Renowned Indigenous writer/director Jon Bell, writer and producer Adam Zwar, and documentary filmmaker Damon Gameau are among the first speakers to be confirmed for Screenworks' Regional to Global Screen Forum, to be held in Lennox Head from July 31 - August 2.
The post Jon Bell, Damon Gameau, Adam Zwar included in early Regional to Global line-up appeared first on If Magazine.
The post Jon Bell, Damon Gameau, Adam Zwar included in early Regional to Global line-up appeared first on If Magazine.
- 5/22/2024
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Sydney Film Festival (June 5-16) has unveiled the 12 titles that will play in competition at its 71st edition, including six features that are set to premiere at Cannes this month.
Fresh from playing in Competition at Cannes will be Kinds of Kindness, starring Emma Stone and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, who won the Sydney Film Prize in 2012 with Alps. Further Palme d’Or contenders selected for Sydney include Grand Tour from Portugal’s Miguel Gomes, whose Arabian Nights won the Sydney Film Prize in 2015; Christophe Honoré’s French-Italian comedy Marcello Mio; and Payal Kapadia’s Indian romantic drama All We Imagine As Light.
Fresh from playing in Competition at Cannes will be Kinds of Kindness, starring Emma Stone and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, who won the Sydney Film Prize in 2012 with Alps. Further Palme d’Or contenders selected for Sydney include Grand Tour from Portugal’s Miguel Gomes, whose Arabian Nights won the Sydney Film Prize in 2015; Christophe Honoré’s French-Italian comedy Marcello Mio; and Payal Kapadia’s Indian romantic drama All We Imagine As Light.
- 5/7/2024
- ScreenDaily
An Aboriginal demon steps in for the real-life enduring trauma of Australia’s “Stolen Generations” in Jon Bell’s debut feature, The Moogai. Government sponsored assimilation programs ripped tens of thousands of Aboriginal children from their families to be placed with white families in Australia in the first half of the 20th century, leading to widespread decimation of cultural identities among the indigenous population. The Moogai substitutes a child-stealing demon for the government in what could have been a powerful examination of the tragedy and its lingering effects on Aboriginal people, but instead falls flat as it forgoes tension while ultimately spending too much effort saying the quiet part loud. Sarah Bishop (Shari Sebbens) is a successful woman, an attorney on the brink of superstardom with her...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 3/10/2024
- Screen Anarchy
One year on from its Berlinale Special screening Australian horror Talk To Me has grossed nearly $100m at the global box office and sellers have heeded the call: EFM 2024 is packed with “elevated genre” titles.
Neon snapped up Steven Soderbergh’s Lucy Liu ghost story Presence in Sundance and the international division has kicked off talks in Berlin. Neon International also has Cuckoo, Tilman Singer’s horror that premieres in the Berlinale Special section and stars Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens.
A24 is selling I Saw The TV Glow, Jane Schoenbrun’s take on gender dysphoria and teenage isolation...
Neon snapped up Steven Soderbergh’s Lucy Liu ghost story Presence in Sundance and the international division has kicked off talks in Berlin. Neon International also has Cuckoo, Tilman Singer’s horror that premieres in the Berlinale Special section and stars Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens.
A24 is selling I Saw The TV Glow, Jane Schoenbrun’s take on gender dysphoria and teenage isolation...
- 2/15/2024
- ScreenDaily
Stories of Australia’s “Stolen Generations” — Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their families by a white government — fuel the central metaphor in “The Moogai,” Jon Bell’s Sundance horror movie based on his 2020 short film. Unfortunately, this well-meaning metaphorical approach defines the strict boundaries of Bell’s feature debut, a brief but languid thriller rife with reminders of meaning that fail to coalesce into something thrilling or moving.
A riveting prologue, set decades in the past, orients the viewer within Australia’s torrid history, as white men in suits attempt to chase down and kidnap Black children on an Aboriginal reserve. Two of these kids, a pair of young sisters, evade this fate of ethnic cleansing and forced assimilation, though one of them ends up taken by a supernatural force hiding in the shadows: the Moogai, a folkloric boogeyman who snatches children with its sickly, talon-like fingers.
The main story,...
A riveting prologue, set decades in the past, orients the viewer within Australia’s torrid history, as white men in suits attempt to chase down and kidnap Black children on an Aboriginal reserve. Two of these kids, a pair of young sisters, evade this fate of ethnic cleansing and forced assimilation, though one of them ends up taken by a supernatural force hiding in the shadows: the Moogai, a folkloric boogeyman who snatches children with its sickly, talon-like fingers.
The main story,...
- 1/31/2024
- by Siddhant Adlakha
- Variety Film + TV
It seems these days the devil’s designs have strayed from virginal teen girls to kindergarteners. Whether stuffing them in animatronic suits or isolating them in apocalyptic cabins, the worst thing an au courant horror villain can do is harm children. The second-worst sin is to disbelieve a mother. The Moogai, Jon Bell’s feature debut based on his short film of the same name, wears these trends like a badge of honor. But while The Moogai comes by its earnest messaging honestly––the real horrors stem from Australian colonialism––it just feels like a different take on old tropes.
At the center of the action is Sarah (Shari Sebbens), a new mom in the middle of her own Rosemary’s Baby-like conspiracy. Newly pregnant Sarah is trying to cold-shoulder her biological mom, Ruth (Tessa Rose), and the Aboriginal culture she’s eager to share, but her daughter, Chloe (Jahdeana Mary), and husband,...
At the center of the action is Sarah (Shari Sebbens), a new mom in the middle of her own Rosemary’s Baby-like conspiracy. Newly pregnant Sarah is trying to cold-shoulder her biological mom, Ruth (Tessa Rose), and the Aboriginal culture she’s eager to share, but her daughter, Chloe (Jahdeana Mary), and husband,...
- 1/26/2024
- by Lena Wilson
- The Film Stage
Over the course of six decades (1910-1970), tens of thousands of Australian Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their homes due to the assimilation policies that were in place at the time. These policies claimed that the lives of First Nations people would be improved if they became part of white society, and an effort to breed out color from the Aboriginal population was carried out. Unsurprisingly, the lives of the removed children were not improved, with studies showing that many of them developed adverse reactions to their removal like mental health issues, drug and alcohol abuse, among others. These children became known as The Stolen Generation, and their experiences left a black mark in Australia’s history.
Writer/director Jon Bell, adapting his award-winning 2021 short film of the same name, taps into this unsavory event with The Moogai, yet another monster-as-a-metaphor horror drama that mostly succeeds when it acts as a drama,...
Writer/director Jon Bell, adapting his award-winning 2021 short film of the same name, taps into this unsavory event with The Moogai, yet another monster-as-a-metaphor horror drama that mostly succeeds when it acts as a drama,...
- 1/26/2024
- by Trace Thurman
- bloody-disgusting.com
An exploration of the generational trauma surrounding the “stolen generations” of Aboriginal children by the Australian government, Jon Bell’s feature debut “The Moogai” fits all the criteria of what we would, perhaps pejoratively, describe as “elevated horror.” A fraught term, and one that would need more than the length of this review to dive into, it nevertheless seems apt for a film that so blatantly makes its subtext into text.
Continue reading ‘The Moogai’ Review: Australian Social-Horror Is A Blunt Force Allegory About The Stolen Generations [Sundance] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘The Moogai’ Review: Australian Social-Horror Is A Blunt Force Allegory About The Stolen Generations [Sundance] at The Playlist.
