‘Diary of an Uber Driver.’
Sally Riley is bemused when people use this line when they are pitching projects to her: “This is definitely an ABC show.”
The ABC’s head of scripted production, Riley usually replies: “What is that? What is an ABC show?”
Interviewed in her Ultimo office for a two-part story, she tells If: “If it’s a great show, we’ll do it. I don’t think it must fit in the parameters of what is supposed to be an ABC show.
“We want to not only hold our audiences but also bring in new and younger audiences and we have a broad slate to try to meet both. We will definitely take a calculated risk when we believe in a show.”
As an example of a program which she thinks most people would not expect to see on the public broadcaster, she points to Les Norton,...
Sally Riley is bemused when people use this line when they are pitching projects to her: “This is definitely an ABC show.”
The ABC’s head of scripted production, Riley usually replies: “What is that? What is an ABC show?”
Interviewed in her Ultimo office for a two-part story, she tells If: “If it’s a great show, we’ll do it. I don’t think it must fit in the parameters of what is supposed to be an ABC show.
“We want to not only hold our audiences but also bring in new and younger audiences and we have a broad slate to try to meet both. We will definitely take a calculated risk when we believe in a show.”
As an example of a program which she thinks most people would not expect to see on the public broadcaster, she points to Les Norton,...
- 5/7/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Robert Rabiah in ‘Safe Harbour’
After a self-imposed exile, Robert Rabiah is returning to the screen early next year in Maziar Lahooti’s Below, an action-drama set in a refugee detention centre.
The actor decided he needed a break after playing Bilal in Matchbox Pictures’ Sbs miniseries Safe Harbour directed by Glendyn Ivin.
Bilal’s brother Ismail (Hazem Shammas) and sister-in-law Zahra (Nicole Chamoun), Iraqi asylum seekers, were struck by tragedy when their nine-year-old daughter died after their vessel sank.
Rabiah tells If: “Bilal was such a draining character to play. Even though a lot of scenes didn’t make the cut, feeling my stomach turn every morning was intense and I just needed to travel for a while.”
Produced by Nick Batzias of Good Thing Productions, Veronica Gleeson and Kate Neylon and due to shoot in Wa in January, Below stars Ryan Corr as Dougie, a directionless dreamer who...
After a self-imposed exile, Robert Rabiah is returning to the screen early next year in Maziar Lahooti’s Below, an action-drama set in a refugee detention centre.
The actor decided he needed a break after playing Bilal in Matchbox Pictures’ Sbs miniseries Safe Harbour directed by Glendyn Ivin.
Bilal’s brother Ismail (Hazem Shammas) and sister-in-law Zahra (Nicole Chamoun), Iraqi asylum seekers, were struck by tragedy when their nine-year-old daughter died after their vessel sank.
Rabiah tells If: “Bilal was such a draining character to play. Even though a lot of scenes didn’t make the cut, feeling my stomach turn every morning was intense and I just needed to travel for a while.”
Produced by Nick Batzias of Good Thing Productions, Veronica Gleeson and Kate Neylon and due to shoot in Wa in January, Below stars Ryan Corr as Dougie, a directionless dreamer who...
- 12/2/2018
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Robert Connolly.
Writer, director and producer Robert Connolly will receive the 2018 Distinguished Services to the Australian Screen Award at the Screen Music Awards later this month.
Musical director Jessica Wells will be joined by musicians Jared Underwood, Damian de Boos Smith, Julian Langdon and special guest bass player Jonathan Zwartz to pay musical tribute to Connolly on the night.
The Distinguished Services award is selected by the Apra board of directors. Over his career, Connolly has showcased the works of composers such as Lisa Gerrard, Alan John, Bryony Marks, Nigel Westlake, François Tétaz and Evelyn Ida Morris in his film and television projects.
Connolly said: “I remain in awe of the creative insight and impact that composers have contributed to the film and television productions I have worked on. So many times the profound emotional and narrative elements that have eluded me as a filmmaker have been so much more clearly explored by the composer.
Writer, director and producer Robert Connolly will receive the 2018 Distinguished Services to the Australian Screen Award at the Screen Music Awards later this month.
Musical director Jessica Wells will be joined by musicians Jared Underwood, Damian de Boos Smith, Julian Langdon and special guest bass player Jonathan Zwartz to pay musical tribute to Connolly on the night.
The Distinguished Services award is selected by the Apra board of directors. Over his career, Connolly has showcased the works of composers such as Lisa Gerrard, Alan John, Bryony Marks, Nigel Westlake, François Tétaz and Evelyn Ida Morris in his film and television projects.
Connolly said: “I remain in awe of the creative insight and impact that composers have contributed to the film and television productions I have worked on. So many times the profound emotional and narrative elements that have eluded me as a filmmaker have been so much more clearly explored by the composer.
- 11/1/2018
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
'The Letdown'..
