John Martin's | The Big Store

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For generations of South Australians, “Johnnies” was woven into everyday life ... first jobs, family traditions, the carpark, friendships, romance, Christmas and unforgettable memories.

It was also at the heart of extraordinary moments in our State’s history. When The Beatles’ 1964 Australian tour initially bypassed Adelaide, John Martin’s stepped in, to underwrite the Adelaide concerts and play a pivotal role in bringing Beatlemania to the city.

Our documentary uncovers remarkable stories from the people who worked in and shopped at John Martin’s, alongside fascinating pieces of history, including a time capsule hidden within a pillar at the former Marion store.

From the Magic Cave and the Christmas Pageant to The Beatles, love stories, first jobs and the emotional closure of the store, The Big Store explores the people, memories and legacy of a uniquely South Australian icon.

Crushing It: Finding Jobs in the Wine Industry was initially commissioned by Wine Australia as a series of short videos designed to attract new people to careers in the wine sector.

ABCX Productions saw an opportunity to take the idea further, creating a four-part television series that goes beyond simply showcasing jobs to tell the stories of the people behind them.

From those just starting out to established winemakers, viticulturists, marketers and industry professionals, the series explores their education backgrounds, experiences, career paths, challenges and what makes working in the wine industry so rewarding.

The result is an engaging and accessible series that provides an inside look at the many career opportunities available across Australia’s wine sector.

Crushing It: Finding Jobs in the Wine Industry is about to air on Channel 44 in South Australia and Channel 31 in Victoria, as well as being made available nationally via the CTV+ streaming platform.

ABCX Productions was engaged to capture the story behind the paintings of internationally renowned artist, Dianne Gall. 

Our cameras were priveleged to not only speak with the artist and talk about the process behind the process but also to capture several of her latest works unfold. It was an honour we wish everyone could share but we hope the video goes some of the way of sharing this with the art world and other interested people. 

Ever the innovator, Dianne used this video to replace a printed exhibition catalogue for her Drive exhibition at Nanda\Hobbs in 2025.

In February 2023, ABCX particpated in a day-long workshop  featuring Maggie Beer and Teepa Snow talking about all things Food and Dementia. The Event was held at the Hilton Adelaide. 

Again in 2024, Teepa Snow returned to Australia for a second event and was joined by Maggie Beer on stage for further discussion about the changing brain and the food we provide in aged care. 

Both events were presented by aged care provider, Rembrandt Living and ABCX took care of the live, multi-camera video coverage to the big screen, post-production of all video as well as producing insert stories and background pieces played at both events.

In 2022, ABCX were commission by St Peters College to produce a feature length documentary telling the story of their rowing history and boat club. Interviews were conducted with both former and current rowers and extensive research conducted into archival materials to pull this wonderful story together.