PARTICIPANT BIOGRAPHIES
Debra Bayne, Hotel Survivor
Australian lawyer, Debra Bayne heads a software company, and was visiting Mumbai as a member of the NSW Trade Delegation, when the Oberoi Hotel came under attack.
She hid with colleague, Drew Dickson, in a smoke-filled room on the 19th floor, while terrorists fired AK47s and threw grenades nearby.
After an ordeal which lasted nearly 20 hours, they were finally freed when Indian security forces blasted down their door. She currently lives and works in Sydney.
Alex Chamberlen, Hotel Survivor
British media executive, Alex Chamberlen’s work with the Indian Premier League has made him a frequent visitor to Mumbai.
He and several other guests were taken hostage by gunmen at the Oberoi Hotel, and led up the fire stairs. Under the cover of smoke he escaped from the gunmen. Most of the group were later executed. He currently lives and works in London.
Drew Dickson, Hotel Survivor
Australian architect Drew Dickson was in Mumbai as part of the NSW Trade Delegation, when terrorists attacked the Oberoi Hotel.
After a failed escape attempt, he and colleague Debra Bayne were forced to barricade themselves in a smoke filled hotel room on the 19th floor. After breaking a window so that they could breathe, they spent 20 hours, only a few rooms away from the terrorists, until they were finally rescued. He currently lives in Sydney with his family.
Sebastian D’Souza, Photographer
Sebastian D’Souza is the Photo Editor for the Mumbai Mirror newspaper.
The paper’s offices are directly across the road from Victoria Station, one of the first sites of the attacks. D’Souza ran into the station and tracked the gunmen as they moved through. His astonishing pictures of the carnage, and the gunmen were seen all over the world.
He lives and works in Mumbai.
Alison Markell, Hotel Survivor
Australian Alison Markell and her husband Doug, a retired businessman and former Sydney local councilor, were on their last night of a long trip around India when they heard a sound like firecrackers, from their 3rd floor room.
They remained there for five hours, until they were forced to flee, with flames at their door. Terrorists fired upon them as they tried to escape. Alison survived, but tragically Doug did not. She currently lives in Sydney.
Seyfi and Meltem Muezzinoglu, Hotel Survivors
Turkish architect, Seyfi Muezzinoglu is the son Ziya Muezzinoglu, who was the Turkish Minister of Finance in the late 1970s.
Meltem Muezzinoglu is the Chair of a pharmaceutical company. The couple were making their first visit to Mumbai to attend an international pharmaceuticals conference. They were half way through dinner at the Oberoi Hotel when the attack began. They were taken hostage by the gunmen and witnessed the execution of everyone else in their hostage group. They are among the few people to have had close contact with the terrorists and survived. They currently live and work in Istanbul.
Anjali and Michael Pollack, Hotel Survivors
American Michael Pollack is a Merchant Banker.
Anjali Pollack, who was born and raised in Mumbai, is an Interior Designer.
The couple were married in the Taj Mahal Hotel’s Crystal Ballroom. They were in Mumbai visiting friends and family when they were caught up in the terrorist attacks at the Taj.
Under the protection of staff, the couple hid from the terrorists in different areas of the hotel for 12 hours before being rescued by Indian commandos.
They live in Manhattan. Since the attacks they’ve begun a charitable trust in Mumbai focused on education.
Anthony Rose, Hotel Survivor
Anthony Rose is a film director. He was in Mumbai filming a luxury travel program, when gunfire broke out in the lobby of the Taj Mahal Hotel, only moments after he had checked-in.
Rose and his crew barricaded themselves in a nearby bar for six hours, until fire in the hotel forced them to break a window and climb down to the street on curtains to escape. He is based in Sydney.
PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES
Jared Lipworth, Executive Producer, THIRTEEN
As director of science programs, Jared Lipworth is responsible for commissioning and executive producing all science programs produced by THIRTEEN’s Science, Natural History and Features department. Current projects in production or development include Secrets of the Dead IX, Ground War, The Cell, The End of Overeating and The Human Spark, which is hosted by Alan Alda. Recently completed projects include Curious, Warplane, Secrets of the Dead VII-VIII (with one program, Doping for Gold, nominated for a 2009 Emmy) and The Mysterious Human Heart, which won the 2008 Emmy for Best Science, Technology, and Nature programming.
Prior to becoming executive producer and then director of science programs, Lipworth was the series producer for the department’s technology series, Innovation. He also served as series producer for the Emmy-nominated Secrets of the Dead III and coordinating producer for many of the department’s projects, including Warrior Challenge, Secrets of the Pharaohs, the Emmy Award-winning Frontier House and The Secret Life of the Brain, Warship, Taxi Dreams, Echoes From the White House and Savage Planet. In 2003, Lipworth was nominated for a writing Emmy for Secrets of the Dead: Mystery of the Black Death. Additional credits at THIRTEEN include post-production producer for The American President and 1900 House and production assistant for Savage Seas, On The Trail of Mark Twain, The Great Balloon Race and Stories of Lupus.
Before arriving at THIRTEEN, Lipworth produced, directed and edited In the Footsteps of the Black Rhino for the BBC’s Animal Zone. He received his master’s degree in broadcast journalism from New York University, where he won the award for academic excellence, and he received his bachelor’s degree in business management from Cornell University.
Victoria Pitt, Writer/Director
British-born writer and director Victoria Midwinter Pitt studied law and politics before joining the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s documentary unit. She later earned her Masters in directing at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama, joining a colorful alumni ranging from Lawrence Olivier to French & Saunders.