The Letdown was one of six pilots aired last year on the ABC via the broadcaster's and Screen Australia.s Comedy Showroom initiative, and the episode went on to pick up an Aacta Award for Best Screenplay in Television.
Now production is underway on a full six-part series for the ABC and Netflix..
Netflix has international distribution rights, but will also make the series available on its Australian platform after it initially airs on Abctv and iview..
A Giant Dwarf production, created and written by Sarah Scheller and Alison Bell, The Letdown follows a mother.s group thrown together through the circumstance of timing..
"We are thrilled to be working with the ABC and Netflix on a full series of The Letdown. We've learned that making a TV show is actually not unlike motherhood... floods of tears, bursts of love and unhinged hormonal meltdowns - all in the name of comedy,...
The Letdown was one of six pilots aired last year on the ABC via the broadcaster's and Screen Australia.s Comedy Showroom initiative, and the episode went on to pick up an Aacta Award for Best Screenplay in Television.
Now production is underway on a full six-part series for the ABC and Netflix..
Netflix has international distribution rights, but will also make the series available on its Australian platform after it initially airs on Abctv and iview..
A Giant Dwarf production, created and written by Sarah Scheller and Alison Bell, The Letdown follows a mother.s group thrown together through the circumstance of timing..
"We are thrilled to be working with the ABC and Netflix on a full series of The Letdown. We've learned that making a TV show is actually not unlike motherhood... floods of tears, bursts of love and unhinged hormonal meltdowns - all in the name of comedy,...
- 6/16/2017
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Matt Day took out the winning prize with film 'The Mother Situation'. (Photo: Andy Green/Red Bull Content Pool)
Matt Day's black comedy.The Mother Situation.has taken out this year.s Tropfest.
The film follows three adult siblings as they assist their terminally ill mother to commit suicide.
.I didn.t expect this to happen, I was just really looking forward to getting my film in front of as many people as possible so receiving the win is just a bonus,. said Day, best known for his acting work on the likes of Rake and Tangle..
.Tonight was the first time that I saw the film off of my laptop and I do my own post-production work so I was just pleased that it all came together..
Day took home $10,000 and will also receive a return trip to La for meetings with industry professionals and networking,...
Matt Day's black comedy.The Mother Situation.has taken out this year.s Tropfest.
The film follows three adult siblings as they assist their terminally ill mother to commit suicide.
.I didn.t expect this to happen, I was just really looking forward to getting my film in front of as many people as possible so receiving the win is just a bonus,. said Day, best known for his acting work on the likes of Rake and Tangle..
.Tonight was the first time that I saw the film off of my laptop and I do my own post-production work so I was just pleased that it all came together..
Day took home $10,000 and will also receive a return trip to La for meetings with industry professionals and networking,...
- 2/13/2017
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Kate Winslet can do anything ... except save this movie from quirky overkill. The Dressmaker, based on a 2000 novel by Rosalie Ham, gives the actress a hell of a role. She's Tilly Dunnage, a 1950's fashionista who's decided to return home to dusty Dungatar (an apt name), the small Aussie town that spawned her. Tilly got run out of Dungatar 20 years ago, when she was just a 10 year-old, for allegedly murdering her schoolmate Stewart Pettyman. Everyone believes she bashed the kid's skull in – including her snaggle-toothed old mum, Molly (Judy Davis,...
- 9/23/2016
- Rollingstone.com
Producer Joanna Werner.
For director Emma Freeman, one of the most exciting things about filming the new political thriller miniseries Secret City was the opportunity to film locations that have never before been seen on-screen.
.We shot some beautiful scenes out in the Pm.s courtyard., she recalls..
.Peta Credlin was there and she came out and took some selfies with Sacha Horler, who was very much inspired by Peta Credlin for her character..
Secret City — which was adapted from former journalists Chris Uhlmann and Steve Lewis. novels The Marmalade Files and The Mandarin Code — premiered on Foxtel on June 5 and will shortly be released on DVD.
Matchbox Pictures produced the six-part miniseries, which underwent an extended period of development..
One of the key changes made to the original text involved swapping the gender of the journalist protagonist, Harry Dunkley.
Played by Anna Torv, Secret City.s Harriet Dunkley is...
For director Emma Freeman, one of the most exciting things about filming the new political thriller miniseries Secret City was the opportunity to film locations that have never before been seen on-screen.
.We shot some beautiful scenes out in the Pm.s courtyard., she recalls..
.Peta Credlin was there and she came out and took some selfies with Sacha Horler, who was very much inspired by Peta Credlin for her character..
Secret City — which was adapted from former journalists Chris Uhlmann and Steve Lewis. novels The Marmalade Files and The Mandarin Code — premiered on Foxtel on June 5 and will shortly be released on DVD.
Matchbox Pictures produced the six-part miniseries, which underwent an extended period of development..
One of the key changes made to the original text involved swapping the gender of the journalist protagonist, Harry Dunkley.
