As the token Australian in the Great Big Story team, Julianne Wilkinson is the producer from Bittern making it big in Manhattan.

While a Bachelor of Film and Digital Media from Deakin University and a Certificate of Documentary Video Production from RMIT set her on her way, Julianne credits her Year 12 media class at Padua Mornington as a major influence on her career.
“While working on my VCE media film it really hit that this was what I wanted to do for my career,” she says.  “I wanted to make film. I found myself staying back after school and trying to get my edit just perfect, and that was when I realised it didn’t just feel like a class I needed to pass for my VCE, and it didn’t feel like work, which is the best kind of job to have.”

Great Big Story was founded as a social video network in 2015.  It makes short documentaries about incredible people and places and releases two or three new videos a week on social media.  As a producer, Julianne is responsible for pitching, filming and editing. GBS started with a dozen staff and has grown to a team of more than 40. Its motto is ‘Tell me something I don’t know; show me something I’ve never seen’. That being said, her team endeavours to focus on the unknown and the curious while concentrating on creating beautifully made video productions. They’re adamant that social media platforms deserve as much effort and quality put into their videos as larger scale productions do, since these platforms tend to be the most accessed place to watch short videos.

“It’s an exciting time to be at the company and we’re fortunate to have a corporate parent (CNN) that has such high hopes for us,” Julianne says.  “I have had the opportunity to meet so many incredible people and see parts of America I would never have visited otherwise. I’ve seen more rural towns of America than I’m sure a lot of Americans have.”

Previous work as the assistant editor for Broadway Video gained her experience in working with such high-profile clients as CNN, CBS, NBC, Comedy Central, VH1, MTV and Tidal. This followed her promotion from a receptionist’s role and internship there previously. Freelance positions in Australia for Not Half Bad Productions, All My Friends Productions and Theatrepeople gave her the encouragement to take the leap of faith over to The Big Apple.

“While I was studying at Deakin University I did a semester exchange to Hunter College in New York in 2011 and, like a lot of people, instantly feel in love with the city. I was really attracted to the amount of opportunity there is here to work in the film and digital media space and how different platforms for video were being embraced in a way I wasn’t seeing yet in Australia.”

Having settled into Manhattan after moving from Brooklyn (and ultimately the sleepy beach town of Bittern), Julianne misses our coffee. “I’d do just about anything for a latte from Local Café in Hastings and a walk on the beach right now,” she told Frankly Frankston as her home town caffeine cravings became real.

The noise and pace of Manhattan matches her days at work, but she relishes the time she’s on the road filming because it becomes her entire focus, instead of balancing several projects at various stages of production in the office.

“Mine and GBS’s biggest fan is ultimately my mum,” Julianne says. “She comments on every post.”
And finally, Julianne has some advice for anyone contemplating following her lead: “If you’ve recently graduated in a creative degree, do not be disheartened by the lack of opportunity or jobs and get out there and create your own. Make your own web show, film your own videos, put on your own play - don’t wait for someone to hire you.”