Michael Cordell
Michael Cordell is one of Australia's most established producers and directors. His projects straddle many genres and have won numerous awards.
Michael's early career saw him produce, direct and shoot the one-hour documentary Franklin Wild River featuring a young Bob Brown and Dykes on Bikes for SBS. His observational documentary feature Year of the Dogs, following a struggling football team, is an Australian classic described by The Sydney Morning Herald fi lm critic as "one of the top 10 sports fi lms of all time."
His most recent project as creator and Executive Producer is hybrid drama/documentary series The People vs Robodebt for SBS which won the 2026 AACTA Award for Best Documentary Series a SPAA award and Logie nomination.
Michael was EP and writer on the award-winning format Go Back to Where You Came From for SBS. The series won a Logie, 2 UN Media Awards and in an Australian fi rst, the Rose d'Or for the Best International TV production of 2011. It also won an International Emmy in 2013. A live version in 2018 took the ambitious series to a new level.
Michael is co-creator and Executive Producer on Bondi Rescue, now in its 19th season and a 6-time Logie winner. It was recently voted one of the most popular Australian television shows of all time and the only factual series in the top 20.
In 2018 Michael was an EP on the feature documentary Jimmy Barnes - Working Class Boy which had the biggest cinema opening for an Australian documentary and was a ratings hit for the Seven Network.
Michael has also produced ground-breaking court series including On Trial, featuring the fi rst murder trial fi lmed for Australian television and Court Justice taking viewers inside Australia's largest magistrates' court. Other EP credits include true crime series Wanted, the documentary feature JFK: The Smoking Gun and the long-running 2 Men, series featuring Tim Flannery and John Doyle for the ABC.
Michael directed and shot the documentary feature 3 Boys Dreaming following young Indigenous football hopefuls and Music and Murder, a confronting profi le of 3 convicted murderers for SBS. Other factual productions include Cruising - The Biggest Storm, The Obesity Myth, Revolution School, Kebab Kings, Shitsville Express! and Dumb, Drunk and Racist. Michael was also EP on the provocative constructed documentary series Muslims Like Us and Christians Like Us.
Michael has been heavily involved in drama production as creator of The Great Mint Swindle and EP on House of Bond and House of Hancock, 9's highest rating drama in 2015.
With a passion for writing Michael has a number of scripted projects in advanced stages. He has recently co-written feature fi lm Honey Ant Dreamers with Indigenous writer Anyupa Napangarti Butcher that tells the inspirational story of the birth of contemporary Western Desert art. Steve Martin is an Executive Producer and the project is scheduled for fi lming in 2027. Michael has a number of other projects in development including scripted comedy El Dorado (Population 50) and drama series Now Is the Time for Monsters.
Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder (CJZ) was awarded SPAA Independent Producer of the Year in 2016 and is a partnership with veteran producer Nick Murray. CJZ also owns NZ production company Greenstone. Other titles include Gruen, My Life is Murder, Derby and Joan, Con Girl, The Good Cop, Murder in the Outback, The EX PM, Home Delivery with Julia Zamiro, The Checkout, You're Skitting Me and Pauline Hanson - Please Explain!
