Anna Potter

This book explores the impacts of digitisation and sector internationalisation on national drama production, and their consequences for industry, audiences, and domestic storytelling. Using Australia as a case study, it provides a systematic evaluation of the efficacy of cultural policy intended to support the production and circulation of national drama from 2001-23. During the first two decades of the 21st century, new digital distribution technologies transformed the business of television worldwide, bringing conditions of abundance that ended mass media logics grounded in scarcity of content and providers. In doing so digitisation upended longstanding norms around the funding, production, and circulation of national television drama. In this period, the conditions for which cultural policy was first created changed radically due to digital distribution and sector internationalisation. This book’s analyses of the responses of policy makers, broadcasters, production companies and screen agencies to television’s distribution revolution evaluates their collective impacts on Australian television drama. It explains how 21st century dynamics undermined cultural policy supporting the production of Australian drama with cultural value, leading to a catastrophic fall in hours made. This book argues that the scale of disruption digitisation causes to television in the transnational and national space requires a bold re-imagining of cultural policy instruments intended to support Australian drama. This account will be of interest to screen industry practitioners, policy makers and scholars, and, more generally, to anyone wondering whatever happened to Australian drama.

Discover the fascinating folklore behind more than 40 of nature’s most intriguing plants and learn how you can benefit from their timeless wisdom in everyday life. Why do buttercups glow when held beneath your chin? Which blooms are sometimes called fairy phones? Why are foxgloves sometimes ominously referred to as ‘Deadman’s Bellows’? And what is the true meaning of a rose? Humans have given meanings and stories to plants and flowers for thousands of years, whether they’re myths about Ancient Greek Gods who pecked out the eyes of anyone who dared move the sacred but thorny Peony plant, or 19th-century superstitions of how flowers could foreshadow love, life or death. After reading Floral Folklore, you’ll never look at a bunch of flowers the same way again! Brought to life with enchanting, full-color illustrations of the plants, flowers and visiting creatures, the book explains the origins of the folklore behind each plant, and offers a beautiful ritual to help you better connect with the teaching each plant has to offer. This is the perfect gift for foragers, gardeners, and budding horticulturists looking to develop their knowledge of plants beyond the exterior. From the old wives’ tale that sage thrives in the garden of a woman who rules her household (and husband!) firmly, to poppies growing in places where blood has been shed, learn the meanings and stories behind:BayMintBasilLotusTulipsOrchidsSunflowersLily of the ValleyNightshadeMulberryHyacinthValerianParsleyDaffodilRose…and more! Including common plants found all over the world, and traditional herbs and flowers used in medicines for thousands of years, this is a truly unique and fascinating exploration of our floral folklore heritage.

A celebration of season, Flower Philosophy presents a selection of beautiful arrangements designed to free readers from the pressures of perfection and instead encourage creative freedom, intuition and original results. Flowers are not perfect, and flower arranging shouldn’t be either. Anna Potter, author of best-selling Flower Fix, teaches us how to listen and learn from nature to create something truly original with 25 combinations of stems and foliage. Free yourself from a prescriptive, one- size-fits-all approach and let each unique bloom inspire you with this refreshingly honest and liberating florist’s guide. Featuring: A NEW PERSPECTIVE: Start with nature and let this inform your arranging A WEALTH OF PRACTICAL ADVICE: All the basic, essential information on flora, seasons, colour and arranging BUDGET-CONSCIOUS CHOICES: From small humble buds to large luxe flowers eg weed arrangements. Plus foliage, fruit, vegetables, sea shells and anything grown out of the ground. 25 FLEXIBLE FLOWER PROJECTS: Step-by-step, with options/prompts to encourage autonomy, originality, creativity PERSONAL TOUCHES: Author’s stories, poems, thoughts, experiences and musings FLORAL THERAPY: Tips to improve wellbeing with nature; tap into its mindful benefits throughout the arranging process A FLOWER THESAURUS: An unorthodox flower index of favourite and too-often-forgotten flowers, ideas for pairings, benefits to the senses and mood, meanings etc. Arranged by season, Anna Potter guides you through the process of creating your own wreathes, bouquets and installations, all using flowers that can be bought, found and foraged from your neighbourhood. Accompanied by stunning photography from India Hobson, this book provides the basic foundations to pick, choose and assemble with unlimited possibilities.

