New titles join previously announced I Like Movies.
Visit Films has expanded its TIFF sales slate and will handle world rights on LGBTQ+ teen coming-of-age drama Soft (previously announced by the festival as Pussy) and world rights excluding Australia and New Zealand to Indigenous anthology feature We Are Still Here.
Toronto filmmaker Joseph Amenta’s Soft follows three adolescent queer friends who live in the underbelly of Toronto. With summer break upon them, they revel in their newfound freedom, roaming the city and becoming enraptured in the nightlife scene.
When a friend of the group goes missing, the bond between...
Visit Films has expanded its TIFF sales slate and will handle world rights on LGBTQ+ teen coming-of-age drama Soft (previously announced by the festival as Pussy) and world rights excluding Australia and New Zealand to Indigenous anthology feature We Are Still Here.
Toronto filmmaker Joseph Amenta’s Soft follows three adolescent queer friends who live in the underbelly of Toronto. With summer break upon them, they revel in their newfound freedom, roaming the city and becoming enraptured in the nightlife scene.
When a friend of the group goes missing, the bond between...
- 8/30/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Film comprises eight shorts about resilience and survival.
The world premiere of anthology film We Are Still Here will open the 69th Sydney Film Festival on June 8. It comprises eight stories by and about First Nations people.
The Australian-New Zealand co-production includes the work of 10 directors: Australians Beck Cole, Danielle MacLean, Tracey Rigney and Dena Curtis; and New Zealanders Tim Worrall, Richard Curtis, Renae Maihi, Miki Magasiva, Chantelle Burgoyn and Mario Gaoa.
The many First Nations actors involved include Clarence Ryan, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Leonie Whyman and Calvin Tuteao.
No international sales agent is yet attached to the film, which is...
The world premiere of anthology film We Are Still Here will open the 69th Sydney Film Festival on June 8. It comprises eight stories by and about First Nations people.
The Australian-New Zealand co-production includes the work of 10 directors: Australians Beck Cole, Danielle MacLean, Tracey Rigney and Dena Curtis; and New Zealanders Tim Worrall, Richard Curtis, Renae Maihi, Miki Magasiva, Chantelle Burgoyn and Mario Gaoa.
The many First Nations actors involved include Clarence Ryan, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Leonie Whyman and Calvin Tuteao.
No international sales agent is yet attached to the film, which is...
- 5/4/2022
- by Sandy George
- ScreenDaily
Production has begun in Tasmania, Australia on “Deadloch,” a noir comedy that will be an Amazon original series.
The story is set in the once sleepy seaside hamlet of Deadloch and begins after a man’s dead body is found on the beach. Two female detectives are thrown together to solve the case, one fastidious, the other a more rough and ready type from out of town. Along with an over-eager junior they have to pool forces to solve the case while the town is putting on its annual crafts, culture and cooking festival.
The eight-part show was conceived by comedy duo Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan and will star Kate Box, Madeleine Sami “The Breaker Upperers”), Alicia Gardiner (“Wakefield”) and Nina Oyama (“Utopia”), as well as an ensemble cast.
“Deadloch” is to be directed between February and May by acclaimed Australian directors Ben Chessell, Gracie Otto and Beck Cole.
The story is set in the once sleepy seaside hamlet of Deadloch and begins after a man’s dead body is found on the beach. Two female detectives are thrown together to solve the case, one fastidious, the other a more rough and ready type from out of town. Along with an over-eager junior they have to pool forces to solve the case while the town is putting on its annual crafts, culture and cooking festival.
The eight-part show was conceived by comedy duo Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan and will star Kate Box, Madeleine Sami “The Breaker Upperers”), Alicia Gardiner (“Wakefield”) and Nina Oyama (“Utopia”), as well as an ensemble cast.
“Deadloch” is to be directed between February and May by acclaimed Australian directors Ben Chessell, Gracie Otto and Beck Cole.
- 2/20/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Newly-appointed Screen Australia head of First Nations Angela Bates is taking an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach to the role, insisting her focus is on furthering the strides made by her predecessors.
Bates, who first joined the department in early 2019 as development and investment manager, had the opportunity to work closely with previous head Penny Smallacombe, who vacated the position in May after more than six years.
Speaking to If, she said she would draw on the five strategic pillars identified in The Next 25 Years, a strategy that Smallacombe developed in consultation with filmmakers and industry stakeholders during the department’s 25th anniversary year in 2018.
“I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel here,” she said.
“There are five key pillars that underpin The Next 25 Years strategy – Indigenous storytelling, identifying stories and talent, developing talent, connecting talent, and advocating for indigenous representation and leadership.
“I...
Bates, who first joined the department in early 2019 as development and investment manager, had the opportunity to work closely with previous head Penny Smallacombe, who vacated the position in May after more than six years.
Speaking to If, she said she would draw on the five strategic pillars identified in The Next 25 Years, a strategy that Smallacombe developed in consultation with filmmakers and industry stakeholders during the department’s 25th anniversary year in 2018.
“I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel here,” she said.
“There are five key pillars that underpin The Next 25 Years strategy – Indigenous storytelling, identifying stories and talent, developing talent, connecting talent, and advocating for indigenous representation and leadership.
“I...
- 10/5/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Bryan Brown and Greta Scacchi will lead the new mystery drama Darby and Joan, which Cjz is producing for Acorn TV.
The eight-part series stars Brown as a retired Australian policeman with a dog as his only company and Scacchi as a widowed English nurse. The pair meet each other and embark together on an epic odyssey in the outback of northern Australia.
Filming will begin in Queensland this month, with major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Screen Queensland.
Darby and Joan will be executive produced by Claire Tonkin, David Hannam, Matt Campbell, Bea Tammer and Catherine Mackin, with series producer Pino Amenta.
Created by Glenys Rowe and Phillip Gwynne, the series’ writers include Hannam, Beck Cole, Andrew Anastasios, Giula Sandler, Ainslie Clouston, Adam Zwar and Paul Bennett. The set-up director is David Caesar.
Cjz CEO Matt Campbell said the company was always convinced of the project’s potential.
The eight-part series stars Brown as a retired Australian policeman with a dog as his only company and Scacchi as a widowed English nurse. The pair meet each other and embark together on an epic odyssey in the outback of northern Australia.
Filming will begin in Queensland this month, with major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Screen Queensland.
Darby and Joan will be executive produced by Claire Tonkin, David Hannam, Matt Campbell, Bea Tammer and Catherine Mackin, with series producer Pino Amenta.
Created by Glenys Rowe and Phillip Gwynne, the series’ writers include Hannam, Beck Cole, Andrew Anastasios, Giula Sandler, Ainslie Clouston, Adam Zwar and Paul Bennett. The set-up director is David Caesar.
Cjz CEO Matt Campbell said the company was always convinced of the project’s potential.
- 8/5/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
MTV released a trailer for “The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies” and announced the first-ever “The Challenge: Fantasy League.”
The new season of the long-running franchise, which premieres Aug. 11 at 8 p.m., will showcase 17 international players alongside U.S. players. It will then roll out globally across MTV’s international networks in more than 190 countries throughout the coming months.
The trailer, which you can watch below, starts off with contestants atop cars swerving around tracks. “The Challenge” host T.J. Lavin tells contestants that the competition will be more complicated than ever before. “Agents, here on ‘The Challenge,’ the missions are harder, my eliminations — tougher. So I’ve brought 34 of the most elite agents from around the globe to test every one of your skills,” he says.
Aside from physical competition, the trailer provides a sneak peek into the contestants’ personal lives, with dancing, partying and romance being showcased between the players.
The new season of the long-running franchise, which premieres Aug. 11 at 8 p.m., will showcase 17 international players alongside U.S. players. It will then roll out globally across MTV’s international networks in more than 190 countries throughout the coming months.
The trailer, which you can watch below, starts off with contestants atop cars swerving around tracks. “The Challenge” host T.J. Lavin tells contestants that the competition will be more complicated than ever before. “Agents, here on ‘The Challenge,’ the missions are harder, my eliminations — tougher. So I’ve brought 34 of the most elite agents from around the globe to test every one of your skills,” he says.
Aside from physical competition, the trailer provides a sneak peek into the contestants’ personal lives, with dancing, partying and romance being showcased between the players.
- 8/4/2021
- by Jennifer Yuma and Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
Cocktail star Bryan Brown and War & Peace’s Greta Scacchi are to play two strangers trekking on the road in the Australian outback in a new Australian drama series.
Acorn TV has ordered Darby and Joan and will air the eight-part series, which comes from My Life Is Murder producer Cjz, in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Latin America, Australia, Spain and Portugal.
Brown plays a retired Australian policeman with a dog as his only company and Scacchi, who also featured in AMC’s The Terror, as a widowed English nurse. The pair meet each other and embark together on an epic odyssey in the outback of northern Australia.
The series, which has received major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Screen Queensland, will air in 2022.
Darby and Joan shines a light on isolated and often unseen areas of regional Australia, and a myriad of characters...
Acorn TV has ordered Darby and Joan and will air the eight-part series, which comes from My Life Is Murder producer Cjz, in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Latin America, Australia, Spain and Portugal.
Brown plays a retired Australian policeman with a dog as his only company and Scacchi, who also featured in AMC’s The Terror, as a widowed English nurse. The pair meet each other and embark together on an epic odyssey in the outback of northern Australia.
The series, which has received major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Screen Queensland, will air in 2022.
Darby and Joan shines a light on isolated and often unseen areas of regional Australia, and a myriad of characters...
- 8/4/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Kelly Lefever.
Prolific screenwriter, script producer and story editor Kelly Lefever is juggling multiple projects – not least a deeply personal series about disability.
Inspired by her own family’s experiences, Care will look at five families who each care for a family member who was born with or acquired a disability.
Her daughter Alexandra, who is 30, was born with Kabuki syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.
“This is a universal story,” Kelly told If. “There are more than 3 million people in Australia who care for a family member or a close relative.
“Most of us will have to deal with this at some time in our lives with aging parents. For me it has been a very grounding experience which has also brought tremendous joy and humour.”
Lefever is in talks with a producer and intends to pitch the project to the ABC, Sbs or streamers.
Another project she created is Sundown,...
