Crawford Productions
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Television production Distribution Licensing Media |
| Founded | 1945 |
| Headquarters |
Sydney, Australia Melbourne, Australia |
|
Key people
|
Hector and Dorothy Crawford |
| Products |
Radio Television |
| Owner |
WIN Corporation WIN Television |
| Website | Official website |
Crawford Productions is an Australian media production company, in the industry of radio and Television production, distribution and licensing of founded by Hector and Dorothy Crawford; the present incarnation of the company, Crawfords Australia, is now a subsidiary of the WIN television corporation.
Crawford Productions was founded in 1945 by brother and sister Hector and Dorothy Crawford as a producer of drama, light entertainment and educational programs for radio. With the introduction of broadcast television to Australia in 1956, Crawfords was one of the few Australian radio production houses that was able to make a successful transition to the new medium.
Early Crawford TV productions included Wedding Day (HSV-7, 1956), the first Australian-produced sitcom Take That! (HSV-7, 1957–59), The Peters Club (GTV-9, 1958), Raising a Husband (GTV-9, 1958), and the drama play Seagulls Over Sorrento (HSV-7, 1960). They also produced segments of the Export Action documentary series, a cartoon, The Flying Dogtor, and a local adaptation of the US game show Video Village (HSV-7, 1962–66).
Crawfords generally had a reputation for higher quality productions than its nearest rival, the Reg Grundy Organisation, which initially specialized in quiz and game shows, before making the transition to drama serials. Company co-founder Hector Crawford was also well known as an orchestral conductor leader, and he was a prominent figure in the ongoing campaign for local content regulations on Australian television.
During the 1960s and the first half of the 1970s Crawford Productions dominated Australian-produced series drama in that country. They gained an early foothold with their first major TV series, Consider Your Verdict (1961–64), which presented dramatisations of court cases, but like all other local producers, Crawfords faced massive competition from imported overseas programming.
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