Screen Nsw executive takes up influential role in March.
Grainne Brunsdon has been appointed head of content at national agency Screen Australia, the country’s most influential role for drama and documentary funding.
Brunsdon, currently head of state film and television agency Screen Nsw, will take up the new role from March 21 and replaces Sally Caplan, who left in January after eight years in the position.
Screen Australia’s contribution to drama production in the financial year 2020/21 was more than $30m (Au$42m).
“I’m very excited to join the Screen Australia team and work on a national agenda for the screen sector,...
Grainne Brunsdon has been appointed head of content at national agency Screen Australia, the country’s most influential role for drama and documentary funding.
Brunsdon, currently head of state film and television agency Screen Nsw, will take up the new role from March 21 and replaces Sally Caplan, who left in January after eight years in the position.
Screen Australia’s contribution to drama production in the financial year 2020/21 was more than $30m (Au$42m).
“I’m very excited to join the Screen Australia team and work on a national agenda for the screen sector,...
- 2/17/2022
- by Sandy George
- ScreenDaily
Screenworks, the national not-for-profit organisation that provides industry and talent development programs and networking for people living in regional Australia, has attracted some of the industry’s biggest names for its annual fundraiser.
Top Row: Amanda Duthie, Cate Shortland, Tony Ayres, Paul Weigard, Sophia Zachariou, Sally Caplan Middle Row: Que Minh Luu, Nathan Mayfiel, Sally Riley, Daina Reid, Joanna Werner, Alastair McKinnon Bottom Row: Nash Edgerton, Jodi Matterson, Kylie Washington, Vanessa Alexander, Lana Greenhalgh
Each year, Screenworks runs a series of raffles to raise funds that directly support its programs and initiatives that are delivered across the country. After successfully raffling a selection of 1-on-1 consultations with industry executives last year, the organisation is doing it again this year to support the career pathways of emerging practitioners across Australia.
Screenworks has secured a range of prominent professionals working in the Australian screen industry, including Clickbait and Fires co-creator Tony Ayres,...
Top Row: Amanda Duthie, Cate Shortland, Tony Ayres, Paul Weigard, Sophia Zachariou, Sally Caplan Middle Row: Que Minh Luu, Nathan Mayfiel, Sally Riley, Daina Reid, Joanna Werner, Alastair McKinnon Bottom Row: Nash Edgerton, Jodi Matterson, Kylie Washington, Vanessa Alexander, Lana Greenhalgh
Each year, Screenworks runs a series of raffles to raise funds that directly support its programs and initiatives that are delivered across the country. After successfully raffling a selection of 1-on-1 consultations with industry executives last year, the organisation is doing it again this year to support the career pathways of emerging practitioners across Australia.
Screenworks has secured a range of prominent professionals working in the Australian screen industry, including Clickbait and Fires co-creator Tony Ayres,...
- 10/25/2021
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Louise Gough is set to return to Screen Australia as head of development, succeeding Nerida Moore, who will depart the agency in December.
Gough, known for her work as script editor, script assessor and dramaturgical consultant, most recently was executive producer and CEO at Australian Plays Transform, and prior to that was head of development at Arenamedia.
Her 30 year career has seen her work across Australia, New Zealand, the US and Europe. Gough worked at Screen Australia previously as a development executive, and other roles include editorial manager at ABC TV in drama and narrative comedy; script assessor at Film Victoria, and in the development team at Madman. In theatre, she has held roles at Belvoir, Playbox (now Malthouse), the Queensland Theatre Company and Vineyard Theatre.
For the last 10 years, Gough has also worked as a script advisor with Sources 2 in Europe, and has worked as an advisor at...
Gough, known for her work as script editor, script assessor and dramaturgical consultant, most recently was executive producer and CEO at Australian Plays Transform, and prior to that was head of development at Arenamedia.
Her 30 year career has seen her work across Australia, New Zealand, the US and Europe. Gough worked at Screen Australia previously as a development executive, and other roles include editorial manager at ABC TV in drama and narrative comedy; script assessor at Film Victoria, and in the development team at Madman. In theatre, she has held roles at Belvoir, Playbox (now Malthouse), the Queensland Theatre Company and Vineyard Theatre.
For the last 10 years, Gough has also worked as a script advisor with Sources 2 in Europe, and has worked as an advisor at...
- 10/12/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
High-profile talent on both sides of the camera punctuate the four feature films, three television dramas, and one virtual reality project that will share in more than $6.5 million of production funding from Screen Australia.
Recipients include two projects from Lingo Pictures: a second season of Upright with Tim Minchin, and an adaptation of Markus Zusak’s best-selling novel The Messenger for the ABC. Funding has also been announced for Rolf de Heer’s The Mountain, and Gracie Otto’s feature film directorial debut Seriously Red, executive produced by Rose Byrne, now in post.
The feature films projects are rounded out by Goran Stolevski’s Of An Age, and Spencer and Lloyd Harvey’s Photo Booth.
Screen Australia’s head of content Sally Caplan said it was heartening to see there was no shortage of strong ideas during another challenging year.
“We are proud to announce this impressive slate from...
Recipients include two projects from Lingo Pictures: a second season of Upright with Tim Minchin, and an adaptation of Markus Zusak’s best-selling novel The Messenger for the ABC. Funding has also been announced for Rolf de Heer’s The Mountain, and Gracie Otto’s feature film directorial debut Seriously Red, executive produced by Rose Byrne, now in post.
The feature films projects are rounded out by Goran Stolevski’s Of An Age, and Spencer and Lloyd Harvey’s Photo Booth.
Screen Australia’s head of content Sally Caplan said it was heartening to see there was no shortage of strong ideas during another challenging year.
“We are proud to announce this impressive slate from...
- 9/23/2021
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Two animated children’s projects and two live-action series will share in $3.2 million of production funding from Screen Australia.
Northern Pictures’ Tom Weekly Versus… and Werner Film Productions’ Surviving Summer are being made for ViacomCBS and Netflix, respectively, while animation offerings 100% Wolf: The Book of Hath from Flying Bark Productions and Kangaroo Beach Summer Special from Cheeky Little Media will both appear on the ABC.
Screen Australia’s head of content Sally Caplan said the funding reflected Screen Australia’s commitment to supporting quality Australian screen stories for young audiences.
“It’s important that Australian kids can see their stories and experiences reflected on screen and families around the country will be in for a treat with these new projects,” she said.
“Northern Pictures are going from strength to strength – building on the success of Hardball, they are now set to bring popular book series Tom Weekly to the screen.
Northern Pictures’ Tom Weekly Versus… and Werner Film Productions’ Surviving Summer are being made for ViacomCBS and Netflix, respectively, while animation offerings 100% Wolf: The Book of Hath from Flying Bark Productions and Kangaroo Beach Summer Special from Cheeky Little Media will both appear on the ABC.
Screen Australia’s head of content Sally Caplan said the funding reflected Screen Australia’s commitment to supporting quality Australian screen stories for young audiences.
“It’s important that Australian kids can see their stories and experiences reflected on screen and families around the country will be in for a treat with these new projects,” she said.
“Northern Pictures are going from strength to strength – building on the success of Hardball, they are now set to bring popular book series Tom Weekly to the screen.
- 8/20/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Screen Australia has appointed Alex West as head of documentary, following the departure of Bernadine Lim earlier this year.
West brings over 25 years of screen experience to the role, having worked as a documentary producer, filmmaker, writer, and director, as well as in screen agency investment program management.
He has previously directed projects in partnership with the BBC, ABC, Seven Network, Sbs, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and Channel 4.
He will oversee the documentary unit at Screen Australia from July 5, reporting to head of content, Sally Caplan.
West said he was “particularly honoured and excited” to be joining the Screen Australia’s documentary team in the current climate.
“More than ever documentaries and factual programs play a crucial role revealing important truths and knowledge about our lives, society, and culture past, present, and future,” he said.
“I am looking forward to getting started working with filmmakers and producers all across...
West brings over 25 years of screen experience to the role, having worked as a documentary producer, filmmaker, writer, and director, as well as in screen agency investment program management.
He has previously directed projects in partnership with the BBC, ABC, Seven Network, Sbs, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and Channel 4.
He will oversee the documentary unit at Screen Australia from July 5, reporting to head of content, Sally Caplan.
West said he was “particularly honoured and excited” to be joining the Screen Australia’s documentary team in the current climate.
“More than ever documentaries and factual programs play a crucial role revealing important truths and knowledge about our lives, society, and culture past, present, and future,” he said.
“I am looking forward to getting started working with filmmakers and producers all across...
- 6/15/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Luke Eve’s romantic drama I Met a Girl will be released as a Netflix Original film in Australia and New Zealand next month after being acquired by the streamer.
Scripted Glen Dolman, the plot follows Devon, a 20-something aspiring musician with schizophrenia, who relies on his older brother Nick to get by. On a downward spiral, Devon is saved by Lucy – a mysterious girl who is just as impulsive and romantic as he is.
When she vanishes, leaving him with a note to ‘meet me in Sydney,’ he sets out on a cross-country journey to find the girl of his dreams… who may just be in his head.
The cast includes Brenton Thwaites, Lily Sullivan, Joel Jackson, Zahra Newman, and Peter Rowsthorn.
I Met a Girl was produced by Adam Dolman and co-produced by Melissa Kelly and Ryan Hodgson, with Timothy White, Tait Brady, Roger Savage, James Norrie, and...
Scripted Glen Dolman, the plot follows Devon, a 20-something aspiring musician with schizophrenia, who relies on his older brother Nick to get by. On a downward spiral, Devon is saved by Lucy – a mysterious girl who is just as impulsive and romantic as he is.
When she vanishes, leaving him with a note to ‘meet me in Sydney,’ he sets out on a cross-country journey to find the girl of his dreams… who may just be in his head.
