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In an unforgiving region of red dirt at the heart of Western Australia’s goldfields, a fierce conflict is expected to turn violent. As the cameras roll, the tainted detectives confront a criminal who is caught in a conspiracy on their claims.
It’s an abbreviated episode of Aussie Gold Hunters, a documentary series that publisher Warner Bros Discovery says has attracted more than 40 million viewers in more than 140 countries, making it Australia’s most successful show on its platform.
The face of the would-be thief is very pixelated. But the impostor’s appearance and hairstyle bear a striking resemblance to the Aussie Gold Hunters producer.
“Just be careful, my friend,” another researcher, Dale Harring, warns a business partner a few stories later in the same season, as he prepares to meet the intruders. It was a scene that left some in the film industry wondering who was holding the camera, as the famous scapegoat of the impostor and the South African model was like an Electric Pictures camera operator.
In April, Mr ABC Media Watch he also mentioned other scenes in Aussie Gold Hunters that appeared to be played, including one involving a “spoiler” who was actually the show’s creator, Michael Dye. Dye told Media Watch that the event was a “fun” event that he could not help but be a part of because there was no one else.
Electronic Pictures has made a success of Aussie Gold Hunters on direct funding from the WA Screenwest government’s documentary funding (mainly funded by state lottery funds) and tax deductions through the federally funded Screen Australia, on the basis that they are Australian-made films. The production company received more than $4.7m from Screenwest between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2022, the amount of which was not disclosed, of which $4.1m was directly invested in Aussie Gold Hunters.
But Media Watch’s report and documents seen by Guardian Australia have raised questions about whether the series should be considered a documentary – unlike reality TV, which is not eligible for government funding and tax.
It is not the only popular WA TV show that has criticized its cause as a documentary. Internal documents seen by the Guardian show that the most daring action in Outback Opal Hunters takes place in the writing room of his Fremantle-based production company, Prospero Pictures. The series, also presented by Warner’s Discovery Channel, is now in its 14th season and is shown in more than 100 countries.
Outback Opal Hunters has received over $850,000 in funding from Screenwest since 2018.
Both films are also worth millions in Screen Australia tax.
‘Make a drama/chaos’
In the drama-filled season seven of Outback Opal Hunters, brothers Matthew and Colin Kathagen, known on the show as Matt and Cozza, or the “Mooka Boys” for their location in the remote South Australian opal region of Andamooka, have one last chance to get rich before they call it quits and return to city life. It is very difficult when Cozza narrowly escaped the rain of stones in the stagnant river. Then, with the disaster averted, they spy the magic flickering in the dark underground – only for the diesel miner to die inexplicably.
The script for the scene was completed a day before the start of the film and the accompanying script asks: “Can we drop a stone on the roof of the garden to show the danger of this project?”
As Matt and Cozza look at the lifeless digger, the script says: “Cut to where Matt stops digging and actually tells the camera to do something.”
If only Matt and Cozza could take it more seriously.
“They have a tendency to laugh, which alleviates a lot of tension,” the authors complain. “Please deal with OTFS (outside communications) without laughing.”
The weather also has a tendency to be inconsistent.
“Make it warmer as the season approaches,” the manufacturer’s notes advise, in a text written in the last days of Australia’s winter (29 August), when temperatures can drop to 6C at night in Andamooka. “Please make sure the group doesn’t wear beanies or jackets, and mention the heat if possible.”
These items may be inconsistent on Aussie Gold Hunters. When the Kimberley rains, which will destroy any chance of finding more gold, refuse to comply, the prospectors “hiding” under the tin roof are instructed to raise their voices as cameraless operators run high-speed pipelines through the site.
An Electric Pictures employee who was involved in the process told the Guardian: “I said, ‘Oh, that’s amazing, they get gold as soon as they get wet.’ And then someone said, ‘That’s a hose, mate.’ Then I looked more carefully and saw that it was fake. “
The former employee told the Guardian that the pressure of commercial networks is causing a lot of “real” ground.
“You’d have these meetings with the Discovery Channel and they’d be saying, ‘Oh, wouldn’t it be great if this happened?’ So you write what you say that this can happen, but what they mean – both unsaid and unwritten – is what you have to do.”
