logo
Australian film industry legend dies after long battle with brain tumour

Australian film industry legend dies after long battle with brain tumour

Daily Mail​11-06-2025
The Australian film industry is in mourning after legendary sound recordist Paul 'Salty' Brincat died last month, after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
The beloved sound recordist died in late May in New South Wales, after a long battle with illness.
He was one of the country's most respected film identities, and worked on many Australian-filmed Hollywood blockbusters.
Paul's family has set up a GoFundMe page which has a target of $10,000, to help with the funeral costs, and has currently raised over half its goal.
'It's hard to understate the profound impact that Paul Brincat has had upon the Australian Film Industry,' the page reads.
From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop.
'For decades Salty was at the cutting edge of sound, recording dialogue for Hollywood Blockbusters and independent Australian feature films alike.
'So it is with no surprise that so many of our extended film family are travelling from far and wide, to Murwillumbah, to pay homage to the great man himself.
'With so many wonderful people in attendance, we have put together a small fundraiser, to help alleviate his family of some of the Behind the Scenes costs of the memorial.'
Across his career, he worked on the 2002 Steve Irwin movie Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, The Invisible Man and many other acclaimed productions.
He was nominated for an Academy Award in 1999 for his sound work on the Sean Penn film The Thin Red Line.
Paul also won an Emmy Award in 1996 for Outstanding Sound Mixing on the short-lived US series Flipper, featuring Neighbours star Alan Dale.
Heartbroken colleagues took to social media to pay tribute to Paul.
'I was greatly saddened to hear of the passing of one of our longstanding members. He was much loved,' wrote industry body the Australian Screen Sound Guild.
'Vale Paul. Despite his formidable resume, I found that Salty was an extremely humble man, devoid of ego,' added fellow sound recordist Josh O'Donnell.
'I can honestly say that I would not be the man I am today without Salty.'
'We have lost a legend,' Aussie cameraman Jason Binnie chipped in.
Paul worked in the industry for four decades, from the early '80s until last year.
His final work was on the 2024 Australian film The Nut Farm, featuring Madeleine West and Arj Barker.
Paul's funeral will be held on Saturday, June 14 in his home town of Murwillumbah, regional NSW.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Birmingham owner's vision could transform city but football clubs are not just balance sheets
Birmingham owner's vision could transform city but football clubs are not just balance sheets

The Guardian

time22 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

Birmingham owner's vision could transform city but football clubs are not just balance sheets