The cast includes Brenton Thwaites, Lily Sullivan, Joel Jackson, Zahra Newman, and Peter Rowsthorn.
I Met a Girl was produced by Adam Dolman and co-produced by Melissa Kelly and Ryan Hodgson, with Timothy White, Tait Brady, Roger Savage, James Norrie, and...
- 3/21/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Screen Australia has announced nearly $2 million of production funding for two documentaries through the Commissioned program and eight through the Producer Program.
The projects include series Could You Survive on the Breadline? exploring financial disadvantage for Sbs; The Secret World of Fungi, a documentary for IMAX; and a series investigating racism in Australia called Unheard.
There’s also Medalia Productions and Sweetshop & Green’s feature documentary Prisoner X, coincidentally about the same man – and with the same title – as the narrative series Fremantle Australia announced it is developing with Stephen Corvini and Israeli production company Abot Hameiri.
Screen Australia’s head of content Sally Caplan said: “We’re very pleased to support these documentaries that will shine a light on issues including mental health and wellbeing, racism and the natural environment, and are sure to spark conversations. We’re excited to back the first ever Israeli documentary co-production with compelling feature Prisoner X,...
The projects include series Could You Survive on the Breadline? exploring financial disadvantage for Sbs; The Secret World of Fungi, a documentary for IMAX; and a series investigating racism in Australia called Unheard.
There’s also Medalia Productions and Sweetshop & Green’s feature documentary Prisoner X, coincidentally about the same man – and with the same title – as the narrative series Fremantle Australia announced it is developing with Stephen Corvini and Israeli production company Abot Hameiri.
Screen Australia’s head of content Sally Caplan said: “We’re very pleased to support these documentaries that will shine a light on issues including mental health and wellbeing, racism and the natural environment, and are sure to spark conversations. We’re excited to back the first ever Israeli documentary co-production with compelling feature Prisoner X,...
- 3/16/2021
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Screen Australia, together with its Gender Matters Taskforce, has used International Women’s Day to unveil two initiatives aimed at supporting women and gender-diverse practitioners.
These include a series of webinars presented by women working in key creative roles and a mentoring program.
Hosted by Screenworks, the Gender Matters Webinars will engage with representatives from the Gender Matters Taskforce and the wider industry, leveraging their expertise and connections to advocate for change in each of their individual areas of speciality.
Gender Matters Taskforce chair and producer Joanna Werner, director Corrie Chen, documentary filmmakers Jen Peedom and Yaara Bou Melhem, and screenwriter Sarah Bassiuoni will join moderato, dean of Rmit University’s School of Media and Communication, Lisa French, in speaking at the sessions.
There is also Gender Matters Connect, a mentoring program delivered by Women in Film and Television Australia (Wift Australia) and Screen Australia.
Among those sharing their expertise...
These include a series of webinars presented by women working in key creative roles and a mentoring program.
Hosted by Screenworks, the Gender Matters Webinars will engage with representatives from the Gender Matters Taskforce and the wider industry, leveraging their expertise and connections to advocate for change in each of their individual areas of speciality.
Gender Matters Taskforce chair and producer Joanna Werner, director Corrie Chen, documentary filmmakers Jen Peedom and Yaara Bou Melhem, and screenwriter Sarah Bassiuoni will join moderato, dean of Rmit University’s School of Media and Communication, Lisa French, in speaking at the sessions.
There is also Gender Matters Connect, a mentoring program delivered by Women in Film and Television Australia (Wift Australia) and Screen Australia.
Among those sharing their expertise...
- 3/8/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
A television adaptation of 2018’s Ladies in Black, a feature film from Bryan Brown, and a television drama from one of the creators of Offspring are among the 21 projects to share in more than $730,000 in development funding from Screen Australia.
Of the projects to receive funding, 10 have been supported through the Generate fund and 11 through the Premium fund.
Screen Australia’s head of content Sally Caplan said the agency was impressed by the “rigorous creativity” of Australian creators as the industry continued to rebound from Covid-19.
“It’s great to see a number of engaging stories set around iconic milestones in Australian history, from the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, to the social change that took place in the 60s or the recession in the 80s, and I look forward to seeing these projects develop further,” she said.
Features:
Premium:
1989
Sewing Pictures Pty Ltd
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family
Writer...
Of the projects to receive funding, 10 have been supported through the Generate fund and 11 through the Premium fund.
Screen Australia’s head of content Sally Caplan said the agency was impressed by the “rigorous creativity” of Australian creators as the industry continued to rebound from Covid-19.
“It’s great to see a number of engaging stories set around iconic milestones in Australian history, from the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, to the social change that took place in the 60s or the recession in the 80s, and I look forward to seeing these projects develop further,” she said.
Features:
Premium:
1989
Sewing Pictures Pty Ltd
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family
Writer...
- 3/1/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
The ABC has commissioned two new live-action children’s series, Aquarius Films’ Parent Up and Fremantle Australia’s The Pm’s Daughter.
Both supported by Screen Australia, the series will go into production this year, joining MaveriX, Itch season 2 and Hardball season 2 on ABC Me’s narrative drama slate.
A comedy action series for 8-13 year olds, Parent Up is created and executive produced by Justine Flynn (The Unlisted). It follows Yu Na and Min Park, who want more excitement in their lives. However, they don’t realise just how crazy their lives will become when they discover their once unremarkable parents are actually international spies and have disappeared in suspicious circumstances.
Writing with Flynn are Michelle Lim Davidson, Andrew Lee, Tiffany Zehnal, Melissa Lee Speyer, Tristram Baumber, Sophia Chung, Hyun Lee, Alice McCredie-Dando and David Park.
Directors will include Nick Verso, Chase Lee, Hyun Lee, Darlene Johnson, Neil Sharma and Flynn.
Both supported by Screen Australia, the series will go into production this year, joining MaveriX, Itch season 2 and Hardball season 2 on ABC Me’s narrative drama slate.
A comedy action series for 8-13 year olds, Parent Up is created and executive produced by Justine Flynn (The Unlisted). It follows Yu Na and Min Park, who want more excitement in their lives. However, they don’t realise just how crazy their lives will become when they discover their once unremarkable parents are actually international spies and have disappeared in suspicious circumstances.
Writing with Flynn are Michelle Lim Davidson, Andrew Lee, Tiffany Zehnal, Melissa Lee Speyer, Tristram Baumber, Sophia Chung, Hyun Lee, Alice McCredie-Dando and David Park.
Directors will include Nick Verso, Chase Lee, Hyun Lee, Darlene Johnson, Neil Sharma and Flynn.
- 2/25/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Two feature films, three TV dramas, one children’s series, and one online project will share in $5.9 million of production funding from Screen Australia.
The projects include feature How To Please A Woman about a woman’s choice to take her all-male housecleaning business to a more intimate level; the previously announced ABC anthology drama series Fires, set during last summer’s devastating bushfires; Stan feature Gold, and a comedy about a single woman and her database of potential sexual partners in Spreadsheet for Viacom CBS.
Screen Australia’s head of content Sally Caplan said it was a testament to the resilience of the screen industry to have so many projects move into production during such a challenging period.
“It’s fantastic to kick off 2021 with such a great sample of the premium dramas that have been greenlit across the country,” she said.
“We’re so pleased to have supported...
The projects include feature How To Please A Woman about a woman’s choice to take her all-male housecleaning business to a more intimate level; the previously announced ABC anthology drama series Fires, set during last summer’s devastating bushfires; Stan feature Gold, and a comedy about a single woman and her database of potential sexual partners in Spreadsheet for Viacom CBS.
Screen Australia’s head of content Sally Caplan said it was a testament to the resilience of the screen industry to have so many projects move into production during such a challenging period.
“It’s fantastic to kick off 2021 with such a great sample of the premium dramas that have been greenlit across the country,” she said.
“We’re so pleased to have supported...
- 2/3/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Ana Kokkinos, Leah Purcell, Julie Kalceff, Fadia Abboud and Lucy Gaffy will helm anthology feature drama Here Out West, penned by eight emerging writers and now shooting in Sydney.
The project is the result of Co-Curious’ Behind Closed Doors initiative, a two year development program designed to connect new voices to experienced talent, backed by Screen Australia and Screen Nsw.
Nisrine Amine, Bina Bhattacharya, Matias Bolla, Claire Cao, Arka Das, Dee Dogan, Vonne Patiag and Tien Tran are the scribes in question, having written a work follows the desperate kidnapping of a baby from hospital; an act that sets off a chain of events that bring together complete strangers over the course of one dramatic day.
Newcomers Khoi Trinh, Jaime Ureta and De Lovan Zandy will star alongside Das, Geneviève Lemon, Rahel Romahn and Leah Vandenberg.
Selected via a competitive application process, the eight writers worked with writer-producer Blake Ayshford...
The project is the result of Co-Curious’ Behind Closed Doors initiative, a two year development program designed to connect new voices to experienced talent, backed by Screen Australia and Screen Nsw.
Nisrine Amine, Bina Bhattacharya, Matias Bolla, Claire Cao, Arka Das, Dee Dogan, Vonne Patiag and Tien Tran are the scribes in question, having written a work follows the desperate kidnapping of a baby from hospital; an act that sets off a chain of events that bring together complete strangers over the course of one dramatic day.
Newcomers Khoi Trinh, Jaime Ureta and De Lovan Zandy will star alongside Das, Geneviève Lemon, Rahel Romahn and Leah Vandenberg.
Selected via a competitive application process, the eight writers worked with writer-producer Blake Ayshford...
- 11/3/2020
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Sally Caplan.
Launched on July 30, Screen Australia’s Covid-19 Budget Support Fund so far has supported 24 projects that are greenlit and ready to go into production within six months.
The beneficiaries include four features, seven scripted TV projects and eight online works. In addition, funding was allocated to three documentaries and two children’s TV series.