Warner Bros. Discovery did not respond to The Guardian’s request for comment.
Electric Pictures did not directly respond to detailed questions, including allegations that the company has used employees to play the characters.
In fact, CEO Andrew Ogilvie said Electric Pictures appreciated the money Aussie Gold Hunters received from the government. “These funding agencies have clear eligibility policies that they thoroughly investigate, and Aussie Gold Hunters has been found to be following appropriate policies many times, over many years, with all the organizations involved in the production process,” he said.
A statement from executive director of Prospero Productions, Julia Redwood, said the stories told in Outback Opal Hunters “are true and based on extensive discussions with our sponsors”.
The specifications of the units were important for product management, he said, and were evaluated for high health and safety risks and legality.
“Interesting news stories can happen when anecdotes or events happen when our cameras aren’t in the field,” he said, adding that all production staff were instructed to use pre-written stories as a guide, not scripts.
‘It doesn’t pass the pub test’
In April, an anonymous group of WA film industry insiders called for the Screenwest board to launch an urgent investigation into the investments of Electric Pictures and Prospero Productions. In an email to the industry’s advisory committee, he questioned why the series continues to attract Screenwest’s subsidies and federal tax rebates, citing The Australian Communications and Media Authority’s basic test for writingwhich is the definition used by Screenwest. One thing that is included in the Acma test is that the story must be established, meaning that the document must be a document about something that “would have happened if someone had been there to record it or not”.
Screen Australia’s criteria to get producer tax money that gives documentary producers a 30% refund on their fair use in Australia – a refund that can reach millions of dollars – he says “the amount is the goal of any situation” and one consideration if a project counts as a documentary. Projects that are specifically banned include “reality TV programs (except documentaries)”.
Shows like ABC’s Back in Time for Dinner , for example, can be attracted because although they use reality TV techniques such as casting a real family and placing them in the scene, this setting is used as a historical device to explore real, written history.
Screenwest told the Guardian it believes Aussie Gold Hunters and Outback Opal Hunters meet Acma’s test.
Acma’s design is flexible, however. His advice recognizes that “in its true form, there are different types, such as visual and well-written forms, and hybrids such as programs that combine repetition and questioning”.
None of the situations described above are listed as “recurring”.
In their letter to Screen Australia, the WA filmmakers say the reliance on artificial risk, creating cliffhangers and human conflicts puts Aussie Gold Hunters and Outback Opal Hunters in the same category as dramas such as Married at First Sight, which should not be returned.
“It doesn’t pass the pub test,” one source told the Guardian.
“I mean, is this what most schoolchildren are taught through film?”
In 2019, Ogilvie told an industry magazine that the show was helping to develop talent in WA by providing “long-term careers for many artists, as well as training opportunities for less experienced filmmakers”.
An analysis of the available data between 2015 and 2022 shows 32% of all documentary production revenue goes to Electric Pictures and Prospero Productions. Aussie Gold Hunters and Outback Opal Hunters alone accounted for 16% of the funding pool.
Screenwest stopped publishing special program information from 2022. In May 2021 Rikki Lea Bestall, the previous director of Prospero’s Outback Opal Hunters, was appointed chief executive of the charity. In 2026, Bestall appointed Ingrid Longley, former director of production at Electric Pictures, as director of development for Screenwest.
Screenwest told the Guardian that the agency hires people with industry experience, adding: “In small, connected companies, employees with previous relationships and experience are more common. The statement, sent in response to more questions from the Guardian, did not explain why the offer information is not announced anymore.
Screen Australia told the Guardian it had to comply with tax laws to keep it confidential and would not be able to confirm whether a review had taken place or “verify what has happened”.
“All user information provided by producers is carefully reviewed when a project is being tested,” said Screen Australia.
“When new project notifications and applications are received, they are considered in accordance with Screen Australia’s requirements.”
One former member of Aussie Gold Hunters told the Guardian he would be surprised if viewers believed what happened on the show. They said: “I can’t believe that they really believe everything that is happening, because they don’t. “It is played, like a play.
“When things are stolen from the camp, they are fixed, when people’s cars are damaged, loaders or dozers, everything is fixed, it happens in an orderly manner. This happens outside here, but not when we are filming.
