Stories Of Our Town

13/09/2026

A beautiful short film (11min) about the extraordinary life of Vera Deacon. Vera grew up on the Islands that now make up Kooragang Island. Beside witnessing a life in Newcastle that few remember she was just a beautiful, generous, tolerant person and you get that watching this film.
It was an honour that this mini documentary was played at her funeral a few years back. Make a cuppa and give this a watch.
Thank you Ann Hardy at University of Newcastle Special Collections and Archives for helping with this.

A short film based on conversations with the amazing Vera Deacon, w...

11/09/2026

Today we were lucky enough to interview the accomplished architect Kevin Snell. He and his firm have been involved in over 3000 projects but none have got the attention to the extent of the infamous Queens Wharf Tower. The story of its design, construction and removal is a perfect fit for our Bizarre Newcastle film. Getting close now. Come and join us Oct 1 and be the first to see it. Tickets https://newannual.com/explore/events/bizarre-newcastle

10/09/2026

Had a great chat with from ABC Newcastle Breakfast about our upcoming film Bizarre Newcastle. We had some caller suggest some stories including one about a gentleman pleasuring himself with a jar of pasta sauce while leading police on a 20km car chase??????? We did ask for weird and Newie delivered. If you want to be the first to see the film and be entertained by some fabulous musical guests, check out tickets here. A great way to support the project. It's all part of New Annual. https://tickets.newannual.com/WEBPAGES/EntaWebEvent/EventSBAndPrices.aspx

09/09/2026

So sad to hear of the passing of legendary Newcastle musician Pete deJong. Pete was on stage with his band Heroes at The Star Hotel when the riot started. The first interview we did for our Star Hotel Riot film was with Pete (and Mark Tinson) and it was hysterical. Pete was super smart, had a wonderful command of the English language, knew how to tell a story, self deprecating and so. so funny. Some of my favourite lines in the film came from Pete and it's still our most viewed film. Newcastle has lost one of its greats.

This year marks 40 years since The Star Hotel was the site of a rio...

04/09/2026

We recorded a crazy story with Newcastle Herald legend Ian Kirkwood for our Bizarre Newcastle film. One of the many stories Ian broke while at the Herald. Top bloke who knows a lot about a lot. This. film is shaping up to be a beauty. If you want to be one of the first to see it, come to our Bizarre Newcastle night on the 1st of Oct. A new film with amazing musical acts performing live. Tickets here https://newannual.com/explore/events/bizarre-newcastle

03/09/2026

We had 3 interviews today. First up was Konrad from Punter's Politics. A Newy local with a massive social media following and a ton of mates that work in mining. He’s a master communicator who believes that Coal companies should be taxed more and a lager proportion of that tax should go to the Hunter Region, to deal with “The Scars” left by mining. The money should be spent on infrastructure, training, revegetation and new industries. It’s been paramount to us making these three How Coal Made Newcastle films that all voices get heard. Left, right and the middle. Konrad doesn’t align with any political party, he just wants the best for the region. He is one of 50 voices, so far, in these films.

02/09/2026

Today we were interviewing one of our favourites, Ed Tonks. Ed is an ex high school teacher turned author and one of the most respected historians in the city. He’s opinionated and thoroughly researched making him perfect for our films. He specialises in Coal, Rail and Pubs, making him perfect for our How Coal Shaped Newcastle film, in fact this is the fourth time we’ve interviewed him for this documentary so far. He also gave us a cracker story for our Bizarre Newcastle film. Good day indeed. We love doing this.

02/09/2026

A short film we made a few years back on the fascinating history of this iconic building. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGoKYZMJpl8

It has been called the ice cream cone, the egg cup, we argue if it’...

30/08/2026

Bizarre Newcastle is our event coming up on the 1st of Oct King St for New Annual. King St is a confusing venue title for a venue that used to be The Castle, opposite MacDonald on King St. We are launching a new 20min film called Bizarre Newcastle but there will also be live performances. Steve Abbott aka Sandman (Castanets, Good News Week, Triple J) is playing a buch of songs. Christa Hughes (Machine Gun Fe****io. Circus Oz) will astound you with her voice and performance. Pucko (every Newcastle Band Ever) will start the show with his special weirdness and keeping you moving in between will be DJ Maynard. It's going to be a hoot. Doors open at 6.30 and performance will end around 9. Tickets are already selling fast. Please come and support the project. This gig will never happen again. Tickets are here and yes there is a concession rate. https://newannual.com/explore/events/bizarre-newcastle

30/08/2026

On Friday, Tony and I got to chat the very passionate and articulate Steve Phillips from Hunter Renewal about the importance of training investment to help Newcastle and the Hunter prosper through the transition away from coal. This is for or How Coal Shaped Newcastle film. So far we've interviewed about 50 people for the film and they all agree that coal mining in the region will end, the big discussion is really about when. Based on that fact, Steve and Hunter Renewal are pushing to get investment in training to happen now to help "re-tool". We are are hoping to start releasing these three films by late October. It's a monster story Chit Chat Von Loopin Stab Carnivore Films