Dean Gibson

A fascination with National Geographic magazine and its photographs were the inspiration behind Dean Gibson’s decision to pursue a degree in Digital Media Production at Griffith University.

His impressive resume as a multi-award winning and proud Guugu Yumithirr film-maker, coupled with his passion for reading about cultures and stories from across the world, is one of the many reasons why Dean has been named as the Arts, Education and Law group’s Outstanding First Peoples Alumnus Award winner.

Dean said his career started with a love for the combination of strong stories and high-quality photography, plus an interest in stories that people would not regularly consider thinking about.

“I have more than 20 years of experience creating, writing, directing, editing and producing content that gives a voice to Indigenous people with a story to tell,” he said.

“My vision is also to create films that will be around for future generations to watch, enjoy and most importantly, learn from, through my company Bacon Factory Films.”

His revered career has seen work regularly screened on ABC, SBS and NITV, but his proudest achievement to date is the program Incarceration Nation currently streaming on NITV/SBS.

The film was made by closely working with the individuals, families and communities who bravely shared their stories in the 90-minute feature film which tells the powerful story of strength, resilience, and advocacy of First Nations people in the face of racism in the justice system.

“The nature of the content and challenges in my life made it the most satisfying, and being recognised more broadly by winning a Logie Award for most outstanding factual or documentary program production in 2021/22 was a moment to celebrate all the years of work that led up to Incarceration Nation,” he said.

“The greatest cost is the loss of culture, community, and lives.”

“Every day, thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia wake up behind the bars of Australian prisons, and children live out their childhood in juvenile detention centres, hundreds of kilometres away from their families.”

“This story needs to be told.”

The program was also a finalist for the 2022 Walkley Awards and a finalist for ATOM’s best feature documentary.

Dean’s career may have started within the walls of Griffith University, but his productions have taken him across the country and around the world with more work already in the pipeline.

“Since winning the Logie Award, I’ve been approached by many people to work on their productions,” he said.

“It’s been a busy spell, however, I’m always trying to convey stories that I want to share, so keep watching this space.”

“But ultimately, my goal since graduating from Griffith, has been about bringing the best to each production each time, no matter the format or subject matter.”

“I love the idea of continuing to tell Aboriginal stories on screen and break new ground on how our people are presented on screen to the broader public.

“But a feature film one day would be an amazing thing to make!”

In his free time, Dean can be found watching sports documentaries, and giving back to the industry by sitting on the Griffith Film School Advisory Board, Screen Queensland, Queensland Theatre, Essential Screen Skills Industry Advisory Board, and the Brisbane Lions Football Club.