Based in Melbourne, Australia, Genepool Productions specialises in creating quality science documentaries for international audiences. Sonya Pemberton, Emmy award-winner and record breaking five-time winner of the prestigious Eureka Award for Science Journalism, leads the company.
Recent projects include the multi-award-winning documentaries Carbon - the unauthorised biography, (ABC, CBC, ARTE, cinema release), an international coproduction with Handful of Films; Cracking COVID (ABC) following Australia’s scientific response to the pandemic alongside Nobel Laureate Professor Peter Doherty; and Last Chance to Save a Life (SBS) exploring the groundbreaking science of phage therapy.
Previous works include acclaimed science documentaries such as Uranium-Twisting the Dragon’s Tail (SBS, PBS, ARTE); Vitamania - the sense and nonsense of vitamins (SBS, ARTE, CuriosityStream); Catching Cancer (ABC, ARTE, National Geographic); Jabbed – love, fear and vaccines (SBS, ARTE); Vaccines - Calling the Shots (coproduced with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for PBS NOVA); and the Emmy-winning Immortal (SBS, Smithsonian Channel).
Genepool has received over eighty international awards, partnering with scientists, filmmakers and broadcasters worldwide.
The Team
Sonya Pemberton
Creative Director
Sonya Pemberton is one of Australia’s leading documentary filmmakers; an Emmy Award recipient and record-breaking five-time winner of the prestigious Eureka Award for Science Journalism. Her passion is creating quality science documentaries for international audiences.
Previously Head of Specialist Factual at ABC Television, she commissioned and managed over three hundred hours of factual television. Her analysis and understanding of audiences’ desire for smart, accessible television saw ratings rise across the genres.
Sonya has written, directed and/or produced over seventy hours of documentary, her films winning over eighty international awards. She also executive-produced many award-winning factual programs, including Crude-the incredible journey of oil, Uranium: Twisting The Dragon’s Tail , Lawless - the real bushrangers, Last Chance to Save Life, and Carbon: The Unauthorised Biography.
As a writer and director her multi-award-winning films include Cracking COVID (ABC); Vitamania: The Sense and Nonsense of Vitamins (SBS, ARTE, CuriosityStream); the feature length special on immunisation, Jabbed: Love, Fear and Vaccines (SBS, ARTE), followed by Vaccines: Calling the Shots (PBS NOVA); Catching Cancer (ABC, National Geographic) highlighting the work of Nobel Laureates Barry Marshall, Harald Zur Hausen and Prof Ian Frazer; and Immortal (SBS, Smithsonian, National Geographic) which featured the work of Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn and won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Science programming.
Sonya has also been personally honoured with Australian Health Journalist of the Year (twice), the Jill Robb Award, the Thornett Award for the Promotion of Reason, and the prestigious Stanley Hawes Award for contribution to documentary.
“There’s something redemptive in Pemberton’s work. She straddles the categories of art and journalism, entertainment and knowledge. She is a filmmaker who, in respected director Ken Burns’ terms, is really a “tribal storyteller.”
— Graeme Blundell, The Australian
Harry Panagiotidis
Co-Producer &
Director of Photography
Harry has more than 40 Australian and US feature films credits as a cameraman, Steadicam operator, and second unit DOP. He also works as Director of Photography on documentaries and factual programs.
Married to director Sonya Pemberton, the husband and wife creative team thrive on tackling stories of science together, most recently on a co- producing role. Recent films together include Catching Cancer (ABC/NGTV), Emmy award-winning Immortal (SBS/Smithsonian), Jabbed – love, fear and vaccines (SBS) and Vaccines — Calling the Shots (PBS NOVA) and Vitamania: the sense and nonsense of vitamins (SBS, CuriosityStream, ARTE).
Daniella Ortega
Director & Producer
Daniella Ortega is an award-winning Australian Director, Writer and Producer of documentaries dedicated to science storytelling. Daniella is also an accomplished Series Producer and Supervising Director, working on major projects for a variety of international broadcasters.
