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More on 2015 TVW-SEVEN Reunion on April 19th

Posted by ken On March - 29 - 2015



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   We ask if past and present staff of TVW wishing to attend the Seven Staff Reunion and Studios Wake on Sunday April 19th, 2015, can kindly please register your intent to participate.

This will be greatly appreciated so that catering arrangements can be made.

   The event will be held at the Moon and Sixpence at 300 Murray Street, Perth. The traditional British Pub located near the corner of William Street and Murray Street. This event will be happening between 2pm and 5pm, with an option to kick on until closing time.

   We need to know this so that your Name Identification tags can be created, which can then be waiting for you at the venue, on the day. In addition payment will be needed to cover the catering. The caterer will provide food according to the number who have paid before the event.


TVW Reunion to Commemorate former Tuart Hill Studios




Register for the Seven Studios Wake for Veterans and Staff
Sunday April 19th, 2015


Please enter your details here, then press the Submit button.
Please Supply Your Details
First Name:
Last Name:
Email:
Phone:
Mobile:

We seek your intent to participate so that Name identification tags can be created, which will then be waiting for you at the venue.

Please note that a payment of $25 per person will be needed upfront so that sufficient catering is provided.

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    Please note that a payment of $25 per person will be needed upfront so that sufficient catering is provided for all.

The entry fee must be paid in advance. This is so that platters of large finger food can be provided for your enjoyment and there will be our own cash bar within the venue, which is called The Stables, and is located inside at the rear of The Moon and Sixpence.

Keith Bales is handling all the business aspects and will need to know from whom each payment is coming. He needs to know the names relating to the payment, for some people are making payments for multiple tickets.

Payments please to: Westpac Spearwood

BSB  736-077
A/C   72-6899

Live entertainment will be provided by Perth’s King of Swing – Donald King.

    There will also be a big screen showing staff who worked at Seven and many fondly remembered happenings that took place over the previous 55 years, that the old studios existed.

    We take this moment to pause and reflect on the historical significance of those 55 years, and the remarkable things that were achieved.

    For those who lived and worked at TVW during this era, one can be forgiven for being misty eyed and lamenting its loss.


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One can be forgiven for being misty eyed

    As much as Western Australia has been an economic powerhouse during the mining boom years, our spectacular natural reserves an attraction to visitors, great efforts made to modernise the capitol Perth to make it people friendly with cosmopolitan features and the WA Academy of Performing Arts being a talent rich resource of future television, film and stage performers, things still happen here to insure we remain a backwater compared to Sydney and Melbourne.

   Think of all the great talent we have lost through production being sent east. TVW was an employer of many skills, with producers, directors, audio, lighting, graphic artists, engineers, presenters, dancers and singers being used on a daily or at least weekly basis. Then there were all the support staff and industries required, even if that be mounting extravaganzas at the Perth Entertainment Centre, big arena productions travelling Australia and overseas and at times taking a big tent for when a venue was lacking at various locations. There was also an investment in Australian movies such as The Man from Snowy River and The Cars that Ate Paris, etc.

    Queensland has built studios on the Gold Coast, and even though Perth has the weather of California and Hollywood, the work more often happens on the east coast.


TVW Staff over the Decades

WA TV History
This video covers a half century period and shows glimpses of staff of all crafts at work at TVW Channel Seven.


    The mind set has changed with the many owners since the raid on TVW shares starting in 1981 when Robert Holmes a Court gained control, then put under pressure by the stock market crash which followed and Alan Bond being at his heels. Christopher Skase then took control briefly until he took the network into bankruptcy, as a result of his other speculative ventures that went pear shaped. The entrepreneurial spirit that turned TVW into a powerhouse performer has now given way to centralisation where Sydney and Melbourne are the centres of the universe, rather that Perth being the trend setter.

    The historic TVW studios at Dianella could have been turned into a museum for the industry, rather than destined for demolition. It still would leave much land for redevelopment. The big spaces provided by Studios One, Two and Three offer a wonderful environment for showcasing everything from old equipment to performing arts memorabilia. Then theres the vast area that was once the set building workshop and storage areas. It would make a wonderful place to display the Christmas Pageant floats between annual parades. The empty TVW museum still exists, which could be repopulated with artefacts.

    Seven has a wonderful source of historic equipment in the form of cine and electronic cameras and old videotape machines. There’s even an old telecine machine and consoles. This could be made even better if the equipment collected by the Australian Museum of Motion Picture and Television (AMMPT) was also added. Then theres the wonderful art collection started by Sir James Cruthers. Former staff got a glimpse of some of the items kept by Seven at the 2009 50th Anniversary Reunion, but that was only scratching the surface. These items need to go on display, they should not be where mice can nibble away at them. The TVW film and videotape archives have been sent to Melbourne, though there remains a wonderful collection of publicity, photo archives and old art work in the form of caption cards. It would be great if much of this could go on permanent display.


Peter Croft’s 2009 Seven Reunion slideshow

WA TV History
Peter Croft and Peter Partridge set up equipment in Seven Perth’s Studio One as part of a display prepared by Keith Geary for the 50th Anniversary Reunion in October 2009.


    The founding fathers of TVW were always heritage conscious and community minded, keeping much as a reminder of how things were. Antique equipment such as a steam locomotive, tiger moth, vampire jet, canberra bomber, an early RAAF flight simulator, WWII Wirraway aircraft, a glider, TVW rally cars, trolly bus, vintage steam roller, the surrey with the fringe on top from the movie Oklahoma, a Bessemer Bus, Sir Robert Menzies’ car, the Governor General’s Rolls Royce, Lord Casey’s private car, and many other vintage vehicles.


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TVW Hole in One Day

    Richard Ashton points out many of the things that never came to fruition, that were in planning before the corporate raid on TVW. An amphitheatre for staging musical events and concerts, a hedge maze to get lost in to aid Telethon, a ride on mower race also in aid of Telethon, a haystack seeded with prize tokens where a number of public groups were given half an hour each to find them. The special events department was very active devising new projects to add to the Bath Tub Derby, Bird Man Rally, Milk Carton Regatta, Teddy Bears Picnic, and Money Brick Wall and Hole in One Day, all of which were events for the ordinary folk so that the station could maintain contact with the community, whilst raising money for charity.


The Halcyon Days of Unsophisticated Fun

WA TV History
The TVW Channel Seven special events department was very active devising new projects to raise money for charity.


    The younger generations will not remember much, if any of this, or be aware of the potential for more to happen if the corporate raiders did not make their move. After the downsizing in 1999, and now the new challenges against print and free to air television, different strategies are employed compared to the successful formula devised by WAN managing editor James Macartney and continued by Sir James Cruthers, for the newspaper and the television station to garner public support and remain prominent in the community.

    The 2015 TVW SEVEN Reunion will not only be a wonderful opportunity for the old gang to get back together, but also be a wake for a building which now represents a fondly remembered bygone era.


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One Response to “More on 2015 TVW-SEVEN Reunion on April 19th”

  1. Marilyn Trembath says:

    Only did a couple of shows on 7, my last one was in 1978 when I came back from a career overseas.

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