palmerston association
From recovery
to the stage.
What began as a corporate testimonial for Palmerston Association became something far greater — a story so extraordinary it outgrew the brief and is now in development as an original documentary feature.
Client
Palmerston Association
original commission
Testimonial recovery story for conference
Services delivered
Market
Perth & Western Australia
Project Overview
Stories worth
telling properly.
Palmerston Association engaged Sixteen By Nine to film a series of inspiring recovery stories from people who had successfully graduated from their Therapeutic Farm Community program. The films were commissioned for a conference — a chance to put real human faces to the work Palmerston does every day.
We managed every aspect of production from the ground up — pre-production interview preparation, location filming, post-production editing, colour grading, graphics, audio and music. The brief was to let the subjects tell their own stories. What we found in Dora was a story none of us had anticipated.
- Full-service production — pre-production through to final delivery
- Subject-led storytelling with sensitive interview preparation
- A single story so compelling it grew beyond the original brief
The brief
"Film a series of inspiring stories of recovery for people who had successfully graduated from our Therapeutic Farm Community."
What followed was one of those rare productions where the story takes over — and the best thing you can do is get out of its way.
What It Became
Some stories are too
big for a brief.
The film we made for Palmerston's conference did its job — and then some. But as we worked with Dora, it became clear that what we had was far more than a corporate video. Her story — the addiction, the recovery, the comedy, the stage — was extraordinary enough to stand alone as a feature documentary.
That instinct led to Deadly Funny — an original 1 × 60 minute documentary now in development at Sixteen By Nine. It's a deeply moving portrait of resilience, identity, and the unlikely places we find our voice. Dora's story deserves to be heard by more than a conference room.
Learn more about our documentary work
Got a story like this?
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when you're listening.
Whether you need a corporate video that captures the truth of your work, or you have an idea for something bigger — we'd love to hear it.
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