- 1/22/2024
- by Christian Gallichio
- The Playlist
Between 1910 and 1970, tens of thousands of mixed-race children of Australian Aboriginal descent were forcibly removed from their parents and communities, becoming wards of the state. That human rights violation carried out in the name of “protection” and assimilation has been the subject of books, documentaries and narrative features, notably Phillip Noyce’s gripping 2002 drama, Rabbit-Proof Fence. Few Indigenous filmmakers have been given the opportunity to explore the unhealable wound of the “Stolen Generations,” which makes Jon Bell’s The Moogai deserving of attention, deftly weaving a legacy of trauma into supernatural horror.
Writer-director Bell expanded the screenplay from his intense 2021 short of the same name, a punchy 14 minutes that make chillingly effective use of sound and mostly unseen terrors to convey a young couple’s escalating fear for their newborn baby and their ultimate helplessness to escape the grasp of a malevolent spirit. A powerful closing image eloquently places the...
Writer-director Bell expanded the screenplay from his intense 2021 short of the same name, a punchy 14 minutes that make chillingly effective use of sound and mostly unseen terrors to convey a young couple’s escalating fear for their newborn baby and their ultimate helplessness to escape the grasp of a malevolent spirit. A powerful closing image eloquently places the...
- 1/22/2024
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Growing up in an Indigenous Aboriginal family in Australia, nothing was scarier to horror director Jon Bell than the government. He recalls the “Stolen Generations,” a tragedy that Americans likely know little about.
“The government would take light-skinned kids — or just any kids they could get their hands on — and rehouse them,” he said. “It’s a pretty common tool of colonizers to try and take kids and make them convert to this other culture.”
Bell opens his new movie “The Moogai” — premiering at this year’s Sundance midnight selections — by putting audiences in the middle of one of these traumatic moments, a flashback in which Aboriginal children at play with their mothers are suddenly pursued by heartless men in suits, hoping to snatch them up.
The kids quickly run into another monster: The titular Moogai, a creature hell-bent on stealing children. The word has several meanings for the Aboriginal people,...
“The government would take light-skinned kids — or just any kids they could get their hands on — and rehouse them,” he said. “It’s a pretty common tool of colonizers to try and take kids and make them convert to this other culture.”
Bell opens his new movie “The Moogai” — premiering at this year’s Sundance midnight selections — by putting audiences in the middle of one of these traumatic moments, a flashback in which Aboriginal children at play with their mothers are suddenly pursued by heartless men in suits, hoping to snatch them up.
The kids quickly run into another monster: The titular Moogai, a creature hell-bent on stealing children. The word has several meanings for the Aboriginal people,...
- 1/19/2024
- by William Earl
- Variety Film + TV
Australia is among the most represented countries outside of the US in the initial line-up for this year's SXSW Film and TV Festival, with Natalie Bailey’s 'Audrey', Jon Bell's 'The Moogai', and Jack Clark and Jim Weir's 'Birdeater' among the films selected.
The post ‘Audrey’, ‘The Moogai’, ‘Birdeater’ in SXSW line-up appeared first on If Magazine.
The post ‘Audrey’, ‘The Moogai’, ‘Birdeater’ in SXSW line-up appeared first on If Magazine.
- 1/11/2024
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
March fest announces multiple competition sections.
SXSW announced on Wednesday that Netflix series 3 Body Problem from Game Of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss is the festival’s opening night TV premiere, while Universal’s action comedy The Fall Guy with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt is the centrepiece screening.
Top brass at the Austin, Texas, festival (March 8-16) also unveiled feature and short competitions and Midnighters and Global sections, as well as select titles from other categories and Xr Experience for the 31st edition.
Headliners selections include world premieres of Pamela Adlon’s Babes starring Ilana Glazer,...
SXSW announced on Wednesday that Netflix series 3 Body Problem from Game Of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss is the festival’s opening night TV premiere, while Universal’s action comedy The Fall Guy with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt is the centrepiece screening.
Top brass at the Austin, Texas, festival (March 8-16) also unveiled feature and short competitions and Midnighters and Global sections, as well as select titles from other categories and Xr Experience for the 31st edition.
Headliners selections include world premieres of Pamela Adlon’s Babes starring Ilana Glazer,...
- 1/10/2024
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Sundance Film Festival is one of the most highly respected film festivals in the world, and while the horror genre generally doesn’t seem to receive as much respect as it deserves, horror has had a steady presence at Sundance over the years. In fact, just last year the Sundance horror line-up included the likes of Infinity Pool, Talk to Me, My Animal, and Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls. The Sundance 2024 line-up was revealed earlier today (you can see the list Here) – and there again a good number of horror movies included in the program.
Below you can take a closer look at some of the horror movies that will be showing at Sundance 2024, with images to go along with each one of them.
Of course, most of the horror can be found in the Midnight program:
I Saw the TV Glow / U.S.A. — Teenager...
Below you can take a closer look at some of the horror movies that will be showing at Sundance 2024, with images to go along with each one of them.
Of course, most of the horror can be found in the Midnight program:
I Saw the TV Glow / U.S.A. — Teenager...
- 12/6/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Festival will take place January 18–28, 2024, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City.
Sundance Film Festival’s top brass have unveiled the 40th anniversary edition line-up for 2024 as Steven Soderbergh makes his return as director for the first time since his 1989 breakout sex, lies and videotape, and Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui’s Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is the opening night film.
The full slate of works announced includes 82 features representing 24 countries, and 91 selections including episodic programmes. World premieres make up 94% of the entire roster, and 40% of the filmmakers are debutants.
The festival will take place January...
Sundance Film Festival’s top brass have unveiled the 40th anniversary edition line-up for 2024 as Steven Soderbergh makes his return as director for the first time since his 1989 breakout sex, lies and videotape, and Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui’s Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is the opening night film.
The full slate of works announced includes 82 features representing 24 countries, and 91 selections including episodic programmes. World premieres make up 94% of the entire roster, and 40% of the filmmakers are debutants.
The festival will take place January...
- 12/6/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Supernatural horror was a hit at Sundance in January.
Bankside Films has sold all worldwide territories on Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou’s Sundance title Talk To Me.
Deals on the genre film have now been sealed with Gaga (Japan), Neo (Greece), Sun Distribution, PVR (India), Prima Cinema (Indonesia), Gsc Movies (Malaysia), 888 Films International (the Philippines), The Shaw Organisation (Singapore), Vertigo, Independenta (Romania), Lev Cinemas (Israel), Empire (South Africa), BirFilm (Turkey), Btv Media Group (Bulgaria) and Penny Black Media (airlines).
Talk To Me follows a group of friends who discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand. They become hooked on the new thrill,...
Bankside Films has sold all worldwide territories on Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou’s Sundance title Talk To Me.
Deals on the genre film have now been sealed with Gaga (Japan), Neo (Greece), Sun Distribution, PVR (India), Prima Cinema (Indonesia), Gsc Movies (Malaysia), 888 Films International (the Philippines), The Shaw Organisation (Singapore), Vertigo, Independenta (Romania), Lev Cinemas (Israel), Empire (South Africa), BirFilm (Turkey), Btv Media Group (Bulgaria) and Penny Black Media (airlines).
Talk To Me follows a group of friends who discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand. They become hooked on the new thrill,...
