Birdsville or Bust, Mint Pictures’ latest documentary, received a bumper crowd for its premiere on SBS on Tuesday night.
More than 400,000 viewers tuned in to follow the character-led story of this iconic outback town during a tumultuous year in which four of the local businesses – including the famous Birdsville Hotel – were up for sale, with three of them changing hands.
252,000 viewers from metro Australia tuned in plus 154,000 from regional Australia, totalling 406,000 viewers and catapulting the documentary into the top 20 shows of the night, just above Channel 10’s The Project.
The critics also gave it their nod of approval, with The SMH & The Age describing it as “affectionate” while the Australian said it “vividly shows the spirit of the town”.
Birdsville or Bust was written and directed by Dan Goldberg, filmed by Brendan Busby, produced by Daniel Whelan and Dan Goldberg, edited by Sally Moran with Mint’s MD, Adam Kay, as executive producer.
SBS commissioned the film with funding from Screen Australia and Screen Queensland’s regional fund.
