The Assembly
Australia's most renowned interviewer, Leigh Sales, mentors Autistic journalism students as they learn their craft and interview well known Australian personalities.
The Assembly. Student Abbey, Student Chau and Student Angus. Ep 2. Credit: Simon Cardwell. Courtesy of ABC.
Project Type: Documentary Series
Year: 2024
Screen NSW support: Production Finance / PDV Rebate
Company: Helium Pictures
Director: Melissa Maclean
Production Details: IMDb page
Hosted and mentored by Leigh Sales, the documentary series focuses on a group of 15 autistic journalism students and lecturers at Macquarie University as they prepare for and eventually interview some of Australia's best-known personalities. In each unpredictable and unfiltered episode, the students learn their craft, select their guest and plan their interview, culminating in disarming, funny, and most importantly true revelations from high profile guests. With one in 70 Australians having autism, the series includes and celebrates these diverse voices and their totally fresh perspective and approach. The autistic trainee journalists, the interviewers, take us behind the scenes of their training and interview preparations to share their fascinating worlds. The culminating celebrity interview is intercut with personal backstories as well as key moments of training and preparation. As the series progresses, we get to know our interviewers in more detail as their passion for the topic parallels the unfolding of the interview.