- 3/8/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Screen is rounding up the key projects launched before and during this year’s American Film Market.
Screen International is rounding up the key projects launched before and during this year’s American Film Market.
Refresh the page for latest updates.
From the US
The Pack
Alexander Skarsgard marks his feature directing debut with this psychological thriller starring Florence Pugh. Production begins in March 2023. CAA Media Finance and 30West jointly represent US rights.
International sales: The Veterans
Immaculate
Sydney Sweeney produces (with Fifty-Fifty films) and stars in this psychological horror set in the Italian countryside. Michael Mohen will direct with...
Screen International is rounding up the key projects launched before and during this year’s American Film Market.
Refresh the page for latest updates.
From the US
The Pack
Alexander Skarsgard marks his feature directing debut with this psychological thriller starring Florence Pugh. Production begins in March 2023. CAA Media Finance and 30West jointly represent US rights.
International sales: The Veterans
Immaculate
Sydney Sweeney produces (with Fifty-Fifty films) and stars in this psychological horror set in the Italian countryside. Michael Mohen will direct with...
- 10/31/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Two years ago, writer/director Jon Bell made a 15 minute horror short called The Moogai. Bell is now set to make his feature debut with an expansion of The Moogai, and The Babadook producers Kristina Ceyton and Samantha Jennings of Causeway Films are producing the film alongside Mitchell Stanley of No Coincidence Media. Filming will be underway by the end of this month.
The Moogai has the following synopsis:
A young Aboriginal couple brings home their second baby. What should be a joyous time takes a sinister turn, as the baby’s mother starts seeing a malevolent spirit she is convinced is trying to take her baby. The feature explores post-natal depression, transgenerational trauma and Australia’s Stolen Generation (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were removed from their families between 1910 and 1970).
The film stars Shari Sebbens (Thor: Ragnarok) and Meyne Wyatt (The Sapphires), who were both in the short.
The Moogai has the following synopsis:
A young Aboriginal couple brings home their second baby. What should be a joyous time takes a sinister turn, as the baby’s mother starts seeing a malevolent spirit she is convinced is trying to take her baby. The feature explores post-natal depression, transgenerational trauma and Australia’s Stolen Generation (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were removed from their families between 1910 and 1970).
The film stars Shari Sebbens (Thor: Ragnarok) and Meyne Wyatt (The Sapphires), who were both in the short.
- 10/25/2022
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
UK sales outfit Bankside Films has acquired Aboriginal Australian filmmaker Jon Bell’s debut psychological horror The Moogai, reports ScreenDaily.
In the film…
“A young Aboriginal couple brings home their second baby. What should be a joyous time takes a sinister turn, as the baby’s mother starts seeing a malevolent spirit she is convinced is trying to take her baby.”
The feature explores post-natal depression, transgenerational trauma and Australia’s Stolen Generation (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were removed from their families between 1910 and 1970), explains the site. It is based on Bell’s short film of the same name (pictured above).
The cast includes Shari Sebbens and Meyne Wyatt, who both appeared in Bell’s original short. Tessa Rose, Clarence Ryan, Toby Leonard Moore and Bella Heathcote also star.
It is produced by Australian outfit Causeway Films and based on a screenplay by Bell.
Production commences in...
In the film…
“A young Aboriginal couple brings home their second baby. What should be a joyous time takes a sinister turn, as the baby’s mother starts seeing a malevolent spirit she is convinced is trying to take her baby.”
The feature explores post-natal depression, transgenerational trauma and Australia’s Stolen Generation (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were removed from their families between 1910 and 1970), explains the site. It is based on Bell’s short film of the same name (pictured above).
The cast includes Shari Sebbens and Meyne Wyatt, who both appeared in Bell’s original short. Tessa Rose, Clarence Ryan, Toby Leonard Moore and Bella Heathcote also star.
It is produced by Australian outfit Causeway Films and based on a screenplay by Bell.
Production commences in...
- 10/21/2022
- by Brad Miska
- bloody-disgusting.com
It is the debut feature from Jon Bell.
UK sales outfit Bankside Films has acquired Aboriginal Australian filmmaker Jon Bell’s debut, psychological horror The Moogai. It is produced by Australian outfit Causeway Films and based on a screenplay by Bell.
A young Aboriginal couple brings home their second baby. What should be a joyous time takes a sinister turn, as the baby’s mother starts seeing a malevolent spirit she is convinced is trying to take her baby. The feature explores post-natal depression, transgenerational trauma and Australia’s Stolen Generation (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were removed...
UK sales outfit Bankside Films has acquired Aboriginal Australian filmmaker Jon Bell’s debut, psychological horror The Moogai. It is produced by Australian outfit Causeway Films and based on a screenplay by Bell.
A young Aboriginal couple brings home their second baby. What should be a joyous time takes a sinister turn, as the baby’s mother starts seeing a malevolent spirit she is convinced is trying to take her baby. The feature explores post-natal depression, transgenerational trauma and Australia’s Stolen Generation (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were removed...
- 10/20/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Parkland Pictures, Bankside Films and WME handle international sales on four awarded features.
Screen Australia has selected four features to receive production funding in its latest round of awards including a 1930s-set romantic comedy inspired by Australia’s first female commercial pilot.
The titles are Little Bird, directed by Darren Ashton; Samuel Van Grinsven’s thriller Went Up The Hill; Jon Bell’s psychological horror The Moogai; and Marcelle Lunam’s romantic comedy Addition.
The government agency has approved 8.2m (AU12m) to be shared among the features as well as three TV dramas and two children’s projects.
UK-based...
Screen Australia has selected four features to receive production funding in its latest round of awards including a 1930s-set romantic comedy inspired by Australia’s first female commercial pilot.
The titles are Little Bird, directed by Darren Ashton; Samuel Van Grinsven’s thriller Went Up The Hill; Jon Bell’s psychological horror The Moogai; and Marcelle Lunam’s romantic comedy Addition.
The government agency has approved 8.2m (AU12m) to be shared among the features as well as three TV dramas and two children’s projects.
UK-based...
- 8/31/2022
- by Sandy George
- ScreenDaily
Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps are among the writers aiming to win consecutive prizes at this year’s Awgie Awards.
Grant, who won the adaptation prize with Cripps for Penguin Bloom in 2020 and for the True History of the Kelly Gang in 2019, is nominated this year for his work on Nitram, against the Here Out West writing team of Nisrine Amine, Bina Bhattacharya, Matias Bolla, Claire Cao, Arka Das, Dee Duygu Dogan, Vonne Patiag and Tien Tran; Falling for Figaro‘s Ben Lewin and Allen Palmer; and The Furnace‘s Roderick MacKay in the original feature film category.
Cripps and Robert Connolly have been recognised for The Dry, which is one of two nominees for the feature film adaptation award alongside Babyteeth, written for the screen by the original playwright Rita Kalnejais.
In the television categories, Tony McNamara’s The Great is pitted against Wakefield, Five Bedrooms and Wentworth for...
Grant, who won the adaptation prize with Cripps for Penguin Bloom in 2020 and for the True History of the Kelly Gang in 2019, is nominated this year for his work on Nitram, against the Here Out West writing team of Nisrine Amine, Bina Bhattacharya, Matias Bolla, Claire Cao, Arka Das, Dee Duygu Dogan, Vonne Patiag and Tien Tran; Falling for Figaro‘s Ben Lewin and Allen Palmer; and The Furnace‘s Roderick MacKay in the original feature film category.
