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Shell Film Unit [Australia] Shell Film Unit [Australia] i(A65107 works by) (Organisation) assertion
Born: Established: 1948
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Australia,
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BiographyHistory

The Shell Oil Company's involvement in film began in the early 1920s, when senior executives realised how powerful the new medium was in conveying messages. Shell's initial investment in Australian film, as with the company's United Kingdom operations, was to sponsor short documentaries and produce cinema advertisements. Early Australian-made documentaries included The Origin of Oil (ca.1923) and 10,000 Miles around Australia (ca. 1926). The company also sponsored patriotic films during the Second World War as means of both raising morale and supporting the war effort. Among these productions were Cavalcade of Empire (1939) and They Serve (1940), a documentary focusing on the Red Cross.

In 1948, Shell established the Shell Film Unit to make its own productions in Australia. (The unit was largely based on the British model, which had been operating since 1934.) In addition to producing its own 16 mm trade and educational documentaries, the unit also established a distribution and exhibition network. Shell also engaged some of Australia's leading filmmakers of the era, including director/producer John Heyer (q.v.), cameraman Ross Wood, and producer Bernard Gandy. The unit's 1954 romantic documentary The Back of Beyond (1954) won the Grand Prix Absolute at the Venice Film Festival and was reportedly seen by more than ten percent of the Australian population within the first two years of its release.

The historical significance of the films sponsored and made by the Shell Company of Australia cannot be understated. Those that survive not only provide a unique insight into the company's own complex and changing relationship with Australia's environment over that time, but also serve as a record of Australia's cultural, social, and industrial development.

Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • The Shell Film Unit and the Government Postal Office (GPO) Film Unit are two of Britain's pioneering documentary filmmaking companies. Of all the private corporations that established links between industry and the media in the early to mid-twentieth century, the Shell Film Unit (funded by the Shell Oil) is certainly the most celebrated and arguably one of the longest lasting. Shell's involvement in cinema began in the early 1920s, when it became actively engaged in sponsorship. In 1934, the company created its own film unit. Instrumental in setting up the British unit was Shell's publicity head Jack Beddington (later head of film production at the Ministry of Information). Edgar Anstey was installed as the first producer. This position was later taken on by Arthur Elton. While Shell's film activity was initially focused on the United Kingdom, it ultimately became international in scope.

  • The Shell Company of Australia has deposited much of its own film holdings with the National Film and Sound Archive for preservation. The collection also includes a significant amount of additional material, including publicity booklets, scripts, production stills, posters, and film notes.

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Last amended 11 Nov 2010 13:38:42
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