WTFN is an Australian television production company based in Melbourne. Formed in 2001 by Daryl Talbot and Steve Oemcke, the company is known for producing branded content, but it has more recently expanded into creating lifestyle, documentary and drama content.
History
WTFN was founded by Daryl Talbot and Steve Oemcke in 2001. Talbot, a former journalist for the Bendigo Advertiser, had worked in television for a number of years and produced Postcards for Nine, and Oemcke had found his beginnings working at a Channel 8 newsroom in central Victoria. The company's first production was a Network Ten show, Bread, an observational series following people beginning a business sponsored by Sensis. Over the next decade, the company quickly gained prominence producing titles that included Coxy's Big Break, Bondi Vet, and The Living Room. Bondi Vethas gone on to be sold in over 100 countries. In 2012, the company launched international distribution company Fred Media, which represents both WTFN's programs and programs from a number of other Australian production houses. The company has signed a number of international content output deals, including a 2011 deal with US based Discovery Communications, a 2012 deal with South African Okhule Media, and a 2014 deal with Chinese broadcaster Tianjin TV. It opened a Los Angeles based office in 2012. The company received attention in 2012 after the broadcast of its branded content program McDonalds's Gets Grilled on Seven. The documentary was the recipient of allegations of bias due to it being funded by McDonald's but WTFN and Seven defended the program, saying that the producers maintained full editorial control over the content. In 2013, WTFN made a move into producing drama content after acquiring production companyThe Film Company and appointing its head, Richard Keddie, as WTFN's Director of Drama and Features. WTFN had its first foray into Feature films in 2016 with the release of Oddball starring Shane Jacobson. The name WTFN derives from a conversation Talbot and Oemcke had when starting the business. When discussing how to raise funding for their first pilot, one of the pair suggested putting in the money themselves and the other responded with "why the fuck not?", a phrase which was condensed into WTFN.
