White noise: a documentary and exegesis

Indigenous content on commercial Australian television is rare and Indigenous content makers rarely produce the content we see. This research examines systemic racism in the production of commercial Australian television drama and recognizes the platform of commercial television as a powerful cultural resource which continues to perpetuate a cultural terra nullius – a denial of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander presence. The exegesis and documentary appropriate the site of commercial television drama production for a larger enquiry into the ‘great silence’ of Australia’s post-colonizing present. The research utilizes Foucault’s theories on power and knowledge, and Australian studies on Whiteness and Identity, as theoretical contexts to examine the lack of representation of Indigenous Australians in our mainstream field of vision. Taking this theoretical examination a step further, the research interviews leading Indigenous and non-Indigenous producers, directors, writers, casting agents, casting directors and media commentators to understand the processes, in commercial television drama production, which are either inclusive or exclusive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content. These filmed and edited interviews comprise the documentary White Noise and contribute primary research into commercial television drama production and the systemic barriers to inclusion. The research found a convergence of multiple creative components have prevented, and continue to prevent, access to commercial television screens by Indigenous content makers. The Systems Model of Creativity (Csikszentmihalyi 1999) provides a theoretical mechanism to unpack the convergence of these creative components by mapping the domain, the field and the individual agents working inside the industry. Through the lens of commercial television drama, the research examines how a creative framework can explain the means by which inequalities are produced, reproduced and perhaps even mitigated.