The story of Ether
Australian web pioneers
Ether was established in 1993 as one of Australia’s first web design companies by Ingrid Spielman and Thomas Ashelford. Their first production was the now legendary Wood & Wire - an online music magazine, described by the Sydney Morning Herald as “Australia’s first popular web site”. (SMH, 8/7/2000).
From the very beginning they were involved in the production of high-end media web sites, and did early web design and consulting work for clients such as The Sydney Morning Herald, Optus Communications, The British Council (Australia), Macquarie Bank, AMP, The Powerhouse Museum & John Singleton Advertising.
ABC Online
In 1995 Ether contracted Thomas to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as Online Coordinator. He oversaw the early development of the ABC’s online presence, and successfully lobbied for the adoption of ABC Online as a third output arm for the national broadcaster, and developed systems to automate the production of the ABC’s internet programs.
In 1996 he established ABC News Online. He was appointed Creative Director of ABC Online in 1997, and continued in that position until 1999.
In 1998 Ingrid expanded Ether’s relationship with the ABC when she was appointed Producer of The Playground, the ABC’s award winning children’s web site.
In 1999 she was appointed Executive Producer/Team Leader in the New Services Division of ABC New Media, where she was involved in research, planning and producing new digital media services including multi-channels, interactive TV and ABC Broadband.
In June 2000 Ingrid worked on attachment to the BBC’s Interactive TV Department in London. She worked as Associate Producer on X-Creatures, an Interactive TV documentary project developed for a video on demand project in West London. Later in 2000, Ingrid returned to the ABC and led a small team to set up and deliver an internet broadband service for ABC Online. The ABC Broadband portal won a prestigious AIMIA award in 2001.
Online video
In more recent years, Ingrid and Thomas have pursued their interest in documentary and video production, combining these with their background in online multimedia to explore new formats and genres. At present they are working on a number of large documentary projects for TV and Broadband internet delivery. These are being produced with the assistance of a growing army of casual staff.
In addition, they are still involved in consulting, lecturing and small production projects – specialising in online video and automated web publishing solutions for clients such as University of Technology Sydney, AFTRS, Westpac, Radio Australia, and Radio National.