Graham got his first break in television as a researcher on Money.[citation needed] In 2001, he produced The Great Outdoors (2001–2003)[2] for the Seven Network. It was a presenter-driven lifestyle series about the best places to visit in Australia and overseas.
In 2002, Graham collaborated with Dr Harry Cooper and wrote The Possum Thief,[3] a fictional picture book for young children published by Pan MacMillan Australia. Graham's book led to the trilogy The Adventures of Dr Harry and Scarlet.[4]
In 2004, Graham produced Border Security, watching the drama of people passing through the international customs zones at Sydney and Melbourne airports.[5] He wanted to highlight the experience of asylum-seekers or refugees but, after nine months of filming, no suitable story arose.[5]
In 2009, the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) commissioned Fredbird Entertainment, Graham's independent production company, to produce Zumbo,[9] an Australian observational documentary series about master patissier Adriano Zumbo.[10]
Fredbird Entertainment and Northern Pictures co-produced Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta for SBS.[11] The first episode attracted 620,000 viewers.[12] Graham produced the mini-series, broadcast in January 2012, which described the turbulent story of a multicultural Sydney suburb. The Age described Graham as a "gifted storyteller" whose treatment of the subject was "pitch-perfect, the ideal blend of exposition and witness accounts".[13] In October 2012 Once Upon A Time in Cabramatta was nominated for the 2012 Walkley awards for Excellence in Journalism.[14]