Cripps and Robert Connolly have been recognised for The Dry, which is one of two nominees for the feature film adaptation award alongside Babyteeth, written for the screen by the original playwright Rita Kalnejais.
In the television categories, Tony McNamara’s The Great is pitted against Wakefield, Five Bedrooms and Wentworth for...
- 10/26/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival ended its 6th edition last Thursday with the sold-out closing night East Coast Premiere of Rob Jabbaz’s The Sadness at Nitehawk Cinema and announced today its jury and audience award winners. Launching on October 14th with the NY Premiere of Mlungu Wam (Good Madam), Brooklyn Horror is proud to have welcomed back an eager and excited audience who packed the cinemas after a one year pandemic related hiatus and hosted a majority of sold-out screenings, with special highlights being the festival’s 35mm projection of Session 9, presented for its 20th anniversary with lead actor and co-writer Stephen Gevedon in attendance, and the US Premiere of local filmmaker Edoardo Vitaletti’s debut The Last Thing Mary Saw, with Rory Culkin and Vitaletti present for the Q&a.
Further highlights of the festival include the world premieres of Adam Randall’s Netflix Original vampire feature Night Teeth...
Further highlights of the festival include the world premieres of Adam Randall’s Netflix Original vampire feature Night Teeth...
- 10/25/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Screen Australia and Australians in Film (AiF) have announced the participants for the Talent Gateway and the Global Producers Exchange, both designed to connect Australian creatives with key US decision-makers.
The delegates chosen for the Talent Gateway program are Vanessa Alexander, Jon Bell, and Samuel Van Grinsven, as well as teams Alice Foulcher and Gregory Erdstein, and Naomi Higgins and Humyara Mahbub.
Each participant or team will receive a grant of up to $20,000 to enable them to take part in the initiative, which runs from this month until June 2022. Funding is also available to develop, refine and market the IP on their slate that receives positive interest, in order to quickly engage international partners.
A total of 12 delegates from six production companies will take part in Global Producers Exchange, a scripted development lab that features a series of roundtables and masterclasses with key US-based decision-makers and mentors.
The recipients comprise...
The delegates chosen for the Talent Gateway program are Vanessa Alexander, Jon Bell, and Samuel Van Grinsven, as well as teams Alice Foulcher and Gregory Erdstein, and Naomi Higgins and Humyara Mahbub.
Each participant or team will receive a grant of up to $20,000 to enable them to take part in the initiative, which runs from this month until June 2022. Funding is also available to develop, refine and market the IP on their slate that receives positive interest, in order to quickly engage international partners.
A total of 12 delegates from six production companies will take part in Global Producers Exchange, a scripted development lab that features a series of roundtables and masterclasses with key US-based decision-makers and mentors.
The recipients comprise...
- 9/22/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Sydney Film Festival today announced the 10 shorts to compete in the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films, including Jon Bell’s SXSW-winner The Moogai and Nash Edgerton’s follow-up to Bear and Spider – Shark, starring himself and Rose Byrne.
Also unveiled today are the films selected for the festival’s sixth annual Europe! Voices of Women strand, in partnership with European Film Promotion.
These are the first projects to be announced for Sff since it postponed its dates from August to November due to the Covid outbreak in Nsw, with 22 titles also publicised earlier this year.
The Dendy Awards are Australia’s longest running short film competition, now in its 52nd year.
Finalists compete for three prizes: The Dendy Live Action Short Award, The Rouben Mamoulian Award for Best Director and the Yoram Gross Animation Award, announced at the festival’s closing night. The jury will be announced closer to the festival.
Also unveiled today are the films selected for the festival’s sixth annual Europe! Voices of Women strand, in partnership with European Film Promotion.
These are the first projects to be announced for Sff since it postponed its dates from August to November due to the Covid outbreak in Nsw, with 22 titles also publicised earlier this year.
The Dendy Awards are Australia’s longest running short film competition, now in its 52nd year.
Finalists compete for three prizes: The Dendy Live Action Short Award, The Rouben Mamoulian Award for Best Director and the Yoram Gross Animation Award, announced at the festival’s closing night. The jury will be announced closer to the festival.
- 8/9/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Australian films have won in two categories at this year’s LA Shorts International Film Festival, with Jon Bell’s The Moogai awarded Best Horror and Tony Radevski’s Risen named Best Sci-Fi.
This year’s line-up, which was available to stream on-demand throughout July, featured a focus on international films, including curated programs for Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America.
The Best Horror award is yet another international accolade for The Moogai, which also won the Jury Prize in the Midnight Shorts section at this year’s SXSW Festival in March.
Starring Shari Sebbens and Meyne Wyatt, the film follows Sarah, a young mother who becomes terrorised by a malevolent spirit she believes is trying to take her children.
It was produced by Kristina Ceyton, Taylor Goddard, Samantha Jennings, and Mitchell Stanley for Causeway Films and No Coincidence Media.
A feature film version of the concept is in the works,...
This year’s line-up, which was available to stream on-demand throughout July, featured a focus on international films, including curated programs for Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America.
The Best Horror award is yet another international accolade for The Moogai, which also won the Jury Prize in the Midnight Shorts section at this year’s SXSW Festival in March.
Starring Shari Sebbens and Meyne Wyatt, the film follows Sarah, a young mother who becomes terrorised by a malevolent spirit she believes is trying to take her children.
It was produced by Kristina Ceyton, Taylor Goddard, Samantha Jennings, and Mitchell Stanley for Causeway Films and No Coincidence Media.
A feature film version of the concept is in the works,...
- 8/2/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Based on real-life stories, Rfds portrays the modern-day heroes of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
The new action-drama from Endemol Shine Banks is coming soon to Channel 7 and 7plus, starring Stephen Peacocke, Rob Collins, Emma Hamilton, Justine Clarke and Ash Ricardo.
Filmed on location in and around Broken Hill, Rfds captures the beauty and brutality of Australia’s vast centre where the doctors and the nurses, pilots and support staff of the Rfds negotiate the unique challenges of emergency rescues across some of the most inhospitable places in the country
Imogen Banks co-created the series with Mark Fennessy and Ian Meadows, and produces with Sara Richardson. Jennifer Leacey is the set-up director, with Jeremy Sims and Adrian Russell Wills.
Writers include Meadows, Claire Phillips, Wills and Jon Bell.
Rfds has received major production investment from Seven in association with Screen Australia. It was financed with support from Screen Nsw...
The new action-drama from Endemol Shine Banks is coming soon to Channel 7 and 7plus, starring Stephen Peacocke, Rob Collins, Emma Hamilton, Justine Clarke and Ash Ricardo.
Filmed on location in and around Broken Hill, Rfds captures the beauty and brutality of Australia’s vast centre where the doctors and the nurses, pilots and support staff of the Rfds negotiate the unique challenges of emergency rescues across some of the most inhospitable places in the country
Imogen Banks co-created the series with Mark Fennessy and Ian Meadows, and produces with Sara Richardson. Jennifer Leacey is the set-up director, with Jeremy Sims and Adrian Russell Wills.
Writers include Meadows, Claire Phillips, Wills and Jon Bell.
Rfds has received major production investment from Seven in association with Screen Australia. It was financed with support from Screen Nsw...