Played by Anna Torv, Secret City.s Harriet Dunkley is...
- 8/8/2016
- by Alice McCredie-Dando and Brian Karlovsky
- IF.com.au
Gillian Armstrong, Tania Chambers, Rosemary Blight and Sacha Horler at the Gender Matters: Brilliant Stories and Brilliant Careers launch.
Last month saw Screen Australia unveil the recipients of its Gender Matters funding, with a who.s who of the local industry gathered at Sa.s Ultimo headquarters. A couple of weeks later, Screen Nsw announced that any TV dramas hoping to secure financial backing would need to have a female writer, director, or producer onboard to qualify. All the talk about correcting the stats is no longer empty politesse: it.s happening.
With that in mind, there.s never been a better time to unveil If.s very first women in film and TV issue. Inside, we check in with Foxtel.s Head of Drama Penny Win and Goalpost Pictures. Kylie du Fresne and Rosemary Blight. There.s a wide-ranging chat with eOne Australia.s acquisitions and development team and...
Last month saw Screen Australia unveil the recipients of its Gender Matters funding, with a who.s who of the local industry gathered at Sa.s Ultimo headquarters. A couple of weeks later, Screen Nsw announced that any TV dramas hoping to secure financial backing would need to have a female writer, director, or producer onboard to qualify. All the talk about correcting the stats is no longer empty politesse: it.s happening.
With that in mind, there.s never been a better time to unveil If.s very first women in film and TV issue. Inside, we check in with Foxtel.s Head of Drama Penny Win and Goalpost Pictures. Kylie du Fresne and Rosemary Blight. There.s a wide-ranging chat with eOne Australia.s acquisitions and development team and...
- 8/5/2016
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
Courtney Gibson.
Screen Nsw has stepped up its push for gender equity, announcing that all TV drama series must now include female key creatives in order to receive development or production finance.
CEO Courtney Gibson said Screen Nsw had worked closely with industry to identify the best ways to achieve systemic change.
"Production companies, broadcasters and other screen organisations have been incredibly supportive and we.re starting to see real impact as a result,. she said.
.But in order to move the needle even further, going forward, it will be a requirement for any television drama series to include female writers and/or directors and/or producers to secure development or production finance from us.
.If we are to achieve gender parity in our industry, we need to ensure there is equity of opportunity for women, and increased opportunities for people from other under-represented groups in the community..
Gibson said...
Screen Nsw has stepped up its push for gender equity, announcing that all TV drama series must now include female key creatives in order to receive development or production finance.
CEO Courtney Gibson said Screen Nsw had worked closely with industry to identify the best ways to achieve systemic change.
"Production companies, broadcasters and other screen organisations have been incredibly supportive and we.re starting to see real impact as a result,. she said.
.But in order to move the needle even further, going forward, it will be a requirement for any television drama series to include female writers and/or directors and/or producers to secure development or production finance from us.
.If we are to achieve gender parity in our industry, we need to ensure there is equity of opportunity for women, and increased opportunities for people from other under-represented groups in the community..
Gibson said...
- 7/25/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
(l-r):.Kevin Bishop,.Xavier Samuel and.Kris Marshall.in A Few Less Men.
A Few Less Men, the sequel to Stephan Elliott's 2011 comedy A Few Best Men, was helmed by Mark Lamprell, the screenwriter of Babe: Pig in the City and director of 2000's My Mother Frank and 2013's Goddess.
Lamprell came on board after reading the script by Dean Craig (Death at a Funeral), who wrote the original film.
"It was lovely working on somebody else's screenplay because it was a really solid screenplay structurally," Lamprell said. "I could see that there was a really good movie in there. Dean's a very accomplished writer. The whole guts of it were laid out before me.".
Lamprell, who got his start at Kennedy Miller making Bts documentaries such as The Making of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), describes A Few Less Men as "a silly comedy.".
"It's not high-brow wit.
A Few Less Men, the sequel to Stephan Elliott's 2011 comedy A Few Best Men, was helmed by Mark Lamprell, the screenwriter of Babe: Pig in the City and director of 2000's My Mother Frank and 2013's Goddess.
Lamprell came on board after reading the script by Dean Craig (Death at a Funeral), who wrote the original film.
"It was lovely working on somebody else's screenplay because it was a really solid screenplay structurally," Lamprell said. "I could see that there was a really good movie in there. Dean's a very accomplished writer. The whole guts of it were laid out before me.".
Lamprell, who got his start at Kennedy Miller making Bts documentaries such as The Making of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), describes A Few Less Men as "a silly comedy.".
"It's not high-brow wit.
- 6/23/2016
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
Xavier Samuel, Kris Marshall and Kevin Bishop in A Few Less Men.
Arclight Films have released a first look at A Few Less Men, the sequel to 2011's A Few Best Men..
