50 shades for 40 Under 40

Australian of the Year Taryn Brumfitt searched for a story to inspire the newest crop of young leaders last night at the InDaily 40 Under 40 Awards and pulled out one that included trying to beat the box office drawcard of Christian Grey.

When releasing her documentary “Embrace” in the United States, Brumfitt knew it was going to be a hard slog because “when you’re in the US, no one really cares about it too much because it’s a doco”. What she hadn’t considered was that “50 Shades of Grey” was being released at the same time.

“I remember standing in Times Square in New York, and I remember looking up at the billboards and at the same time that Embrace the documentary was releasing ’50 Shades of Grey’ was. Everywhere I went, I kept seeing ’50 Shades of Grey’. And I remember this one moment where I looked up and I thought my film is as important, it’s more important than ’50 Shades of Grey’, but we don’t have the budget. No one’s going to hear about the film.

“I actually started to get a bit teary because when you’ve spent years on a project that you know is going to help people you want everyone to see it.”

Standing in Times Square Brumfitt came up with an idea to withdraw a few $1,000 from her bank account in $10 notes and stop people in the street and say to them, “I want you to take this $10 and go download my film on iTunes. If you like the film, I want you to pass the $10 on to the next person and you’re on the ‘Race to Embrace’. If you don’t like the film pocket the $10. You’ve lost nothing.”

She asked the 40 Under 40 crowd to imagine trying to stop people in the street to give them $10 “And it’s like, it’s not a scam, it’s not a scam – people were running from me.”

“But by the time I finished the publicity tour in the US, all 50 states were on the ‘Race to Embrace’ and ‘Embrace’ went number one on iTunes.”

Score for health media calls

Constant media scrutiny of the state’s health system appears to be creating a tough workload for this State Government with a second adviser brought in to handle calls for Health Minister Chris Picton.

Former University of Adelaide media coordinator Lee Gaskin – who also spent more than 15 years working as a sport reporter – is settling into his new role as ministerial media adviser alongside senior media adviser Jemma Chapman, a former senior reporter for InDaily.

Gaskin appears to be a handy pick for the ministerial team if it needs a reserve for Gather Round coverage when it returns to Adelaide last year – Gaskin is a former scribe for AFL media up until October 2020 where he was tasked with following the trials and tribulations of both the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide.

Crows legend in a fizz

Further news on local footy personalities landed at InSider this week with a media release telling how Crows legend Rory Sloane is signed up to be the owner ambassador for low alcoholic seltzer Hard FIZZ as it lands on bar and bottle shop shelves across the state.

A stellar career as a “hard” man in AFL football and now waking up to three kids has Sloane and his wife, Belinda, thinking the business is a good financial and lifestyle decision.

“I’m well and truly into my 30s now and a lot more health conscious these days, so the ‘better for you’ movement with low-alc beverages very much appeals to me,” he says in the media release that dropped this week.

“I love the drink itself, and with three kids, I especially love waking up the next day and not feeling dusty at all.”

Guessing it is safe to say it will get a strong billing at the Alma Tavern that Sloan owns with other Crows players in the eastern suburbs.

The Pub Test

This week we went in search of people with opinions on the SAPOL horses being on the move out of the park lands… and surprisingly, no one really cared that much to comment.

“Seriously, that’s like the most exciting thing happening in Adelaide?”, asked Camryn. “Who needs high-profile scandals or groundbreaking news when you’ve got horse accommodations stealing the spotlight?”

“Frankly… the horses scare me a little. They can kick you at any moment.”

Things you should know…

Today is World Accreditation Day and Australia is genuinely world-leading in this area, with our National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) being the world’s first accreditation body, back in 1947.

The testers at the National Association of Testing Authorities want all Australians to know that accreditation is an area which they all rely on every day.

“From the roads we drive on, to the water we drink and the food we eat, all would not be able to be trusted without scientific experts that keep us all safe. That even includes the labs that test devices as part of Australian Cyber Security Centre. In fact, if you’ve had a PCR Covid test in the past 40 months it will likely have been conducted by a NATA-accredited lab,” NATA says.

For example, the Australian Export Grain Innovation Centre (AEGIC), a NATA-accredited laboratory for over 70 years, works on Australia’s most important export, grain, as well as the important role of accreditation.

They have released a video to mark the occasion…