- 7/5/2021
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
More highlights of (mostly genre) short films from Palm Springs 2021: The Moogai: Sarah and Jacob have just had their first child, and in these first few days, Sarah is convinced an evil spirit is going to steal their child. The short uses slow-burn terror to great effect, with commentary both on postpartum psychosis, and Australia's history of taking Aboriginal children from their parents. The last shot is terrifying and heartbreaking. Neurim: A young woman in a wheelchair finds the touch of her physical therapist excites her in ways that are not part of his job, but perhaps that feeling is mutual, and what they both need. A contemplative study on the joy and necessity of human touch and...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 6/27/2021
- Screen Anarchy
Peter Skinner’s Lost Boy was crowned Best Short Film at the St Kilda Film Festival on Saturday, winning a cash prize of $10,000.
The film, which was produced by Susannah Wolff and David Shyegun, stars Michael Sheasby as a volatile bartender who shows up to work with a fresh black eye and is subsequently challenged by his boss to drop his macho persona.
Skinner previously earned an Australian Director’s Guild (Adg) Award nomination for the project.
Other winners included Jaina Kalifa and Amelia Paxman’s Lost Contact, which was awarded Best Documentary, and Gabriel Morrison’s Joy, for which Morrison received Best Director and Best Screenplay, which she shared with co-writer Serena Siow.
Fresh from its win at March’s SXSW, Jon Bell’s The Moogai won the award for Best Achievement in Indigenous Filmmaking.
Of the acting categories, Ben Mortley won Best Actor for Antony Webb’s Carmentis,...
The film, which was produced by Susannah Wolff and David Shyegun, stars Michael Sheasby as a volatile bartender who shows up to work with a fresh black eye and is subsequently challenged by his boss to drop his macho persona.
Skinner previously earned an Australian Director’s Guild (Adg) Award nomination for the project.
Other winners included Jaina Kalifa and Amelia Paxman’s Lost Contact, which was awarded Best Documentary, and Gabriel Morrison’s Joy, for which Morrison received Best Director and Best Screenplay, which she shared with co-writer Serena Siow.
Fresh from its win at March’s SXSW, Jon Bell’s The Moogai won the award for Best Achievement in Indigenous Filmmaking.
Of the acting categories, Ben Mortley won Best Actor for Antony Webb’s Carmentis,...
- 5/31/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Jon Bell’s psychological horror short The Moogai was among the winners at this year’s SXSW, awarded the Jury Prize in the Midnight Shorts section.
Starring Shari Sebbens and Meyne Wyatt, the film follows Sarah, a young mother who becomes terrorised by a malevolent spirit she believes is trying to take her children.
It was produced by Kristina Ceyton, Taylor Goddard, Samantha Jennings, and Mitchell Stanley for Causeway Films.
A feature film version of the concept is in the works, having received Story Development Funding from Screen Australia.
Prior to its international premiere at SXSW, The Moogai nominated for an Aacta Award 2020 Best Short Film and won the Erwin Rado Award for Best Audience Short Film at Melbourne International Film Festival last year.
The SXSW Jury said it was “proud” to recognise a film which affected it “on so many levels”.
“The Moogai is a haunting, psychological thriller that...
Starring Shari Sebbens and Meyne Wyatt, the film follows Sarah, a young mother who becomes terrorised by a malevolent spirit she believes is trying to take her children.
It was produced by Kristina Ceyton, Taylor Goddard, Samantha Jennings, and Mitchell Stanley for Causeway Films.
A feature film version of the concept is in the works, having received Story Development Funding from Screen Australia.
Prior to its international premiere at SXSW, The Moogai nominated for an Aacta Award 2020 Best Short Film and won the Erwin Rado Award for Best Audience Short Film at Melbourne International Film Festival last year.
The SXSW Jury said it was “proud” to recognise a film which affected it “on so many levels”.
“The Moogai is a haunting, psychological thriller that...
- 3/21/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Chicago – The latest cinematic visionaries are often discovered at the South by Southwest Festival. Filmmakers like the Duplass brothers, Chicago’s Joe Swanberg and Lena Dunham got their first prominent notices at the fest. In that spirit, the 2021 SXSW Grand Jury Awards were announced on March 19th.
The top film in Narrative Features was director Megan Park’s stunning psychological treatise on school shootings, “The Fallout.” The charming “falling dominoes” documentary feature “Lily Topples the World” took the top prize in that category. And in the short film competition, the stark and contemporary “Play it Safe” took the Narrative top prize for its poignant exploration into preconceived notions and actions in race relations.
The following is the list of top honorees …
Grand Jury Prize - Narrative Feature
The Fallout
Photo credit: SXSW.com
Winner: “The Fallout,” directed by Megan Park
Recognition - Multi Hyphenate Storyteller: “I’m Fine (Thanks for...
The top film in Narrative Features was director Megan Park’s stunning psychological treatise on school shootings, “The Fallout.” The charming “falling dominoes” documentary feature “Lily Topples the World” took the top prize in that category. And in the short film competition, the stark and contemporary “Play it Safe” took the Narrative top prize for its poignant exploration into preconceived notions and actions in race relations.
The following is the list of top honorees …
Grand Jury Prize - Narrative Feature
The Fallout
Photo credit: SXSW.com
Winner: “The Fallout,” directed by Megan Park
Recognition - Multi Hyphenate Storyteller: “I’m Fine (Thanks for...
- 3/20/2021
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Audience Awards to be announced on March 23.
The Fallout and Lily Topples The World have triumphed at the 2021 SXSW jury awards presented on Friday (March 19).
Megan Park’s The Fallout won the narrative feature competition prize and follows a high-school student as she navigates life in the wake of a school tragedy.
Special jury recognition for multi-hyphenate storyteller went to directors Kelley Kali and Angelique Molina, and there was special jury recognition for Rogelio Balagtas’ breakthrough performance in Islands.
In the documentary feature competition, Jeremy Workman prevailed for Lily Topples The World, a coming-of-age story about 20-year-old Lily Hevesh, the...
The Fallout and Lily Topples The World have triumphed at the 2021 SXSW jury awards presented on Friday (March 19).
Megan Park’s The Fallout won the narrative feature competition prize and follows a high-school student as she navigates life in the wake of a school tragedy.
Special jury recognition for multi-hyphenate storyteller went to directors Kelley Kali and Angelique Molina, and there was special jury recognition for Rogelio Balagtas’ breakthrough performance in Islands.
In the documentary feature competition, Jeremy Workman prevailed for Lily Topples The World, a coming-of-age story about 20-year-old Lily Hevesh, the...
- 3/19/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson and Gracie Otto’s documentary Under the Volcano will lead the Australian contingent at next month’s SXSW Film Festival.
Purcell’s feature adaption of her award-winning stageplay will have its world premiere in the Narrative Spotlight section, while Otto’s story of George Martin’s Air Studios Montserrat will debut as part of the 24 Beats Per Second section.
Based on the Henry Lawson short story, The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson follows a woman and her stubborn determination to protect her family from the harshness of life in 1893, Snowy Mountains.
Purcell directed and stars in the film, having written the screenplay from her play of the same name.
She is joined in the cast by Rob Collins, Sam Reid, Jessica de Gouw, Malachi Dower-Roberts, Tony Cogin, and Harry Greenwood.
The film is produced by Bain Stewart...
Purcell’s feature adaption of her award-winning stageplay will have its world premiere in the Narrative Spotlight section, while Otto’s story of George Martin’s Air Studios Montserrat will debut as part of the 24 Beats Per Second section.