Prolific screenwriter, script producer and story editor Kelly Lefever is juggling multiple projects – not least a deeply personal series about disability.
Inspired by her own family’s experiences, Care will look at five families who each care for a family member who was born with or acquired a disability.
Her daughter Alexandra, who is 30, was born with Kabuki syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.
“This is a universal story,” Kelly told If. “There are more than 3 million people in Australia who care for a family member or a close relative.
“Most of us will have to deal with this at some time in our lives with aging parents. For me it has been a very grounding experience which has also brought tremendous joy and humour.”
Lefever is in talks with a producer and intends to pitch the project to the ABC, Sbs or streamers.
Another project she created is Sundown,...
- 10/15/2020
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Kelly Lefever.
Prolific screenwriter, script producer and story editor Kelly Lefever is juggling multiple projects – not least a deeply personal series about disability.
Inspired by her own family’s experiences, Care will look at five families who each care for a family member who was born with or acquired a disability.
Her daughter Alexandra, who is 30, was born with Kabuki syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.
“This is a universal story,” Kelly told If. “There are more than 3 million people in Australia who care for a family member or a close relative.
“Most of us will have to deal with this at some time in our lives with aging parents. For me it has been a very grounding experience which has also brought tremendous joy and humour.”
Lefever is in talks with a producer and intends to pitch the project to the ABC, Sbs or streamers.
Another project she created is Sundown,...
Prolific screenwriter, script producer and story editor Kelly Lefever is juggling multiple projects – not least a deeply personal series about disability.
Inspired by her own family’s experiences, Care will look at five families who each care for a family member who was born with or acquired a disability.
Her daughter Alexandra, who is 30, was born with Kabuki syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.
“This is a universal story,” Kelly told If. “There are more than 3 million people in Australia who care for a family member or a close relative.
“Most of us will have to deal with this at some time in our lives with aging parents. For me it has been a very grounding experience which has also brought tremendous joy and humour.”
Lefever is in talks with a producer and intends to pitch the project to the ABC, Sbs or streamers.
Another project she created is Sundown,...
- 10/15/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Monica Zanetti’s screenplay of Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt), Ben Lawrence and Beatrix Christian’s Hearts and Bones and Ally Burnham’s Unsound have been nominated for best original feature in the 53rd annual Awgie Awards.
The contenders for the feature film adaptation prize are Thomas M. Wright and Erik Jensen’s Acute Misfortune, Lisa Hoppe’s H is for Happiness, Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps’ Penguin Bloom and C.S. McMullen’s The Other Lamb.
The TV series prize promises to be a close race between episodes of Glen Dolman’s Bloom, Michael Petroni’s Messiah for Netflix, Belinda Chayko’s Stateless, Samantha Strauss’ The End and Pip Karmel’s Total Control.
Timothy Hobart, John Ridley, Jeremy Nguyen, Alan Nguyen and Michele Lee’s Hungry Ghosts will square off against Matthew Cormack and Niki Aken’s The Hunting for best miniseries.
In the TV serial category it must...
The contenders for the feature film adaptation prize are Thomas M. Wright and Erik Jensen’s Acute Misfortune, Lisa Hoppe’s H is for Happiness, Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps’ Penguin Bloom and C.S. McMullen’s The Other Lamb.
The TV series prize promises to be a close race between episodes of Glen Dolman’s Bloom, Michael Petroni’s Messiah for Netflix, Belinda Chayko’s Stateless, Samantha Strauss’ The End and Pip Karmel’s Total Control.
Timothy Hobart, John Ridley, Jeremy Nguyen, Alan Nguyen and Michele Lee’s Hungry Ghosts will square off against Matthew Cormack and Niki Aken’s The Hunting for best miniseries.
In the TV serial category it must...
- 9/25/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Philip Quast and Hermione Norris in ‘Between Two Worlds’.
After creating five of Australia’s most popular dramas – Always Greener, All Saints, Packed to the Rafters, Winners & Losers and A Place to Call Home – in a stellar 37-year career, Bevan Lee felt he had reached a crossroad.
If he followed one path, he would simply rest on his laurels and be content with his legacy. The other, far more attractive and challenging option: Create a drama unlike anything he’d ever done and which breaks the traditional rules of the genre.
Hence was born Between Two Worlds, a 10-part Seven Studios production which premieres on Seven on Sunday.
The first episode depicts two disparate and seemingly disconnected worlds, typified by one family of extreme wealth and privilege, the other middleclass and suburban.
“I decided I wanted to do a twisty, turny narrative which breaks the rules,” says Lee, who created the show last year,...
After creating five of Australia’s most popular dramas – Always Greener, All Saints, Packed to the Rafters, Winners & Losers and A Place to Call Home – in a stellar 37-year career, Bevan Lee felt he had reached a crossroad.
If he followed one path, he would simply rest on his laurels and be content with his legacy. The other, far more attractive and challenging option: Create a drama unlike anything he’d ever done and which breaks the traditional rules of the genre.
Hence was born Between Two Worlds, a 10-part Seven Studios production which premieres on Seven on Sunday.
The first episode depicts two disparate and seemingly disconnected worlds, typified by one family of extreme wealth and privilege, the other middleclass and suburban.
“I decided I wanted to do a twisty, turny narrative which breaks the rules,” says Lee, who created the show last year,...
- 7/24/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Jub Clerc and Aaron Pedersen.
Fans of Aaron Pedersen’s Detective Jay Swan can look forward to more Mystery Road adventures on the big and small screens.
Ivan Sen has written the first draft of the script for the third movie in Bunya Productions’ franchise, the follow-up to Goldstone, and Pedersen hopes to shoot in Coober Pedy, with Sen again directing.
In Jub Clerc’s first Deadly Yarns webinar for Australians in Film yesterday, Pedersen also said he is in discussions with Bunya’s David Jowsey for a third series of Mystery Road.
Wayne Blair and Warwick Thornton co-directed the second season, which rated strongly for the ABC.
The series was sold widely by All3Media International, including to BBC2 in the UK, Arte in France/Germany and Acorn TV in North America
Jowsey tells If a third movie had long been planned, observing: “Jay Swan is a great character and...
Fans of Aaron Pedersen’s Detective Jay Swan can look forward to more Mystery Road adventures on the big and small screens.
Ivan Sen has written the first draft of the script for the third movie in Bunya Productions’ franchise, the follow-up to Goldstone, and Pedersen hopes to shoot in Coober Pedy, with Sen again directing.
In Jub Clerc’s first Deadly Yarns webinar for Australians in Film yesterday, Pedersen also said he is in discussions with Bunya’s David Jowsey for a third series of Mystery Road.
Wayne Blair and Warwick Thornton co-directed the second season, which rated strongly for the ABC.
The series was sold widely by All3Media International, including to BBC2 in the UK, Arte in France/Germany and Acorn TV in North America
Jowsey tells If a third movie had long been planned, observing: “Jay Swan is a great character and...
- 7/24/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Ben Mendelsohn in ‘Babyteeth’, cast by Kirsty McGregor.
Actor Ben Mendelsohn, casting director Kirsty McGregor, Australian Cinematographers Society (Acs) national president Ron Johanson and the ABC’s Sally Riley are among the Aussies recently invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science (AMPAS).
Other invitees include Dop Nicola Daley, UTA partner Bec Smith and documentary filmmaker Violeta Ayala.
In total, the Oscars body invited 819 people to join its ranks this year, 45 per cent of which were women, 36 per cent from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 49 per cent from outside the Us.
The Academy has been on quest to widen its membership base since 2016. In 2015, only 1446 or 25 per cent of its membership base were women, with the figure now at 3179, or 33 per cent. In 2015, only 10 per cent of, or 554, members were people of colour; that now stands at 1787, or 19 per cent.
The organisation has also tripled the number...
Actor Ben Mendelsohn, casting director Kirsty McGregor, Australian Cinematographers Society (Acs) national president Ron Johanson and the ABC’s Sally Riley are among the Aussies recently invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science (AMPAS).
Other invitees include Dop Nicola Daley, UTA partner Bec Smith and documentary filmmaker Violeta Ayala.
In total, the Oscars body invited 819 people to join its ranks this year, 45 per cent of which were women, 36 per cent from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 49 per cent from outside the Us.
The Academy has been on quest to widen its membership base since 2016. In 2015, only 1446 or 25 per cent of its membership base were women, with the figure now at 3179, or 33 per cent. In 2015, only 10 per cent of, or 554, members were people of colour; that now stands at 1787, or 19 per cent.
The organisation has also tripled the number...
- 7/2/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Taryne Laffar.
Taryne ‘Pinky’ Laffar has officially launched her own production company, Pink Pepper, boasting a diverse slate that includes a full docuseries based on Our Law, a comedy web series created by Clarence Ryan, feature film Red, and a six-part TV drama.
A descendant of the Bardi and Jabbir Jabbir nations, Laffar – who has worked variously as a writer, director, producer and in casting – has started the new venture with the aims of working with Indigenous and diverse creatives across documentary and drama.
Pink Pepper will also specialise in casting Indigenous and diverse talent, with Laffar also available as a freelance producer, writer, director, mentor and workshop facilitator.
The company’s debut project is documentary Our Law, following Australia’s first and only Indigenous-run police station, which recently screened in Sydney Film Festival and airs tonight on Nitv as part of Karla Grant Presents.
‘Our Law’.
With Periscope Pictures,...
Taryne ‘Pinky’ Laffar has officially launched her own production company, Pink Pepper, boasting a diverse slate that includes a full docuseries based on Our Law, a comedy web series created by Clarence Ryan, feature film Red, and a six-part TV drama.
A descendant of the Bardi and Jabbir Jabbir nations, Laffar – who has worked variously as a writer, director, producer and in casting – has started the new venture with the aims of working with Indigenous and diverse creatives across documentary and drama.
Pink Pepper will also specialise in casting Indigenous and diverse talent, with Laffar also available as a freelance producer, writer, director, mentor and workshop facilitator.
The company’s debut project is documentary Our Law, following Australia’s first and only Indigenous-run police station, which recently screened in Sydney Film Festival and airs tonight on Nitv as part of Karla Grant Presents.
‘Our Law’.
With Periscope Pictures,...
- 6/22/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
‘Little J and Big Cuz’.
