A reunion
The other day I went to a reunion, my first ever. It won't be my last, as it was amazingly and enduringly enjoyable; which is not all that surprising seeing as how it was the getting together of a small number of those who once worked for Crawford Productions. Crawfords was a quite extraordinary company: there's never been anything else in this country even remotely like it … although some might claim that Grundy's could bear comparison. Nup. It can't. From Crawfords' early beginnings when "Showcase" was its raison d'être, the company moved into television drama – specifically detective/police drama – and I think it wasn't until "The Sullivans" that any other kind was made. I could be wrong: I wasn't still there at that time. When I was there, the three best-known were in production – "Homicide", "Division 4" and "Matlock Police" – and "Ryan" was moving into pre-production. Imagine the number of people necessary to putting out four television dramas a week!
As I wrote in a guest post on the National Film & Sound Archive blog,
"a huge proportion of those who sustained the Australian film industry as freelance technicians (and in actual employment, on occasion) went through the Crawfords portals in their careers’ formative years"
(well, that's what I originally wrote, but an editor put a conjunction in there which I shan't reproduce). There aren't many names of Australian film technicians known to you who've had nothing to do with Crawfords, and that's a fact. As to how come I talk of film technicians when I've just mentioned television, it's because every episode of every show comprised part location shoots and part studio shoots – the latter being carried out in the studios of whichever TV station screened the production: 7 for "Homicide", 9 for "Divvy 4" and o for "Matlock". I think "Ryan" was also a 7 production, but I never worked on it, so am far from sure.
You may be aware that Crawfords was(/is) in Melbourne, which means that there aren't nearly as many ex-staff up here in Sydney. The man who created and maintains the astonishing website for us all is also the one who organises these get-togethers – which I shouldn't call "reunions", in fact, because they're not big enough: the real reunions are MUCH bigger, and held in vast places! – and he also pops down to Melbourne when he's arranged 'em down there! A tiger for punishment is our Sam – at least in terms of the work he has to put in; but of course he derives enormous pleasure from keeping in touch with so many of his ex-workmates.
As I did. Struth! – I never thought anyone would remember me. But there's something about the Crawfords brand: those of us who have worked together – and of course you run into people you simply don't know because they were there in a different timeframe – never, it seems, lose our memories of each other.
Last Friday I met people I hadn't seen for 41 years. And it was as if it had been a month or two. I think we were all incredibly lucky to have been there in the heyday of this wonderful company.