The new film sees Goddess' Mark Lamprell taking over directing duties from Priscilla's Stephan Elliot, and will be released by StudioCanal in Australia and Nz.
The film was produced by Laurence Malkin, Tania Chambers and Share Stallings and written by Dean Craig (Death at a Funeral), and footage is currently being screened to buyers in Cannes.
.From a talented group of filmmakers with a proven track record of delivering strong, entertaining stories with broad appeal, A Few Less Men is sure to satisfy audiences in Australia and abroad", said StudioCanal Australia and New Zealand Chief Executive Elizabeth Trotman..
"Here at StudioCanal we are so pleased to be on board and are looking forward to developing an exciting campaign.
Arclight Films have released a first look at A Few Less Men, the sequel to 2011's A Few Best Men..
The new film sees Goddess' Mark Lamprell taking over directing duties from Priscilla's Stephan Elliot, and will be released by StudioCanal in Australia and Nz.
The film was produced by Laurence Malkin, Tania Chambers and Share Stallings and written by Dean Craig (Death at a Funeral), and footage is currently being screened to buyers in Cannes.
.From a talented group of filmmakers with a proven track record of delivering strong, entertaining stories with broad appeal, A Few Less Men is sure to satisfy audiences in Australia and abroad", said StudioCanal Australia and New Zealand Chief Executive Elizabeth Trotman..
"Here at StudioCanal we are so pleased to be on board and are looking forward to developing an exciting campaign.
- 5/15/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
.
The Kettering Incident on location. -. Sleeping Beauty, Huon Valley, Tasmania. Photo: Ben King.
.
The Kettering Incident, a gripping mystery with otherworldly overtones, will make its world premiere on July 4..
Australian and international expectations for the series continue to build after the show won the Special Jury Prize at the Series Mania Festival in Paris last week..
The eight episode series stars The Night Manager.s Elizabeth Debicki with Matthew Le Nevez.
The series boasts an impressive cast including Henry Nixon, Anthony Phelan, Damon Gameau, Damien Garvey, Sacha Horler, Sianoa Smit-McPhee, Ben Oxenbould, Suzi Dougherty, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Dylan Young and Neil Pigot. .Many Tasmanian actors feature in the series including Alison Whyte, Kris McQuade, Brad Kannegiesser, Katie Robertson, Marcus Hensley, Nathan Spencer and Matt Burton.
Tasmanian writer Victoria Madden (Lynda La Plante.s Trial and Retribution, The Bill, Halifax Fp) is co-creator of The Kettering Incident with Vincent Sheehan (Animal Kingdom,...
The Kettering Incident on location. -. Sleeping Beauty, Huon Valley, Tasmania. Photo: Ben King.
.
The Kettering Incident, a gripping mystery with otherworldly overtones, will make its world premiere on July 4..
Australian and international expectations for the series continue to build after the show won the Special Jury Prize at the Series Mania Festival in Paris last week..
The eight episode series stars The Night Manager.s Elizabeth Debicki with Matthew Le Nevez.
The series boasts an impressive cast including Henry Nixon, Anthony Phelan, Damon Gameau, Damien Garvey, Sacha Horler, Sianoa Smit-McPhee, Ben Oxenbould, Suzi Dougherty, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Dylan Young and Neil Pigot. .Many Tasmanian actors feature in the series including Alison Whyte, Kris McQuade, Brad Kannegiesser, Katie Robertson, Marcus Hensley, Nathan Spencer and Matt Burton.
Tasmanian writer Victoria Madden (Lynda La Plante.s Trial and Retribution, The Bill, Halifax Fp) is co-creator of The Kettering Incident with Vincent Sheehan (Animal Kingdom,...
- 5/3/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Jacki Weaver returns to Australian television in Secret City.
New Australian political drama Secret City - starring Jacki Weaver, Anna Torv and Dan Wyllie - is set to premiere on June 5.
Filmed in Parliament House and locations across Canberra and Sydney, Secret City is inspired by the best-selling novels The Marmalade Files and The Mandarin Code, written by Canberra political journalists Chris Uhlmann and Steve Lewis.
Amidst rising tension between China and America, Canberra press gallery journalist Harriet Dunkley (played by Anna Torv) forces her way closer to the truth, uncovering a secret city of interlocked conspiracies which will threaten her career, her life and endangers the freedom of every Australian. .
Weaver makes her return to Australian television in the role of Labor powerbroker Senator Catriona Bailey, while Dan Wyllie plays Minister of Defence Mal Paxton.
Weaver said she loved the story and the character.
.It.s very authentic because...
New Australian political drama Secret City - starring Jacki Weaver, Anna Torv and Dan Wyllie - is set to premiere on June 5.
Filmed in Parliament House and locations across Canberra and Sydney, Secret City is inspired by the best-selling novels The Marmalade Files and The Mandarin Code, written by Canberra political journalists Chris Uhlmann and Steve Lewis.