A third season of animated series Little J and Big Cuz, produced by Ned Lander Media, Media World and Blue Rocket, is in pre-production for Nitv and ABC Kids, to air in 2021.
Director Tony Thorne joins the writing team for this season, together with short fiction writer Adam Thompson, as well as Dot West, Erica Glynn, Beck Cole, Danielle MacLean and Sam Paynter.
The series, based on an Indigenous perspective on the Early Years Learning Framework, has been translated into 11 different Indigenous languages, with the third expected to be translated further. It follows Little J, Big Cuz and their friends, as they’re guided by Nanna and Old Dog and explore Nanna’s wonderful backyard and Ms Chen’s classroom.
The voice cast includes Deborah Mailman, Miranda Tapsell, Aaron Fa’oaso, Ursula Yovich, Renee Lim and Shari Sebbens.
Nitv channel manager Tanya Orman said: “Here at Nitv,...
A third season of animated series Little J and Big Cuz, produced by Ned Lander Media, Media World and Blue Rocket, is in pre-production for Nitv and ABC Kids, to air in 2021.
Director Tony Thorne joins the writing team for this season, together with short fiction writer Adam Thompson, as well as Dot West, Erica Glynn, Beck Cole, Danielle MacLean and Sam Paynter.
The series, based on an Indigenous perspective on the Early Years Learning Framework, has been translated into 11 different Indigenous languages, with the third expected to be translated further. It follows Little J, Big Cuz and their friends, as they’re guided by Nanna and Old Dog and explore Nanna’s wonderful backyard and Ms Chen’s classroom.
The voice cast includes Deborah Mailman, Miranda Tapsell, Aaron Fa’oaso, Ursula Yovich, Renee Lim and Shari Sebbens.
Nitv channel manager Tanya Orman said: “Here at Nitv,...
- 6/17/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Marta Dusseldorp in ‘Wentworth’ (Photo credit: Sarah Enticknap).
In a world away from A Place to Call Home, Marta Dusseldorp has donned the prison track suit with a guest role in Foxtel’s Wentworth, which resumes shooting this week.
Her character Sheila Bausch, a senior figure in the True Path cult, is on remand, charged with the murder of nine people at the cult’s retreat.
Described as highly intelligent, charismatic and manipulative, Sheila worked as the personal secretary for True Path’s founder Dr Mendel (Brian Vriends).
The Fremantle production re-starts after shutting down on March 23, just before a planned hiatus. The show has the advantage of being shot in its own large building in Melbourne, which has the flexibility of moving scenes set in a small cell to a bigger cell.
Executive producer Jo Porter, who is Fremantle’s director of scripted, said: “We have carefully adjusted our...
In a world away from A Place to Call Home, Marta Dusseldorp has donned the prison track suit with a guest role in Foxtel’s Wentworth, which resumes shooting this week.
Her character Sheila Bausch, a senior figure in the True Path cult, is on remand, charged with the murder of nine people at the cult’s retreat.
Described as highly intelligent, charismatic and manipulative, Sheila worked as the personal secretary for True Path’s founder Dr Mendel (Brian Vriends).
The Fremantle production re-starts after shutting down on March 23, just before a planned hiatus. The show has the advantage of being shot in its own large building in Melbourne, which has the flexibility of moving scenes set in a small cell to a bigger cell.
Executive producer Jo Porter, who is Fremantle’s director of scripted, said: “We have carefully adjusted our...
- 6/15/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
(L-r) Jack Steele, Warwick Thornton and Mitchell Stanley (Photo credit: John Paille).
The Indigenous creative teams in Australia and New Zealand were developing the anthology feature Cook 2020: Our Right of Reply when they decided the basic premise wasn’t right.
When Screen Australia’s Indigenous department and the New Zealand Film Commission (Nzfc) agreed to fund the project last year the intention was for each of the eight teams to provide an Indigenous perspective on the 250th anniversary of James Cook’s maiden voyage to the Pacific.
“We have scrapped that idea. The film will touch on survival and colonisation but it doesn’t refer directly back to Cook,” says Mitchell Stanley, who is co-producing with his No Coincidence Media partner Toni Stowers and Mia Henry-Tierney (Baby Mama’s Club).
“The consensus from all the writing teams was that we want to tell stories about us, we don’t...
The Indigenous creative teams in Australia and New Zealand were developing the anthology feature Cook 2020: Our Right of Reply when they decided the basic premise wasn’t right.
When Screen Australia’s Indigenous department and the New Zealand Film Commission (Nzfc) agreed to fund the project last year the intention was for each of the eight teams to provide an Indigenous perspective on the 250th anniversary of James Cook’s maiden voyage to the Pacific.
“We have scrapped that idea. The film will touch on survival and colonisation but it doesn’t refer directly back to Cook,” says Mitchell Stanley, who is co-producing with his No Coincidence Media partner Toni Stowers and Mia Henry-Tierney (Baby Mama’s Club).
“The consensus from all the writing teams was that we want to tell stories about us, we don’t...
- 6/4/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Robert Connolly.
In the 25 years since he graduated from the Australian Film Television and Radio School Robert Connolly has never been more excited about the future of the film industry.
Reflecting his boundless optimism, his company Arenamedia’s production and development slate is the biggest and most ambitious in its 15-year history.
“The future path for us is having many and varied collaborations and partnerships and not trying to be proprietorial,” Connolly tells If.
“Our creative team are backing our love and passion for cinema, without disparaging in any way this amazing era we’re in with television.
“We’re excited by the future of cinema. We think there will be innovation and new ways of watching cinema.”
The company is collaborating with an unprecedented number of established and emerging writers and directors. The latter cohort includes the Strange Colours creative team of Alena Lodkina and Kate Laurie, Zambian-Australian writer...
In the 25 years since he graduated from the Australian Film Television and Radio School Robert Connolly has never been more excited about the future of the film industry.
Reflecting his boundless optimism, his company Arenamedia’s production and development slate is the biggest and most ambitious in its 15-year history.
“The future path for us is having many and varied collaborations and partnerships and not trying to be proprietorial,” Connolly tells If.
“Our creative team are backing our love and passion for cinema, without disparaging in any way this amazing era we’re in with television.
“We’re excited by the future of cinema. We think there will be innovation and new ways of watching cinema.”
The company is collaborating with an unprecedented number of established and emerging writers and directors. The latter cohort includes the Strange Colours creative team of Alena Lodkina and Kate Laurie, Zambian-Australian writer...
- 5/31/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Matchbox Pictures/Sbs’s ‘Hungry Ghosts’.
Female-led TV drama projects from Good Thing Productions, Matchbox Pictures and Porchlight Films are among the four selected to be developed through Film Victoria and Sbs’s Pitch to Pilot initiative, aimed at bringing compelling stories from diverse voices to screen.
Each of the four teams receive $20,000 for further development before they pitch the projects to Sbs, with the successful team to receive an additional $20,000 to write a pilot script.
Producer Paula Salini (Wentworth) has teamed up with Virginia Whitwell and Nick Batzias at Good Thing Productions to bring Victorian writer Enza Gandolfo’s novel ‘The Bridge’ to the screen. Nicky Arnall (Playing for Keeps) is writing the series, titled West Gate, with Beck Cole (Mustangs Fc) to direct.
Writer/director Fatima Mawas and writer Angela Dix have come together on The Backroom. Mawas’ short film Amar was developed through the Sbs/Film Victoria...
Female-led TV drama projects from Good Thing Productions, Matchbox Pictures and Porchlight Films are among the four selected to be developed through Film Victoria and Sbs’s Pitch to Pilot initiative, aimed at bringing compelling stories from diverse voices to screen.
Each of the four teams receive $20,000 for further development before they pitch the projects to Sbs, with the successful team to receive an additional $20,000 to write a pilot script.
Producer Paula Salini (Wentworth) has teamed up with Virginia Whitwell and Nick Batzias at Good Thing Productions to bring Victorian writer Enza Gandolfo’s novel ‘The Bridge’ to the screen. Nicky Arnall (Playing for Keeps) is writing the series, titled West Gate, with Beck Cole (Mustangs Fc) to direct.
Writer/director Fatima Mawas and writer Angela Dix have come together on The Backroom. Mawas’ short film Amar was developed through the Sbs/Film Victoria...
- 4/13/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Kate Box and Zoe Terakes on the ‘Wentworth’ set.
The time when cis-gender people could play transgender characters on screen is fast disappearing, according to Zoe Terakes.
“I’ve never seen a cis-gender person tell a transgender story 100 per cent believably,” the young actor, who identifies as non-binary, tells If.
“There is a level of authenticity in representation that comes when you have somebody who gets it, feels it in their bones and they have lived it.”
Terakes has joined the cast of season eight and nine of Fremantle/Foxtel’s Wentworth playing Rebel ‘Reb’ Keane, who is terrified after being sentenced to prison.
Reb was born female, came to feel she was trapped in a man’s body and now identifies as a female-to-trans man.
Reb’s parents send Reb to a cult-like “rehabilitation” clinic in an effort to “cure” their “daughter,” which has echoes of Joel Edgerton’s feature Boy Erased.
The time when cis-gender people could play transgender characters on screen is fast disappearing, according to Zoe Terakes.
“I’ve never seen a cis-gender person tell a transgender story 100 per cent believably,” the young actor, who identifies as non-binary, tells If.
“There is a level of authenticity in representation that comes when you have somebody who gets it, feels it in their bones and they have lived it.”
Terakes has joined the cast of season eight and nine of Fremantle/Foxtel’s Wentworth playing Rebel ‘Reb’ Keane, who is terrified after being sentenced to prison.
Reb was born female, came to feel she was trapped in a man’s body and now identifies as a female-to-trans man.
Reb’s parents send Reb to a cult-like “rehabilitation” clinic in an effort to “cure” their “daughter,” which has echoes of Joel Edgerton’s feature Boy Erased.
- 10/29/2019
- 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
‘Between Two Worlds’
The international sales campaign for Between Two Worlds, the Seven Studios drama created by Bevan Lee, kicks off this week at the Mipcom market in Cannes.
Entertainment One acquired the distribution rights to the series starring Cold Feet’s Hermione Norris, Philip Quast, Sara Wiseman and Aaron Jeffrey, in its first ever content deal with Seven Studios.
