3 x 67min OBSERVATIONAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES, 2023
A Stan Original Documentary Series
Series Director/ Producer: Nick Piper
Production Co: Onion TV
Post Production: Remote Five Studios
Senior Post Producer: Rob Sarroff
Colour Grade: Angela Cerasi for Peachy Keen Colour
This observational documentary series was colour graded by Angela Cerasi in SDR and HDR. The series was produced by producer Nick Piper for Onion TV, in association with Screen Queensland. Post production was completed under Rob Sarroff and Remote Five Studios, including the in-person HDR pass. The SDR pass was completed remotely.
The Stan Original series follows legendary coach Wayne Bennett as he prepares the Queensland-based Dolphins for their inaugural NRL season.
Three three-part observational documentary series gives fans an exclusive look at the thrills and challenges ahead of the Dolphins’ inaugural NRL season – and a very rare glimpse inside the mind of supercoach Wayne Bennett.
Following their stunning fairytale debut in front of more than 32,000 fans in March 2023, as they upset the premiership favourites in the Sydney Roosters, Dawn of the Dolphins documents the formative months of the first new club to join the National Rugby League (NRL) in 16 years. Featuring unprecedented access to the remarkable tale of the Queensland-based side as they prepare to transition from successful community club to elite professional force in the world’s leading rugby league competition.
The fly-on-the-wall camera crew tracked the year-long preparations, from securing the successful bid to the 2023 kickoff, in a story anchored by the business of becoming ‘NRL-ready’ – including rare glimpses of the pressures and expectations facing the club.
Navigating the club through their first tentative steps is supercoach Wayne Bennett, a giant of the sport, being the most successful NRL coach in history with seven premiership wins to his name. Bennett is a notably private person who returns home to Brisbane to oversee the recruitment and help lay the building blocks for long-term success.
Joining Bennett is CEO Terry Reader, an experienced sports administrator who deals with the challenges of creating a club from scratch, and Peter O’Sullivan, the country’s most revered talent spotter, and the man negotiating the club’s first major signings.
This three-episode series is an exclusive backstage pass to a real-life portrayal of a start-up sports organisation, of livelihoods that will hang off the numbers on the scoreboard, of a talent-rich region hungry for its own flagship NRL club, and the building of a business from the ground up.
The show aired in HDR and SDR on Stan.
Senior Colourist Angela Cerasi broke down how the visual look of the series was achieved here. To see more examples of Angela Cerasi’s graded work, click here.