Amidst rising tension between China and America, Canberra press gallery journalist Harriet Dunkley (played by Anna Torv) forces her way closer to the truth, uncovering a secret city of interlocked conspiracies which will threaten her career, her life and endangers the freedom of every Australian. .
Weaver makes her return to Australian television in the role of Labor powerbroker Senator Catriona Bailey, while Dan Wyllie plays Minister of Defence Mal Paxton.
Weaver said she loved the story and the character.
.It.s very authentic because...
- 4/26/2016
- by Brian Karlovsky
- IF.com.au
Sophie Lowe in Rachel Ward's Beautiful Kate.
Screen Australia has received 452 applications - the most applications ever received for any funding program - for Brilliant Stories and Brilliant Careers, the two programs announced last December under the Gender Matters initiative..
334 female-led creative teams applied for Brilliant Stories, according to a Screen Australia statement..
Successful applicants for Brilliant Stories will receive up to $100,000 for feature films; up to $50,000 for teams to develop an inventive concept into a scripted television series of any genre or budget size; and up to $50,000 for scripted online and interactive projects.
The Brilliant Careers fund is for proposals of up to $250,000 that generate sustainable careers in the screen industry for women; identify gaps in career development pathways for female creatives; and support slates of projects and businesses that connect content to audiences..
118 companies from all around Australia applied for this program, Screen Australia said.
.Screen Australia...
Screen Australia has received 452 applications - the most applications ever received for any funding program - for Brilliant Stories and Brilliant Careers, the two programs announced last December under the Gender Matters initiative..
334 female-led creative teams applied for Brilliant Stories, according to a Screen Australia statement..
Successful applicants for Brilliant Stories will receive up to $100,000 for feature films; up to $50,000 for teams to develop an inventive concept into a scripted television series of any genre or budget size; and up to $50,000 for scripted online and interactive projects.
The Brilliant Careers fund is for proposals of up to $250,000 that generate sustainable careers in the screen industry for women; identify gaps in career development pathways for female creatives; and support slates of projects and businesses that connect content to audiences..
118 companies from all around Australia applied for this program, Screen Australia said.
.Screen Australia...
- 4/13/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Mel Gibson and prime minister Malcolm Turbull have joined a star-studded guest list for the opening of The National Institute of Dramatic Art's new Graduate School.
Gibson and Turnbull walked the red carpted with arts minister, Mitch Fifield, .Nida director/chief executive, Lynne Williams, Nida chair Jennifer Bott and Nida Foundation Trust chair, Peter Ivany, to officially open the building.
Hacksaw Ridge star Theresa Palmer and husband Mark Webber joined Nida alumni including Kurt Phelan (Dirty Dancing Musical), Harry Greenwood (Hacksaw Ridge), Sacha Horler (The Dressmaker), Greg McLean (Wolf Creek) and Kip Williams (Sydney Theatre Company) were also along to celebrate the opening.
Guests were welcomed into an exhibition of work by current Nida students and entertained by alumni from across the years.
The new school is housed in a two-storey addition to the campus.
It provides a dedicated space for the institute.s growing suite of Master of Fine Arts courses.
Gibson and Turnbull walked the red carpted with arts minister, Mitch Fifield, .Nida director/chief executive, Lynne Williams, Nida chair Jennifer Bott and Nida Foundation Trust chair, Peter Ivany, to officially open the building.
Hacksaw Ridge star Theresa Palmer and husband Mark Webber joined Nida alumni including Kurt Phelan (Dirty Dancing Musical), Harry Greenwood (Hacksaw Ridge), Sacha Horler (The Dressmaker), Greg McLean (Wolf Creek) and Kip Williams (Sydney Theatre Company) were also along to celebrate the opening.
Guests were welcomed into an exhibition of work by current Nida students and entertained by alumni from across the years.
The new school is housed in a two-storey addition to the campus.
It provides a dedicated space for the institute.s growing suite of Master of Fine Arts courses.
- 12/7/2015
- by Inside Film Correspondent
- IF.com.au
Twenty-five years ago, costume designer Margot Wilson was a student living in Paris when she picked up a roll of red, moire silk fabric during a shopping trip to Milan. She didn’t know why, or what for; she wasn’t even a costume designer then, just a talented young fashion grad from East Sydney Tech on a six-month scholarship to France. When it was time to go home, she took the beautiful roll of fabric back down under with her.
Fast forward three decades and a couple of dozen films later (including Lantana, Bran Nue Dae and Lawless), and Wilson has finally found a screen role for her magnificent weave – on Oscar winner Kate Winslet in the film adaptation of Rosalie Ham’s bestselling novel, The Dressmaker. “I’ve been carrying that roll of fabric around forever,” laughs Wilson, who designed all of Winslet’s costumes in the movie.