“Seven Studios is thrilled to partner with Entertainment One to take this extraordinary drama to the world,” CEO Therese Hegarty tells If.
“Between Two Worlds is a world class production by master storyteller Bevan Lee and we are looking forward to taking another fantastic Australian production to an international audience.”
The deal was brokered by Noel Hedges, eOne’s executive VP, acquisitions, international distribution, who said: “Between Two Worlds offers us a glimpse into the rare and privileged world of the super-rich and is a fantastically gripping saga presented by...
The international sales campaign for Between Two Worlds, the Seven Studios drama created by Bevan Lee, kicks off this week at the Mipcom market in Cannes.
Entertainment One acquired the distribution rights to the series starring Cold Feet’s Hermione Norris, Philip Quast, Sara Wiseman and Aaron Jeffrey, in its first ever content deal with Seven Studios.
“Seven Studios is thrilled to partner with Entertainment One to take this extraordinary drama to the world,” CEO Therese Hegarty tells If.
“Between Two Worlds is a world class production by master storyteller Bevan Lee and we are looking forward to taking another fantastic Australian production to an international audience.”
The deal was brokered by Noel Hedges, eOne’s executive VP, acquisitions, international distribution, who said: “Between Two Worlds offers us a glimpse into the rare and privileged world of the super-rich and is a fantastically gripping saga presented by...
- 10/7/2019
- 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
The third season of ‘Mustangs Fc’ is underway in Melbourne (Photo: Sarah Enticknap).
The third season of Matchbox Pictures’ children’s series Mustangs Fc is currently shooting in Melbourne for the ABC and new co-commissioning partner Nitv.
Season three, supported by Film Victoria, sees all-girl soccer team The Mustangs enter a harsh new league in which they’re forced to merge with their nemesis, The Wildcats.
Mustangs Fc is produced by Amanda Higgs and Rachel Davis, who have promoted women on set each season; more than 60 per cent of the cast and crew for the third series are female.
The scripts were penned by Kirsty Fisher, Magda Wozniak, Rae Earl, Alix Beane, Shanti Gudgeon and Marisa Nathar, and director Beck Cole joins this season alongside the returning directors Ana Kokkinos, Roger Hodgman and Corrie Chen. Further, Amie Batalibasi, who completed a Film Victoria Key Talent Placement on Mustangs Fc season two,...
The third season of Matchbox Pictures’ children’s series Mustangs Fc is currently shooting in Melbourne for the ABC and new co-commissioning partner Nitv.
Season three, supported by Film Victoria, sees all-girl soccer team The Mustangs enter a harsh new league in which they’re forced to merge with their nemesis, The Wildcats.
Mustangs Fc is produced by Amanda Higgs and Rachel Davis, who have promoted women on set each season; more than 60 per cent of the cast and crew for the third series are female.
The scripts were penned by Kirsty Fisher, Magda Wozniak, Rae Earl, Alix Beane, Shanti Gudgeon and Marisa Nathar, and director Beck Cole joins this season alongside the returning directors Ana Kokkinos, Roger Hodgman and Corrie Chen. Further, Amie Batalibasi, who completed a Film Victoria Key Talent Placement on Mustangs Fc season two,...
- 8/2/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
‘Young Mob Questioning Treaty’.
Four shorts supported by Nitv and Film Victoria – What If, Unceded, Young Mob Questioning Treaty, and Treaty Now? – will screen on Nitv this weekend as part of the channel’s Naidoc Week line-up.
The Treaty initiative, from Film Victoria and Nitv, supported Indigenous Victorian filmmakers to create an original short film about what Treaty means to them and their local community, and links in with the theme of this year’s Naidoc Week, Voice.Treaty.Truth.
What If, from writer-director Daniel King, brings five Victorian community members together to contemplate ‘what if’ a Treaty was signed in 1788, when the first British ships arrived in Botany Bay.
In Unceded, by musician and filmmaker Robbie Bundle (Keeping Harmony: The Earth Songlines & Mixing It Up), three Aboriginal men meet in a recording studio to discuss what a Treaty is all about and record a song titled ‘Unceded’.
Tarneen Onus...
Four shorts supported by Nitv and Film Victoria – What If, Unceded, Young Mob Questioning Treaty, and Treaty Now? – will screen on Nitv this weekend as part of the channel’s Naidoc Week line-up.
The Treaty initiative, from Film Victoria and Nitv, supported Indigenous Victorian filmmakers to create an original short film about what Treaty means to them and their local community, and links in with the theme of this year’s Naidoc Week, Voice.Treaty.Truth.
What If, from writer-director Daniel King, brings five Victorian community members together to contemplate ‘what if’ a Treaty was signed in 1788, when the first British ships arrived in Botany Bay.
In Unceded, by musician and filmmaker Robbie Bundle (Keeping Harmony: The Earth Songlines & Mixing It Up), three Aboriginal men meet in a recording studio to discuss what a Treaty is all about and record a song titled ‘Unceded’.
Tarneen Onus...
- 7/5/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Danielle MacLean.
Considering Danielle MacLean’s original ambition was to be a stills photographer, her 23-year career as a writer, producer and director is quite remarkable.
Currently MacLean is juggling numerous projects including preparing a short film for the anthology feature Cook 2020: Our Right of Reply, writing an episode of the second series of Bunya Productions’ Mystery Road and signing on to direct at least one episode of the third season of Ned Lander Media’s Little J and Big Cuz.
In addition, she is developing a raft of projects including drama series Rough Justice with frequent collaborator Steven McGregor, children’s animated series Yellow Water Billabong and kids series The Barrumbi Kids with Ambience Entertainment.
“I have found my voice and I have a strong team of people around me,” she tells If. She credits Screen Australia’s Indigenous department, originally headed by Wal Saunders, followed by Sally Riley and now Penny Smallacombe,...
Considering Danielle MacLean’s original ambition was to be a stills photographer, her 23-year career as a writer, producer and director is quite remarkable.
Currently MacLean is juggling numerous projects including preparing a short film for the anthology feature Cook 2020: Our Right of Reply, writing an episode of the second series of Bunya Productions’ Mystery Road and signing on to direct at least one episode of the third season of Ned Lander Media’s Little J and Big Cuz.
In addition, she is developing a raft of projects including drama series Rough Justice with frequent collaborator Steven McGregor, children’s animated series Yellow Water Billabong and kids series The Barrumbi Kids with Ambience Entertainment.
“I have found my voice and I have a strong team of people around me,” she tells If. She credits Screen Australia’s Indigenous department, originally headed by Wal Saunders, followed by Sally Riley and now Penny Smallacombe,...
- 6/13/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Beck Cole with Tessa Rose on the set of ‘Grace Beside Me’ (Photo credit: Magpie Picture/Julian Panetta).
As a proud woman from Warramungu/Luritja nations filmmaker Beck Cole has worked on numerous Indigenous-themed TV series and documentaries including First Australians, Redfern Now, Grace Beside Me and Black Comedy.
Two years ago she decided to embark on a wider range of projects, a strategy that’s paid off as she has directed two episodes of Fremantle/Foxtel’s Wentworth and is preparing to direct two episodes of Seven Studios’ drama Between Two Worlds.
Later this year she will resume her role as voice director on the third season of Ned Lander Media’s animated series Little J & Big Cuz for Sbs.
Cole and emerging writer/director Samuel Paynter are among eight Indigenous teams from Australia and New Zealand who are making the anthology feature Cook 2020: Our Right of Reply.
As a proud woman from Warramungu/Luritja nations filmmaker Beck Cole has worked on numerous Indigenous-themed TV series and documentaries including First Australians, Redfern Now, Grace Beside Me and Black Comedy.
Two years ago she decided to embark on a wider range of projects, a strategy that’s paid off as she has directed two episodes of Fremantle/Foxtel’s Wentworth and is preparing to direct two episodes of Seven Studios’ drama Between Two Worlds.
Later this year she will resume her role as voice director on the third season of Ned Lander Media’s animated series Little J & Big Cuz for Sbs.
Cole and emerging writer/director Samuel Paynter are among eight Indigenous teams from Australia and New Zealand who are making the anthology feature Cook 2020: Our Right of Reply.
- 5/21/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
‘Cook 2020: Our Right of Reply’ filmmakers and producers.
Screen Australia and the New Zealand Film Commission (Nzfc) have today announced eight Indigenous teams from Australia and New Zealand who will work on a joint anthology feature, Cook 2020: Our Right of Reply, which will be titled Ngā Pouwhenua in Nz.
Each team will create a short chapter for the feature film, providing an Indigenous perspective on the 250th anniversary of James Cook’s maiden voyage to the Pacific.
Mitchell Stanley (Servant or Slave) from Australia, and Bailey Mackey and Mia Henry-Teirney (Baby Mama’s Club) from New Zealand have been chosen as co-producers. All will attend a residential lab at Shark Island Institute in Kangaroo Valley to develop the film.
Screen Australia head of Indigenous Penny Smallacombe said: “This is a rare opportunity for creative collaboration between Indigenous cultures, from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. I’m inspired...
Screen Australia and the New Zealand Film Commission (Nzfc) have today announced eight Indigenous teams from Australia and New Zealand who will work on a joint anthology feature, Cook 2020: Our Right of Reply, which will be titled Ngā Pouwhenua in Nz.
Each team will create a short chapter for the feature film, providing an Indigenous perspective on the 250th anniversary of James Cook’s maiden voyage to the Pacific.
Mitchell Stanley (Servant or Slave) from Australia, and Bailey Mackey and Mia Henry-Teirney (Baby Mama’s Club) from New Zealand have been chosen as co-producers. All will attend a residential lab at Shark Island Institute in Kangaroo Valley to develop the film.
Screen Australia head of Indigenous Penny Smallacombe said: “This is a rare opportunity for creative collaboration between Indigenous cultures, from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. I’m inspired...
- 5/13/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Megan Hajjar in ‘M4M’
Since graduating from Waapa in 2016 Megan Hajjar has built an impressive resume with roles in Breath, Love Child, The Secret Daughter, Harrow and the upcoming movies M4M and The Naked Wanderer.
You may not recognise the name because, until recently, she was known as Megan Smart. The actor has decided to use Hajjar, her mother’s maiden name, to more closely identify with her Lebanese heritage.