In this Q&a, Screen Australia head of content Sally Caplan explains how the fund is operating, the critical role of the Covid Safety and Risk Assessment Plans and her views on Australian films going straight to streamers.
Have you been inundated with applications for the Covid-19 Budget Support Fund?
Yes. Since the fund opened we have supported 24 projects. But prior to the launch we were doing as much as we could to support projects impacted by Covid. We supported over 27 projects with shut down costs and also guidance on how to prepare Covid...
Launched on July 30, Screen Australia’s Covid-19 Budget Support Fund so far has supported 24 projects that are greenlit and ready to go into production within six months.
The beneficiaries include four features, seven scripted TV projects and eight online works. In addition, funding was allocated to three documentaries and two children’s TV series.
In this Q&a, Screen Australia head of content Sally Caplan explains how the fund is operating, the critical role of the Covid Safety and Risk Assessment Plans and her views on Australian films going straight to streamers.
Have you been inundated with applications for the Covid-19 Budget Support Fund?
Yes. Since the fund opened we have supported 24 projects. But prior to the launch we were doing as much as we could to support projects impacted by Covid. We supported over 27 projects with shut down costs and also guidance on how to prepare Covid...
- 9/22/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Nakkiah Lui, Sarah Kern and Tai Hara.
Screen Australia today announced $2.7 million of production funding, going towards two features, one TV drama, one children’s drama and five online projects.
The slate includes the Roache-Turner brothers’ Wyrmwood Apocalypse, sequel to 2014’s Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead; writer/director Sara Kern’s debut feature Vesna; Nakkiah Lui and Gabe Dowrick’s ABC comedy Preppers; and a second season of Komixx Entertainment’s Itch.
Screen Australia head of content Sally Caplan said: “This slate of projects is testament to the breadth of Australian storytellers and what they’re capable of creating when supported. We are committed to elevating the careers of emerging talent and it’s exciting to see the likes of Sara Kern making her feature film debut, Nakkiah Lui creating her first longer form TV series and actor Tai Hara moving into directing with online series Colour Blind.”
“I’m...
Screen Australia today announced $2.7 million of production funding, going towards two features, one TV drama, one children’s drama and five online projects.
The slate includes the Roache-Turner brothers’ Wyrmwood Apocalypse, sequel to 2014’s Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead; writer/director Sara Kern’s debut feature Vesna; Nakkiah Lui and Gabe Dowrick’s ABC comedy Preppers; and a second season of Komixx Entertainment’s Itch.
Screen Australia head of content Sally Caplan said: “This slate of projects is testament to the breadth of Australian storytellers and what they’re capable of creating when supported. We are committed to elevating the careers of emerging talent and it’s exciting to see the likes of Sara Kern making her feature film debut, Nakkiah Lui creating her first longer form TV series and actor Tai Hara moving into directing with online series Colour Blind.”
“I’m...
- 8/26/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
‘Five Bedrooms’ crew on set. (Photo: Sarah Enticknap)
Screen Australia will launch a new fund next week to cover additional costs associated with implementing Covid-Safe plans.
Known as the Covid-19 Budget Support Fund, it will be specifically for projects that are:
are green-lit, in late stage development or pre-production and intending and ready to go into production within six months of application; And would be eligible for one of Screen Australia’s existing factual and scripted funding programs, including episodic scripted drama (including web series), feature films and feature documentaries
Applicants will be able to apply for up to a limit of $300,000 or 10 per cent of the existing production budget, whichever is less.
Screen Australia has not been allocated additional funding by the government to administer this fund; it will instead reallocate some production investment funding. It has declined to disclose the total amount allocated.
Funding will be competitive, and...
Screen Australia will launch a new fund next week to cover additional costs associated with implementing Covid-Safe plans.
Known as the Covid-19 Budget Support Fund, it will be specifically for projects that are:
are green-lit, in late stage development or pre-production and intending and ready to go into production within six months of application; And would be eligible for one of Screen Australia’s existing factual and scripted funding programs, including episodic scripted drama (including web series), feature films and feature documentaries
Applicants will be able to apply for up to a limit of $300,000 or 10 per cent of the existing production budget, whichever is less.
Screen Australia has not been allocated additional funding by the government to administer this fund; it will instead reallocate some production investment funding. It has declined to disclose the total amount allocated.
Funding will be competitive, and...
- 7/22/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Michael and Danny Philippou.
YouTube sensations RackaRacka – aka Danny and Michael Philippou – will make their big screen debut with horror feature Talk to Me, produced by Causeway Films.
The project is one of six announced today as sharing in $6 million of production funding from Screen Australia.
Other projects backed include anthology feature Here Out West from Co-Curious and Emerald Productions, set in Western Sydney, as well as second seasons of Every Cloud Productions’ Ms Fisher’s MODern Murder Mysteries and Northern Pictures’ kids series Hardball; recently announced children’s series MaveriX; and Lgbtiqia teen series Flunk for YouTube.
Screen Australia head of content Sally Caplan said: “Australian creators continue to capture audiences around the world, such as the RackaRacka team which has built a huge following on YouTube and are now set to deliver a new experience for fans and newcomers alike with their debut feature film. Fans will be delighted...
YouTube sensations RackaRacka – aka Danny and Michael Philippou – will make their big screen debut with horror feature Talk to Me, produced by Causeway Films.
The project is one of six announced today as sharing in $6 million of production funding from Screen Australia.
Other projects backed include anthology feature Here Out West from Co-Curious and Emerald Productions, set in Western Sydney, as well as second seasons of Every Cloud Productions’ Ms Fisher’s MODern Murder Mysteries and Northern Pictures’ kids series Hardball; recently announced children’s series MaveriX; and Lgbtiqia teen series Flunk for YouTube.
Screen Australia head of content Sally Caplan said: “Australian creators continue to capture audiences around the world, such as the RackaRacka team which has built a huge following on YouTube and are now set to deliver a new experience for fans and newcomers alike with their debut feature film. Fans will be delighted...
- 7/6/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
The ABC and Netflix have co-ordered children’s series MaveriX from Brindle Films, set in the world of junior motocross and due to shoot in Alice Springs in 2021.
Created by Rachel Clements, Sam Meikle and Issac Elliott, the 10 x 30 drama will follow six teens accepted for the first ever MaveriX Academy in Alice, where they are pushed to the limits and given the chance to join a professional racing team.
Clements and Trisha Morton-Thomas will produce the scripts written by Miekle, Fin Edquist, Michelle Offen and Kelly Schilling. The creators are all executive producers with Bernadette O’Mahony.
According the Northern Territory government, MaveriX will be the largest ever local production to shoot in the territory. It’s expected to inject $5 million into the Nt economy and employ nearly 400 people when filming begins next year.
The Nt Government has invested a record $1.5 million into the series via Screen Territory, while major...
Created by Rachel Clements, Sam Meikle and Issac Elliott, the 10 x 30 drama will follow six teens accepted for the first ever MaveriX Academy in Alice, where they are pushed to the limits and given the chance to join a professional racing team.
Clements and Trisha Morton-Thomas will produce the scripts written by Miekle, Fin Edquist, Michelle Offen and Kelly Schilling. The creators are all executive producers with Bernadette O’Mahony.
According the Northern Territory government, MaveriX will be the largest ever local production to shoot in the territory. It’s expected to inject $5 million into the Nt economy and employ nearly 400 people when filming begins next year.
The Nt Government has invested a record $1.5 million into the series via Screen Territory, while major...
- 6/30/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Erik Thomson.
Closer Productions’ Aftertaste has resumed pre-production for the ABC, preparing to shoot in Adelaide and surrounds over the coming months.
Erik Thomson leads the dramedy as Easton West, an internationally renowned yet volatile celebrity chef whose spectacular fall from grace sees him return to his home town in the Adelaide Hills, where he endeavours to rebuild his career and restore his reputation, with the help of his talented, young, pastry-chef niece.
The series, created Julie de Fina and Matthew Bate, had been due to kick off just before the pandemic.
Bate produces with Thomson and Rebecca Summerton, and he and de Fina wrote the scripts with Matt Vesely. De Fina is the EP, with ABC executive producer Rebecca Anderson. The production office is located in the newly-reopened Adelaide Studios.
As the first project to resume in South Australia, Aftertaste will be a test case for a new risk...
Closer Productions’ Aftertaste has resumed pre-production for the ABC, preparing to shoot in Adelaide and surrounds over the coming months.
Erik Thomson leads the dramedy as Easton West, an internationally renowned yet volatile celebrity chef whose spectacular fall from grace sees him return to his home town in the Adelaide Hills, where he endeavours to rebuild his career and restore his reputation, with the help of his talented, young, pastry-chef niece.
The series, created Julie de Fina and Matthew Bate, had been due to kick off just before the pandemic.
Bate produces with Thomson and Rebecca Summerton, and he and de Fina wrote the scripts with Matt Vesely. De Fina is the EP, with ABC executive producer Rebecca Anderson. The production office is located in the newly-reopened Adelaide Studios.
As the first project to resume in South Australia, Aftertaste will be a test case for a new risk...
- 6/29/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Joel Edgerton will produce and star in Thomas M Wright’s ‘The Unknown Man’.
Amid turbulent times for the sector, Screen Australia has some positive news, announcing production funding for three feature films, four television series, a children’s series and two online projects.
Overall, the projects, including Thomas M Wright’s The Unknown Man, produced by See-Saw Films and Anonymous Content, and starring Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris, will share in $8.5 million of production funding.
Other projects include family drama The Midwife from Playmaker Media for Nine; a comedy created by Kitty Flanagan called Entitled for the ABC, and the debut feature film from artist Del Kathryn Barton, Puff, produced by Causeway Films.
