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About the project

The Foundations: Portland, NSW

The future of an Australian town with a rich industrial past

The concept

Portland is an unassuming town with an industrial past. But look a little closer and you see a flourishing community, hear the stories of local people and discover ‘The Foundations’, an initiative bringing a new lease of life to the cementworks which was once Portland’s heart. Broaden stumbled across the town of Portland in 2018 and we wanted to capture the story of this place’s transformation through a short film.

The process

Creating this short documentary across 2019 and 2020 we adopted a varied approach:

  • Interviews: We spoke with key community players who could provide different perspectives on the old cementworks and its contemporary transformation
  • Graphic design: We created a series of visually-compelling graphics which could tell the more detailed factual parts of the place’s story such as timelines and maps
  • B-Roll: We captured the cementworks and scenes of the small town, and paired it with archive photography
  • Edit: Drawing all of the above together, the final edit includes a closing interview catch-up one year on with project co-ordinator Rich Evans, and an introduction from the two of us at Broaden
The outcome

This ten minute documentary doesn’t capture every facet of the fascinating town of Portland, but we hope it does a pretty good job at capturing the really important parts and planting hope for the future. We wanted to imbue the film with an optimism which we ourselves felt when visiting the place and seeing its array of community initiatives. The final video has been well received online, garnering over 2500 views on YouTube.

“So grateful for this content! I’m so in awe of how beautifully you’ve captured the issues facing so many regional towns in Australia.”

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About the project

The future of an Australian town with a rich industrial past.