Marc Fennell

Hosts The Feed on SBS VICELAND • That Movie Guy on triple j & SBS VICELAND • Download This Show on RN • Books: The Planet According to Movies + That Movie Book

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UK TV icon Michael Parkinson was once told he'd 'never be a TV personality'

What do you get when the interviewer.. is the guest? Marc Fennell sits down with renowned tv personality Michael Parkinson to discuss his childhood as a coal miner's son, his 'holy grail' interview and the biggest mistake you can make when interviewing him. He's been in the business for almost seven decades, interviewed thousands of the most famous people in the world and now the tables are turned.

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Marc's Favourite Interviews & Stories of 2018

Obviously 2018, on a global level, was a dumpster fire. But, like, when isn’t it?

Can you remember the last time we said “Huh, yeah what a grossly uneventful 12 months we had? Pass the chardy…”

For me 2018 was hectic but in the best possible way. I wanna express as much #gratitude as humanly possible to all of you for making it happen. I worked in 4 countries on various projects. It’s been a blast and I am now extremely tired and experimenting with Christmas themed gin cocktails.

Thanks for watching and please comment with suggestions of who you want in 2019.

STEVEN SPIELBERG (honorable mention) 

I shot this in Los Angeles back in March. If I’m being entirely honest I was a bit disappointed with it at the time because it was a limited window and I really could spend a million years interviewing Steven Spielberg and never get bored.

Ultimately, its not about how long you have with your interviewee, its about where you can take that conversation. What struck me most about this interview was how Spielberg creates a family around him on-set. Watch his face when his young cast talk about him…. It says a lot.

DIPLO (honorable mention)

I’ve found Diplo fascinating ever since he came into FBi Radio when I was a teenager a million years ago. He’s now a huge megastar but did you know he was a school counsellor in Philadelphia? Or did you know he helped indigenous Australian kids produce raps in the Northern Territory? He also has a great vantage point to witness at how pop culture and digital consumption is changing 

10. QUEER EYE’S KARAMO BROWN

Karamo will be President one day. Mark my words. And I suspect that he’ll be a bloody good one too. The Queer Eye star has an amazing story about becoming a father and really strong views on toxic masculinity. 

9. JAMIE LEE CURTIS

I love the journey of this interview. You can see that she’s sizing me up in the first minute and by the end… well, I’ll let her have the last word. She’s incredibly sharp, raw and intense. 

8. AIMEN DEAN: FORMER TERRORIST & BRITISH SPY 

Shot this in London back in May. Aimen Dean went from being an al-Qaeda bomb maker to a double agent for MI6…. and yet… he is this bubbly, upbeat.. and, well, a bit nerdy. His descriptions both of spy life and living inside an extremist organisation were both chilling and illuminating. 

7. JACK WHITE

Shot this in Nashville in March. There’s so much mystique around Jack White but the truth is that both both he and his team are stunningly chill. I love how disarming, fun and open this interview is. 

6. LIAM GALLAGHER

Over the years, I’ve had the great pleasure of interviewing both Gallagher brothers. Noel is extraordinarily bright and erudite. Liam’s great gift is one of pure, unfiltered honesty. Unlike most musicians he insists that no PR minders be in the room - just him, the camera team and me. I love his bluntness. 

5. YASSMIN ABDEL-MAGIED

Another one I shot in London. Regardless of how you feel about Yassmin’s infamous ANZAC day tweet, the response of threats, abuse and blanket News Ltd coverage was completely over the top. Yassmin is now in the process of redefining herself in the UK. I found her to be open, thoughtful and funny. Its very very rare to talk to someone when they’re midway through a transformation and I’m glad she let us in on that process. 

4. KEITH URBAN

The best storyteller. Hands. Down. 

3. POSTNATAL PSYCHOSIS: THE STIGMA OF MUMS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS 

This interview breaks me every time. This whole family opened themselves up to allow us to see how mental illness reverberates through a community.

2. TORTURE THERAPY

I almost don’t know what to say about this other than just watch it please.

These two amazing women blew me away every day we shot this. They are helping some of Australia’s most fragile new arrivals and they do it with great humour. It was also lovely that it was nominated for a United Nationals Media Day award. 

1. Favourite Story of 2018

SEX IN JAPAN: DYING FOR COMPANY

This half-hour documentary was made in extraordinary circumstances. We shot the whole thing in basically 3 days. Genius producer Claire Aird willed this incredibly complex story into life. It’s a story about sex, gender, work and death. We met fascinating people and the ending is one of the saddest moments I’ve ever had on camera.

Don't forget the 2017 list (Al Gore, Tom Cruise and Jennifer Lawrence)  2016 (Alan Alda, Tarantino, Matt Damon and Jodie Foster) and 2015 (William Shatner, Troye Sivan and Amy Poehler)

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Jennifer Lawrence: Living With Rats, Mother! and the Hollywood Pay Gap

Jennifer Lawrence’s latest film Mother! is intense. Filming it was so traumatising that between taping scenes, Lawrence retreated to a tent where Keeping up with the Kardashians was playing on loop.

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Dan Sultan on on changing the date of Australia Day

“It’s like getting spat in the face when they wave that f*cking flag around.”

Dan Sultan fires up about Australia Day, the songs he wont sing anymore, the craft behind his new album Killer and why his high school certificate may not be totally legit. 

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Going deep with Bojack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg at Video Junkee 2017

Creator and Showrunner, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, of the hit Netflix Original animation series Bojack Horseman in a Q&A with me. We go deep into the creation of his wildly acclaimed dark comedy and how an animation about a humanoid horse became a global hit.

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Edgar Wright: Studios should make one original for every franchise movie

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Morgana Muses: Porn star at 52

For her 47th birthday Morgana booked a hotel room and an escort. She wanted the night of her life… because it was going to be her last.

