Dan Freene ACS has filmed three feature documentaries, including the 2025 AACTA nominated Sundance hit, Every Little Thing, the AACTA Best Cinematography nominated Skate Goat, and The ACS Award Winning feature documentary The Portal, a film exploring the power of meditation. Additional highlights include the Webby award-winning series Stories of Ambition for National Geographic, No Friend But the Mountains for ABC, the AFL series Make Your Mark for Amazon Prime, and the AACTA award winning 2013 SBS series Hipsters. Known for crafting captivating, story-driven visual narratives, Dan creates a relaxed and trusting environment that allows his subjects to express themselves, resulting in authentic and powerful portrayals that resonate with audiences.
A woman in Hollywood cares for injured hummingbirds, experiencing personal growth as she witnesses their fragility and resilience.
Feature Documentary 93min.
Director Sally Aitken.
Producer Bettina Dalton Oli Harbottle Anna Godas
Dir. of Photography Dan Freene ACS, Nathan Barlow, Anne Prum
AACTA Nominated for Best Documentary 2025
Offical US Competition Sundance Film Festival 2024.
Skategoat is a story about the streets told from the streets, that proves anyone can seize their dream. featuring. Leandre Sanders.
Van Alpert’s documentary debut pulses with a tactile sense of street style and an incredible soundtrack from Tyler, the Creator, Tame Impala, and more. From the producers of acclaimed documentaries Bra Boys and Fighting Fear.
AACTA Nominated for Best Documentary Cinematography 2025
Skategoat Trailer.
Cinematography by Dan Freene ACS, & Jordan Ritz.
What would happen if 7 billion people all meditated? Could it shift the trajectory of our planet? THE PORTAL is an immersive, cinematic experience that answers the question: How can we really change the world?
The film is richly visual and sonically powerful. Binaural beats and an evocative score weave a captivating spell in this experiential documentary that takes the viewer on their own mindfulness journey through a tapestry of technology, love, existentialism, human potential, brain hacking, stillness and inner peace.
Directed by Jacqui Fifer
Produced by Tom Cronin
Cinematographer : Dan Freene ACS
https://entertheportal.com/
https://www.theportalmovie.com/film
ACS SILVER AWARD 2020
The Portal Teaser Film
Stories of Ambition is an 8-part documentary series about what it takes to become a climbing champion, from facing fears to setting goals, making sacrifices, pushing yourself to the limits. Partnered with Nat Geo to take it to a global audience.
Production Agency: The Precinct
Creative Director: Michelle Galluzzo
Producer: Henry Motteram
Director: Richard Vilensky
Cinematographer: Dan Freene ACS
Photographer - Dan Freene ACS 6 x OOH Images for Global
Client: JLL Singapore
Awards:
ACS AWARD WINNER
Webby Award Winner Best Sports Video Series.
Channel Gold at the Drum Awards.
Bronze Content Marketing Awards (Best Video Series)
No Friend But The Moutain
When author and refugee Behrouz Boochani was writing his book from a detention centre on Manus Island, he could have hardly believed how widely the work would come to be embraced.
Following Australia's oldest community orchestra, this 2-part special event series offers an incisive look at the politics and creative challenges behind the making of "No Friend but the Mountains: A Symphonic Song Cycle".
ABC
Produced by Karl Conti
Directed by Myles Conti
Released June 2021
CAPTAINS Rory Sloane and Stephen Coniglio, and stars Nic Naitanui and Eddie Betts, will be key faces in Amazon's new docu-series to launch in 2021.
As well as Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew and Richmond president Peggy O'Neal, cameras will track the six individuals through their every move in 2020 to bring fans unprecedented behind-the-scenes insight.
Filming started ahead of the 2020 season and continued during the COVID-19 shutdown.
Available on Amazon Prime March 2021
DOP Adelaide Unit Dan Freene ACS.
Produced by JAM TV
What Is A Hipster? - How did fixed gear bikes, artisanal cheese, craft beer and long beards evolve from being niche trends to clichés and commodities? The charming but not particularly hip Samuel Johnson digs into the past to find the origins of the cultural stereotype. Acknowledging that the word has now taken on a distinctively negative connotation and that the peak of the contemporary hipster is actually behind us, the new six-part series Hipsters is a light-hearted look back at the cultural phenomenon that was. Johnson sets off on an international odyssey that takes him from Melbourne to New York, Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Detroit, Sydney, Tokyo and Shanghai to unpack how and why the now instantly recognisable hipster archetype grew from a localised street subculture to a global commodity, and ultimately a figure of ridicule, within the space of a few short years.
Directed by Seth Larney
Produced by Lisa Shaunessy and Richard Kelly
Cinematography by Dan Freene ACS
ACTAA AWARD Best Direction Television Light Entertainment 2016
