Patrick (Pat) Abboud is a Walkley winning investigative journalist, filmmaker, writer, director, presenter. He is the founder of Only Human Productions and a creative partner in Dreamchaser Studios, led by Carl Fennessy and Hugh Marks.
Pat was awarded 2023 Freelance Journalist of the Year by the Walkley Foundation. The judges described Pat as:
“a rare journalistic package - tenaciously seeking out complex, left-of-field stories that sit outside the daily news cycle, securing the trust of those involved, then telling their stories with rigour, humanity and a dash of good humour”.
Pat is a 3-time medallist at the New York Festivals TV & Radio Awards, 4-time winner at the Australian Podcast Awards, a SXSW Innovation Award and Kennedy Award for Best Long Form Television Current Affairs winner, a Webby Award finalist and 2-time LGBTQIA+ Presenter of the Year finalist. Pat’s work has been nominated for the prestigious Rose D’Or in Europe, a duPont Colombia award and a coveted International Documentary Association award.
His recent feature documentary film streaming now on SBS On Demand, ‘Australia Uncovered: Kids Raising Kids’ was nominated for Best Documentary at AIDC 2023. Pat is nominated for Best Director at the prestigious 2023 Australian Directors Guild Awards.
DNA Magazine recently called Pat, “a prolific storyteller breaking the mould - he’s Australia’s Louis Theroux”.
Pat’s long form storytelling has been described as:
‘Must Watch TV’ (The Guardian).
‘Documentaries every Australian needs to see’ (news.com.au).
‘Pat is one the most influential voices in the international LGBTQI+ media landscape’ (Cosmopolitan magazine).
In 2024, Pat brings his production company, Only Human into an exclusive partnership deal with leading content studio Dreamchaser (Australia) & Fifth Season (USA). Together they will co-produce his new slate of TV/ streaming series for the international market, including Pat’s first foray into drama.
His new immersive multi-screen film project will launch at the Museum of Democracy/ Old Parliament House in November 2024.
Pat is the co-creator, writer and host of Audible Original genre bending queer true crime podcast, ‘The Greatest Menace: Inside The Gay Prison Experiment’. The investigative series won 17 international awards including the 2022 Walkley Award for Best Radio/Audio Feature, The Grand Jury Prize and Podcast of The Year at the 2023 Drum Awards in London.
The podcast won Best Limited Series Documentary in the USA at the 2023 Signal Awards.
Pat was also nominated for Best Reporting at the 2023 Ambie Awards in the USA alongside journalists he admires like Anderson Cooper.
World Pride 2023 honoured Pat as one of 45 Rainbow champions for his ongoing commitment to the queer community.
In 2021 Pat hosted Australia’s most downloaded interview podcast, ‘ABC Conversations’. He was part of the team who created hit ABC documentary podcast ‘Days Like These’ launched in 2021. He was lead reporter and a sound designer on the first two seasons.
In 2020, Pat was the inaugural Jesse Cox Audio fellowship recipient. He spent 12 months developing and experimenting with new sonic storytelling formats. In the same year, he also presented the World Nomads TV ‘Mexico Discoveries’ series for Travel Channel USA and the Australian pilot of MTV’s Catfish.
Pat founded his own production company in 2019, Only Human. Through the company he continues to produce original documentaries, streaming series, podcasts and immersive films for global audiences.
2018 saw Pat win 3 United Nations Media Awards for his television documentary work.
In 2016 Pat won Journalist of the Year at the ACON LGBTQI+ Honour Awards.
From 2013 – 2018, at VICE TV & SBS TV, Pat founded Logie nominated and multi-award-winning show, ‘The Feed’ and was a foreign correspondent for Dateline. He’s reported around the globe in many countries from Gaza under siege, to black-market surrogacy in Bangkok to terror attacks in Christchurch and gay hate crimes across America. Pat also developed and directed content for the annual SBS Mardi Gras live TV broadcast and was the co-host for 7 years. He also created and hosted an international queer movie show for the networks. Pat received a Walkley nomination for Best Multimedia Storytelling for his work on The Feed.
Pat started his storytelling career in audio, presenting and reporting for pop culture program Alchemy radio and triple j’s daily current affairs program HACK. His intimate TV interview series #PatChat has clocked over 40 million views online. Some of Pat’s favourite episodes include Sam Smith, Rami Malek & Daniel Johns.
Pat’s immersive and interactive films have been commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney and are part of the permanent collection at Museum of Democracy.
Pat is an ambassador for Twenty10 and Wear it Purple advocating for LGBTQIA+ young people. He has emceed hundreds of events, hosted in-conversations on stage, and delivered powerful keynotes.
Pat speaks Arabic and German and is Daddy to a three-year-old. When he’s not on your screens or in your ears, you’ll find Pat in the kitchen cooking up a feast with his Middle Eastern family.