“We’re blown away by the projects in this slate and it’s great to see such a wide range of genres. I am particularly delighted to support Puff, the directorial debut of renowned artist Del Kathryn Barton,...
Amid turbulent times for the sector, Screen Australia has some positive news, announcing production funding for three feature films, four television series, a children’s series and two online projects.
Overall, the projects, including Thomas M Wright’s The Unknown Man, produced by See-Saw Films and Anonymous Content, and starring Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris, will share in $8.5 million of production funding.
Other projects include family drama The Midwife from Playmaker Media for Nine; a comedy created by Kitty Flanagan called Entitled for the ABC, and the debut feature film from artist Del Kathryn Barton, Puff, produced by Causeway Films.
“We’re blown away by the projects in this slate and it’s great to see such a wide range of genres. I am particularly delighted to support Puff, the directorial debut of renowned artist Del Kathryn Barton,...
- 4/20/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
‘Wakefield’.
British actor Rudi Dharmalingam, Mandy McElhinney and Geraldine Hakewill lead the cast of newly-announced ABC drama Wakefield, now shooting across Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Southern Highlands.
Produced by Jungle Entertainment in partnership with BBC Studios, the eight-parter created by Kristen Dunphy is set in a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital, and described as a psychological mystery exploring the fine line between sanity and madness.
At the show’s centre is Dharmalingham’s Nik, a gifted psych nurse, blessed with a powerful combination of common sense and intuition. Nik is easily the sanest person in what is a pretty crazy place. But when a song gets stuck in his head, a dark secret from his past begins to intrude into his present, forming an intriguing puzzle that comes together as the series builds to its heart wrenching conclusion.
Starring alongside is an impressive ensemble cast including Dan Wyllie, Harriet Dyer,...
British actor Rudi Dharmalingam, Mandy McElhinney and Geraldine Hakewill lead the cast of newly-announced ABC drama Wakefield, now shooting across Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Southern Highlands.
Produced by Jungle Entertainment in partnership with BBC Studios, the eight-parter created by Kristen Dunphy is set in a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital, and described as a psychological mystery exploring the fine line between sanity and madness.
At the show’s centre is Dharmalingham’s Nik, a gifted psych nurse, blessed with a powerful combination of common sense and intuition. Nik is easily the sanest person in what is a pretty crazy place. But when a song gets stuck in his head, a dark secret from his past begins to intrude into his present, forming an intriguing puzzle that comes together as the series builds to its heart wrenching conclusion.
Starring alongside is an impressive ensemble cast including Dan Wyllie, Harriet Dyer,...
- 2/12/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
James Cromwell and Jacki Weaver in ‘Never Too Late’. (Photo credit: Bradley Patrick).
Screen Australia’s head of content Sally Caplan rates 2019 as a good year for Australian films at home and abroad – and she is even more optimistic about the 2020 slate.
Having seen a sizable number of the upcoming Aussie releases in completed form, rough cut or in post, arguably she is uniquely placed to provide an overview.
“There is a lot of doom and gloom about films not working but they can work,” the six-year agency veteran tells If. Here are her comments on a selection of the year’s releases, in no particular order.
Robert Connolly’s The Dry, which stars Eric Bana as a cop who returns to his drought-stricken hometown after 20 years to investigate an apparent murder-suicide committed by his childhood friend: “I’ve seen the locked cut and it’s looking great, based on...
Screen Australia’s head of content Sally Caplan rates 2019 as a good year for Australian films at home and abroad – and she is even more optimistic about the 2020 slate.
Having seen a sizable number of the upcoming Aussie releases in completed form, rough cut or in post, arguably she is uniquely placed to provide an overview.
“There is a lot of doom and gloom about films not working but they can work,” the six-year agency veteran tells If. Here are her comments on a selection of the year’s releases, in no particular order.
Robert Connolly’s The Dry, which stars Eric Bana as a cop who returns to his drought-stricken hometown after 20 years to investigate an apparent murder-suicide committed by his childhood friend: “I’ve seen the locked cut and it’s looking great, based on...
- 1/29/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
‘I Met a Girl.’
Screen Australia is taking a slightly tougher position in evaluating feature film projects this year, while the agency is seeing a spike in feature documentary and high-end TV drama pitches.
There has been a slight drop in feature film funding applications, which could imply that fewer theatrical features will be funded, with some money diverted to docs, TV drama and online projects.
“We are still incredibly supportive of and committed to film but we are seeing some applications that are not strong enough,” Screen Australia head of content Sally Caplan tells If.
“The scripts may be good but the pathway to audiences and the financing may not necessarily have been thought through. We are being a bit tougher.”
According to Caplan the intention is to fund the development of fewer feature projects, an approach that is a “bit stricter” than previously.
The agency is getting a...
Screen Australia is taking a slightly tougher position in evaluating feature film projects this year, while the agency is seeing a spike in feature documentary and high-end TV drama pitches.
There has been a slight drop in feature film funding applications, which could imply that fewer theatrical features will be funded, with some money diverted to docs, TV drama and online projects.
“We are still incredibly supportive of and committed to film but we are seeing some applications that are not strong enough,” Screen Australia head of content Sally Caplan tells If.
“The scripts may be good but the pathway to audiences and the financing may not necessarily have been thought through. We are being a bit tougher.”
According to Caplan the intention is to fund the development of fewer feature projects, an approach that is a “bit stricter” than previously.
The agency is getting a...
- 1/28/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Writer Jackie van Beek and director Armagan Ballantyne, who will collaborate on ‘Nude Tuesday’.
Two feature films, one from Robert Connolly and the other a Kiwi-Aussie co-pro penned by The Breaker Upperers’ Jackie van Beek; a ABC TV comedy from Closer Productions; and two online projects are the latest recipients of $3.5 million worth of production funding from Screen Australia.
Connolly, writer/director of box office hit Paper Planes, will return to Western Australia to shoot a feature film adaptation of Tim Winton’s acclaimed novel Blueback, while Nz’s Firefly Productions will join forces with Good Thing Productions to create absurdist dramedy feature Nude Tuesday, directed by Armagan Ballantyne. Erik Thomson teams up with Adelaide’s Closer Productions to produce Yes, Chef! for the ABC, following a notorious celebrity chef who is forced to flee to his hometown in the Adelaide Hills.
Screen Australia head of content Sally Caplan said:...
Two feature films, one from Robert Connolly and the other a Kiwi-Aussie co-pro penned by The Breaker Upperers’ Jackie van Beek; a ABC TV comedy from Closer Productions; and two online projects are the latest recipients of $3.5 million worth of production funding from Screen Australia.
Connolly, writer/director of box office hit Paper Planes, will return to Western Australia to shoot a feature film adaptation of Tim Winton’s acclaimed novel Blueback, while Nz’s Firefly Productions will join forces with Good Thing Productions to create absurdist dramedy feature Nude Tuesday, directed by Armagan Ballantyne. Erik Thomson teams up with Adelaide’s Closer Productions to produce Yes, Chef! for the ABC, following a notorious celebrity chef who is forced to flee to his hometown in the Adelaide Hills.
Screen Australia head of content Sally Caplan said:...
- 1/21/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Rialto Distribution to release in Australia and New Zealand.
Screen Australia has made a “major investment” in the sci-fi thriller Alternate from Lady A Pictures and Sla Films.
Writer/director Anthony Garland makes his feature debut on the story, which takes place in a high-rise office block as an overworked executive goes four hours back in time to save his girlfriend from being killed.
Producers are Ali Mueller for Lady A Pictures, and Anita Gou, with Sla’s Anna Vincent and Timothy White.
Production on Alternate is scheduled to commence in Australia in 2020. Garland, who wrote and directed the short...
Screen Australia has made a “major investment” in the sci-fi thriller Alternate from Lady A Pictures and Sla Films.
Writer/director Anthony Garland makes his feature debut on the story, which takes place in a high-rise office block as an overworked executive goes four hours back in time to save his girlfriend from being killed.
Producers are Ali Mueller for Lady A Pictures, and Anita Gou, with Sla’s Anna Vincent and Timothy White.
Production on Alternate is scheduled to commence in Australia in 2020. Garland, who wrote and directed the short...
- 11/26/2019
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
‘New Gold Mountain’ writers Peter Cox, Benjamin Law and Yolanda Ramke.
Sbs has commissioned a 4-part drama set during the 1850s gold rush from the perspective of desperate Chinese miners from Goalpost Television, to be directed by The Hunting’s Ana Kokkinos.
The broadcaster’s 2020 slate unveiled today includes documentaries spotlighting immigration, identity, homelessness, addiction and domestic violence.
Among the returning shows, Bert Newton, Lisa Wilkinson and country music star Troy Cassar-Daley will be among the eight identities who search for their family history in Warner Bros. Australia’s Who Do You Think You Are?
In the third season of Blackfella Films’ Filthy, Rich & Homeless five high-profile Aussies including Dr Andrew Rochford will swap their privileged lives to discover what life is like for the nation’s homeless.
Scripted by creator/lead writer Peter Cox (the Kiwi’s first Australian screen credit), Benjamin Law and Yolanda Ramke, Goalpost’s New...
Sbs has commissioned a 4-part drama set during the 1850s gold rush from the perspective of desperate Chinese miners from Goalpost Television, to be directed by The Hunting’s Ana Kokkinos.
The broadcaster’s 2020 slate unveiled today includes documentaries spotlighting immigration, identity, homelessness, addiction and domestic violence.
Among the returning shows, Bert Newton, Lisa Wilkinson and country music star Troy Cassar-Daley will be among the eight identities who search for their family history in Warner Bros. Australia’s Who Do You Think You Are?
In the third season of Blackfella Films’ Filthy, Rich & Homeless five high-profile Aussies including Dr Andrew Rochford will swap their privileged lives to discover what life is like for the nation’s homeless.