“I wasn’t being considered for some Middle Eastern roles because the producers did not recognise my heritage,” she tells If.
While she does play a Lebanese woman in Paul Ireland’s M4M, she mostly portrays characters whose nationality is incidental. For example, she had fun playing a serial killer named Charlotte in the ABC/Hoodlum Entertainment’s Harrow and troublemaker Anna Hennessy in Screentime/Seven’s The Secret Daughter.
In Alan Lindsay’s romantic comedy The Naked Wanderer...
Since graduating from Waapa in 2016 Megan Hajjar has built an impressive resume with roles in Breath, Love Child, The Secret Daughter, Harrow and the upcoming movies M4M and The Naked Wanderer.
You may not recognise the name because, until recently, she was known as Megan Smart. The actor has decided to use Hajjar, her mother’s maiden name, to more closely identify with her Lebanese heritage.
“I wasn’t being considered for some Middle Eastern roles because the producers did not recognise my heritage,” she tells If.
While she does play a Lebanese woman in Paul Ireland’s M4M, she mostly portrays characters whose nationality is incidental. For example, she had fun playing a serial killer named Charlotte in the ABC/Hoodlum Entertainment’s Harrow and troublemaker Anna Hennessy in Screentime/Seven’s The Secret Daughter.
In Alan Lindsay’s romantic comedy The Naked Wanderer...
- 4/23/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Hermione Norris.
Best known for her roles in Cold Feet and Luther, Hermione Norris is playing the lead in Seven Studios’ drama Between Two Worlds.
Created by Bevan Lee, the series follows the English actress as Cate Walford, whose husband Phillip is a vicious, philandering business tycoon. With her marriage on the ropes, she is caught in a tangled web of lies and manipulation.
Through a shocking twist of fate, her world collides with the seemingly disparate and disconnected, warm and loving world of a widow and her footy star son and musical daughter.
Philip Quast plays Phillip with A Place to Call Home’s Sara Wiseman as the widow Sophia Grey. The cast includes Wentworth’s Aaron Jeffery as a football coach, Megan Hajjar as Sophia’s daughter Bella, Alex Cubis as her brother Danny, Tom Dalzell as the Walford’s son Bart and Melanie Jarnson as Bart’s girlfriend.
Best known for her roles in Cold Feet and Luther, Hermione Norris is playing the lead in Seven Studios’ drama Between Two Worlds.
Created by Bevan Lee, the series follows the English actress as Cate Walford, whose husband Phillip is a vicious, philandering business tycoon. With her marriage on the ropes, she is caught in a tangled web of lies and manipulation.
Through a shocking twist of fate, her world collides with the seemingly disparate and disconnected, warm and loving world of a widow and her footy star son and musical daughter.
Philip Quast plays Phillip with A Place to Call Home’s Sara Wiseman as the widow Sophia Grey. The cast includes Wentworth’s Aaron Jeffery as a football coach, Megan Hajjar as Sophia’s daughter Bella, Alex Cubis as her brother Danny, Tom Dalzell as the Walford’s son Bart and Melanie Jarnson as Bart’s girlfriend.
- 4/16/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Cold Feet and Luther star Hermione Norris is to front high-concept Australian thriller Between Two Worlds.
The series is being produced by Seven Studios for its parent network, commercial broadcaster Seven Network. It is the latest series from the Australian network as it bolsters its global ambitions and follows the hire of Damon Pattison as Creative Director of Seven Studios UK and its European adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days from Slim Film + TV, which it owns a stake in.
Filming has just begun in Sydney on Between Two Worlds, which sees Norris play Cate Walford, whose relationship with vicious, business tycoon husband, Phillip, is on the ropes and sees a tempestuous home life trapped in a tangled web of lies and manipulation. Through a shocking twist of fate, this dark and murky world collides with the seemingly disparate and disconnected, warm and loving world of a widow and...
The series is being produced by Seven Studios for its parent network, commercial broadcaster Seven Network. It is the latest series from the Australian network as it bolsters its global ambitions and follows the hire of Damon Pattison as Creative Director of Seven Studios UK and its European adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days from Slim Film + TV, which it owns a stake in.
Filming has just begun in Sydney on Between Two Worlds, which sees Norris play Cate Walford, whose relationship with vicious, business tycoon husband, Phillip, is on the ropes and sees a tempestuous home life trapped in a tangled web of lies and manipulation. Through a shocking twist of fate, this dark and murky world collides with the seemingly disparate and disconnected, warm and loving world of a widow and...
- 4/16/2019
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
‘Little J and Big Cuz’.
Ned Lander Media’s animated series Little J and Big Cuz is the winner of the inaugural Screen Diversity and Inclusion Network (Sdin) Award.
The Sdin Award was created to honour Australian producers and projects which have made a significant contribution to diversity and inclusion, on and off screen, within the Australian screen industry. Little J and Big Cuz, commissioned by Nitv, is the first animated series specifically targeted at Indigenous children aged 4-6.
The announcement was made at Screen Forever yesterday by Sdin chair Courtney Gibson.
“For decades Ned Lander has been producing screen works in complete creative collaboration with Indigenous screen practitioners, going right back to the feature Wrong Side of the Road, made with the bands No Fixed Address and Us Mob. The creation of the first-ever Australian animated series targeted to an Indigenous audience, Little J and Big Cuz, is a continuation of that collaborative approach,...
Ned Lander Media’s animated series Little J and Big Cuz is the winner of the inaugural Screen Diversity and Inclusion Network (Sdin) Award.
The Sdin Award was created to honour Australian producers and projects which have made a significant contribution to diversity and inclusion, on and off screen, within the Australian screen industry. Little J and Big Cuz, commissioned by Nitv, is the first animated series specifically targeted at Indigenous children aged 4-6.
The announcement was made at Screen Forever yesterday by Sdin chair Courtney Gibson.
“For decades Ned Lander has been producing screen works in complete creative collaboration with Indigenous screen practitioners, going right back to the feature Wrong Side of the Road, made with the bands No Fixed Address and Us Mob. The creation of the first-ever Australian animated series targeted to an Indigenous audience, Little J and Big Cuz, is a continuation of that collaborative approach,...
- 11/21/2018
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Grace Beside Me..
Nitv has commissioned its first ever scripted live-action series, Grace Beside Me.
Adapted from the novel by Sue McPherson, the 13 x 26 series — pitched as .the story of an extraordinary girl trying to lead an ordinary life" — is produced by Magpie Pictures, with investment from Screen Australia.s Indigenous Department, Screen Queensland, the ABC, as well as assistance from Screen Nsw.
Aimed at 8-12 year olds, Grace Beside Me follows Fuzzy Mac, a 13-year-old who discovers she can see ghosts and spirits. However, all she wants to do is fit in, as it.s .hard enough navigating the highs and lows of becoming a teenager while living with your eccentric Nan and Pop, without also having to deal with needy ghosts, mischievous totems and cantankerous Ancestors..
Mac is said to have .one foot in the Indigenous realm of culture, Country — and spirits — and the other firmly planted in...
Nitv has commissioned its first ever scripted live-action series, Grace Beside Me.
Adapted from the novel by Sue McPherson, the 13 x 26 series — pitched as .the story of an extraordinary girl trying to lead an ordinary life" — is produced by Magpie Pictures, with investment from Screen Australia.s Indigenous Department, Screen Queensland, the ABC, as well as assistance from Screen Nsw.
Aimed at 8-12 year olds, Grace Beside Me follows Fuzzy Mac, a 13-year-old who discovers she can see ghosts and spirits. However, all she wants to do is fit in, as it.s .hard enough navigating the highs and lows of becoming a teenager while living with your eccentric Nan and Pop, without also having to deal with needy ghosts, mischievous totems and cantankerous Ancestors..
Mac is said to have .one foot in the Indigenous realm of culture, Country — and spirits — and the other firmly planted in...
- 1/17/2017
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
The Warriors.
Filming has started in Melbourne on The Warriors, an eight-part Indigenous comedy drama for the ABC.
Lisa McCune, John Howard and Vince Colosimo will star alongside a cast of emerging Indigenous actors.
The Warriors, which explores the world of Aussie Rules, is the brainchild of Tony Briggs (The Sapphires) and Robert Connolly (Paper Planes, Barracuda).
The series has been exclusively written and directed by Indigenous Australians, including Jon Bell (Cleverman), Briggs and newcomer Tracey Rigney..
Directors include Adrian Russell Wills (Wentworth), Beck Cole (Black Comedy), Steven McGregor (Croker Island Exodus, Redfern Now), Catriona McKenzie (The Circuit, Redfern Now and The Gods of Wheat Street)..
Producers are Connolly, John Harvey and Liz Kearney, and Justin Monjo is story producer.
The Warriors follows two new Afl recruits - plucked from obscurity into fame and fortune - and two established players, who have been thrown together into a share house in Melbourne.
Filming has started in Melbourne on The Warriors, an eight-part Indigenous comedy drama for the ABC.
Lisa McCune, John Howard and Vince Colosimo will star alongside a cast of emerging Indigenous actors.
The Warriors, which explores the world of Aussie Rules, is the brainchild of Tony Briggs (The Sapphires) and Robert Connolly (Paper Planes, Barracuda).
The series has been exclusively written and directed by Indigenous Australians, including Jon Bell (Cleverman), Briggs and newcomer Tracey Rigney..
Directors include Adrian Russell Wills (Wentworth), Beck Cole (Black Comedy), Steven McGregor (Croker Island Exodus, Redfern Now), Catriona McKenzie (The Circuit, Redfern Now and The Gods of Wheat Street)..
Producers are Connolly, John Harvey and Liz Kearney, and Justin Monjo is story producer.
The Warriors follows two new Afl recruits - plucked from obscurity into fame and fortune - and two established players, who have been thrown together into a share house in Melbourne.
- 10/11/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
L-r: Warwick Thornton, Beck Cole, Thibul Nettle, Natasha Wanganeen, Isaac Lindsey, Tess O'Flaherty, Edoardo Crismani, Kiara Milera, Georgia Humphreys, Dylan Coleman and Garth Agius.
Five aboriginal filmmakers from Sa will receive $20,000 each to make a short, along with mentoring and professional development from industry figures.
