Richard J. Frankland

Born on the coast in south-west Victoria, Richard is a proud Gunditjmara man who has worked as a soldier, fisherman, and Field Officer during the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

His work on the Royal Commission lead to his appearance as presenter in the award winning Australian documentary WHO KILLED MALCOLM SMITH.

In 1993 Richard co-wrote and directed his first documentary with John Foss titled SONGLINES.

Since then Richard has written, directed and produced over fifty video, documentary and film projects including the award winning NO WAY TO FORGET, AFTER MABO, HARRY¹S WAR and THE CONVINCING GROUND documentary.

Richard is also an acclaimed musician whose music features on the soundtracks to many of his films. In 1991 his first band DJAAMBI supported PRINCE on his Australian Tour.

In 2001 Richard formed THE CHARCOAL CLUB with Andy Baylor and recorded their debut CD titled MEETING ONE which has been released through TARAM RECORDS. In 2006 The CHARCOAL CLUB released their acclaimed 2nd CD titled CRY FREEDOM which is available in Readings/JB Hi-fi and other Leading Edge stores.

Richard has also written for and performed on stage. In 2002 he wrote and directed the award winning play CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DEAD. In 2005 he re-wrote and adapted the Australian cinema classic WALKABOUT to the stage for Chamber Made Opera. His band THE CHARCOAL CLUB also feature in his play BURNIN EMBERS.

Since 1991 Richard has delivered a wide range of cross-cultural awareness lectures and workshops to community groups, business, government and educational institutions around Australia (contact Golden Seahorse Productions for more information).

2006 saw Richard directing episodes of the highly acclaimed award winning SBS Indigenous drama series THE CIRCUIT in Broome and episodes of the Channel Nine/Disney children's series DOUBLE TROUBLE in Sydney.

In 2007 Richard completed his Masters of Arts at RMIT University on 'The Art, Freedom and Responsibility of Voice'.

Also that year Scholastic Press released Richard's first book titled DIGGER J. JONES. The book tells the engaging story about a ten year old koorie boy growing up in Victoria in 1967 . DIGGER J. JONES is now available throughout Australia at all good bookstores.

Richard has just completed directing his debut feature film, a comedy (working title LONG ROAD TO KAL) starring Luke Carroll and Leon Burchill. For enquiries about this film contact Ross Hutchens (Producer) at Media World Pictures 08 9328 8286 or John Foss (co-producer) at Golden Seahorse Productions.