Scripted by creator/lead writer Peter Cox (the Kiwi’s first Australian screen credit), Benjamin Law and Yolanda Ramke, Goalpost’s New...
- 11/19/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Phoebe Tonkin and Bryan Brown.
Jacqueline McKenzie, Gary Sweet, Bella Heathcote, Toby Schmitz, Jackson Heywood, Scott Lee and Ed Oxenbould are new additions to the cast of Stan’s Bloom, the second season of which is now shooting in regional Victoria.
Greg McLean and Sian Davies (who both directed episodes of Stan’s The Gloaming) are directing the six-part supernatural drama created and written by Glen Dolman, produced by Sue Seeary for Playmaker Media. Geoffrey Hall is the Dop.
Jacki Weaver, Bryan Brown, Phoebe Tonkin, Genevieve Morris, John Stanton, Anne Charleston, Terry Norris and Thomas Ersatz are all returning.
In the first series the residents of a small country town were left reeling after a “fountain of youth” appeared in the wake of a devastating flood. A mysterious plant with luminous berries gave those who consumed it a second chance to return to their prime. The results were miraculous for...
Jacqueline McKenzie, Gary Sweet, Bella Heathcote, Toby Schmitz, Jackson Heywood, Scott Lee and Ed Oxenbould are new additions to the cast of Stan’s Bloom, the second season of which is now shooting in regional Victoria.
Greg McLean and Sian Davies (who both directed episodes of Stan’s The Gloaming) are directing the six-part supernatural drama created and written by Glen Dolman, produced by Sue Seeary for Playmaker Media. Geoffrey Hall is the Dop.
Jacki Weaver, Bryan Brown, Phoebe Tonkin, Genevieve Morris, John Stanton, Anne Charleston, Terry Norris and Thomas Ersatz are all returning.
In the first series the residents of a small country town were left reeling after a “fountain of youth” appeared in the wake of a devastating flood. A mysterious plant with luminous berries gave those who consumed it a second chance to return to their prime. The results were miraculous for...
- 11/12/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
‘Between Two Worlds.’
When James Warburton was appointed CEO of Seven West Media succeeding Tim Worner he vowed to revitalise the Seven Network’s entertainment programming, focusing primarily on Sunday-Thursday primetime.
Warburton looks like delivering on that promise next year with a raft of initiatives including refreshes for My Kitchen Rules and House Rules, Endemol Shine Australia’s action-drama Rfds and Cjz’s four-part investigation of the disappearance of British backpacker Peter Falconio.
The line-up includes Esa’s revival of Big Brother, Screentime’s endurance competition Sas: Who Dares Wins, Eureka Productions’ extreme mini-golf competition Mega Mini Golf and Seven Studios’ Plate of Origin, billed as the “Olympics of cooking.”
Fremantle and Eureka will co-produce a new version of Farmer Wants a Wife, a format which previously aired on the Nine Network, while Fremantle’s Australia’s Got Talent has been renewed for a second season.
“I’ve been clear...
When James Warburton was appointed CEO of Seven West Media succeeding Tim Worner he vowed to revitalise the Seven Network’s entertainment programming, focusing primarily on Sunday-Thursday primetime.
Warburton looks like delivering on that promise next year with a raft of initiatives including refreshes for My Kitchen Rules and House Rules, Endemol Shine Australia’s action-drama Rfds and Cjz’s four-part investigation of the disappearance of British backpacker Peter Falconio.
The line-up includes Esa’s revival of Big Brother, Screentime’s endurance competition Sas: Who Dares Wins, Eureka Productions’ extreme mini-golf competition Mega Mini Golf and Seven Studios’ Plate of Origin, billed as the “Olympics of cooking.”
Fremantle and Eureka will co-produce a new version of Farmer Wants a Wife, a format which previously aired on the Nine Network, while Fremantle’s Australia’s Got Talent has been renewed for a second season.
“I’ve been clear...
- 10/23/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Leah Purcell on the set of ‘The Drover’s Wife the Legend of Molly Johnson’.
Rob Collins, Sam Reid and Jessica de Gouw have joined the cast of Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife the Legend of Molly Johnson, which is now shooting in Nsw.
Purcell is making her feature directing debut on the revenge Western, a re-imagining of her acclaimed play and Henry Lawson’s classic short story.
Roadshow Films has boarded the film produced by Oombarra Productions’ Bain Stewart and Bunya Productions’ David Jowsey, Angela Littlejohn and Greer Simpkin.
Set in 1893, the plot follows Purcell as the heavily pregnant Molly Johnson who, with her children, struggles to survive hunger and the wild elements. She forms a bond with Yadaka, a runaway Aboriginal who helps her with the birth and burial of her stillborn baby.
When Sergeant Nate Clintoff learns that Molly’s drover husband is missing he...
Rob Collins, Sam Reid and Jessica de Gouw have joined the cast of Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife the Legend of Molly Johnson, which is now shooting in Nsw.
Purcell is making her feature directing debut on the revenge Western, a re-imagining of her acclaimed play and Henry Lawson’s classic short story.
Roadshow Films has boarded the film produced by Oombarra Productions’ Bain Stewart and Bunya Productions’ David Jowsey, Angela Littlejohn and Greer Simpkin.
Set in 1893, the plot follows Purcell as the heavily pregnant Molly Johnson who, with her children, struggles to survive hunger and the wild elements. She forms a bond with Yadaka, a runaway Aboriginal who helps her with the birth and burial of her stillborn baby.
When Sergeant Nate Clintoff learns that Molly’s drover husband is missing he...
- 10/23/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Macario De Souza, the writer/director behind ‘6 Festivals’.
Screen Australia has announced production funding for three feature films and one online project, to a total of $1.4 million.
The slate includes supernatural drama You Won’t Be Alone from writer/director Goran Stolevski and producers Kristina Ceyton and Samantha Jennings of Causeway Films; and 6 Festivals, a drama centred on a group of friends who commit to a bucket list of music festivals over one summer from writer/director Macario De Souza.
Also receiving funding are writer/director Tyson Johnston’s Streamline, about a prospective teen Olympic swimmer to played by Levi Miller; and Moments of Clarity, an online animated comedy about the existential truths of ordinary life from writer/director Tim Logan.
In addition to the above slate, completion funding was supplied to See Picture’s comedy feature June Again. Written and directed by JJ Winlove and produced by Jamie Hilton,...
Screen Australia has announced production funding for three feature films and one online project, to a total of $1.4 million.
The slate includes supernatural drama You Won’t Be Alone from writer/director Goran Stolevski and producers Kristina Ceyton and Samantha Jennings of Causeway Films; and 6 Festivals, a drama centred on a group of friends who commit to a bucket list of music festivals over one summer from writer/director Macario De Souza.
Also receiving funding are writer/director Tyson Johnston’s Streamline, about a prospective teen Olympic swimmer to played by Levi Miller; and Moments of Clarity, an online animated comedy about the existential truths of ordinary life from writer/director Tim Logan.
In addition to the above slate, completion funding was supplied to See Picture’s comedy feature June Again. Written and directed by JJ Winlove and produced by Jamie Hilton,...
- 10/15/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Alice-Miranda – A Royal Christmas Ball.
The Nine Network and Zdf Enterprises, the commercial arm of German pubcaster Zdf, have co-commissioned a second animated telemovie based on the novels by Oz author Jacqueline Harvey.
Slr Productions is producing Alice-Miranda – A Royal Christmas Ball, the follow-up to Alice-Miranda Friends Forever, which premieres on Nine later this year after a cinema release next month through Village and Event Cinemas in Australia and New Zealand.
Produced by Yasmin Jones and written by Alexa Moses and Melanie Alexander, the plot follows Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones, who has survived her first year at school and looks forward to the holidays, her birthday celebrations aboard a cruise ship and a royal Christmas ball to be held at their school celebrating Queen Georgiana’s silver jubilee.
But Alice-Miranda with the help of her friends must first catch a jewel thief, rescue Bony the pony, who’s been kidnapped, and uncover...
The Nine Network and Zdf Enterprises, the commercial arm of German pubcaster Zdf, have co-commissioned a second animated telemovie based on the novels by Oz author Jacqueline Harvey.
Slr Productions is producing Alice-Miranda – A Royal Christmas Ball, the follow-up to Alice-Miranda Friends Forever, which premieres on Nine later this year after a cinema release next month through Village and Event Cinemas in Australia and New Zealand.
Produced by Yasmin Jones and written by Alexa Moses and Melanie Alexander, the plot follows Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones, who has survived her first year at school and looks forward to the holidays, her birthday celebrations aboard a cruise ship and a royal Christmas ball to be held at their school celebrating Queen Georgiana’s silver jubilee.
But Alice-Miranda with the help of her friends must first catch a jewel thief, rescue Bony the pony, who’s been kidnapped, and uncover...
- 10/9/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
L-r: ‘Thalu’ cast Jakeile Coffin, Sharliya Mowarin, Cherry-Rose Hubert, Logan Adams, Ella Togo, Penesha Wally and Wade Walker. (Photo credit: Tyson Mowarin)
Nitv and ABC Children’s have jointly commissioned five-part children’s series Thalu from Weerianna Street Media, with production now underway in the Pilbara, Wa.
Produced by Weerianna Street’s Tyson Mowarin and Robyn Marais with Bernadette O’Mahony from the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (Actf), Thalu is described as an “ode to the Pilbera and its people”.
It follows a group of Indigenous children who undertake a journey to save their Country from the threat of a mysterious dust cloud and its inhabitants, the Takers. It takes Roebourne community stories and weaves Ngarluma culture with the classic heroes’ journey.
The scripts have been penned by Beck Cole, Sam Nuggin-Paynter, David Woodhead, Donald Imberlong and Nayuka Gorrie. In addition to producing the series, Mowarin will also direct with Dena Curtis,...