This book provides a detailed account of the creative, economic and regulatory processes underlying the production of children’s television in a multi-platform era. Its collection of integrated case studies includes extended interviews with leading producers whose programs are watched by children all over the world. These reveal the impact of digitization on the funding, distribution and consumption of children’s television, and the ways that producers have adapted their creative practice accordingly. In its comprehensive analysis of the production culture of children’s television, this book provides a valuable lens through which to view broader transformations in media industries in the on-demand age. This original and engaging book explores the creative processes underlying the production of children’s television, with close attention to underlying economic and policy dynamics. It does so through a combination of detailed case studies and interviews with leading producers from across three English-language markets. In its examination of the impact of new streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime on the funding, production and distribution of children’s screen content, the book will reveal how producers successfully created content for these increasingly influential new services. It offers important insights into the production of children’s screen content in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and builds on previous research in the field. The addition of analysis, which provides the context of historical, regulatory and economic factors that shape production in all three countries, is important for situating the personal testimonies and providing some critical distance. The variety of productions chosen for analysis, including drama, factual productions and animation, represents the very different pressures on different genres. Previous studies have looked at children’s content as one genre, whereas this new study reveals children’s content to be as diverse in range as adult content. The case studies show the pressures and opportunities emerging from different national and international context and offers its own unique take on matters such as diversity, gender representation and indeed the ethics of representing children from a producers’ perspective. As a contribution to industry studies, this volume represents a valuable addition to the literature and will no doubt be referenced by future studies. The quantity and quality of original interview material goes far beyond interviews in the trade press. Combined with the rich detail of production case studies, the articulate interviews and Potter’s highly engaging mode of writing, this book is an invaluable additional to research in the area. This book will provide a crucial analysis of success stories in the children’s screen production industries at a time of flux and adaptation as television’s distribution revolution takes place. The book will be indispensable for scholars of children’s television and of UK, New Zealand and Australian media policy. It will also engage a wider audience interested in television production, production studies and digital distribution – including those teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It will be a valuable library resource for courses that include screen media industries and television production culture as part of their content. It will be of interest to scholars beyond children’s television because of its analysis of success stories in screen production at a time of change and uncertainty. It will also be of relevance to the international screen production sector and industry bodies, including screen organizations such as Screen Australia, and the UK’s Children’s Media Foundation, for its analysis of success stories in the screen production industries. Also, of interest to the many groups with vested interests around children and children’s media – including regulatory bodies like Ofcom in the UK, the Australian Communications and Media Authority in Australia and other key institutions, including legacy broadcasters such as the BBC, ABC and ITV.

"We’ve long admired Anna’s way with flowers (especially when she reminds us that even a staircase can be the perfect place to install something floral and dramatic) and we’re all just so happy to see her incredible style turned into something we can bring home." - Design*SpongeThe Flower Fix presents wild inspiration and modern arrangements by Swallows and Damsons florist Anna Potter, with beautiful photography by India Hobson. Blousy blooms, speckled branches, rich foliage and delicate petals; nature has the power to inspire and energise, calm and soothe, focus and still. Anna has harnessed this magic with 26 tailor-made combinations of flowers to bring a floral boost to your home, no matter what your mood. With easy-to-find seasonal blooms, found items such as twigs and dried fruit, and any assortment of containers, discover how simple it is to bring a little bit of nature’s mystery into the everyday. Spanning all seasons and including both larger installations and smaller, simpler projects, there is something for anyone looking to play, experiment and create atmosphere with flowers. Get your daily flower fix with these and more inspiring arrangements:Inspire Playfulness is a spring arrangement to bring joy, featuring lilac, roses, ranunculus, poppy, narcissi and forget-me-nots. Flowers for Gratitude is a mix of summer’s bounty to inspire thankfulness, including garden rose, daucus, echinacea and chocolate sunflower. Find Beauty in the Everyday is a colourful arrangement to bring a fresh perspective, featuring autumn foliage, hydrangea, dahlia, crab apple and rosehip. The Shape of Self-Expression is a circular wreath design to express individuality, with holly, lamb’s ear, yellow holly berries, twigs and dried seedheads, and ivy berries. Each project lists the equipment, flowers and foliage needed to start the project along with step-by-step instructions. You’ll also find a guide to basic flower arranging; notes on colour palettes and how to use colour; and a flower glossary listing the colour, seasonal availability and vase life of each flower. Be led by the flowers, foliage, stems, follow their shapes and form, feel their weight and heft to create versions of these gorgeous arrangements that are uniquely your own.

Since the late 1970s, Australia has nurtured a creative and resilient children’s television production sector with a global reputation for excellence. Providing a systematic analysis of the creative, economic, regulatory and technological factors that shape the production of contemporary Australian children’s television for digital regimes, Creativity, Culture and Commerce charts the complex new settlements in children’s television that developed from 2001 to 2014 and describes the challenges inherent in producing culturally specific screen content for global markets. It also calls for new public debate around the provision of high-quality screen content for children, arguing that the creation of public value must sit at the centre of these discussions.