Ivan O’Mahoney is the co-founder of independent production company In Films, the team behind award-winning factual programs like The Queen & Zak Grieve (The Australian/Foxtel); Hitting Home (ABC); Matilda & Me (ABC); Caged (SBS) and Borderland (Al Jazeera).

In 2016 he received the Australian Directors Guild Award, the AACTA and the Walkley Documentary Award for his work on Hitting Home. He also won an AACTA for Best Documentary Series and the 2012 ADG Award for Best Direction in a Documentary Series for ‘Go Back To Where You Came From.’

Ivan has directed and produced films for HBO, BBC, ARTE, Channel 4, PBS & Discovery Channel. A former lawyer and UN peacekeeper in Bosnia, he holds degrees in international law (Leyden) and journalism (Columbia).

Ivan’s other acclaimed projects include Baghdad High, about teenagers in Iraq (HBO); ‘How To Plan a Revolution,’ following democracy activists in Azerbaijan (BBC) and ‘Surviving Hunger,’ a film on famine in Ethiopia (CNN).

Screened at major festivals (Tribeca, Sheffield, Human Rights Watch), Ivan’s other gongs include a three Logies, two Rose d’Ors, the Prix Europa, Japan Prize, Golden Nymph, the R.F. Kennedy Journalism Award and an Amnesty International Media Award.

Roundtables 

Ivan will be hosting a Roundtable at this years SCREEN FOREVER Conference.

Ready, Steady, Pitch!

In Films is currently looking for high end documentaries ideas, with a focus on gritty national (social justice) issues and the arts. Our projects include ABC’s Hitting Home (on domestic violence), The Queen & Zak Grieve (a miscarriage of justice series for the Australian online & Foxtel); Borderland (a series on illegal immigration for Al Jazeera), Matilda & Me (on Tim Minchin and the musical that made him famous) and Making Muriel (on the making of Muriel’s Wedding the Musical). Ideas can be presenter-led or observational, as long as they have the ability to shock and awe. We love good access-driven films as well. We have a specific interest at the moment in true crime, but only if the story allows us to explore wider societal issues (so not just ‘who did it?).