Nitv and ABC Children’s have jointly commissioned five-part children’s series Thalu from Weerianna Street Media, with production now underway in the Pilbara, Wa.
Produced by Weerianna Street’s Tyson Mowarin and Robyn Marais with Bernadette O’Mahony from the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (Actf), Thalu is described as an “ode to the Pilbera and its people”.
It follows a group of Indigenous children who undertake a journey to save their Country from the threat of a mysterious dust cloud and its inhabitants, the Takers. It takes Roebourne community stories and weaves Ngarluma culture with the classic heroes’ journey.
The scripts have been penned by Beck Cole, Sam Nuggin-Paynter, David Woodhead, Donald Imberlong and Nayuka Gorrie. In addition to producing the series, Mowarin will also direct with Dena Curtis,...
- 9/25/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Ahmed Malek.
Writer-director Roderick Mackay’s feature debut The Furnace is set to kick off in Wa next month, headlined by a cast that includes Egyptian actor Ahmed Malek, David Wenham and The Nightingale’s Baykali Ganambarr.
Set in the during the 1890s gold rush, the film is described as an “unlikely hero’s tale” navigating greed and identity. It illuminates a history of Australia’s ‘Ghan’ cameleers, predominantly Muslim and Sikh men from India, Afghanistan and Persia, who opened up the desert interior, and formed unique bonds with local Aboriginal people.
Malek, named a Rising Star at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, will play Hanif, a young cameleer who forms a partnership with a bushman on the run with Crown gold. The bushman, Mal, will be played by Wenham, a long-time supporter of the project. Together, they must outwit zealous troopers in a race to reset the gold bars at a secret furnace.
Writer-director Roderick Mackay’s feature debut The Furnace is set to kick off in Wa next month, headlined by a cast that includes Egyptian actor Ahmed Malek, David Wenham and The Nightingale’s Baykali Ganambarr.
Set in the during the 1890s gold rush, the film is described as an “unlikely hero’s tale” navigating greed and identity. It illuminates a history of Australia’s ‘Ghan’ cameleers, predominantly Muslim and Sikh men from India, Afghanistan and Persia, who opened up the desert interior, and formed unique bonds with local Aboriginal people.
Malek, named a Rising Star at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, will play Hanif, a young cameleer who forms a partnership with a bushman on the run with Crown gold. The bushman, Mal, will be played by Wenham, a long-time supporter of the project. Together, they must outwit zealous troopers in a race to reset the gold bars at a secret furnace.
- 9/13/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
(L-r) Dena Kaplan, Ronny Chieng, Josh Lawson, Rafe Spall and Zahra Newman (Photo credit: Maria Boyadgis).
Studiocanal has acquired worldwide rights to Josh Lawson’s romantic comedy Long Story Short, which started shooting in Sydney today, and Australian rights to JJ Winlove’s dramedy June Again.
Rafe Spall plays Teddy, who wakes up the morning after his wedding to discover that every few minutes he’s jumping forward to the next year of his life in writer-director Lawson’s follow-up to The Little Death.
Teddy must use every precious moment wisely to prevent losing the love of his life (Diary of an Uber Driver’s Zahra Newman) and to learn to love the life he’s losing.
The cast includes Ronny Chieng (Crazy Rich Asians), Noni Hazlehurst, Dena Kaplan and Lawson.
See Pictures’ Jamie Hilton is producing alongside Michael Pontin and Isabel Stanfield, with funding from Screen Australia, Create Nsw and Spectrum Films.
Studiocanal has acquired worldwide rights to Josh Lawson’s romantic comedy Long Story Short, which started shooting in Sydney today, and Australian rights to JJ Winlove’s dramedy June Again.
Rafe Spall plays Teddy, who wakes up the morning after his wedding to discover that every few minutes he’s jumping forward to the next year of his life in writer-director Lawson’s follow-up to The Little Death.
Teddy must use every precious moment wisely to prevent losing the love of his life (Diary of an Uber Driver’s Zahra Newman) and to learn to love the life he’s losing.
The cast includes Ronny Chieng (Crazy Rich Asians), Noni Hazlehurst, Dena Kaplan and Lawson.
See Pictures’ Jamie Hilton is producing alongside Michael Pontin and Isabel Stanfield, with funding from Screen Australia, Create Nsw and Spectrum Films.
- 8/25/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
(L-r) Ewen Leslie, Shaka Cook and Jessica de Gouw.
Production is about to begin on Porchlight Films’ Fallout (working title) for the ABC, a six-part drama inspired by the 1950s British nuclear testing that took place in outback South Australia. Written and directed by Peter Duncan (Rake), the project has attracted a strong cast including Ewen Leslie, Jessica de Gouw, James Cromwell, Ningali Lawford Wolf and Shaka Cook.
Fallout is set in 1956, at the height of the Cold War, when the Menzies Government has welcomed British atomic bomb testing at remote, ‘uninhabited’ Maralinga, in outback South Australia.
Leslie plays Major Leo Carmichael (Leslie), an Australian Army engineer and WWII hero, who is charged with keeping the base functioning smoothly. But testing the most dangerous weapon in the world is no easy task for Leo with a commanding officer (Cromwell) who is not fit for purpose; a new meteorologist, Dr Eva...
Production is about to begin on Porchlight Films’ Fallout (working title) for the ABC, a six-part drama inspired by the 1950s British nuclear testing that took place in outback South Australia. Written and directed by Peter Duncan (Rake), the project has attracted a strong cast including Ewen Leslie, Jessica de Gouw, James Cromwell, Ningali Lawford Wolf and Shaka Cook.
Fallout is set in 1956, at the height of the Cold War, when the Menzies Government has welcomed British atomic bomb testing at remote, ‘uninhabited’ Maralinga, in outback South Australia.
Leslie plays Major Leo Carmichael (Leslie), an Australian Army engineer and WWII hero, who is charged with keeping the base functioning smoothly. But testing the most dangerous weapon in the world is no easy task for Leo with a commanding officer (Cromwell) who is not fit for purpose; a new meteorologist, Dr Eva...
- 7/31/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Joanne Froggatt, Damon Herriman.
Joanne Froggatt and Damon Herriman head the cast of The Commons, an eight-hour drama commissioned by Stan.
Created by showrunner Shelley Birse (The Code) and produced by Diane Haddon for Playmaker Media, the character-driven thriller set in the near future starts shooting in Sydney next week.
Jeffrey Walker is the set-up director, working with Rowan Woods and Jen Leacey.
Scripted by Birse, Matt Ford, Michael Miller and Matt Cameron, the plot is said to play out at the intersection of climate change and the cutting edge of biotechnology, dealing with the “heroism inside us all when our backs are against the wall.”
Graham Yost is among the executive producers together with Playmaker’s David Taylor and David Maher, Stan’s chief content officer Nick Forward, Fred Golan and Birse.
Forward tells If: “It’s a hugely ambitious project that deals with some big themes. It’s...
Joanne Froggatt and Damon Herriman head the cast of The Commons, an eight-hour drama commissioned by Stan.
Created by showrunner Shelley Birse (The Code) and produced by Diane Haddon for Playmaker Media, the character-driven thriller set in the near future starts shooting in Sydney next week.
Jeffrey Walker is the set-up director, working with Rowan Woods and Jen Leacey.
Scripted by Birse, Matt Ford, Michael Miller and Matt Cameron, the plot is said to play out at the intersection of climate change and the cutting edge of biotechnology, dealing with the “heroism inside us all when our backs are against the wall.”
Graham Yost is among the executive producers together with Playmaker’s David Taylor and David Maher, Stan’s chief content officer Nick Forward, Fred Golan and Birse.
Forward tells If: “It’s a hugely ambitious project that deals with some big themes. It’s...
- 6/25/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Ewen Leslie and Emma Booth.
Emma Booth and Ewen Leslie are playing detectives and former lovers who investigate the brutal murder of an unidentified woman in The Gloaming.
Aaron Pedersen, Rena Owen, Matt Testro and newcomer Josephine Blazier are co-starring in the eight-part drama commissioned by Stan and Disney’s ABC Studios International, which is now shooting in Tasmania.
In her follow-up to The Kettering Incident, Sweet Potato Films’ Vicki Madden is the creator/showrunner, teaming up with Fiona McConaghy and 2 Jons’ John Molloy and Jon Adgemis. Michael Rymer is the set-up director, working with Greg McLean and Sian Davies.
“The plot combines crime, Gothic and the supernatural, a space in which Australia does not do a lot,” Madden tells If.
“Stan and ABC Studios International’s Keli Lee are very collaborative. They are giving me the freedom to tell the story which taps into Tasmania’s convict history.”
Booth plays unconventional Detective Molly McGee.
Emma Booth and Ewen Leslie are playing detectives and former lovers who investigate the brutal murder of an unidentified woman in The Gloaming.
Aaron Pedersen, Rena Owen, Matt Testro and newcomer Josephine Blazier are co-starring in the eight-part drama commissioned by Stan and Disney’s ABC Studios International, which is now shooting in Tasmania.
In her follow-up to The Kettering Incident, Sweet Potato Films’ Vicki Madden is the creator/showrunner, teaming up with Fiona McConaghy and 2 Jons’ John Molloy and Jon Adgemis. Michael Rymer is the set-up director, working with Greg McLean and Sian Davies.
“The plot combines crime, Gothic and the supernatural, a space in which Australia does not do a lot,” Madden tells If.
“Stan and ABC Studios International’s Keli Lee are very collaborative. They are giving me the freedom to tell the story which taps into Tasmania’s convict history.”
Booth plays unconventional Detective Molly McGee.
- 4/1/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Dev Patel has partnered with his Hotel Mumbai co-star Tilda Cobham-Hervey and Happy Feet writer John Collee to pen an animated short about a murderous hamster.
