Region Riverina: Australian acting legend John Wood lends his time to a great Wagga cause

Pro Patria Trust (PPT), Wagga Wagga.TV, Australian actor John Wood and Riverina Bluebell have joined forces to raise $1.5 million for the Pro Patria Centre (PPC).

The PPC is a community of military service personnel, veterans and their families.

Wagga Wagga.TV CEO and Region Riverina commercial manager Adam Drummond produced a 20-minute documentary that will be used to pitch Australia-wide for donations to secure the Carmelite monastery before March 2023.

Adam said the purpose of the documentary was to shed light on PCC’s breakthroughs and for people to donate money to secure the monastery.

The A Call to Action: Your Defence, Our Battle documentary features Australian television Gold Logie Award-winning actor and scriptwriter John Wood as a presenter.

Adam said John was very generous with his time, especially when it came to veterans’ affairs.

“He jumped at the opportunity, and from the moment we called him, he was up within a week shooting,” Adam said.

“He’s a consummate professional, great at what he does, and he lends that voice of sincerity, authority and empathy.

“And so he’s everything that we wanted for the video, and it’s just great that the timing worked out well, and it was wonderful to work with him.”

Adam said the documentary featured Wagga veterans Jason Frost and Brad Fewson.

“Jason was instrumental in setting up Defence Shed, which then became PPC, and Brad is undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which helped him turn his life around.”

Adam said producing the documentary was the tightest deadline he had ever had in his filmmaking career.