In 2017, Daniella created, with EP Sonya Pemberton, a landmark 4-part science and history series entitled Lawless – The Real Bushrangers (History Channel, Genepool Productions). The series was critically acclaimed and achieved record ratings. Before Lawless, Daniella’s 2013 documentary, Enigma Man - A Stone Age Mystery (ABC), on human evolution in Asia was nominated for “Best Human and Social Sciences Film,” Jackson Hole Science Media Awards and won the “Best Docudrama,” ATOM.
Most recently Daniella was the Series Producer of a blue-chip 6-part natural history series A Wild Year on Earth with Northern Pictures for Love Nature. She is the originator and lead director of Genepool’s latest project, Carbon - The Unauthorised Biography.
Lucy Maclaren
Producer
Lucy is an award winning features and documentary producer. She recently co-produced the feature film ‘MISS FISHER AND THE CRYPT OF TEARS’ which premiered at Palm Springs International Film Festival this year.
Over ten years Lucy produced documentaries at Renegade Films including the three part series for SBS ‘IMMIGRATION NATION’ (a finalist in the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards) and the award winning ‘INSIDE THE FIRESTORM’, ‘UTOPIA GIRLS’ ( a finalist in NSW Premier History Awards and AACTA awards) and ‘SUBTOPIA’ for the ABC. In 2015 she produced the one hour documentary ‘THE DIPLOMAT, THE ARTIST AND THE SUIT’ and in 2018 ‘AFTERMATH both for the ABC.
In 2000 she produced her first feature film 'STRANGE FITS OF PASSION' written and directed by Elise McCredie, which was accepted into Critic's Week at the Cannes Film Festival. This was followed by the highly acclaimed dramatised documentary ‘LOVE LETTERS FROM A WAR’. She has produced several short films including the AFI Award winning ‘MY SECOND CAR, ‘LIFE FORMS, ‘CABLE’ and ‘DRAGON’, which she also directed, all of which screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival.
A graduate from Swinburne Film and Television school, Lucy has been Investment and Project Manager at the Australian Film Commission and Film Victoria, and worked as a Line Producer on many feature film projects.
Lucy is currently producing several Genepool projects, including the feature documentary Carbon - The Unauthorised Biography, and the upcoming ABC documentary special, Cracking COVID-19.
Trish Mulhall
Production Accountant
Melbourne based freelance production accountant; Trish Mulhall has over 25 years of experience in a variety of finance and accounting roles in the media, publishing and entertainment industries.
Trish is currently working with Genepool Productions on a range of projects. Trish assumes the entire production accounting function from dealing with multiple funding partners, numerous reporting requirements to the never ending juggling act of the cashflow. Ultimately Trish’s focus is on internal and external business and production requirements to assists the producer to achieve timely decisions.
Trish has a Bachelor of Business in Accounting, a Graduate Diploma in Marketing and is a Registered BAS Agent.
Josephine Wright
Producer (part-time)
Josephine Wright is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and science communicator with experience as a producer, line producer, field producer, development producer across many genres including science, wildlife, history and contemporary factual programs. Jo has worked on over 30 hours of television for various broadcasters including BBC, National Geographic, SBS, PBS, ABC and Arte. Jo started working with Genepool Productions in 2013.
Jo's credits include producer of the multi award winning documentary 'Queen of the Desert' (ABC), line producer/field producer for the 3 part series 'Uranium - Twisting the Dragon’s Tail' (PBS, SBS, ZDF Arte), line producer 'Vaccines–Calling the Shots' (PBS NOVA), 'Kangaroo Mob' (ABC, YLE, RTBF, SVT), 'Australia’s Great Floods' (NGT), 'Possum Wars' (ABC, SVT), associate producer 'Vitamania' (SBS, Arte, Curiosity Stream), 'Tales of the Unexpected' and development producer for 'Devil Island' (ABC, ITV, FRANCE TELEVISION, NGTI), ‘Charles Beans Great War’ (Foxtel, NGTI).