The Filmmakers

Nicholas Bird

At the age of 21 Nicholas was working at Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital as a hospital porter. It was his role to take the catering carts up in the lift and drop them off to the wards. It was here that Nicholas was first introduced to the world of nursing.

Upon investigation, Nicholas found that he needed to have completed year 12 to study nursing. So he went to night school for two years while working full time. Once Nick had his High School Certificate, he applied to study nursing and was accepted into Footscray Institute of Technology (now VUT), where he studied nursing.

Nickolas did his graduate year at St Vincent’s Private and then worked at Epworth Private Hospital and Melbourne Private Hospital, specialising in cardiothoracics. He worked as a full time nurse for four years.

During this time another passion was coming to fruition - filmmaking. In 1995, after investing in a small digital video camera, Nick produced Nursing In the Nineties which aired on Melbourne’s Channel 31. After making 12 episodes, Nick started to produce corporate promotional films and TV commercials. He left nursing to do this full time in 1997,and today works professionally in the film and television industry.

Nickolas now produces broadcast television documentaries(most recently Vivian Bullwinkel: An Australian Heroine for ABC TV) and television advertising campaigns for some of Australia’s largest companies including Airservices Australia, Blockbuster®, Consumer Affairs Victoria, Deloitte Consulting, Coles Myer, Thales, Vodafone, Sensis and many more. Nick also produces a large number of corporate videos and training films for government health departments and public and private hospitals.

Nick loves Nurse TV and is very thankful to the community, nurses and most of all the sponsors who make this amazing project possible.

Eleanor Sharpe

Eleanor was unhappily trying to complete an arts degree at La Trobe University and wondering what she wanted to do with her life when her friend, Nickolas Bird, rang her up and asked if she wanted to help out with a show he was making for Channel 31 called Nursing in the Nineties. She agreed to give him a hand and found that she loved making televison.

In 1995, Eleanor began a traineeship as a camera operator at a production facility in South Melbourne. She spent three years there working on live language broadcasts made for the Department of Education. After completing her traineeship, she went off to work as a freelancer and spent the next couple of years working at Channel 10, the ABC, various sports broadcasts, and for a wide variety of corporate video companies - including her old friend Nickolas’ new production company, Waterbyrd Filmz.

In 2000, she and Nicholas joined forces permanently and have since made hundreds of videos together and traveled around Australia a couple of times in doing so. Six years later they haven’t killed each other - yet. Eleanor shoots and edits most Nurse TV episodes.