I grew up in a Britain coloured grey. During the 1970s, even though memories of the war had faded into the distance and rationing had long ended, scarcity still hung in the air. Clothes were handed down, treats were rare and the country felt smaller and more muted than the one talked about in history books. Geoff Dyer's memoir, Homework, captures it perfectly, a postwar Britain where Airfix models seemed exciting and front rooms kept 'for best' epitomised a place looking inwards, slightly embarrassed about its ambitions and potential. America existed for me in a weekly burst of Technicolor on TV. When Entertainment USA arrived in the 1980s it brought news of Disneyland, Hollywood, pizzas the size of tabletops, Pelé playing for New York Cosmos, and skies that seemed permanently blue. It appealed to all the appetites of a teenage boy in Grimsby. Later, discovering Jack Kerouac, the lure deepened – open roads and adventure felt a world away, but I had to get there. One afternoon, aged 16 in the local library, I found a book on scholarships, sent out 100 letters, and received 99 rejections. That one positive reply eventually sent me to high school as an exchange student and began a lifetime of transatlantic travel that continues to this day. Over the next three decades I crossed the ocean for work, meeting bosses, pitching to investors and building businesses with an American footprint. I have always admired the optimism, scale and willingness to take a punt that seems hard-wired into the US mindset. It was with that relationship in mind that I sat down to watch the new Birmingham City documentary on Amazon. I wanted to like it. Tom Brady is, without question, one of the greatest athletes of all time, disciplined, relentless and the embodiment of a winning mindset. I want success for Birmingham fans as I do for all English clubs, but there were moments that made me wince: the co-owner Tom Wagner giving his own team talk on the Wembley steps, Brady talking about 'shit teams' they should have beaten, and a moment when Wayne Rooney mentions getting to the ground for 9am, only for Brady to flex that his day starts at 6am. It had the swagger of Welcome to Wrexham without the same charm. Winning League One after spending £15m on a single player in a league where many clubs' entire budgets are a fraction of that feels the epitome of what Dr Pippa Grange calls 'winning shallow'. City's ownership is split between Birmingham Sports Holdings, which retains just over half the club, and Shelby Companies Limited, controlled by the US-based Knighthead Capital Management, which owns about 46%. Wagner, Knighthead's co-founder, is the driving force, backed by significant institutional capital, while Brady holds a token minority stake but serves as the public face. His role is not governance or strategy; it is brand, visibility and ambition. Part of that brand has been a deliberate leaning into Birmingham's global image shaped by Peaky Blinders and the fictional Shelby family. The moody visuals, the references to toughness and grit, the aesthetic of flat caps and hard stares play into a narrative of the club as an embodiment of the city's 'hardness'. The real Peaky Blinders were a violent street gang in the late 19th and early 20th century, products of industrial poverty and social fracture. Today, that history has been polished into an exportable cultural commodity, a sharp suit and even sharper turn of phrase where there was once real hardship. The documentary reinforces this framing. It is only five episodes long, yet one is devoted to the Birmingham Zulu Warriors, the club's notorious hooligan firm from the 1980s. I do not want to sanitise the past, those stories are part of the club's and the city's history, but centring them so prominently is its own calling card. It tells you which values the storytellers and owners want to project. There is a difference between acknowledging a history and building a club's modern identity around it. Football clubs thrive when they reflect the whole of their community, not just the most marketable slice of its mythology. Knighthead's ambitions are big, a multibillion-pound 'Sports Quarter' with a new stadium and regeneration. That kind of vision could transform parts of Birmingham. But it will be telling to see how a profit-driven approach collides with the new independent regulator for English football, whose job is to protect the interests of fans and the long-term health of the game. In a city that declared bankruptcy in 2023, it is easy to see the appeal for a private equity investor spotting what it believes is, in the language of markets, a 'distressed asset', undervalued, with scope for a turnaround and significant upside if managed aggressively. That logic works on a spreadsheet, but football clubs are not just balance sheets, and I am wary when investors want to be so much a part of the story themselves. It is not quite Michael Knighton juggling a ball on the pitch at Old Trafford, but Wagner's recent interview in the Observer, saying, 'I care more about Birmingham than I do about anything else,' does prompt the question – why? I work with and admire US private equity and have seen the benefits of the discipline, capital and operational focus it can bring to businesses. But I do not believe it is a natural fit for football clubs. The model depends on delivering strong returns in a set timeframe and then moving the asset on. Football, by contrast, is both a business and a long-term civic endeavour. With unpredictable results, deep emotional ties and obligations to communities, doing best by all stakeholders will be a challenge. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion The best of America has always been about believing anything is possible, the scale of ambition, the optimism to keep trying, and the courage to take risks others would avoid. In business, those qualities can unlock extraordinary value. But football is not just a market to be tapped or a brand to be scaled. It is a living part of a community, with roots, rituals and relationships that cannot be accelerated to meet the expectations of investors. The challenge for Birmingham's custodians is whether they can take the best of that American confidence and combine it with the patience and care football demands. If they can, they will create something that lasts. If they cannot, all the money, swagger and narrative in the world will not be enough. Jason Stockwood is the co-owner of Grimsby Town

Popular Aussie fitness influencer makes shock drug admission on social media: 'Just did it to fit in'
Popular Aussie fitness influencer makes shock drug admission on social media: 'Just did it to fit in'

Daily Mail​

timean hour ago

  • Daily Mail​

Popular Aussie fitness influencer makes shock drug admission on social media: 'Just did it to fit in'