The Lion star has co-written Roborovski with the pair and it has received funding from Screen Australia.
Roborovski is a 12-minute animated short and virtual reality project. It follows the eponymous thimble sized hamster, who spends his days in Marvin’s Pet Shop, hoping to find a family. However, when he is constantly overlooked by the people and animals around him his seething resentment and intense jealousy soon takes hold and a murderous side of little Roborovski is released.
Patel and Cobham-Hervey will also co-direct and produce alongside Jomon Thomas (Hotel Mumbai) and co-produced by Mark Grentell (The Merger), and Elaine Beckett. Spectre Studios are working on the Vr side and it has been co-funded by Create Nsw.
It is the latest project to...
The Lion star has co-written Roborovski with the pair and it has received funding from Screen Australia.
Roborovski is a 12-minute animated short and virtual reality project. It follows the eponymous thimble sized hamster, who spends his days in Marvin’s Pet Shop, hoping to find a family. However, when he is constantly overlooked by the people and animals around him his seething resentment and intense jealousy soon takes hold and a murderous side of little Roborovski is released.
Patel and Cobham-Hervey will also co-direct and produce alongside Jomon Thomas (Hotel Mumbai) and co-produced by Mark Grentell (The Merger), and Elaine Beckett. Spectre Studios are working on the Vr side and it has been co-funded by Create Nsw.
It is the latest project to...
- 2/27/2019
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Sigrid Thornton and Aaron Pedersen.
Screen Australia has announced $4 million worth of production investment for one film, two television series and three online projects. They include a film adaptation of book Penguin Bloom, starring Naomi Watts and produced by Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories; a second season of ABC series Mystery Road; Nine’s Seachange reboot; and Roborovski, a Vr project from Tilda Cobham-Hervey and Dev Patel.
Penguin Bloom, to be directed by Glendyn Ivin, is based on the book by Bradley Trevor Greive and has been adapted for the screen by Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps. It follows the true story of a family from Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Watts is Sam Bloom, a young mother who has a near-fatal accident that leaves her unable to walk. As her family struggles to come to terms with their new situation, an injured magpie chick dubbed “Penguin” enters their lives and helps them to cope.
Screen Australia has announced $4 million worth of production investment for one film, two television series and three online projects. They include a film adaptation of book Penguin Bloom, starring Naomi Watts and produced by Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories; a second season of ABC series Mystery Road; Nine’s Seachange reboot; and Roborovski, a Vr project from Tilda Cobham-Hervey and Dev Patel.
Penguin Bloom, to be directed by Glendyn Ivin, is based on the book by Bradley Trevor Greive and has been adapted for the screen by Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps. It follows the true story of a family from Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Watts is Sam Bloom, a young mother who has a near-fatal accident that leaves her unable to walk. As her family struggles to come to terms with their new situation, an injured magpie chick dubbed “Penguin” enters their lives and helps them to cope.
- 2/27/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
(L-r) Roy Joseph, Doris Younane, Katie Robertson, Kat Stewart and Stephen Peacocke.
The Australian obsession with housing prices and affordability is the inspiration behind Five Bedrooms, Hoodlum Entertainment’s drama which started shooting in Melbourne today.
Commissioned by Network 10, the series features an ensemble cast led by Kat Stewart, Stephen Peacocke, Doris Younane, Katie Robertson, Roy Joseph, Kate Jenkinson and Hugh Sheridan.
Created by Michael Lucas and Christine Bartlett, the plot follows a group of very different people who find themselves at a singles table at a wedding.
After a few too many champagnes, wines, whiskeys and beers, the solution to all their problems seems to be buying a house together: A really big, five bedroom house.
Lucas tells If: “The idea of pooling together with friends to crack into the real estate market is something Christine and I have talked about for almost a decade now. As prices...
The Australian obsession with housing prices and affordability is the inspiration behind Five Bedrooms, Hoodlum Entertainment’s drama which started shooting in Melbourne today.
Commissioned by Network 10, the series features an ensemble cast led by Kat Stewart, Stephen Peacocke, Doris Younane, Katie Robertson, Roy Joseph, Kate Jenkinson and Hugh Sheridan.
Created by Michael Lucas and Christine Bartlett, the plot follows a group of very different people who find themselves at a singles table at a wedding.
After a few too many champagnes, wines, whiskeys and beers, the solution to all their problems seems to be buying a house together: A really big, five bedroom house.
Lucas tells If: “The idea of pooling together with friends to crack into the real estate market is something Christine and I have talked about for almost a decade now. As prices...
- 1/20/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Jacki Weaver.
Comedy feature The Chain Breakers, to star Jacki Weaver, Jack Thompson, James Cromwell, Denis Waterman and Shane Jacobson, is one of seven projects to have recently received production funding from Screen Australia.
Written by Luke Preston and directed by Mark Lamprell, the film follows four Vietnam vets, famous for escaping a Pow camp, who find themselves in a new hell: The Hogan Hills Retirement Home for Returned Veterans. Each has an unrealised dream they want achieve, and so they band together to escape again. Produced by Antony I. Ginnane and David Lightfoot, the film is billed as a cross between Grumpy Old Men and The Great Escape. It will be distributed via R & R Films, the new venture between Richard Becker and Robert Slaviero.
Among the other projects to have shared in the $7.5 million of funding from the federal agency is Lone Wolf, writer-director Jonathan Ogilvie’s...
Comedy feature The Chain Breakers, to star Jacki Weaver, Jack Thompson, James Cromwell, Denis Waterman and Shane Jacobson, is one of seven projects to have recently received production funding from Screen Australia.
Written by Luke Preston and directed by Mark Lamprell, the film follows four Vietnam vets, famous for escaping a Pow camp, who find themselves in a new hell: The Hogan Hills Retirement Home for Returned Veterans. Each has an unrealised dream they want achieve, and so they band together to escape again. Produced by Antony I. Ginnane and David Lightfoot, the film is billed as a cross between Grumpy Old Men and The Great Escape. It will be distributed via R & R Films, the new venture between Richard Becker and Robert Slaviero.
Among the other projects to have shared in the $7.5 million of funding from the federal agency is Lone Wolf, writer-director Jonathan Ogilvie’s...
- 1/14/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Rebel Wilson and David Wenham will star in Australian drama series “Les Norton.” Adapted from the novels of Robert G. Barrett, the show is presented by The Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Screen Australia.
Set in 1985, the series will follow the exploits of a country bloke from outback Queensland, played by rising star Alexander Bertrand. On the run from a troubled past, he blows into Sydney where he lands a job as a bouncer at an illegal casino. A classic fish out of water who is desperate to get home, he soon finds himself seduced by the city’s illicit charms and dragged into a web of underground criminality.
The series will be directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, Fadia Abboud (“Australian Gangster”), David Caesar and Morgan O’Neill. It was created for television by Morgan O’Neill, working alongside writers Christopher Lee Samantha Winston Shanti Gudgeon Malcolm Knox and Jessica Tuckwell.
It...
Set in 1985, the series will follow the exploits of a country bloke from outback Queensland, played by rising star Alexander Bertrand. On the run from a troubled past, he blows into Sydney where he lands a job as a bouncer at an illegal casino. A classic fish out of water who is desperate to get home, he soon finds himself seduced by the city’s illicit charms and dragged into a web of underground criminality.
The series will be directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, Fadia Abboud (“Australian Gangster”), David Caesar and Morgan O’Neill. It was created for television by Morgan O’Neill, working alongside writers Christopher Lee Samantha Winston Shanti Gudgeon Malcolm Knox and Jessica Tuckwell.
It...
- 12/18/2018
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Leah Purcell on stage in The Drover’s Wife (Photo credit: Belvoir)
Leah Purcell aims to start shooting the feature film adaptation of her play ‘The Drover’s Wife’ next September after pitching the project to major players in Hollywood.
Purcell and her producing partner Bain Stewart met with a raft of executives including reps of Fox Searchlight, Endeavour Content, Netflix’s film and television divisions and Amazon Prime on a visit to La as part of Screen Australia’s Talent USA initiative marking 25 years of Indigenous screen production.
Stewart and Purcell’s Oombarra Productions, who will produce with Bunya Productions’ David Jowsey and Greer Simpkin and Monumental Pictures’ Alison Owen, are looking to cover a significant gap in the budget of The Drovers Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson from Us-based financiers.
“Screen Australia gave us the perfect entrée for key meetings,” Stewart tells If. “There was a lot...
Leah Purcell aims to start shooting the feature film adaptation of her play ‘The Drover’s Wife’ next September after pitching the project to major players in Hollywood.
Purcell and her producing partner Bain Stewart met with a raft of executives including reps of Fox Searchlight, Endeavour Content, Netflix’s film and television divisions and Amazon Prime on a visit to La as part of Screen Australia’s Talent USA initiative marking 25 years of Indigenous screen production.
Stewart and Purcell’s Oombarra Productions, who will produce with Bunya Productions’ David Jowsey and Greer Simpkin and Monumental Pictures’ Alison Owen, are looking to cover a significant gap in the budget of The Drovers Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson from Us-based financiers.
“Screen Australia gave us the perfect entrée for key meetings,” Stewart tells If. “There was a lot...
- 11/15/2018
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
‘Firestarter – The Story of Bangarra’.
A three-parter exploring the forces behind and the cover-up of child abuse inside the Catholic Church; a feature doco co-written and co-directed by Nel Minchin and Wayne Blair that looks at the work of Indigenous performing arts company Bangarra; and two projects from Mint Pictures for Sbs are among the 14 most recent docos to have received production funding from Screen Australia.
The federal agency has invested $1.3 million via its Producer program and $1.4 million via the Commissioned program.
“Documentary continuously works as a platform to amplify marginalised voices and ideas, and there are a variety of stories in this slate from multicultural, transgender and Indigenous perspectives that will enrich and enlighten viewers,” said head of content Sally Caplan.