This is the story of how porn saved Morgana Muses' life.

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Laura Jane Grace from Against Me! on coming out as a transgender woman

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Favourite Interviews of 2017 (so far)

You can also check in with the 2016 list featuring the likes of Alan Alda, Tarantino, Matt Damon and Jodie Foster here and the 2015 list here including William Shatner, Troye Sivan and Amy Poehler. 

ICONIC AUSTRALIAN KIDS WRITER PAUL JENNINGS

ONE NATION VOTERS

KAKENYA N'TAIYA: FGM SURVIVOR AND EDUCATION CAMPAIGNER

FORMER US VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE

JAMES BLUNT. YES, JAMES GODAMNED BLUNT

NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON

BLOCKBUSTER COMPOSER HANS ZIMMER

INDIGENOUS ASTRONOMER KARLIE NOON

BROADWAY ICON LEA SALONGA

AUSTRALIAN MUSIC LEGEND BERNARD FANNING

BEN MENDELSOHN

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Al Gore on Trump, Climate Change and the car crash that changed his life

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Neil dGrasse Tyson on space, race and that one time he nearly became a stripper

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So, I spent a weekend chatting to One Nation voters and it was fascinating.

When we talk about One Nation we invariably talk about one person: Pauline Hanson. We often don't tend to talk about - or to - the people that actually vote for her. So myself and excellent producer Simon Cunich went to find out what matters to them. What makes them angry? Why are they turning away from both major parties?  You may be surprised by their responses. You may be offended. Let me know in the comments what you think. 

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Bernard Fanning: I never wanted to be out of control again.

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Zac Efron used to Google himself every morning. Turns out that's not a great thing to do.

What’s it like to be young and famous in an age when you can google yourself every morning? I asked Zac Efron and Alex Daddario. 

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James Blunt is surprisingly honest and legitimately funny

“I feel disrespect for anyone who enjoys my music.” So, um, James Blunt is surprisingly honest and legitimately funny. We talked about his years as a soldier in Kosovo, why Carrie Fisher had a piano in her bathroom and why music reviewers are bullshit and.. yeah... it's a full chat

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Why I'm leaving triple j...

It’s 1:54 am in the middle of an ABC studio. I just mixed what is very likely to be my last triple j review. 

 I’ve been That. Movie. Guy for almost my entire adult life.

Sitting here alone tonight in an empty, cavernous public broadcaster feels somehow both anti-climatic and entirely appropriate.  In the last decade I’ve spent way, way too many nights like this at the ABC finishing off a review after a long week making The Feed,  Download This Show or Hungry Beast before them. So, sitting here for this Major Life Turning Point™  all by myself in the silent dead of night seems... about right. If I were producing this scene, it would need some nostalgic, swelling emotionally manipulative play-off music.

I’ve made roughly 734 reviews over 11 years. I’ve outlived 5 breakfast shows and the entire Twilight franchise. I think now is the time for someone new. 

And I'm pretty sure the next person will be 100% better than me. 

Because that person... is probably you. 

Right now, triple j is hunting for someone who will - I personally hope - rip up the sound and format that I created for myself. You should absolutely go apply. Be that person who decides the way we *should* be talking about movies and TV in 2017. Make it your own. Make it awesome. And, above all, make it better than this dickhead:

One thing you should know: triple j is not like other radio stations.

I will always remember my first exposure to triple j. It was a Hottest 100 party in 2001. I was hooked instantly. Adam and Will had a breakfast show that made being a nerd seem cool. Richard Kingsmill introduced me to my new favourite music but also gave me reasons to appreciate the music I hated. On Sunday nights before the school week, I was glued to Fenella Kernebone and Megan Spencer introducing me to new movies, arts and culture. I’d never experienced radio like that. It made me feel connected to a universe far bigger than my microscopically small community christian high school. It made me feel included. Even in the depths of shitty, shitty self-loathing adolescence, I could see a horizon.

triple j gave me that.

Sure, they played a bit more Jack Johnson than any of us would like to admit, but - look - everyone fucks up occasionally.

I still love film. I’ll still be bringing you the best cult movies on SBS VICELAND. I'm still going to be interviewing the most amazing people in film, music and writing on The Feed. I'm still very much part of the ABC with my other radio show Download This Show.  This week I'm also helping launch something really exciting with Junkee. And I've also helped launch a new not-for-profit called Media Diversity Australia.

But most importantly - I still want to talk with you about movies. I’ve always said that my triple j reviews were the beginning of a conversation that you guys get to finish. Right now, I’m thinking about what the next evolution of that might look like. I have some plans for something completely different and new. I'm also keen to hear what you want. So lemme know in the comments or shoot me a message on Facebook.

I walked into triple j when I was 20 and the fact that they haven't fired me in the last decade has been both an absolute shock and probably a testament to how cheap I am to employ.

It may have only been a little 2-minute piece of radio that I made but I still count myself so lucky. So lucky that I found triple j when I did as a teenager. So lucky to broadcast to the best audience in Australia. Ask anyone: there's no group quite like triple j listeners. You are an engaged, passionate, weirdly-Tool obsessed cohort of sexy motherfuckers and I can't wait to hear which one of you takes over from me. 

But right now - It’s 2:05am and I’m driving home from making my last ever triple j review. The good news is that I found the 2001 Hottest 100 on Spotify and thanks to the number 1 song I finally have...

Thank you triple j.

Thank you for the horizon. 

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Hans Zimmer: the secret letter that lead to Interstellar & how The Lion King helped him deal with the death of his dad

Me: "What would you change about how we teach music?"

Hans Zimmer: "I would make it about playfulness."

The man who wrote the music to Batman, The Lion King, Inception and more has no formal music education. He just writes from the heart.