Edoardo Crismani, Isaac Lindsay, Kiara Milera, Thibul Nettle and Dylan Coleman will all receive funding and support as part of the new Safc Aboriginal Short Film Initiative.
The five selected filmmakers plus another five are this week participating in an intensive 5-day Production and Development Workshop at Safc.s Adelaide Studios. They are joined by three non-indigenous emerging producers who will be partnering on three of the projects.
The workshop is being led by writer-directors Beck Cole (Here I Am) and Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah)..
Other guest lecturers at the workshop include film editor Tania Nehme (Tanna, Charlie.s Country), and cinematographer Allan Collins (Mad Bastards,...
Five aboriginal filmmakers from Sa will receive $20,000 each to make a short, along with mentoring and professional development from industry figures.
Edoardo Crismani, Isaac Lindsay, Kiara Milera, Thibul Nettle and Dylan Coleman will all receive funding and support as part of the new Safc Aboriginal Short Film Initiative.
The five selected filmmakers plus another five are this week participating in an intensive 5-day Production and Development Workshop at Safc.s Adelaide Studios. They are joined by three non-indigenous emerging producers who will be partnering on three of the projects.
The workshop is being led by writer-directors Beck Cole (Here I Am) and Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah)..
Other guest lecturers at the workshop include film editor Tania Nehme (Tanna, Charlie.s Country), and cinematographer Allan Collins (Mad Bastards,...
- 8/10/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Two up-and-coming Native talents, Razelle Benally (Navajo/Oglala Lakota) and Randi LeClair (Pawnee) have been selected for the Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab, where the two writers will receive grants for production and targeted support during a residential Lab to prepare for production of their short films.
The Lab takes place in Santa Fe, New Mexico July 10-14. The Lab is a highlight of the Institute’s year-round work with Native American and Indigenous filmmakers and is one of the 24 residential labs the Institute hosts each year to discover and foster the talent of emerging independent artists in film, theater, new media and more recently episodic content.
The Native Filmmakers Lab builds on the Institute’s former NativeLab to include grants to support production of the Fellows’ short films – a first for the Institute’s renowned independent artist Labs. The writers and directors serving as Creative Advisors for this year’s Lab include: Janicza Bravo ("Gregory Go Boom" and "Pauline Alone"), Beck Cole ( "Plains Empty" and "Here I Am" ), Sydney Freeland ("Drunktown's Finest" and "HoverBoard" ), Aurora Guerrero ( "Pura Lengua" and "Mosquita y Mari" ) and Lucas Leyva ( "#PostModem" and "Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke" ).
N. Bird Runningwater (Cheyenne/Mescalero Apache), director of the Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Program, said, “Our Native Filmmakers Lab responds to the unique need within our community to support Native American artists with grants and mentorship focusing on the crucial phase of producing their films. I am excited to embark on this creative journey with these two bright female directors as they begin the tactical phase of creating their films.”
The Native Filmmakers Lab will be followed by the inaugural Native Writers Workshop, jointly hosted by Sundance Institute and the Institute of American Indian Arts (Iaia). The Workshop will support six emerging Native storytellers who seek to share their voices in film and television: Gabe Abeyta (Taos Pueblo and Navajo from Santa Fe, Nm), Katie Avery (Iñupiaq from Los Angeles, CA), Kelly D'Angelo (Haudenosaunee from Los Angeles, CA), Felicia Nez (Navajo from Albuquerque, Nm), Blue Tarpalechee (Muscogee from Santa Fe, Nm) and Kaherawaks Thompson (St. Regis Mohawks of Akwesasne from Memphis, Tn).
They will be mentored by: Beck Cole (Writer, "Here I Am" and "Black Comedy" ), Jason Gavin (Writer, "Greek, "Friday Night Lights"), Derek Santos Olson (Writer, "Friday Night Lights" ), Sierra Ornelas (Writer, "Selfie" and "Happy Endings" ), Alex Rivera (Writer/Director, "Sleep Dealer" ) and Joan Tewkesbury (Writer, "Nashville" and "Thieves Like Us" ).
True to founder Robert Redford’s original vision, the Institute maintains a strong commitment to supporting Native and Indigenous filmmakers. The Native program has built and sustained a unique support cycle for Indigenous artists through grants, labs, mentorships, a fellowship program at the Sundance Film Festival, and screenings for Native communities to inspire new generations of storytellers. Currently operating programs in the United States, Canada, and formerly New Zealand and Australia, the Institute has established a rich legacy of work by supporting more than 300 Native and Indigenous filmmakers, including Taika Waititi, Chris Eyre, Sterlin Harjo, Billy Luther, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, Aurora Guerrero, Sydney Freeland and Yolanda Cruz.
There are the two artists/projects selected for the 2015 Native Filmmakers Lab:
"I Am Thy Weapon"
Razelle Benally (Navajo/Oglala Lakota)
A young artistic Navajo woman relives memories of her deceased sister, that in turn help her heal and battle against the modern-day adversities of reservation life.
Razelle Benally is of Oglala Lakota and Navajo blood. Benally’s firsthand experience while filming and traveling with renowned skateboard company Apache Skateboards has helped her hone a self-developed style of editing and directing. She most notably gained acclaim for her short documentary "The Humble," and six-minute experimental piece "Love is a Losing Game." Benally is one of five young women featured in the 2011 documentary, "Apache Chronicle."
She has shown in galleries in Long Beach, CA and in Phoenix, Az. Her films have been shown nationally and internationally at select screenings in Portland, Winnipeg Manitoba Canada, and Sweden. She earned a third place award in the 2007 Aihec Film Festival, and is the 2010 Santa Fe Indian Market jury-awarded winner for Best Documentary in Swaia’s Classification X. Benally is an alumna of the 2012 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab.
"The Other Side of the Bridge"
Randi LeClair (Pawnee)
After two high school football stars are found dead, decade’s long racial tensions sizzle in a small-town diner.
Randi LeClair is an enrolled member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. She graduated from Oklahoma State University with a BA in English (Creative Writing) and is currently a graduate student in the University of Oklahoma’s Master of Professional Writing program. Recently, Randi and her husband, Todd, signed an option agreement for the screen adaptation of Todd’s book, "60 Feet Six Inches and Other Distances from Home: The (Baseball) Life of Mose YellowHorse," which follows the story of Pittsburg Pirates pitcher Mose YellowHorse, the first full-blood American Indian in the major leagues.
In addition to screenwriting, Randi also engages her love of literary fiction and is currently working on a collection of short stories. As well, she also serves as co-editor for "Out of the Stars: An Anthology of Pawnee Writing, Stories, and Art." Her dream is to help bring Native Cinema to the mainstream. She is an alumna of the 2010 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab.
The Lab takes place in Santa Fe, New Mexico July 10-14. The Lab is a highlight of the Institute’s year-round work with Native American and Indigenous filmmakers and is one of the 24 residential labs the Institute hosts each year to discover and foster the talent of emerging independent artists in film, theater, new media and more recently episodic content.
The Native Filmmakers Lab builds on the Institute’s former NativeLab to include grants to support production of the Fellows’ short films – a first for the Institute’s renowned independent artist Labs. The writers and directors serving as Creative Advisors for this year’s Lab include: Janicza Bravo ("Gregory Go Boom" and "Pauline Alone"), Beck Cole ( "Plains Empty" and "Here I Am" ), Sydney Freeland ("Drunktown's Finest" and "HoverBoard" ), Aurora Guerrero ( "Pura Lengua" and "Mosquita y Mari" ) and Lucas Leyva ( "#PostModem" and "Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke" ).
N. Bird Runningwater (Cheyenne/Mescalero Apache), director of the Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Program, said, “Our Native Filmmakers Lab responds to the unique need within our community to support Native American artists with grants and mentorship focusing on the crucial phase of producing their films. I am excited to embark on this creative journey with these two bright female directors as they begin the tactical phase of creating their films.”
The Native Filmmakers Lab will be followed by the inaugural Native Writers Workshop, jointly hosted by Sundance Institute and the Institute of American Indian Arts (Iaia). The Workshop will support six emerging Native storytellers who seek to share their voices in film and television: Gabe Abeyta (Taos Pueblo and Navajo from Santa Fe, Nm), Katie Avery (Iñupiaq from Los Angeles, CA), Kelly D'Angelo (Haudenosaunee from Los Angeles, CA), Felicia Nez (Navajo from Albuquerque, Nm), Blue Tarpalechee (Muscogee from Santa Fe, Nm) and Kaherawaks Thompson (St. Regis Mohawks of Akwesasne from Memphis, Tn).
They will be mentored by: Beck Cole (Writer, "Here I Am" and "Black Comedy" ), Jason Gavin (Writer, "Greek, "Friday Night Lights"), Derek Santos Olson (Writer, "Friday Night Lights" ), Sierra Ornelas (Writer, "Selfie" and "Happy Endings" ), Alex Rivera (Writer/Director, "Sleep Dealer" ) and Joan Tewkesbury (Writer, "Nashville" and "Thieves Like Us" ).
True to founder Robert Redford’s original vision, the Institute maintains a strong commitment to supporting Native and Indigenous filmmakers. The Native program has built and sustained a unique support cycle for Indigenous artists through grants, labs, mentorships, a fellowship program at the Sundance Film Festival, and screenings for Native communities to inspire new generations of storytellers. Currently operating programs in the United States, Canada, and formerly New Zealand and Australia, the Institute has established a rich legacy of work by supporting more than 300 Native and Indigenous filmmakers, including Taika Waititi, Chris Eyre, Sterlin Harjo, Billy Luther, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, Aurora Guerrero, Sydney Freeland and Yolanda Cruz.
There are the two artists/projects selected for the 2015 Native Filmmakers Lab:
"I Am Thy Weapon"
Razelle Benally (Navajo/Oglala Lakota)
A young artistic Navajo woman relives memories of her deceased sister, that in turn help her heal and battle against the modern-day adversities of reservation life.
Razelle Benally is of Oglala Lakota and Navajo blood. Benally’s firsthand experience while filming and traveling with renowned skateboard company Apache Skateboards has helped her hone a self-developed style of editing and directing. She most notably gained acclaim for her short documentary "The Humble," and six-minute experimental piece "Love is a Losing Game." Benally is one of five young women featured in the 2011 documentary, "Apache Chronicle."