“The documentary art form allows us to unravel and explore complex and often challenging topics, and these projects take on some difficult and topical subject matter including death,...
A three-parter exploring the forces behind and the cover-up of child abuse inside the Catholic Church; a feature doco co-written and co-directed by Nel Minchin and Wayne Blair that looks at the work of Indigenous performing arts company Bangarra; and two projects from Mint Pictures for Sbs are among the 14 most recent docos to have received production funding from Screen Australia.
The federal agency has invested $1.3 million via its Producer program and $1.4 million via the Commissioned program.
“Documentary continuously works as a platform to amplify marginalised voices and ideas, and there are a variety of stories in this slate from multicultural, transgender and Indigenous perspectives that will enrich and enlighten viewers,” said head of content Sally Caplan.
“The documentary art form allows us to unravel and explore complex and often challenging topics, and these projects take on some difficult and topical subject matter including death,...
- 10/22/2018
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Emily Mortimer.
Carver Films’ Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw have enlisted an A-list cast and some Hollywood heavy-hitters as co-producers and executive producers for Natalie Erika James’ debut feature Relic.
Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin and Bella Heathcote will star in the horror movie which centres on three generations of women – daughter, mother and grandmother – who are haunted by a manifestation of aged dementia that takes over their family home.
Nine Stories’ Jake Gyllenhaal and Riva Marker are producing together with McLeish and Shaw. Anthony and Joe Russo (directors of Marvel’s Captain America and Avengers franchise) and Mike Larocca are executive producing and co-financing via their upstart studio Agbo, which will handle international sales.
Bella Heathcote.
Co-written by James and Christian White, shooting starts in Victoria next week, with funding from Screen Australia and Film Victoria. Umbrella Entertainment is the Australian distributor.
“Relic was inspired by the experience of Alzheimer...
Carver Films’ Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw have enlisted an A-list cast and some Hollywood heavy-hitters as co-producers and executive producers for Natalie Erika James’ debut feature Relic.
Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin and Bella Heathcote will star in the horror movie which centres on three generations of women – daughter, mother and grandmother – who are haunted by a manifestation of aged dementia that takes over their family home.
Nine Stories’ Jake Gyllenhaal and Riva Marker are producing together with McLeish and Shaw. Anthony and Joe Russo (directors of Marvel’s Captain America and Avengers franchise) and Mike Larocca are executive producing and co-financing via their upstart studio Agbo, which will handle international sales.
Bella Heathcote.
Co-written by James and Christian White, shooting starts in Victoria next week, with funding from Screen Australia and Film Victoria. Umbrella Entertainment is the Australian distributor.
“Relic was inspired by the experience of Alzheimer...
- 10/2/2018
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Production on generational drama to commence next week in Victoria, Australia.
Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin and Bella Heathcote will star in Carver Films and Nine Stories’ Relic.Production is schedule to commence next week in Victoria, Australia.
The Russo brothers’ Agbo and Screen Australia are financing Natalie Erika James’ feature directorial debut. Agbo handles international distribution and Umbrella Entertainment will distribute in Australia.
James and Christian White co-wrote Relic, which centres on three generations of women – daughter, mother and grandmother –haunted by a manifestation of aged dementia that takes over their family home.
Carver Films’ Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw...
Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin and Bella Heathcote will star in Carver Films and Nine Stories’ Relic.Production is schedule to commence next week in Victoria, Australia.
The Russo brothers’ Agbo and Screen Australia are financing Natalie Erika James’ feature directorial debut. Agbo handles international distribution and Umbrella Entertainment will distribute in Australia.
James and Christian White co-wrote Relic, which centres on three generations of women – daughter, mother and grandmother –haunted by a manifestation of aged dementia that takes over their family home.
Carver Films’ Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw...
- 10/2/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin and Bella Heathcote will star in the independent dementia drama “Relic,” which begins production next week in Victoria, Australia.
Producers are Carver Films’ Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw, and Nine Stories’ Jake Gyllenhaal and Riva Marker. “Relic” is executive produced by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, and Mike Larocca and financed by their studio Agbo with Screen Australia and Film Victoria.
Natalie Erika James is making her feature directorial debut. She will helm from a script she co-wrote with Christian White about three generations of women –- daughter, mother and grandmother –- who are haunted by a manifestation of aged dementia that takes over their family home.
“’Relic’ was inspired by the experience of Alzheimer’s within my own family and the shift in family dynamics as we slowly have to parent our parents,” said James. “At its core, it explores the fear and heartbreak of dementia...
Producers are Carver Films’ Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw, and Nine Stories’ Jake Gyllenhaal and Riva Marker. “Relic” is executive produced by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, and Mike Larocca and financed by their studio Agbo with Screen Australia and Film Victoria.
Natalie Erika James is making her feature directorial debut. She will helm from a script she co-wrote with Christian White about three generations of women –- daughter, mother and grandmother –- who are haunted by a manifestation of aged dementia that takes over their family home.
“’Relic’ was inspired by the experience of Alzheimer’s within my own family and the shift in family dynamics as we slowly have to parent our parents,” said James. “At its core, it explores the fear and heartbreak of dementia...
- 10/2/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Michael Caton and Sam Neill (Photo: Merlyn Moon).
Production is underway in Western Australia on Wbmc’s Rams, directed by Jeremy Sims – an adaptation of Icelandic film Hrútar.
Leading the cast are Sam Neill and Michael Caton, who play two estranged brothers who live on adjourning sheep farms yet haven’t spoken in 40 years. When a rare disease threatens their flock, they have to work together to save their flock, their small town and their family’s legacy.
Also set to star are Wayne Blair, Leon Ford, Travis McMahon, Asher Keddie, Hayley McElhinney, Kipan Rothbury and newcomers Asher Yasbincek and Will McNeill.
Hrútar, from writer-director Grímur Hákonarson, won the Un Certain Regard Award at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. However Rams – adapted by Wa screenwriter Jules Duncan – is promised to be “far from a ‘remake’” and a fresh interpretation of the film from an Australian perspective. It is shooting in Wa...
Production is underway in Western Australia on Wbmc’s Rams, directed by Jeremy Sims – an adaptation of Icelandic film Hrútar.
Leading the cast are Sam Neill and Michael Caton, who play two estranged brothers who live on adjourning sheep farms yet haven’t spoken in 40 years. When a rare disease threatens their flock, they have to work together to save their flock, their small town and their family’s legacy.
Also set to star are Wayne Blair, Leon Ford, Travis McMahon, Asher Keddie, Hayley McElhinney, Kipan Rothbury and newcomers Asher Yasbincek and Will McNeill.
Hrútar, from writer-director Grímur Hákonarson, won the Un Certain Regard Award at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. However Rams – adapted by Wa screenwriter Jules Duncan – is promised to be “far from a ‘remake’” and a fresh interpretation of the film from an Australian perspective. It is shooting in Wa...
- 10/2/2018
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Studiocanal Australia has signed a co-development deal with local producer Goalpost Pictures for period-film project “Vienna Boys Choir.”
The film documents the unusual but real events that began in 1939 when the famous choir toured the U.S. and Pacific region, and became trapped in Australia for the duration of the Second World War. All but one of the choristers chose to stay in Australia after the war ended.
The screenplay is written by Keith Thompson, who previously wrote historical music drama “The Sapphires.” Playing at Cannes, that film was a significant hit and earned Thompson two Australian Writers Guild Awards.
Finance for the new project comes from national funding body Screen Australia and from Studiocanal’s Cultivator Fund. Studiocanal and Goalpost launched a co-development deal in 2016.
“This is an incredible and enduring story about resilience and hope in the face of some of the turbulent events of the last century...
The film documents the unusual but real events that began in 1939 when the famous choir toured the U.S. and Pacific region, and became trapped in Australia for the duration of the Second World War. All but one of the choristers chose to stay in Australia after the war ended.
The screenplay is written by Keith Thompson, who previously wrote historical music drama “The Sapphires.” Playing at Cannes, that film was a significant hit and earned Thompson two Australian Writers Guild Awards.
Finance for the new project comes from national funding body Screen Australia and from Studiocanal’s Cultivator Fund. Studiocanal and Goalpost launched a co-development deal in 2016.
“This is an incredible and enduring story about resilience and hope in the face of some of the turbulent events of the last century...
- 9/25/2018
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Bernadine Lim.
Bernadine Lim, the executive producer of Sbs’s Dateline, will join Screen Australia as head of documentary on November 8, succeeding Liz Stevens who departed in August after 10 years as senior manager of documentary.
The Malaysian-born Lim has worked as a reporter, producer and director on a range of formats including current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, arts, reality and documentary for more than 20 years.
Screen Australia head of content Sally Caplan said: “Bernadine’s industry knowledge and expertise across a myriad of formats and genres makes her the perfect choice for this new role as the head of the Documentary Unit. She is passionate about the power of documentary as a form of storytelling and will be a fantastic asset not just to the agency, but to the sector as a whole.”
Lim, who joined Sbs in 2014, initially as the program’s supervising producer, said: “It’s an absolute privilege...
Bernadine Lim, the executive producer of Sbs’s Dateline, will join Screen Australia as head of documentary on November 8, succeeding Liz Stevens who departed in August after 10 years as senior manager of documentary.
The Malaysian-born Lim has worked as a reporter, producer and director on a range of formats including current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, arts, reality and documentary for more than 20 years.
Screen Australia head of content Sally Caplan said: “Bernadine’s industry knowledge and expertise across a myriad of formats and genres makes her the perfect choice for this new role as the head of the Documentary Unit. She is passionate about the power of documentary as a form of storytelling and will be a fantastic asset not just to the agency, but to the sector as a whole.”
Lim, who joined Sbs in 2014, initially as the program’s supervising producer, said: “It’s an absolute privilege...
- 9/23/2018
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
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