Fast forward three decades and a couple of dozen films later (including Lantana, Bran Nue Dae and Lawless), and Wilson has finally found a screen role for her magnificent weave – on Oscar winner Kate Winslet in the film adaptation of Rosalie Ham’s bestselling novel, The Dressmaker. “I’ve been carrying that roll of fabric around forever,” laughs Wilson, who designed all of Winslet’s costumes in the movie.
- 11/9/2015
- by Lord Christopher Laverty
- Clothes on Film
Arclight Films has announced the start of principal Photography in Perth, Western Australia, on A Few Less Men and a slew of key pre-sales.
Rights to Mark Lamprell’s sequel to A Few Best Men have gone in Australia and New Zealand (StudioCanal), Italy (Lucky Red), Middle East (Italia Films), Eastern Europe (Modus Vivendi), Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Columbia (Eastwood Holdings) and Vietnam (Galaxy).
Xavier Samuel, Kris Marshall and Kevin Bishop reprise their roles in the story of men who must take their friend’s coffin back to London after a crash landing leaves them stranded in the Australian bush. Dean Craig once again is the writer.
Laurence Malkin, Tania Chambers and Share Stallings and Gorean Films Limited are producing and Ingenious, Screen Australia, ScreenWest and Lotterywest, Arclight Films, New Oz and The Post Lounge are co-financiers.
Craig, Arclight chief Gary Hamilton, Mark Lazarus, James Vernon and Josh Kesselman served as executive producers.
Shane Jacobson, [link...
Rights to Mark Lamprell’s sequel to A Few Best Men have gone in Australia and New Zealand (StudioCanal), Italy (Lucky Red), Middle East (Italia Films), Eastern Europe (Modus Vivendi), Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Columbia (Eastwood Holdings) and Vietnam (Galaxy).
Xavier Samuel, Kris Marshall and Kevin Bishop reprise their roles in the story of men who must take their friend’s coffin back to London after a crash landing leaves them stranded in the Australian bush. Dean Craig once again is the writer.
Laurence Malkin, Tania Chambers and Share Stallings and Gorean Films Limited are producing and Ingenious, Screen Australia, ScreenWest and Lotterywest, Arclight Films, New Oz and The Post Lounge are co-financiers.
Craig, Arclight chief Gary Hamilton, Mark Lazarus, James Vernon and Josh Kesselman served as executive producers.
Shane Jacobson, [link...
- 11/4/2015
- by [email protected] (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Arclight Films has announced the start of principal Photography in Perth, Western Australia, on A Few Less Men and a slew of key pre-sales.
Rights to Mark Lamprell’s sequel to A Few Best Men have gone in Australia and New Zealand (StudioCanal), Italy (Lucky Red), Middle East (Italia Films), Eastern Europe (Modus Vivendi), Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Columbia (Eastwood Holdings) and Vietnam (Galaxy).
Xavier Samuel, Kris Marshall and Kevin Bishop reprise their roles in the story of men who must take their friend’s coffin back to London after a crash landing leaves them stranded in the Australian bush. Dean Craig once again is the writer.
Laurence Malkin, Tania Chambers and Share Stallings and Gorean Films Limited are producing and Ingenious, Screen Australia, ScreenWest and Lotterywest, Arclight Films, New Oz and The Post Lounge are co-financiers.
Craig, Arclight chief Gary Hamilton, Mark Lazarus, James Vernon and Josh Kesselman served as executive producers.
Shane Jacobson, [link...
Rights to Mark Lamprell’s sequel to A Few Best Men have gone in Australia and New Zealand (StudioCanal), Italy (Lucky Red), Middle East (Italia Films), Eastern Europe (Modus Vivendi), Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Columbia (Eastwood Holdings) and Vietnam (Galaxy).
Xavier Samuel, Kris Marshall and Kevin Bishop reprise their roles in the story of men who must take their friend’s coffin back to London after a crash landing leaves them stranded in the Australian bush. Dean Craig once again is the writer.
Laurence Malkin, Tania Chambers and Share Stallings and Gorean Films Limited are producing and Ingenious, Screen Australia, ScreenWest and Lotterywest, Arclight Films, New Oz and The Post Lounge are co-financiers.
Craig, Arclight chief Gary Hamilton, Mark Lazarus, James Vernon and Josh Kesselman served as executive producers.
Shane Jacobson, [link...
- 11/4/2015
- by [email protected] (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Now filming in Perth,. the sequel to Stephan Elliott's 2011 hit A Few Best Men boasts a supporting cast headed by some top comedic names and a few who are better known for dramas. A Few Less Men sees Shane Jacobson, Ryan Corr, Deborah Mailman, Jeremy Sims, Darren Gilshenan, Lynette Curran, Pamela Shaw and Sacha Horler playing a motley array of characters whom the lead trio encounters on their way back to London. Directed by Mark Lamprell and scripted by Dean Craig, the sequel follows the lads played by Xavier Samuel, Kevin Bishop and Kris Marshall as they transport their mate Luke.s coffin across Australia after a forced plane landing strands them in the middle of the bush. Jacobson is Mungus, whom the lads bump into after he accidentally takes Luke.s coffin home with him. Corr is mad cousin Henry, Mailman is a cop, Sims is a pilot...
