Tall Poppy – A Skater’s Story, is an inspirational coming-of-age story about Australian skateboarder and Olympic hopeful Poppy Starr Olsen.
This new documentary will premiere on Sunday, 1 August, at 8.30pm on ABC TV Plus and iview. Three days later Poppy will compete in her first Olympic Games.
A girl who loved to skate from the age of eight, Poppy became the number one female bowl skater in Australia at age 14 and at 17 went on to take out bronze at the X Games – the ultimate competition in the world of skateboarding.
The same year, skateboarding was announced as a new sport category at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Suddenly Poppy is not just skating for herself, she’s skating for Australia.
Filmed over 10 years, the documentary follows Poppy as she grapples with the transition from child prodigy skateboarder to world-renowned athlete in a male dominated sport.
The film takes you into Poppy’s everyday world from when she first picks up a skateboard through to the moment her Olympic plans are upended in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Compounding an already difficult situation is Poppy’s new relationship. She’s fallen in love for the first time with Una, a Canadian skateboarder. They are now stuck on opposite sides of the planet indefinitely. As the world emerges from the pandemic, the future is uncertain.
Kath Earle, ABC Head of Screen, Sport & Events said,
“We are proud to bring Tall Poppy: A Skater’s Story to ABC TV and ABC iview as part of our commitment to delivering high quality, blue-chip sports documentaries to a broad audience. This debut film will sit alongside our other sport documentaries Freeman, Capturing Cricket: Steve Waugh in India and the award-winning The Australian Dream.
Screen Australia’s Head of Documentary Alex West said,
“We are thrilled to support director Justine Moyle’s debut feature documentary and I’m sure viewers will be captivated by Poppy Olsen’s incredible story when it airs on ABC TV.”
Poppy is highly regarded in the global skateboarding community. She is currently ranked Australia’s number 1 and the world’s number 4 female park skateboarder. For over 10 years she has been a spokesperson for women in sport and is a much sought-after ambassador for youth culture.
Production credits: Producer, Jo Austin. Director, Justine Moyle. Production company, Candid Films Pty Ltd. ABC Manager Screen, Jo Chichester. ABC Executive Producer, Rachel Robinson. Principal production investment from Screen Australia in association with the ABC.
TALL POPPY – A SKATER’S STORY premieres Sunday, 1 August, at 8.30pm on ABC TV Plus and iview.
The documentary will be repeated on ABC TV on Thursday, 5 August, 9.30pm.
