PRESS RELEASE
JOHN SAFRAN VS GOD 2004 (SBS-TV)
In his most audacious project yet, John set off across the globe
to take on religion. He roadtests Buddhism in Japan and Voodooism
is Haiti. He doorknocks in Utah and tries to convert Mormons to
atheism. He tries to convince the Grand Dragon of the KKK to let
him join even though he's Jewish. He travels to the UK to get
a Muslim extremist to place a fatwa on an Australian colleague.
He auditions for the Harlem Gospel Choir. He is washed in chicken
blood in Mozambique. He drinks Native American peyote in Arizona...
and vomits. The series builds to the final episode where a Christian
exorcist casts out all of John's demons.
PRESS RELEASE
JOHN SAFRAN'S MUSIC JAMBOREE 2002 (SBS-TV)
John shares his passion for the wild world of contemporary music
and wins two AFI awards - Best Comedy Series and Most Innovative
Programme Concept. Blowing apart the music industry in this 10-part
series, he exposes the dirt, the groupies, the guns, the satanism
and the egos. He pitches a Jewish boyband to an American Christian
record label and convinces a 3AW radio shock-jock that the streets
are awash with 3AW ecstasy. He shows viewers how to scam their way
into Australia's snobbiest nightclubs and how to get revenge on
your anti-rock high school.
PRESS RELEASE
DISINFO NATION 2000 (Channel 4 UK)
John lets loose on UK's Channel 4 conspiracy theory/current affairs
show. In one story John impersonates Ronald McDonald and goes undercover
at a McDonald's restaurant. 'Ronald' performs his own kid's show
ending in a real life police chase. John and his big red feet are
let off with a warning.
PRESS RELEASE
THE LATE REPORT 1999 (Channel Seven)
John presents a weekly segment on this current affairs/comedy hybrid.
Again he hits the news. He tries to tempt cricketer Shane Warne
into breaking a 'no smoking' clause in his lucrative nicotine-patch
advertising contract. John releases a remote control seagull, with
a ciggie dangling from its mouth, onto the Melbourne Cricket Ground
during a match. The police charge him with pitch invasion and send
him off to the Magistrate's Court. The case is dismissed.
PRESS RELEASE
THE SAFRAN PILOTS 1998 (ABC-TV)
On the back of Race around the World, John films two controversial
guerrilla TV pilots. The station refuses to air them after a widely
reported on-screen biffo with Ray Martin, the host of Channel Nine's
A Current Affair. John, parodying the reporting-style favoured by
A Current Affair, had camped out on Martin's nature strip and doorstopped
the man. A frustrated Ray grabbed John by the collar just like...
well, just like all those people on A Current Affair. The pilots
also feature a cooking show hosted from an abattoir and instructs
viewers how to project their own short films over the Hollywood
blockbusters at the cinema. After the ABC rules the pilots 'not
fit to air' they take on a life of their own, much like the Pamela
Anderson-Tommy Lee sex tapes. They are pirated and broadcast at
university film nights, uploaded on the net and rented under the
counter at video shops.
PRESS RELEASE
RACE AROUND THE WORLD 1997 (ABC-TV)
Eight young Australians are sent around the globe to shoot documentary-style
stories to be judged by an expert panel back in Australia. John's
work wins him infamy and the audience-favourite vote. He has an
African voodoo priest place a curse on his ex-girlfriend. He shows
viewers how to break into Disneyland. He is baptised in a lake in
the Ivory Coast. He streaks through the streets of Jerusalem (there
was a sound reason for this - take his word for it - but it’s
too long to explain).