Based on the Henry Lawson short story, The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson follows a woman and her stubborn determination to protect her family from the harshness of life in 1893, Snowy Mountains.
Purcell directed and stars in the film, having written the screenplay from her play of the same name.
She is joined in the cast by Rob Collins, Sam Reid, Jessica de Gouw, Malachi Dower-Roberts, Tony Cogin, and Harry Greenwood.
The film is produced by Bain Stewart...
- 2/11/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
‘Holey Moley.’
The Seven Network is counting on new and returning franchises and three new Australian dramas to maintain ratings momentum next year.
Unveiling its 2021 schedule today, Seven trumpeted The Voice, Holey Moley, Ultimate Tag, Big Brother, Farmer Wants a Wife, Australia’s Got Talent and the renewal of Sas Australia.
The network also revealed it will revive Fremantle’s Australian Idol, which last screened on Network 10 in 2009. Production on the reboot is due to start mid-year and it will premiere in February 2022.
The dramas are Endemol Shine Banks’ Rfds ; Roadshow Rough Diamond’s Australian Gangster, which finally makes the schedule after a three-year delay due to legal issues; and the second season of Every Cloud Productions’ Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, a co-commission with North American streamer Acorn TV.
Among the new factual entertainment shows, Blink TV’s Australia: Now and Then, will ask celebrities, comedians, musicians,...
The Seven Network is counting on new and returning franchises and three new Australian dramas to maintain ratings momentum next year.
Unveiling its 2021 schedule today, Seven trumpeted The Voice, Holey Moley, Ultimate Tag, Big Brother, Farmer Wants a Wife, Australia’s Got Talent and the renewal of Sas Australia.
The network also revealed it will revive Fremantle’s Australian Idol, which last screened on Network 10 in 2009. Production on the reboot is due to start mid-year and it will premiere in February 2022.
The dramas are Endemol Shine Banks’ Rfds ; Roadshow Rough Diamond’s Australian Gangster, which finally makes the schedule after a three-year delay due to legal issues; and the second season of Every Cloud Productions’ Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, a co-commission with North American streamer Acorn TV.
Among the new factual entertainment shows, Blink TV’s Australia: Now and Then, will ask celebrities, comedians, musicians,...
- 10/21/2020
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Bunya Productions is one of 18 Nsw-based production companies to receive slate funding from Screen Nsw.
Eighteen production companies will share in $1.7 million via Screen Nsw’s slate development fund, established in response to Covid-19.
Initially the agency had set aside $700,000 for the fund, but increased the amount by $1 million due to ‘the overwhelming strength of the projects demonstrated by a large number of applicants”.
Among the production companies to receive funding are Causeway Films, See-Saw Films, Screentime, Made Up Stories, Matchbox Pictures, Fremantle Australia, Goalpost Television and Cjz. Each has been given funding to develop a slate of three or more projects to be produced and/or post-produced in Nsw across TV drama, factual, features, documentary and online.
The projects span a range of subjects and genres including thrillers, play and novel adaptations, comedy, art and documentary series with many projects set to support filmmaking opportunities in regional Nsw and Western Sydney communities.
Eighteen production companies will share in $1.7 million via Screen Nsw’s slate development fund, established in response to Covid-19.
Initially the agency had set aside $700,000 for the fund, but increased the amount by $1 million due to ‘the overwhelming strength of the projects demonstrated by a large number of applicants”.
Among the production companies to receive funding are Causeway Films, See-Saw Films, Screentime, Made Up Stories, Matchbox Pictures, Fremantle Australia, Goalpost Television and Cjz. Each has been given funding to develop a slate of three or more projects to be produced and/or post-produced in Nsw across TV drama, factual, features, documentary and online.
The projects span a range of subjects and genres including thrillers, play and novel adaptations, comedy, art and documentary series with many projects set to support filmmaking opportunities in regional Nsw and Western Sydney communities.
- 8/6/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Alex White.
Babyteeth producer Alex White has joined Causeway Films as a development producer.
White will work with company co-founders Samantha Jennings and Kristina Ceyton to advance the company’s slate while it heads into simultaneous production on two feature films: Del Kathryn Barton’s drama Puff and Goran Stolevski’s supernatural You Won’t Be Alone.
Babyteeth is currently in cinemas after its world premiere in competition at Venice last year, where it received rave reviews. The bittersweet comedy directed by Shannon Murphy was White’s debut feature, following on from successful short films such as Trespass and Florence Has Left the Building. The producer spent years working alongside Jan Chapman (who EP’d Babyteeth), and was also the associate producer on Simon Stone’s The Daughter.
Other projects on the Causeway Films slate include Danny and Michael Philippou’s Talk to Me, due to go into production in...
Babyteeth producer Alex White has joined Causeway Films as a development producer.
White will work with company co-founders Samantha Jennings and Kristina Ceyton to advance the company’s slate while it heads into simultaneous production on two feature films: Del Kathryn Barton’s drama Puff and Goran Stolevski’s supernatural You Won’t Be Alone.
Babyteeth is currently in cinemas after its world premiere in competition at Venice last year, where it received rave reviews. The bittersweet comedy directed by Shannon Murphy was White’s debut feature, following on from successful short films such as Trespass and Florence Has Left the Building. The producer spent years working alongside Jan Chapman (who EP’d Babyteeth), and was also the associate producer on Simon Stone’s The Daughter.
Other projects on the Causeway Films slate include Danny and Michael Philippou’s Talk to Me, due to go into production in...
- 8/5/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Imogen Banks (Photo credit: Daniel Asher Smith).
When Endemol Shine Australia’s Mark Fennessy and Imogen Banks started developing a drama inspired by the Royal Flying Doctors Service two years ago, neither could have imagined how much more topical and relevant the subject would become.
Based on the true-life heroics of the service’s doctors, nurses, pilots and support staff, the eight-part Seven Network drama Rfds (working title) started shooting in Broken Hill today with Jennifer Leacey as the set-up director. Leacey is directing four episodes and Jeremy Sims and Adrian Russell Wills are each helming two.
“The series feels very timely with what is going on in the world at the moment,” Banks, who is producing with Sara Richardson, tells If.
Banks, who co-created the series with Fennessy, based on his original idea, and Ian Meadows, continues: “We’re very lucky to be telling a story about people who...
When Endemol Shine Australia’s Mark Fennessy and Imogen Banks started developing a drama inspired by the Royal Flying Doctors Service two years ago, neither could have imagined how much more topical and relevant the subject would become.
Based on the true-life heroics of the service’s doctors, nurses, pilots and support staff, the eight-part Seven Network drama Rfds (working title) started shooting in Broken Hill today with Jennifer Leacey as the set-up director. Leacey is directing four episodes and Jeremy Sims and Adrian Russell Wills are each helming two.
“The series feels very timely with what is going on in the world at the moment,” Banks, who is producing with Sara Richardson, tells If.
Banks, who co-created the series with Fennessy, based on his original idea, and Ian Meadows, continues: “We’re very lucky to be telling a story about people who...
- 8/2/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Stan Grant.
As a proud Wiradjuri, Kamilaroi and Dharawal man, Stan Grant learned from the earliest age about the exploits of Pemulwuy, Australia’s first Indigenous resistance fighter who led a 12-year war against British Colonial oppression.
