John Safran

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John Safran bigraphy, stories - Australian filmmaker

John Safran : biography

13 August 1972 –

John Safran (born 13 August 1972) is an Australian documentary maker and radio broadcaster, known for combining humour with explorations into religion and other issues. His more famous television segments include turning the tables on tabloid current affairs host Ray Martin by arriving unannounced at his house in John Safran: Media Tycoon (an early pilot for a TV series), having a fatwa temporarily placed on Rove McManus to satirize the fatwa process and sneaking nine young men into an exclusive Melbourne nightclub by disguising them as members of American nu-metal band Slipknot.

After the race

After this brush with fame the ABC commissioned two 30-minute TV pilots from Safran.

One pilot called John Safran: Media Tycoon focused on the media industry. It became infamous for a segment where Safran turned up to Ray Martin’s home, then host of tabloid current affairs TV show A Current Affair, and harassed him in the style characteristic of A Current Affair by sorting through his bin, which was later satirised by comedian Shaun Micallef. Ray was in contact with the ABC and specifically warns Safran in the segment that he’s spoken to Roger Grant the then Head of Corporate Affairs at the ABC. Martin’s connection with this executive at the ABC is suspected to be a reason the series never made it to air. The Ray Martin segment was later played on Media Watch on the ABC and on Enough Rope.

The second pilot was titled John Safran: Master Chef. This pilot focused on the food industry. Notably it featured a cooking segment where Safran prepared a beef dish. The twist comes when he arrives in an abattoir and shows detailed footage of cows being slaughtered to complete the dish.

Though all unsuccessful, the pilots became hits via the Internet among university students. Safran also recorded a parody of Baz Luhrmann’s song "Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)" entitled "Not the Sunscreen Song" which includes lines such as "Never live in Adelaide, it’s a hole" and "Remember, you can’t get pregnant the first time you have sex". It peaked at No. 20 in 1998 and was nominated for an ARIA. In Triple M’s 2005 Greatest Songs Ever Written and Performed Since the Beginning of Time poll, "Not the Sunscreen Song" came in at #706 – one spot above "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder.

Safran also presented segments for the Seven Network’s now defunct Late Report, some were also screened in the United Kingdom with Channel 4’s Disinformation program. Never escaping his wild side, Safran attained infamy and police attention for a stunt to try and coerce cricketer Shane Warne into breaking a "no smoking" clause in an advertising contract with a nicotine gum manufacturer. Safran drove a remote controlled seagull with a cigarette onto the pitch during a match. He was arrested for "pitch invasion", but the charges were dropped.

Safran had been a regular host of Melbourne community radio station 3RRR (Triple R) on its morning show "Breakfasters". Additionally he currently co-hosts the weekly radio show on national youth radio station Triple J with Father Bob Maguire. After a lengthy hiatus late 2008 due to a busy filming schedule, "Sunday Night Safran" returned to the airwaves on 12 July 2009. 

Future Projects

There have been talks that Safran will be rebooting the show ‘Music Jamboree’ in mid to late 2014. Fans are very happy to hear about this and are very eager for its premiere.

John Safran’s Race Relations

Safran spent portions of 2007 in Los Angeles shooting a pilot entitled John Safran Saves America for American MTV in which he tried to convince emos to fight in Iraq, hit the couch with therapists who claim they can cure people of racism, and attempted to become gay to increase his standing in Hollywood. Safran stated in an interview that he hasn’t heard back from the production company Reveille Productions whether the program has been purchased for production or not but as the months go on, "the answer isn’t getting any yesser".