- 11/4/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Netflix has bought Melbourne-made series Small Time Gangster for UK, Australia and New Zealand, with more territories to be announced shortly.
Directed by Jeffrey Walker, with a cast including Steve Le Marquand, Gia Carides, Sacha Horler, Geoff Morrell and Gary Sweet, the series follows the misadventures of Tony Piccolo.
Piccolo is outwardly a devoted family man who earns his living cleaning carpets.
But he is also the toughest underworld enforcer in Melbourne. .When Tony suddenly develops a conscience and his two worlds threaten to collide, he.s going to need more than just cleaning fluid to clear up the mess.
Gareth Calverley and Joss King created and wrote the show.s eight episodes.
Producer Gareth Calverley said: .We.re delighted that some of the 63 million people who subscribe to Netflix the world over will now have the opportunity to see the show..
Distributed globally by Drg UK, the show was...
Directed by Jeffrey Walker, with a cast including Steve Le Marquand, Gia Carides, Sacha Horler, Geoff Morrell and Gary Sweet, the series follows the misadventures of Tony Piccolo.
Piccolo is outwardly a devoted family man who earns his living cleaning carpets.
But he is also the toughest underworld enforcer in Melbourne. .When Tony suddenly develops a conscience and his two worlds threaten to collide, he.s going to need more than just cleaning fluid to clear up the mess.
Gareth Calverley and Joss King created and wrote the show.s eight episodes.
Producer Gareth Calverley said: .We.re delighted that some of the 63 million people who subscribe to Netflix the world over will now have the opportunity to see the show..
Distributed globally by Drg UK, the show was...
- 9/15/2015
- by Brian Karlovsky
- IF.com.au
Based in the Us for the past three years, Kieran Darcy-Smith had not seen the Jack Irish telepics when he was offered the gig as set-up director of the spin-off series starring Guy Pearce as a former criminal lawyer turned private investigator and debt collector.
After watching the telepics and reading the scripts for the 6-part ABC series by Andrew Knight, Matt Cameron and Andrew Anastasios, Darcy-Smith readily agreed.
In his first TV drama assignment, the director whose breakthrough was Wish You Were Here is directing two episodes and Mark Joffe and Daniel Nettheim are each helming two. Essential Media and Entertainment.s Ian Collie is the series producer.
.The scripts are sensational; this is as good as TV drama gets,. Kieran tells If as shooting is underway in Melbourne to be followed by a week in the Philippines. .I am working with the A-team..
The plot is under wraps so Darcy-Smith is circumspect,...
After watching the telepics and reading the scripts for the 6-part ABC series by Andrew Knight, Matt Cameron and Andrew Anastasios, Darcy-Smith readily agreed.
In his first TV drama assignment, the director whose breakthrough was Wish You Were Here is directing two episodes and Mark Joffe and Daniel Nettheim are each helming two. Essential Media and Entertainment.s Ian Collie is the series producer.
.The scripts are sensational; this is as good as TV drama gets,. Kieran tells If as shooting is underway in Melbourne to be followed by a week in the Philippines. .I am working with the A-team..
The plot is under wraps so Darcy-Smith is circumspect,...
- 8/9/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
The Belanglo State Forest, scene of Ivan Milat.s grisly serial murders, is such a forbidding place the producers of the Seven Network.s Catching Milat chose to avoid the area.
Only director Peter Andrikidis and DoP Joe Pickering visited the area south of Berrima but they used a drone camera to film the location.
.It.s such an eerie place I didn.t want to go there when they did the tech survey,. Kerrie Mainwaring, who produced the two-part Shine Australia miniseries with Rory Callaghan, tells If.
Instead, the cast and crew shot the crime drama in Terrey Hills, St Ives, Balmain, Glebe, Wattle Grove and Parramatta.
As the title suggests, the focus is not on Ivan Milat but on the marathon investigation into the 1990s backpacker murders that led to his arrest and conviction.
Callaghan came up with the idea and Shine optioned the book Sins of the...
Only director Peter Andrikidis and DoP Joe Pickering visited the area south of Berrima but they used a drone camera to film the location.
.It.s such an eerie place I didn.t want to go there when they did the tech survey,. Kerrie Mainwaring, who produced the two-part Shine Australia miniseries with Rory Callaghan, tells If.
Instead, the cast and crew shot the crime drama in Terrey Hills, St Ives, Balmain, Glebe, Wattle Grove and Parramatta.
As the title suggests, the focus is not on Ivan Milat but on the marathon investigation into the 1990s backpacker murders that led to his arrest and conviction.
Callaghan came up with the idea and Shine optioned the book Sins of the...
