A Port Kembla Podcast Proves You Don't Need a Studio to Tell a Great Story

Naomi-lee Campbell was 12 years old when she stood in front of a camera in a Warrawong housing estate locals call Legoland.

She was filming a short called Protection, about an older woman who'd lost her child. Her six-year-old sister was in it too, stumbling through lines, needing constant reminders of what came next.

Eleven years later, Campbell revisited that same story. Only this time, it wasn't a film. It was a podcast.

That's the whole idea behind Real Made Up Stories, a series recorded in the lounge rooms and kitchens of Port Kembla. And it just picked up three nominations at the inaugural SONARR Awards in Sydney.

A story that grew up with the storyteller

Here's what gets me about Campbell's story. She didn't just revisit old footage. She lived a decade of her life and then came back to find out what that childhood project still meant.

"It's just seen us grow up, I guess it grew with us," she said.

Think about that for a second. How many of us get to reflect, as adults, on something we created as kids — and actually make something new out of it? Most of us just cringe at old journal entries.

The man behind it all is Phil Crawford, who's spent his entire career using art to work with young people. Filmmaking, podcasts, whatever gets a story out of someone who might not otherwise get the chance to tell one.

"That's the vehicle to give opportunities to young people and families who maybe don't get the same kind of opportunities as everybody else," Crawford said.

Real Made Up Stories tracks down people who were teenagers when they first helped create a fictional story, years ago. Now they're adults. Crawford catches up with them, retells the story, and asks what it taught them — and what's happened since.

Local history meets fiction

The series isn't just personal reflection. It's rooted in the Illawarra itself. One storyline, The Mystery of Mission Lagoon, follows kids unraveling a puzzle inspired by Coomaditchy Lagoon. Local history, blended with youth fiction, recorded in the kind of spaces most award-winning podcasts never go near — side rooms, cars, the street.

And that's exactly why the SONARR nominations matter.

In the Best Audio Production category, this grassroots show is up against ABC Studios' Conspiracy? War on the Waterfront and Tony Martin's Sizzletown. It also picked up nods for the AFTRS Narrative Excellence Award and the Visual Identity Award.

"ABC Studios and organisations like that are up for these awards," Crawford said. "Meanwhile, we're producing it out of lounge rooms and little side rooms in Port Kembla, making recordings on the street or in the car."

I love that. There's something in there for anyone who's ever felt like they needed better equipment, a bigger budget, or a fancier address before their idea counted. Turns out, you don't.

Getting everyone to the ceremony

Winning a nomination is one thing. Getting a group of young people — many who grew up in public housing — to an actual awards ceremony in Sydney is another.

So Crawford set up a GoFundMe. It reached its first goal in a single day.

"They responded quickly because they know those young people... don't always get the chance to go to a fancy awards ceremony," he said. "The fact that people were willing to back them so quickly was fantastic."

That's the part of this story that sticks with me. It's not really about the awards. It's about a community deciding that these kids' voices, and their stories, deserve a seat in the room.

The SONARR Awards happen October 15 in Sydney. Win or lose, Real Made Up Stories has already proven something worth paying attention to: you don't need a polished studio or a big name to make something that resonates. You need a story worth telling, and someone willing to hand over the mic.

Makes you wonder what other stories are sitting quietly in lounge rooms and side streets, just waiting for someone to hit record.

Source: Illawarra Mercury

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