Marc Fennell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Education | St George Christian School |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2002–present |
| Website | marcfennell |
Marc Fennell is an Australian technology journalist, television presenter, radio personality and author. He became known as co-anchor of The Feed , and as of November 2023 [update] is the host of Mastermind (TV) and Stuff The British Stole (radio and TV) and Download This Show (radio).
Fennell's mother, a school teacher, is Indian-Singaporean and his father, a photographer, is Irish. [1] [2]
He completed his Higher School Certificate in 2002 at St George Christian School. [3]
He attended the University of Technology Sydney, but left after eight weeks to join SBS's youth show The Movie Show . [4]
In 2002, Fennell was a winner of the first AFI Young Film Critics Competition. [5] He then became the film critic and reporter for Sydney radio station FBi Radio from 2003–2006.[ citation needed ]
During this period Fennell was selected as one of four presenters of SBS's The Movie Show in mid-2004. [5] Fennell remained with the show until June 2006, when the show went on hiatus, returning in a different format (and with a different team) in 2007. [6] [7]
Fennell covered cinema across the ABC Radio Network including ABC Local Radio and the national youth broadcaster Triple J.[ citation needed ] He presented the weekly movie segment on the Network Ten morning program The Circle from 2010 until it was axed in August 2012.[ citation needed ]
Fennell also regularly produced digital projects exploring cinema culture including Bollywood For Beginners: a series for SBS Television about the history of Bollywood. [8] He also co-produced a web series about movie trailers, Coming Sooner, with Nick Hayden and Nicholas McDougall. [9]
Fennell has written 2 books, That Movie Book [10] and Planet According to Movies [11] both published by HarperCollins.
Fennell presented and reported on Hungry Beast , aired on ABC1. He primarily covered digital media, popular culture, gaming and technology. Fennell was one of nine members of the team to be selected by Denton to develop online content for Zapruder's Other Films. [12] Prior to Hungry Beast Fennell had worked with another of the presenters, Dan Ilic, developing a YouTube parody of the Freeview launch [13] as part of their live comedy show Massage My Medium at the 2009 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. [14]
Fennell hosts the ABC's technology radio program Download This Show which examines the latest developments in social media, consumer electronics, digital politics, hacktivism and online privacy. [15] The program airs on Radio National, ABC Local Radio Digital and throughout Asia Pacific on Radio Australia. [16] Fennell has also regularly produced reports on technology for programs on ABC News 24 including News Exchange (ended), The Drum , Weekend Breakfast and the Technology Quarter (ended). [17]
Marc Fennell anchored the SBS current affairs program The Feed [18] from 2013 to its conclusion in 2022. [19] In addition to his main role co-hosting, Fennell's prerecorded segments became a feature of the show, most notably his interviews with film and television stars. [20] In 2020, Fennell won a Walkley Award for documenting the theft of museum specimens. [21]
 | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(January 2024) |
Fennell became an inaugural co-host of the weekly ABC television show India Now in 2022, a show that describes itself as "a rich and entertaining look at news, culture and politics from India and the sub-continent". The show is aimed at an Australian audience and it is hosted by Australians with Indian heritage.
A second season began 2023.
In 2019, Fennell created It Burns, a podcast series covering the global race to grow the hottest pepper. [22] In 2020 he produced Nut Jobs investigating $10 million worth of nuts stolen from California.[ citation needed ] Fennell also created the ABC and CBC podcast series Stuff The British Stole which has since spawned a television series airing in Australia and Canada. [23]
In 2021, Fennell presented Framed a 4-part SBS documentary into the theft of Picasso's painting The Weeping Woman . [24] Fennell hosted the Australian version of The School That Tried to End Racism for the ABC. [25] Fennell has reported around the world for the SBS foreign affairs programme Dateline. [26]
In 2023, he presented The Kingdom, a feature-length SBS documentary which premiered on 11 June 2023 and which investigated his former Pentecostal religion, in particular the successes and controversies of the Hillsong Church and the rise in new megachurches in Australia. [27] Later that year, he presented his 3-part investigation The Mission: The Strangest Art Heist You Never Heard Of about art works stolen in 1986 from the New Norcia Monastery in regional Western Australia. [28]
In 2021, Fennell began hosting the Australian version of Mastermind , replacing Jennifer Byrne.