So the former broadcaster, author and writer of The Australian Dream was delighted when Phillip Noyce, who has wanted to tell Pemulwuy’s story for more than 50 years, asked him to serve as a co-executive producer on the biopic.
Catriona McKenzie is attached to direct the drama scripted by Jon Bell.
Andrew Dillon and Ian Sutherland will produce Pemulwuy for That’s-a-Wrap Productions with Noyce, Mathew Walker and James Robinson serving as executive producers alongside Grant.
A member of the Bidjigal clan, Pemulwuy led the opposition to British forces’ attempts to take over traditional hunting grounds from the early years of the colony until he was shot dead in 1802.
Bennelong, who helped establish a...
As a proud Wiradjuri, Kamilaroi and Dharawal man, Stan Grant learned from the earliest age about the exploits of Pemulwuy, Australia’s first Indigenous resistance fighter who led a 12-year war against British Colonial oppression.
So the former broadcaster, author and writer of The Australian Dream was delighted when Phillip Noyce, who has wanted to tell Pemulwuy’s story for more than 50 years, asked him to serve as a co-executive producer on the biopic.
Catriona McKenzie is attached to direct the drama scripted by Jon Bell.
Andrew Dillon and Ian Sutherland will produce Pemulwuy for That’s-a-Wrap Productions with Noyce, Mathew Walker and James Robinson serving as executive producers alongside Grant.
A member of the Bidjigal clan, Pemulwuy led the opposition to British forces’ attempts to take over traditional hunting grounds from the early years of the colony until he was shot dead in 1802.
Bennelong, who helped establish a...
- 7/27/2020
- 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
‘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
(L-r) Jon Bell, Catriona McKenzie and Andrew Dillon (Photo credit: Mark Rogers).
To his direct descendants and the wider Aboriginal community, Pemulwuy, Australia’s first Indigenous resistance fighter, was a martyr, a leader, a patriot and a warrior.
Putting the man and his deeds in a contemporary context, writer Jon Bell says: “If Australia was invaded tomorrow and one man managed to keep those invading forces confined to the city areas for 10 years, he would be enshrined in Australian lore and there would be a national holiday.”
Bell is part of a creative team of leading black and white figures who are preparing a biopic on Pemulwuy, a member of the Bidjigal clan who led the opposition to British forces’ attempts to take over traditional hunting grounds from the early years of the colony until he was shot dead in 1802.
Phillip Noyce, who has wanted to tell this story for...
To his direct descendants and the wider Aboriginal community, Pemulwuy, Australia’s first Indigenous resistance fighter, was a martyr, a leader, a patriot and a warrior.
Putting the man and his deeds in a contemporary context, writer Jon Bell says: “If Australia was invaded tomorrow and one man managed to keep those invading forces confined to the city areas for 10 years, he would be enshrined in Australian lore and there would be a national holiday.”
Bell is part of a creative team of leading black and white figures who are preparing a biopic on Pemulwuy, a member of the Bidjigal clan who led the opposition to British forces’ attempts to take over traditional hunting grounds from the early years of the colony until he was shot dead in 1802.
Phillip Noyce, who has wanted to tell this story for...
- 8/15/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
‘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
Includes world premieres of Succession and The Split.
The world premiere of the 60-minute pilot episode of HBO’s Succession, written by Jesse Armstrong, the UK creator of Peep Show and Fresh Meat, and directed by Adam McKay, whose credits include The Big Short and Anchorman, will open the ninth edition of Series Mania in Lille on April 27.
Brian Cox, Hiam Abbass and Matthew Macfadyen head the ensemble cast of Succession, which follows the travails of a dysfunctional media dynasty.
Additionally, the Official Competition is comprised of 10 world premieres of original global TV series. They include BBC and Sundance TV series The Split,...
The world premiere of the 60-minute pilot episode of HBO’s Succession, written by Jesse Armstrong, the UK creator of Peep Show and Fresh Meat, and directed by Adam McKay, whose credits include The Big Short and Anchorman, will open the ninth edition of Series Mania in Lille on April 27.
Brian Cox, Hiam Abbass and Matthew Macfadyen head the ensemble cast of Succession, which follows the travails of a dysfunctional media dynasty.
Additionally, the Official Competition is comprised of 10 world premieres of original global TV series. They include BBC and Sundance TV series The Split,...
- 3/28/2018
- by Louise Tutt
- ScreenDaily
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
Cleverman.
Park Road Post has worked on some major productions over the past few years including the The Hobbit, Bilal, The Hunt for the Wilderpeople and The Dark Horse.
But it.s their work on Australian-New Zealand co-production Cleverman which has set tongues wagging on both sides of the Tasman.
Park Road Post chief executive, Cameron Harland told If one of the biggest highlights of 2015 was working with Goalpost and Pukeko on Cleverman.
.This was an Australian production with very much an Australian heart and story but posted in its entirety in New Zealand at Park Road,. he said..
.We have been blown away by how successful the early screenings have been and how widely the production has been picked up, but also in the way the production worked..
.I know that Graeme Mason (Screen Australia chief executive) is a big advocate of co-productions and was particularly engaged in this...
Park Road Post has worked on some major productions over the past few years including the The Hobbit, Bilal, The Hunt for the Wilderpeople and The Dark Horse.
But it.s their work on Australian-New Zealand co-production Cleverman which has set tongues wagging on both sides of the Tasman.
Park Road Post chief executive, Cameron Harland told If one of the biggest highlights of 2015 was working with Goalpost and Pukeko on Cleverman.
.This was an Australian production with very much an Australian heart and story but posted in its entirety in New Zealand at Park Road,. he said..
.We have been blown away by how successful the early screenings have been and how widely the production has been picked up, but also in the way the production worked..
.I know that Graeme Mason (Screen Australia chief executive) is a big advocate of co-productions and was particularly engaged in this...
- 2/19/2016
- by Brian Karlovsky
- IF.com.au
Cleverman cast and crew Deborah Mailman, Frances O'Connor, Hunter Page-Lochard, Tasma Walton, Stef Dawson, Wayne Blair, Ryan Griffen, Rosemary Blight and Angela Littlejohn have walked the Berlinale's red carpet ahead of a screening of the show's first two episodes.
The series tells the story of two estranged brothers, Koen (Hunter Page-Lochard) and Waruu West (Rob Collins), who are forced together to fight against terrifying enemies, both human and not. But can Koen, a man bestowed with a powerful gift and destined to become the Cleverman, learn to harness his power before everything around him crumbles?
Directed by Wayne Blair and Leah Purcell, the ensemble cast includes Scottish actor Iain Glen (Game of Thrones), Rob Collins (The Lion King) as well as O.Connor, Mailman, Page-Lochard.and Dawson.
Creatures and effects are by Jacob Nash (Bangarra Dance Theatre) and Weta Workshop.
Cleverman is based on an original concept by Ryan Griffen,...
The series tells the story of two estranged brothers, Koen (Hunter Page-Lochard) and Waruu West (Rob Collins), who are forced together to fight against terrifying enemies, both human and not. But can Koen, a man bestowed with a powerful gift and destined to become the Cleverman, learn to harness his power before everything around him crumbles?
Directed by Wayne Blair and Leah Purcell, the ensemble cast includes Scottish actor Iain Glen (Game of Thrones), Rob Collins (The Lion King) as well as O.Connor, Mailman, Page-Lochard.and Dawson.
