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Guide Dogs Australia and WTFN to launch new online series ‘Born to Lead’
‘Born to Lead’ is a new docuseries produced by WTFN, the creators of Bondi Vet and Mega Zoo. The online episodes will give a behind the scenes look at the emotive life of Guide Dogs Australia’s iconic and much-loved Guide Dogs.
The eight-part series will follow the Guide Dog journey from birth through to retirement, while telling the stories of the dedicated volunteers and professional Trainers who play a special role in each dog’s development.
The series will also explore the stories of the Australians living with low vision or blindness who are matched with these life-changing Guide Dogs.
Each 10-minute weekly episode will showcase the inner workings of Guide Dogs Australia, one of Australia’s most trusted charities, as it works to provide services to people with low vision or blindness across Australia to ensure they can lead a life of their choosing.
“It takes up to two years and $50,000 to breed, raise and train just one Guide Dog, so we are beyond excited to have this incredible journey, and many amazing stories from within the Guide Dogs community captured on film,” said Charlie Spendlove, Head of Marketing and Communications at Guide Dogs.
“We look forward to sharing the love and dedication, the tears and triumphs, and the moments that make it all worthwhile as we see these beautiful dogs go on to make a difference in the lives of Australians with low vision or blindness,” Ms Spendlove said.
“WTFN has a proven track record in working with some of Australia’s most recognisable organisations, telling their story from the inside out. We’ve worked with the likes of Ambulance Victoria (Paramedics), Royal Melbourne Hospital (Emergency) and Zoos Victoria (Mega Zoo) on broadcast observational documentary projects,” said Daryl Talbot, CEO, WTFN.
“The opportunity with Guide Dogs Australia allowed us to build on that expertise of telling the story of an organisation through the people involved. Plus, we’ve always worked with pets and animals on shows like Bondi Vet. The result is a series that shows the incredible work being done by one of Australia’s most trusted charities. It’s got all the heart and emotion of any WTFN project,” he added.
“While Born To Lead will get a run on our Bondi Vet Digital Channels, which have over 2.5 million subscribers itself, we envisage it becoming a broadcast project in the future,” he added.
Proudly brought to you by Guide Dogs Australia’s longstanding partner since 2014, PETstock, the series was filmed in the first part of 2022 across Guide Dogs campuses and cities in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia.
It is scheduled to debut on the Bondi Vet YouTube channel on 27 June, with an episode released weekly.
Update:
Due to such a great initial response to Episode 1 of the series, the second episode will be released via the Bondi Vet YouTube channel on Thursday 30 June.
The series will then fall into the weekly rhythm of publishing each Thursday onwards.