Victoria has written and directed an armful of major political and social history documentaries including Frontier, The Top Floor, The Track and Rampant. Her work has screened at Cannes and the UN and won Australia’s premier awards – Walkley and AFIs. Victoria has also worked with some of the leading figures in Australian and British TV – Newsnight at the BBC, Four Corners and Andrew Denton’s Enough Rope at the ABC and Jenny Brockie’s Insight at SBS.
She is also the director and principal writer for experimental theatre group Headlong Theatre (based sporadically in Madrid and Sydney).
She speaks bad Spanish, has been unable to break a dirty habit of busking that began in her youth, swims, walks and loves a good boozy dinner – where so many ideas for documentaries have begun.
Recently – after 20 years of roaming – she moved back to her beloved hometown of Perth and the unsurpassed waters of the trusty Indian Ocean. Her wandering days are emphatically not over, but she now has a place to unpack her books.
Mumbai Massacre was Victoria’s first visit to India. She loved it and has plans for longer, slower travels there.
Andrew Ogilvie, Executive Producer, Electric Pictures
Andrew Ogilvie is the owner and CEO of Electric Pictures. He has been working in the film industry for over 20 years and has a reputation as one of Australia’s leading producers of documentaries in a variety of genres and formats that have attracted many awards in Australia and overseas.
Andrew’s work includes: Addicted to Money, a three-part series about the financial crisis, Great Escape – The Reckoning, the story of the hunt for the Nazi murderers of the Great Escape airmen; Skippy: Australia’s First Superstar a light-hearted but revealing film about the iconic 1960s TV series; Cracking the Colour Code, a three-part series filmed around the world about how we view colors, how we make them, and the meaning they hold in our world; The Hunt for HMAS Sydney, following the historic find of the HMAS Sydney II, solving one of Australia’s most tragic and enduring mysteries; Gallipoli Submarine, a one-hour docudrama about the incredible true story of the WW1 Australian submarine AE2 during the Gallipoli campaign; Bom Bali, a groundbreaking docudrama feature about the 2002 Bali bombings; Submariners, a six- part half-hour series filmed on board one of Australia’s controversial Collins Class Submarines; The Winner’s Guide to the Nobel Prize, featuring Western Australia’s two Nobel Laureates for medicine 2005; The Black Road, the harrowing story of Aceh’s struggle for independence from Indonesia; and Superflu: Race Against a Killer, about the potential impact of a full scale pandemic of the avian flu virus.
Phil Craig, Executive Producer, Furnace
Prior to forming Furnace Limited in 2008, Phil Craig spent nine years as producer, executive producer and finally joint head of programs at Brook Lapping Productions, helping that company win a towering international reputation for ambitious documentary and drama-documentary. The Wall Street Journal recently called the company ‘the Rolls Royce, the acme, of documentary producers.’
In addition to his TV work Phil has written five history books, including the bestselling Finest Hour, The End of the Beginning and Trafalgar: the Men, the Battle, the Storm. He is currently working on a book about the Battle of Waterloo.
Andrea Quesnelle, Producer, Electric Pictures
Andrea Quesnelle has 15 years of television industry experience. Since moving to Perth in 2002, Andrea has produced several one-hour documentaries and line-produced two 13 -episode documentary series, as well as associate producing and developing various other productions.
Andrea’s most recent work includes: The Hunt for HMAS Sydney (Producer), following the historic find of the HMAS Sydney II, solving one of Australia’s most tragic and enduring mysteries; Bom Bali (Line Producer), a groundbreaking docudrama feature about the 2002 Bali bombings and The Winners’ Guide to the Nobel Prize (Associate Producer), featuring Western Australia’s two Nobel Laureates for medicine 2005.
Andrea has worked extensively on ‘one-offs’ and series for a range of international broadcasters, and her work has taken her to Africa, America, Europe and Indonesia for numerous overseas shoots. Originally from Canada, Andrea worked in various capacities within Toronto’s documentary industry, including researcher, coordinator, production manager and producer. She holds a degree in Radio and Television Arts.
Jim Frater, Cinematographer
Jim Frater has over 20 years experience in the film and television industry. Jim has traveled widely throughout his career, filming in locations such as Mexico, Chile, England, USA, France, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. In 1995, Jim left Australia to work as a freelance cameraman/director in London. While in London he worked for some of the world’s major networks, including BBC, CNN and NBC. It was here he learned to work under various, and often hazardous, conditions. In 1997, he returned to Australia and in 2000, he set up Steadi-vision Australia. He is currently the Western Australian branch president of the Australian Cinematographer Society.
He works with a number of Australia’s top production companies and television networks as a cinematographer, steadicam operator and director of photography. Jim’s wealth of experience is evident in the high quality work he produces such as Great Escape: The Reckoning, a one-hour docudrama for Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and Channel 4; Animal X, Series 3, a 10-part one-hour documentary series for Animal Planet; The Shark Net, a Telemovie for ABC; The Circuit, Series 2, a drama series for ABC.
David Fosdick, Editor
David Fosdick is one of Australia’s most experienced and acclaimed film editors. He has edited many hours of programs for both domestic and international broadcasters, including Who Do You Think You Are?, Desperately Seeking Doctors, Stressbuster, The Winners Guide to the Nobel Prize, Playing the Game and Child Soldiers.