Creatures and effects are by Jacob Nash (Bangarra Dance Theatre) and Weta Workshop.
Cleverman is based on an original concept by Ryan Griffen,...
- 2/17/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Red Arrow International and SundanceTV have stuck a deal to distribute Australian production Cleverman internationally.
The epic genre series, to be shot in Sydney, will feature an ensemble cast led by Scottish actor Iain Glen (Game of Thrones), Golden Globe nominee Frances O.Connor (The Missing), Deborah Mailman (The Sapphires), Hunter Page-Lochard (The Sapphires), Rob Collins (The Lion King) and Stef Dawson (The Hunger Games).
Cleverman, (6 x 1 hour) is produced by Goalpost Pictures Australia and New Zealand.s Pukeko Pictures for ABC TV Australia in co-production with SundanceTV and Red Arrow International, with the assistance of Screen Australia, Screen Nsw and the New Zealand Screen Production Grant.
Red Arrow International is distributing the drama worldwide and the show will have its market launch at Mipcom in October.
AMC and SundanceTV president of orgiginal programming and development, Joel Stillerman, said SundanceTV was becoming the Us home to some of the most...
The epic genre series, to be shot in Sydney, will feature an ensemble cast led by Scottish actor Iain Glen (Game of Thrones), Golden Globe nominee Frances O.Connor (The Missing), Deborah Mailman (The Sapphires), Hunter Page-Lochard (The Sapphires), Rob Collins (The Lion King) and Stef Dawson (The Hunger Games).
Cleverman, (6 x 1 hour) is produced by Goalpost Pictures Australia and New Zealand.s Pukeko Pictures for ABC TV Australia in co-production with SundanceTV and Red Arrow International, with the assistance of Screen Australia, Screen Nsw and the New Zealand Screen Production Grant.
Red Arrow International is distributing the drama worldwide and the show will have its market launch at Mipcom in October.
AMC and SundanceTV president of orgiginal programming and development, Joel Stillerman, said SundanceTV was becoming the Us home to some of the most...
- 9/4/2015
- by Inside Film Correspondent
- IF.com.au
Game of Thrones. Iain Glen, Frances O.Connor, Deborah Mailman, Hunter Page-Lochard, Rob Collins and Ryan Corr are shooting Cleverman, an innovative six-part futuristic action drama for ABC-tv.
Based on an original concept by Ryan Griffen, the plot follows a group of non-humans who are battling for survival in a world where humans feel increasingly inferior and want to silence, exploit and kill them.
The protagonists are two estranged Indigenous brothers (Page-Lochard and Collins), who are forced together to fight for their own survival. Otherworldly dreaming creatures also emerge into this .real world. dystopian landscape.
Commissioned by ABC-tv's Indigenous department, the series is an Australian/New Zealand co-production between Goalpost Pictures and Pukeko Pictures.
The Sapphires. Wayne Blair is lead director with Leah Purcell also directing. Blair recently completed Us thriller Septembers of Shiraz, which tells the true story of a secular Jewish family caught in the Islamic revolution in Iran,...
Based on an original concept by Ryan Griffen, the plot follows a group of non-humans who are battling for survival in a world where humans feel increasingly inferior and want to silence, exploit and kill them.
The protagonists are two estranged Indigenous brothers (Page-Lochard and Collins), who are forced together to fight for their own survival. Otherworldly dreaming creatures also emerge into this .real world. dystopian landscape.
Commissioned by ABC-tv's Indigenous department, the series is an Australian/New Zealand co-production between Goalpost Pictures and Pukeko Pictures.
The Sapphires. Wayne Blair is lead director with Leah Purcell also directing. Blair recently completed Us thriller Septembers of Shiraz, which tells the true story of a secular Jewish family caught in the Islamic revolution in Iran,...
- 4/29/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
A chance meeting at the 2013 Logie awards was the catalyst for the launch of a joint venture between Blackfella Films and Werner Film Productions.
Big Chance Films. first production, Ready for This, a teenage drama with mostly Indigenous characters commissioned by ABC3, is now shooting in Sydney.
The ensemble cast includes two newcomers, rapper/singer Majeda Beatty who competed in The X Factor, and Liam Talty, who studied at the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts in Brisbane.
They join Aaron McGrath (The Code, Redfern Now, The Doctor Blake Mysteries), Leonie Whyman (Redfern Now), Madeleine Madden (The Code, Jack Irish: Dead Point, Redfern Now), Christian Byers (Puberty Blues season 2), Christine Anu (Dance Academy, Outland) and Lasarus Ratuere (The Mule, Mabo, Terra Nova).
Set in inner city Sydney, the plot follows five Indigenous kids who come to the city to pursue their dreams. Anu and Ratuere play the couple who run the kids. boarding house.
Big Chance Films. first production, Ready for This, a teenage drama with mostly Indigenous characters commissioned by ABC3, is now shooting in Sydney.
The ensemble cast includes two newcomers, rapper/singer Majeda Beatty who competed in The X Factor, and Liam Talty, who studied at the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts in Brisbane.
They join Aaron McGrath (The Code, Redfern Now, The Doctor Blake Mysteries), Leonie Whyman (Redfern Now), Madeleine Madden (The Code, Jack Irish: Dead Point, Redfern Now), Christian Byers (Puberty Blues season 2), Christine Anu (Dance Academy, Outland) and Lasarus Ratuere (The Mule, Mabo, Terra Nova).
Set in inner city Sydney, the plot follows five Indigenous kids who come to the city to pursue their dreams. Anu and Ratuere play the couple who run the kids. boarding house.
- 3/15/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
A chance meeting at the 2013 Logie awards was the catalyst for the launch of a joint venture between Blackfella Films and Werner Film Productions.
Big Chance Films. first production, Ready for This, a teenage drama with mostly Indigenous characters commissioned by ABC3, is now shooting in Sydney.
The ensemble cast includes two newcomers, rapper/singer Majeda Beatty who competed in The X Factor, and Liam Talty, who studied at the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts in Brisbane.
They join Aaron McGrath (The Code, Redfern Now, The Doctor Blake Mysteries), Leonie Whyman (Redfern Now), Madeleine Madden (The Code, Jack Irish: Dead Point, Redfern Now), Christian Byers (Puberty Blues season 2), Christine Anu (Dance Academy, Outland) and Lasarus Ratuere (The Mule, Mabo, Terra Nova).
Set in inner city Sydney, the plot follows five Indigenous kids who come to the city to pursue their dreams. Anu and Ratuere play the couple who run the kids. boarding house.
Big Chance Films. first production, Ready for This, a teenage drama with mostly Indigenous characters commissioned by ABC3, is now shooting in Sydney.
The ensemble cast includes two newcomers, rapper/singer Majeda Beatty who competed in The X Factor, and Liam Talty, who studied at the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts in Brisbane.
They join Aaron McGrath (The Code, Redfern Now, The Doctor Blake Mysteries), Leonie Whyman (Redfern Now), Madeleine Madden (The Code, Jack Irish: Dead Point, Redfern Now), Christian Byers (Puberty Blues season 2), Christine Anu (Dance Academy, Outland) and Lasarus Ratuere (The Mule, Mabo, Terra Nova).
Set in inner city Sydney, the plot follows five Indigenous kids who come to the city to pursue their dreams. Anu and Ratuere play the couple who run the kids. boarding house.
- 3/15/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
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