggest achievement in having come so far as “shooter producers” from their point of view was the fact that he and Johnny had managed to stay regional.
“To keep it local here has been really, really hard.
“It will be almost four years since we filmed the very first bit of that series.
“Our other series that we’re collaborating with that we’re pretty close to signing, we started that four years ago as well.
“They’ve all been a long, long time to create.”
Johnny had a choice to study at university or stay in the region and be mentored by David who said he was glad that Johnny would see the benefit of that now.
“It’s almost like an apprenticeship really.
“That I think has been really good for his development.”
With Big Fish going big time David said he hoped to soon be in a position to employ more local people.
He thanked the local community for the support that has been offered to the pair in their journey so far, including local businesses and the arts community.
- Find Big Fish Big Adventure on Amazon Prime.