An Australian fitness influencer has confessed to trying 'party drugs'. Ashy Bines, who rose to fame after launching her 12-week online bikini body challenge, replied to a fan's question on her Instagram story on Tuesday which asked how long she had been sober for. 'I haven't been drunk in well over six or seven years!' she wrote in response. 'I've had a few sips here and there but haven't had a full drink in the longest time.' She then added: 'I did try party drugs in my early 20s and they also were not for me. I just did it to fit in and try it because everyone around me was doing them regularly. Just made me so anxious!' The 36-year-old went on to say she hated the taste of alcohol and would rather spend money on other things that aligned more with her values. 'Also never want my kids growing up seeing me intoxicated or think it's "normal to drink for fun and connection or to turn to it for stress. So I wanted to break the cycle,' the mum-of-two said. The influencer didn't specify which 'party drugs' she had taken in the past. Ashy recently came under fire from fans and followers after posting a 'dangerous' act to her social media. Taking to TikTok in February, the controversial influencer posted a clip of herself hanging out of the window of a moving car. Appearing not to have a seat belt on, Ashy, who was a passenger in the vehicle, stuck her head through the open window before leaning out backwards at shoulder height. The caption on the clip, which has since been deleted, read: 'POV: You don't need to prove anything to yourself or others'. While it is not clear where the video was shot, Ashy is based on Queensland's Gold Coast. Queensland Police confirmed to The Gold Coast Bulletin that 'motorists and passengers hanging out of a moving vehicle is not only dangerous but also illegal'. Taking to TikTok in February, the controversial influencer posted a clip of herself hanging out of the window of a moving car 'Those caught hanging out of a car window or sunroof could face fines exceeding $1200, with additional penalties for drivers who allow this behaviour,' a statement from Queensland Police read. 'Police urge all road users to prioritise safety and report any dangerous driving incidents to authorities,' it continued. Viewers of the deleted clip were not amused by what they saw, with several comments condemning the act. 'Normally I'd just think "idiot" but if she has a million followers, it's really poor form to influence those who are vulnerable to copying such stupidity,' one person said. 'My old babysitter's son died by doing ths; I'll never understand how some people truly think they're invincible,' one more wrote. 'I know of someone who got beheaded doing something similar,' added another.

Australian Survivor set for major shake-up as new host David Genat takes the helm following Jonathan LaPaglia's brutal sacking
Australian Survivor set for major shake-up as new host David Genat takes the helm following Jonathan LaPaglia's brutal sacking

Daily Mail​

timean hour ago

  • Daily Mail​

Australian Survivor set for major shake-up as new host David Genat takes the helm following Jonathan LaPaglia's brutal sacking

Australian Survivor is currently filming in Samoa with new host David Genat at the helm and fans should expect several changes ahead. Channel 10 revealed on Monday the next season will be called Australian Survivor: Redemption and will feature fewer non-elimination episodes and the return of a live finale. Longtime host Jonathan LaPaglia shocked fans in June when he confirmed he had been axed from the series, after almost a decade at the helm. The beloved TV star was met with a wave of support after he revealed he would be fronting the show for the last time in the Australia V The World series currently airing. The 55-year-old later detailed the brutal way he found out he had lost his job. 'The speculation online was that I received an email. But no, it was a call to my manager in Australia,' he told The Daily Telegraph. 'I didn't get a direct call, which, I'll be honest with you, was disappointing,' he continued. 'After 10 years of helming their flagship show, it would have been nice to get a direct call from the people at the top, but I didn't.' Insiders say the show's shocking new theme, 'Revenge and Redemption,' is a thinly veiled swipe at his unexpected exit. 'Jonathan is gutted,' a friend of the ousted host told Daily Mail Australia. 'This theme feels personal. Everyone in the Survivor community can see it for what it is.' It comes after Genat assured viewers the show is 'not about him' and that he would not let them down. 'I love Australian Survivor. It truly is the greatest game on earth, so getting to come back as host after playing three times is such an honour,' he began. 'But Survivor is not about me. It's about the incredible players who put everything on the line to outwit, outplay and outlast.' He also paid tribute to the show's many viewers and promised to live up to their expectations: 'I love the players, the community of fans and the crew who make it happen. As new host, I won't let you down.' Since the announcement, viewers have been reluctant to embrace Genat in his new role. 'This really sucks. Australian Survivor is great and Jonathan was the perfect host. Yet producers fired him and hired this clown,' one fan wrote on social media. 'Jonathan is the face of Australian Survivor. NO ONE wanted him gone and especially to be replaced by David. We will NOT be watching any seasons now, Australian survivor is officially dead,' a second added. 'I'm upset. The only reason I Watch Australian Survivor is because of Jonathan. I watch each episode like 5 times. He is the reason it's better than US Survivor. Who in their right mind would let him go?' a third chipped in. Genat began his Survivor journey on Australian Survivor: Champions v Contenders in 2019. He was the 14th castaway voted out, and then returned to the franchise the following season for Australian Survivor All Stars in 2020, which he won.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store