The Zed Men series crew

Don Featherstone – Director

Don has produced, written and directed over forty highly regarded full length documentaries across a range of genres. His films include; ‘Singapore 1942’, ‘Kokoda’, ‘The One Percenters’, ‘The Beach’, ‘The Maitland Wonder’, ‘An Imaginary Life’ and the seminal TV Drama ‘Babakuieria’. He has made films about John Le Carré, David Hockney, Jack Lemmon, Alan Bleasedale, Tom Keneally and Brett Whiteley.

In 2014 Don directed the outstanding ABC series “The War That Changed Us”.

His films have been screened worldwide and he has won many major international awards including; Best Documentary Hot Docs, a Banff Rockie, a Chicago Gold Hugo, a Chicago Gold Plaque, Best Arts Documentary San Francisco, Special Jury Prize San Francisco, a U.N. Media Peace Prize and three New York Silver Awards. Don has been nominated for a BAFTA award, an International Emmy and five AFI awards.

Don, who is a graduate of the Swinburne Film & TV School has also made films on staff for the BBC’s documentaries department, London Weekend Television’s current affairs department and the prestigious arts series ‘The South Bank Show’.

Lionel Aitken – Producer

Lionel has long experience working in feature film and documentaries both as talent and as crew. More recently Lionel has been tireless in recording the stories and promoting the service of the Veterans of Z Special Unit.  As the principal organiser of the 2010 Z Special Unit reunion, Lionel is well known to the surviving Z Special Veterans and continues to campaign for their recognition.

This series was conceived by Lionel in 2008 because of a long friendship and many discussions with former Z Special Unit PT instructor Sgt Frank Doyle.

Will Davies – Writer/Historian

Will is a historian, writer and filmmaker. Somme Mud: The war experiences of an Australian infantryman in France 1916-1919, which he edited, has become a bestseller in Australia and the UK and The Netherlands. In The Footsteps Of Private Lynch has also been published to acclaim in Australia and the UK. Beneath Hill 60 tells the true story of the Australian miners and soldiers who tunnelled under Hill 60 near Ypres and eventually broke through to create a new frontline and enable the march to Berlin. Will Davies also edited Somme Mud: Younger Reader’s Edition for high school aged readers.