New documentary highlights the power of PNG women through rugby league

CLIENT: DEMAND.FILM
OUTLET: ABC RADIO NATIONAL BREAKFAST W/ FRAN KELLY

Papua New Guinea is one of the world's most dangerous countries for women.Indeed, no women sit in the country's Parliament, and more than two-thirds of all women in Papua New Guinea have suffered violence or rape at the hands of a partner.But there …

Papua New Guinea is one of the world's most dangerous countries for women.

Indeed, no women sit in the country's Parliament, and more than two-thirds of all women in Papua New Guinea have suffered violence or rape at the hands of a partner.

But there are efforts underway to challenge this dominance, starting by enabling women's participation in rugby league.

A new documentary screening in Australia at the moment follows Papua New Guinea's first national women's rugby league team, the PNG Orchids, on their journey to the 2017 World Cup in Australia.

It's called Power Meri, or Power Women.

Mum's genius idea on maternity leave

CLIENT: FLASHMOP
OUTLET: YAHOO! LIFESTYLE

This new mum used her maternity leave to revolutionise the cleaning industry with a genius idea, and you’ll be kicking yourself that you didn’t think of it first.A former fly-in fly-out worker on a remote mine in Western Australia, it was outside th…

This new mum used her maternity leave to revolutionise the cleaning industry with a genius idea, and you’ll be kicking yourself that you didn’t think of it first.

A former fly-in fly-out worker on a remote mine in Western Australia, it was outside the mines that Megan Harrison finally struck gold as a tech entrepreneur with her app FlashMop.

The on-demand cleaning app hooks up desperate households with freelance cleaners, and has found no small amount of success in Megan’s native Perth since its launch six months ago.

The ULTIMATE cleaning hack: Mum, 33, launches genius 'Uber for cleaners' app to get you a sparkling home at the click of a button – and business is booming

CLIENT: FLASHMOP
OUTLET: DAILY MAIL

A new mother has devised an 'Uber for cleaners' app to give people a sparkling home at the click of a button - without the hassle of hiring a cleaner via word of mouth, recommendations or booking over the phone.Megan Harrison, 33, from Perth, came u…

A new mother has devised an 'Uber for cleaners' app to give people a sparkling home at the click of a button - without the hassle of hiring a cleaner via word of mouth, recommendations or booking over the phone.

Megan Harrison, 33, from Perth, came up with the idea when she was working as a fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) miner in remote Western Australia and was asked by friends and family if she knew any good cleaners.

'I had just become pregnant and it got me thinking about why it's so hard to find a good cleaner,' Megan told Daily Mail Australia.

WA hemp growers poised for record harvest

CLIENT: HEMP PROCESSORS WA PTY LTD
OUTLET: THE WEST AUSTRALIAN

The State’s hemp farmers are harvesting their biggest haul yet — and for the first time seeds will be commercially processed in WA instead of being sent east.Hemp Processors WA — established by local businessmen Steve Thomas and Peter Munachen — is …

The State’s hemp farmers are harvesting their biggest haul yet — and for the first time seeds will be commercially processed in WA instead of being sent east.

Hemp Processors WA — established by local businessmen Steve Thomas and Peter Munachen — is about to finish harvesting its 15ha crop at Margaret River, while almost another 480ha, mostly in the South West, will be harvested by about 30 other licensed growers this month.

At the same time, providing a major shot in the arm for the industry, Hemp Processors WA has imported the State’s first large scale, commercial processing machinery that can sort and de-hull seeds, making them suitable for a wide range of food.

Golden age for docos

CLIENT: DEMAND.FILM
OUTLET: THE AUSTRALIAN

Technology has ushered in a golden age of documentaries, according to the boss of leading documentary start-up David Doepel.Mr Doepel, speaking to The Australian on the eve of the Australian International Documentary Conference in Melbourne, said do…

Technology has ushered in a golden age of documentaries, according to the boss of leading documentary start-up David Doepel.

Mr Doepel, speaking to The Australian on the eve of the Australian International Documentary Conference in Melbourne, said documentaries are becoming more profitable than ever before, thanks in no small part to ‘event cinema’, and cinema on demand screenings.

“The box office tells the story, and facts are facts,” Mr Doepel said. “In the US for example, you can look at three films, ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’, ‘RGB’ and ‘Free Solo’, and they’re doing massive numbers. What we’re seeing right now is unheard of.”

The executive is extremely bullish about this industry and what it can achieve — Demand.film is aiming to be in the top 20 cinema markets by 2020, not including China, as well as rewarding customer loyalty with blockchain technology down the line.

Not-so-easy rider: The Aussies who cycled across America on $420

CLIENT: DEMAND.FILM
OUTLET: THE AGE

As if cycling halfway across America in 30 days wasn't hard enough, the five Australians who call themselves the Bikes of Wrath added another challenge: the novice cyclists would do it all on a budget of just $420, relying on the kindness of strange…

As if cycling halfway across America in 30 days wasn't hard enough, the five Australians who call themselves the Bikes of Wrath added another challenge: the novice cyclists would do it all on a budget of just $420, relying on the kindness of strangers, and their busking skills, to get them over the line.

Inspired by John Steinbeck's 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath, which follows the Joad family as they join the mass migration from America's Dust Bowl to the promised land of California, friends Leon Morton and Charlie Turnbull hatched the idea of retracing that epic journey – only on bicycles rather than a clapped-out jalopy.

"Charlie and I have this fascination with small-town America and the cultural resonance of it in the wider world," Morton says. "And the themes Steinbeck was talking about then still feel really resonant today – and we wanted to explore that on the ground."