She has shown in galleries in Long Beach, CA and in Phoenix, Az. Her films have been shown nationally and internationally at select screenings in Portland, Winnipeg Manitoba Canada, and Sweden. She earned a third place award in the 2007 Aihec Film Festival, and is the 2010 Santa Fe Indian Market jury-awarded winner for Best Documentary in Swaia’s Classification X. Benally is an alumna of the 2012 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab.
"The Other Side of the Bridge"
Randi LeClair (Pawnee)
After two high school football stars are found dead, decade’s long racial tensions sizzle in a small-town diner.
Randi LeClair is an enrolled member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. She graduated from Oklahoma State University with a BA in English (Creative Writing) and is currently a graduate student in the University of Oklahoma’s Master of Professional Writing program. Recently, Randi and her husband, Todd, signed an option agreement for the screen adaptation of Todd’s book, "60 Feet Six Inches and Other Distances from Home: The (Baseball) Life of Mose YellowHorse," which follows the story of Pittsburg Pirates pitcher Mose YellowHorse, the first full-blood American Indian in the major leagues.
In addition to screenwriting, Randi also engages her love of literary fiction and is currently working on a collection of short stories. As well, she also serves as co-editor for "Out of the Stars: An Anthology of Pawnee Writing, Stories, and Art." Her dream is to help bring Native Cinema to the mainstream. She is an alumna of the 2010 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab.
- 7/13/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Razelle Benally and Randi LeClair will take part in the Lab, set to run in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from July 10-14.
Benally (Navajo/Oglala Lakota) attends with I Am Thy Weapon, while LeClair (Pawnee) brings The Other Side Of The Bridge.
The Lab includes grants and tactical support for the production of short films and is a highlight of the Institute’s year-round work with Native American and Indigenous filmmakers.
Writers and directors serving as creative advisors include: Janicza Bravo, Beck Cole, Sydney Freeland, Aurora Guerrero and Lucas Leyva.
The Native Filmmakers Lab will be followed by the inaugural Native Writers Workshop, jointly hosted by Sundance Institute and the Institute of American Indian Arts.
The workshop will support six emerging Native storytellers who seek to share their voices in film and television.
They are: Gabe Abeyta (Taos Pueblo and Navajo from Santa Fe, New Mexico); Katie Avery (Iñupiaq from Los Angeles, California); Kelly...
Benally (Navajo/Oglala Lakota) attends with I Am Thy Weapon, while LeClair (Pawnee) brings The Other Side Of The Bridge.
The Lab includes grants and tactical support for the production of short films and is a highlight of the Institute’s year-round work with Native American and Indigenous filmmakers.
Writers and directors serving as creative advisors include: Janicza Bravo, Beck Cole, Sydney Freeland, Aurora Guerrero and Lucas Leyva.
The Native Filmmakers Lab will be followed by the inaugural Native Writers Workshop, jointly hosted by Sundance Institute and the Institute of American Indian Arts.
The workshop will support six emerging Native storytellers who seek to share their voices in film and television.
They are: Gabe Abeyta (Taos Pueblo and Navajo from Santa Fe, New Mexico); Katie Avery (Iñupiaq from Los Angeles, California); Kelly...
- 7/9/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The first round of Aacta Award winners have been announced today at the 4th Aacta Award Luncheon held at the Star Event Centre in Sydney.
Celebrating screen craft excellence in Australia, 22 awards were presented, recognising the work of screen practitioners working in television, documentary, short fiction film, short animation and feature film.
The Luncheon was hosted by writer/actor/producer/director Adam Zwar, who was also joined throughout the event by a list of distinguished presenters. including Aacta President Geoffrey Rush, David Stratton, Damian Walshe-Howling, Alexandra Schepisi, Charlotte Best and Diana Glenn.
In the feature film category, Predestination took home the most Awards; with Ben Nott Acs taking out the prize for Best Cinematography, Matt Villa Ase winning the award for Best Editing, and Matthew Putland scooping Best Production Design.
Tess Schofield was honoured with the Aacta Award for Best Costume Design for her work on The Water Diviner while...
Celebrating screen craft excellence in Australia, 22 awards were presented, recognising the work of screen practitioners working in television, documentary, short fiction film, short animation and feature film.
The Luncheon was hosted by writer/actor/producer/director Adam Zwar, who was also joined throughout the event by a list of distinguished presenters. including Aacta President Geoffrey Rush, David Stratton, Damian Walshe-Howling, Alexandra Schepisi, Charlotte Best and Diana Glenn.
In the feature film category, Predestination took home the most Awards; with Ben Nott Acs taking out the prize for Best Cinematography, Matt Villa Ase winning the award for Best Editing, and Matthew Putland scooping Best Production Design.
Tess Schofield was honoured with the Aacta Award for Best Costume Design for her work on The Water Diviner while...
- 1/27/2015
- by Emily Blatchford
- IF.com.au
Russell Crowe-Directed Movie Up for Australian Film Award; Crowe Shortlisted Only in Acting Category
Director Russell Crowe Movie up for Best Film: Australian Academy Awards 2015 nominations (photo: Actor-director Russell Crowe in 'The Water Diviner') Aacta Awards: Feature Film Categories Best Film The Babadook Kristina Ceyton and Kristian Moliere Charlie's Country Nils Erik Nielsen, Peter Djigirr and Rolf de Heer Predestination Paddy McDonald, Tim McGahan, Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig The Railway Man Chris Brown, Andy Paterson and Bill Curbishley Tracks Emile Sherman and Iain Canning The Water Diviner Andrew Mason, Keith Rodger and Troy Lum Best Director The Babadook Jennifer Kent Charlie's Country Rolf de Heer Predestination Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig The Rover David Michôd Best Actress Kate Box The Little Death Essie Davis The Babadook Sarah Snook Predestination Mia Wasikowska Tracks Best Actor Russell Crowe The Water Diviner David Gulpilil Charlie's Country Damon Herriman The Little Death Guy Pearce The Rover Best Supporting Actor Patrick Brammall The Little Death Yilmaz Erdogan...
- 12/3/2014
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
Anton Corbijn’s Life also set to get direct government investment from Screen Australia.
Many Australian filmgoers were today thrilled to hear that director Clayton Jacobson and his brother, the actor Shane Jacobson, the two brains behind the good-natured local box office hit Kenny [pictured], are finally going to be making a followup.
The family movie Oddball is one of two features to get direct government investment from Screen Australia, it was announced today. In the other, the official co-production Life, starring Robert Pattinson of Twilight fame, Australia and Germany are minority partners alongside Canada.
“Oddball has the perfect mix to really carry across to an international audience,” Clayton Jacobson told Screendaily. “It is your classic four quadrant film. Both Shane and I were invited on board for the ride… We are thrilled to be able to work together again. It’s not every day someone pays you to hang out with family.”
Kenny was made...
Many Australian filmgoers were today thrilled to hear that director Clayton Jacobson and his brother, the actor Shane Jacobson, the two brains behind the good-natured local box office hit Kenny [pictured], are finally going to be making a followup.
The family movie Oddball is one of two features to get direct government investment from Screen Australia, it was announced today. In the other, the official co-production Life, starring Robert Pattinson of Twilight fame, Australia and Germany are minority partners alongside Canada.
“Oddball has the perfect mix to really carry across to an international audience,” Clayton Jacobson told Screendaily. “It is your classic four quadrant film. Both Shane and I were invited on board for the ride… We are thrilled to be able to work together again. It’s not every day someone pays you to hang out with family.”
Kenny was made...
- 12/5/2013
- by Sandy.George@me.com (Sandy George)
- ScreenDaily
The second season of award-winning series Redfern Now will commence filming in and around Redfern on May 1. Produced by Blackfella Films. Miranda Dear and Darren Dale, alongside story producer Jimmy McGovern, the second instalment of the popular series will see many of the cast members reuniting to play their original characters. Those returning in season two include Wayne Blair, this year.s Most Outstanding Actress Logie winner, Deborah Mailman, Ursula Yovich, Lisa Flanagan, Stephen Curry, Dean Daley Jones and the Aacta Award-winning Leah Purcell. Adding to the mix will be Aaron Pederson, Craig McLachlan, Meyne Wyatt, Ernie Dingo, Steve Bisley, Sarah Woods and Tammy Clarkson. The first season of the show proved to be successful both with audiences and critics, and was nominated for five Aacta awards in 2013 (taking home the awards for Best Screenplay in Television and Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama) as well as scooping the...
- 4/29/2013
- by Emily Blatchford
- IF.com.au
The second season of award-winning series Redfern Now will commence filming in and around Redfern on May 1. Produced by Blackfella Films. Miranda Dear and Darren Dale, alongside story producer Jimmy McGovern, the second instalment of the popular series will see many of the cast members reuniting to play their original characters. Those returning in season two include Wayne Blair, this year.s Most Outstanding Actress Logie winner, Deborah Mailman, Ursula Yovich, Lisa Flanagan, Stephen Curry, Dean Daley Jones and the Aacta Award-winning Leah Purcell. Adding to the mix will be Aaron Pederson, Craig McLachlan, Meyne Wyatt, Ernie Dingo, Steve Bisley, Sarah Woods and Tammy Clarkson. The first season of the show proved to be successful both with audiences and critics, and was nominated for five Aacta awards in 2013 (taking home the awards for Best Screenplay in Television and Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama) as well as scooping the...
- 4/29/2013
- by Emily Blatchford
- IF.com.au
The future of the Queensland-based Asia Pacific Screen Awards remains in doubt as the government considers future funding. Oscar-winning producer Melanie Coombs argues that Apsa make a significant contribution to the industry which should be protected..
The annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards event is so much more than an awards night. As we enter the 'Asian Century', the APSAs connect Australian filmmakers with our peers in our region. The insights and cultural understandings that come from this bringing together of internationally awarded and celebrated filmmakers are invaluable to me as an Australia filmmaker and to my peers.
The Mpa Apsa Academy Film Fund is the most obvious example of this: it has awarded eight development grants in two years and seven of those projects have been made . one of which is the Oscar-winning A Separation. This makes it the most successful film development fund probably in the world, but certainly in Australia.
The annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards event is so much more than an awards night. As we enter the 'Asian Century', the APSAs connect Australian filmmakers with our peers in our region. The insights and cultural understandings that come from this bringing together of internationally awarded and celebrated filmmakers are invaluable to me as an Australia filmmaker and to my peers.
The Mpa Apsa Academy Film Fund is the most obvious example of this: it has awarded eight development grants in two years and seven of those projects have been made . one of which is the Oscar-winning A Separation. This makes it the most successful film development fund probably in the world, but certainly in Australia.
- 12/4/2012
- by Melanie Coombs, producer
- IF.com.au
The 17th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (Iffk) has announced its lineup. The festival will run from 7th to 14th December, 2012 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Some of the highlights of the lineup are festival favourites of the year Amour, Chitrangada, Samhita, The Sapphires, Drapchi, Miss Lovely, Me and You, Celluloid Man, and Baandhon.
Fourteen films will screen in the Competition section while seven contemporary films will be screened in “Indian Cinema Now” section.
Complete list of films:
Competition Films
Fourteen feature films from Asia, Africa and Latin America will compete for the coveted “Suvarna Chakoram” (Golden Crow Pheasant) and other awards.
Always Brando by Ridha Behi (Tunisia)
Inheritors of the Earth by T V Chandran (India)
A Terminal Trust by by Masayuki Suo (Japan)
Shutter by Joy Mathew (India)
Today by Alain Gomis (Senegal-France)
The Repentant by Merzak Allouache (Algeria)
Sta. Niña by Manny Palo (Philippines)
Present Tense...
Some of the highlights of the lineup are festival favourites of the year Amour, Chitrangada, Samhita, The Sapphires, Drapchi, Miss Lovely, Me and You, Celluloid Man, and Baandhon.
Fourteen films will screen in the Competition section while seven contemporary films will be screened in “Indian Cinema Now” section.
Complete list of films:
Competition Films
Fourteen feature films from Asia, Africa and Latin America will compete for the coveted “Suvarna Chakoram” (Golden Crow Pheasant) and other awards.
Always Brando by Ridha Behi (Tunisia)
Inheritors of the Earth by T V Chandran (India)
A Terminal Trust by by Masayuki Suo (Japan)
Shutter by Joy Mathew (India)
Today by Alain Gomis (Senegal-France)
The Repentant by Merzak Allouache (Algeria)
Sta. Niña by Manny Palo (Philippines)
Present Tense...
- 11/2/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Beck Cole’s debut feature film Here I Am premieres tonight on the ABC.
Here I Am is from the creators of Samson & Delilah, with Cole directing, Warwick Thornton (Samson & Delilah’s director) as cinematographer and producer Kath Shelper.
Here I Am is a powerful drama about a young Indigenous woman (Shai Pittman) just out of prison, living at a shelter and trying to deal with her own demons while fixing her relationship with her mother (the anthropologist and activist Marcia Langton) and daughter (Quinaiha Scott). By her side are a group of Indigenous women also trying to rebuild their broken lives.
Here I Am screens on ABC1 tonight, Thursday 8 December, 8:30pm.
Here I Am is from the creators of Samson & Delilah, with Cole directing, Warwick Thornton (Samson & Delilah’s director) as cinematographer and producer Kath Shelper.
Here I Am is a powerful drama about a young Indigenous woman (Shai Pittman) just out of prison, living at a shelter and trying to deal with her own demons while fixing her relationship with her mother (the anthropologist and activist Marcia Langton) and daughter (Quinaiha Scott). By her side are a group of Indigenous women also trying to rebuild their broken lives.
Here I Am screens on ABC1 tonight, Thursday 8 December, 8:30pm.
- 12/7/2011
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
ABC’s Amanda Duthie has been announced as the incoming director and CEO of the BigPond Adelaide Film Festival.
Duthie replaces Katrina Sedgwick who will finish in the role at the end of 2011.
Duthie is currently the content head of arts and entertainment at the ABC.
Sandra Sdraulig, chair of Baff Board said: “Finding someone to fill the very large shoes of Katrina Sedgwick, the Festival’s founding director and creative dynamo who has evolved Baff into one of the world’s most exciting film events was a daunting task. I feel absolutely confident that Amanda Duthie is that person, an individual with extraordinary skills, energy, knowledge and networks who we are absolutely delighted will guide the Festival into the future.”
Of her position, Duthie said: “I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to join this dynamic and respected Festival, which I have attended many times as a film lover.
Duthie replaces Katrina Sedgwick who will finish in the role at the end of 2011.
Duthie is currently the content head of arts and entertainment at the ABC.
Sandra Sdraulig, chair of Baff Board said: “Finding someone to fill the very large shoes of Katrina Sedgwick, the Festival’s founding director and creative dynamo who has evolved Baff into one of the world’s most exciting film events was a daunting task. I feel absolutely confident that Amanda Duthie is that person, an individual with extraordinary skills, energy, knowledge and networks who we are absolutely delighted will guide the Festival into the future.”
Of her position, Duthie said: “I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to join this dynamic and respected Festival, which I have attended many times as a film lover.
- 12/7/2011
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
Toronto is a hub of film festivals here in Canada. Apart from Tiff, After Dark, Hot Docs and Tjff, we also cover the imagineNATIVE Festival each year. The fest recently announced their line up which includes World Premieres, International Award-Winners & Buffy Sainte-Marie. Here is the press release.
Visit www.imagineNATIVE.org for the full Festival line-up.
The Festival officially kicks off at 12:00pm on Wednesday, October 19 with its Welcome Gathering presented by the Thunderbird Centre at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto (16 Spadina Road). Free and open to the public, the reception features traditional Indigenous performances, including Tribal Vision, a family dance troupe from Six Nations, a welcoming song from Rosary Spence, craft vendors, food, and a welcome address from imagineNATIVE in a casual, fun atmosphere.
imagineNATIVE’s Opening Night screening presented by Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (Aptn) features the Canadian Premiere of Andrew Okpeaha MacLean’s internationally-celebrated dramatic...
Visit www.imagineNATIVE.org for the full Festival line-up.
The Festival officially kicks off at 12:00pm on Wednesday, October 19 with its Welcome Gathering presented by the Thunderbird Centre at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto (16 Spadina Road). Free and open to the public, the reception features traditional Indigenous performances, including Tribal Vision, a family dance troupe from Six Nations, a welcoming song from Rosary Spence, craft vendors, food, and a welcome address from imagineNATIVE in a casual, fun atmosphere.
imagineNATIVE’s Opening Night screening presented by Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (Aptn) features the Canadian Premiere of Andrew Okpeaha MacLean’s internationally-celebrated dramatic...
- 10/4/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
The Australian Writers’ Guild has announce the nominations for its 44th Awgie Awards.
The writers of Australia’s best stage, screen and radio scripts have been nominated across 23 awards, including Shaun Grant (Snowtown), Alice Addison (The Hunter), Jonathan Teplitzky (Burning Man) and Tony Krawitz
(The Tall Man) all screening at Tiff.
Awg President, Academy Award nominee Jan Sardi said in a statement, ‘The foundation of all great productions is the script. Each year the Awgie Awards recognise and celebrate the creators of those foundations, the writers. The nominations for this year’s Awgie awards clearly demonstrate the high standard of Australian performance writing. Some of the writers honoured today are familiar names, underscoring the consistent excellence of their work and ongoing contribution to our industry. Equally exciting are the new names and titles reflecting the breadth and vibrancy of Australian scriptwriting talent.”
As well as announcing the winners of the below categories,...
The writers of Australia’s best stage, screen and radio scripts have been nominated across 23 awards, including Shaun Grant (Snowtown), Alice Addison (The Hunter), Jonathan Teplitzky (Burning Man) and Tony Krawitz
(The Tall Man) all screening at Tiff.
Awg President, Academy Award nominee Jan Sardi said in a statement, ‘The foundation of all great productions is the script. Each year the Awgie Awards recognise and celebrate the creators of those foundations, the writers. The nominations for this year’s Awgie awards clearly demonstrate the high standard of Australian performance writing. Some of the writers honoured today are familiar names, underscoring the consistent excellence of their work and ongoing contribution to our industry. Equally exciting are the new names and titles reflecting the breadth and vibrancy of Australian scriptwriting talent.”
As well as announcing the winners of the below categories,...
- 8/18/2011
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
Stuart Beattie, Beck Cole and Alice Addison are among the local screenwriters nominated for this year.s Awgie Awards. Hosted next month by the Australian Writers. Guild, the annual awards recognise and celebrate excellence in performance writing . for film, TV, documentary, radio and theatre. Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and newly-elected president of the Australian Writers. Guild, Jan Sardi, said the foundation of all great productions was the script . and this is the chance to reward those who created those foundations. .The nominations for this year's Awgie awards clearly demonstrate the high standard of Australian performance writing,. Sardi said in a statement. .Some of the writers honoured today are familiar...
- 8/18/2011
- by Sam Dallas
- IF.com.au
The Hollywood machine loves selling audiences ‘the new project from the creators of…’ a certain box office hit or a critically acclaimed film. It looks great on the posters, but most times it doesn’t guarantee anything.
There are times, however, when such a reference is not just an empty marketing tool, but a real promise of the aesthetic and creative capabilities of a close-knit group of collaborators.
Here I Am, from the creators of Samson & Delilah, is one of those cases. Married couple Beck Cole and Warwick Thornton have created a powerful creative partnership with producer Kath Shelper. They call themselves the ‘Trinity’ and together they’ve made critically acclaimed short films and documentaries, as well as Australia’s 2009 Camera d’Or winner at Cannes.
“Warwick, Bec and I have been working as a team for the last seven years,” explained Shelper.
“We work together on all of our...
There are times, however, when such a reference is not just an empty marketing tool, but a real promise of the aesthetic and creative capabilities of a close-knit group of collaborators.
Here I Am, from the creators of Samson & Delilah, is one of those cases. Married couple Beck Cole and Warwick Thornton have created a powerful creative partnership with producer Kath Shelper. They call themselves the ‘Trinity’ and together they’ve made critically acclaimed short films and documentaries, as well as Australia’s 2009 Camera d’Or winner at Cannes.
“Warwick, Bec and I have been working as a team for the last seven years,” explained Shelper.
“We work together on all of our...
- 6/15/2011
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
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