Fennell is married and has two children. [29]
The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels and seven radio networks.
New Norcia is a town in Western Australia, 132 km (82 mi) north of Perth, near the Great Northern Highway. It is situated next to the banks of the Moore River, in the Shire of Victoria Plains. New Norcia is the only monastic town in Australia, with its Benedictine abbey founded in 1848. The monks later founded a mission and schools for Aboriginal children. A series of Catholic colleges were created, with the school that became St Benedict's College in 1965 later gaining notoriety for being the site of sexual abuse that took place in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Television in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with radio stations 3DB and 3UZ, and 2UE in Sydney, using the Radiovision system by Gilbert Miles and Donald McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Brisbane in 1934.
FBi station is an independent, not-for-profit community radio in Sydney, Australia. FBi places a heavy emphasis on local emerging music: it has a policy that at least 50 per cent of its music content is to be Australian, of which at least half comes from Sydney musicians.
The Movie Show is an Australian film review program which was broadcast on SBS TV. Its history is divided into three parts, until it finally wound up in 2008.
Fenella Kernebone is an Australian radio and television presenter, MC and interviewer, based in Sydney, with a long record working across the arts, film, music, design, architecture and culture. Her most recent hosting roles include the presenter of By Design on Radio National and The Sound Lab on Triple J. In June 2016, she was appointed Head of Curation for TEDxSydney.
Indira Naidoo is an Australian author, journalist, and television and radio presenter, of Indian South African descent
Jennifer Victoria Byrne is an Australian journalist, television presenter and former book publisher. She hosted the monthly ABC television program The Book Club, originally titled First Tuesday Book Club.
Edward Robert Kavalee is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, podcaster, radio and television presenter and association football commentator. He is a recurring panellist on Network 10's Have You Been Paying Attention? with Sam Pang and co-hosts Hughesy, Ed & Erin with Dave Hughes and Erin Molan on 2DayFM.
SBS is a multicultural public TV network in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally. In 2023, SBS had a 7.7% audience share.
Insight is a current affairs television programme with a live participating audience, broadcast on the SBS network. Each programme covers a single issue and has studio guests participating in the discussion.
Dan Ilic is an Australian presenter, comedian and filmmaker. Ilic has been known for his parody work, including videos and Beaconsfield: The Musical, which he wrote, and more recently for his work on the show Hungry Beast. Dan's mother is half Lebanese and half Italian. Dan's father was born in Germany to Serbian parents. He was previously the head of satirical content for digital content provider AJ+ until he was fired for misusing company materials for a failed audition to The Daily Show.
Ben Naparstek is an Australian digital media executive and former journalist.
Richard Morecroft is an English-born Australian radio announcer, TV newsreader and presenter, and conservationist. He presented the Adelaide News bulletin, before becoming the long-running host of the nightly bulletin of ABC News NSW from 1983 until 2002. Between 2010 and 2012, he hosted the quiz show Letters and Numbers.
Can of Worms was an Australian television talk show, broadcast on Network Ten.
Giles George Beresford Hardie was an Australian film critic, entertainment journalist, producer and television personality.
The Feed is an Australian news, current affairs and satire television series that began airing on SBS Viceland on 20 May 2013 and has continued through several series and with several changes of presenters.
Jeanette Francis, better known as Jan Fran, is a Lebanese-Australian journalist and presenter. She has worked with the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), and served as co-host of current affairs and satire TV program The Feed and the podcast The Few Who Do alongside Marc Fennell.
Alexandra Clair Lee is an Australian comedian, writer, actor, and television presenter. She has appeared in a range of comedy television series on the ABC and SBS, including The Feed and several programs by The Chaser team. She is also the host of the ABC quiz show Win the Week, starring alongside Craig Reucassel.
Mastermind is an Australian television quiz show aired on the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). Produced by BBC Studios, the series is based on the original British game show of the same name created by Bill Wright. The show features an intimidating setting with challenging questions on specialised subjects of the contestant's choice, followed by a general knowledge round.