- 5/11/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Kate Winslet in The Dressmaker..
Director Jocelyn Moorhouse has wrapped production on feature film The Dressmaker, which has been shooting at Docklands Studio Melbourne and various locations in Victoria for the past eight weeks.
Set in the 1950s, the movie follows Myrtle "Tilly" Dunnage (Kate Winslet) who returns to her hometown in the Australian countryside to take care of her sick mother (Judy Davis), after being exiled when she was ten years old because of false accusations of murder. Having since become an expert dressmaker in Paris, Tilly transforms the town members with her couture creations and in the process, exacts revenge on the people who wrongly accused her of murder all those years ago.
The film also stars Liam Hemsworth and Hugo Weaving, as well as featuring Rebecca Gibney, Kerry Fox , Caroline Goodall, Gyton Grantley, Sacha Horler, Shane Jacobson, Sarah Snook and Barry Otto.
.Working with Kate, Judy, Liam and Hugo was wonderful,...
Director Jocelyn Moorhouse has wrapped production on feature film The Dressmaker, which has been shooting at Docklands Studio Melbourne and various locations in Victoria for the past eight weeks.
Set in the 1950s, the movie follows Myrtle "Tilly" Dunnage (Kate Winslet) who returns to her hometown in the Australian countryside to take care of her sick mother (Judy Davis), after being exiled when she was ten years old because of false accusations of murder. Having since become an expert dressmaker in Paris, Tilly transforms the town members with her couture creations and in the process, exacts revenge on the people who wrongly accused her of murder all those years ago.
The film also stars Liam Hemsworth and Hugo Weaving, as well as featuring Rebecca Gibney, Kerry Fox , Caroline Goodall, Gyton Grantley, Sacha Horler, Shane Jacobson, Sarah Snook and Barry Otto.
.Working with Kate, Judy, Liam and Hugo was wonderful,...
- 12/17/2014
- by Emily Blatchford
- IF.com.au
Kate Winslet and Judy Davis lead cast of the new film from director Jocelyn Moorhouse.
Production has begun on The Dressmaker at Docklands Studios Melbourne, directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse (Proof, A Thousand Acres).
As previously announced, the cast includes Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Liam Hemsworth and Hugo Weaving.
Joining the cast are Caroline Goodall, Shane Bourne, Kerry Fox, Rebecca Gibney, Sacha Horler, Shane Jacobson, Alison Whyte, Genevieve Lemon and Sarah Snook.
Based on the best-selling novel by Rosalie Ham, The Dressmaker is described as “a bittersweet comedy”, set in 1950s Australia.
Winslet plays Tilly Dunnage, who returns to her rural home town after many years working as a dressmaker in Parisian fashion houses. She reconciles with her ailing mother Molly, played by Davis, and goes about transforming the women of the town to get revenge on those who did her wrong.
The Dressmaker is set to release in Australia on Oct 1, 2015.
“I’ve waited years to...
Production has begun on The Dressmaker at Docklands Studios Melbourne, directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse (Proof, A Thousand Acres).
As previously announced, the cast includes Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Liam Hemsworth and Hugo Weaving.
Joining the cast are Caroline Goodall, Shane Bourne, Kerry Fox, Rebecca Gibney, Sacha Horler, Shane Jacobson, Alison Whyte, Genevieve Lemon and Sarah Snook.
Based on the best-selling novel by Rosalie Ham, The Dressmaker is described as “a bittersweet comedy”, set in 1950s Australia.
Winslet plays Tilly Dunnage, who returns to her rural home town after many years working as a dressmaker in Parisian fashion houses. She reconciles with her ailing mother Molly, played by Davis, and goes about transforming the women of the town to get revenge on those who did her wrong.
The Dressmaker is set to release in Australia on Oct 1, 2015.
“I’ve waited years to...
- 10/21/2014
- by [email protected] (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Liam Hemsworth and Hugo Weaving star in The Dressmaker, a tale of love, revenge and haute couture now shooting at Docklands Studios..
The ensemble cast includes Caroline Goodall, Shane Bourne, Kerry Fox, Rebecca Gibney, Sacha Horler, Shane Jacobson, Alison Whyte, Genevieve Lemon and Sarah Snook.
There have been two changes in the cast since it was first anounced in Cannes. Elizabeth Debicki dropped out to play the lead in the Foxtel drama The Kettering Incident, replaced by Sacha Horler. And Isla Fisher dropped out and Sarah Snook took her role. .
Directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and based on the best-selling novel by Rosalie Ham, The Dressmaker is a bittersweet comedy set in 1950s Australia.
Tilly Dunnage (Winslet) is a beautiful and talented misfit who after many years working as a dressmaker in Parisian fashion houses returns home to Dungatar - a fictional rural town - to right some wrongs of the past.
The ensemble cast includes Caroline Goodall, Shane Bourne, Kerry Fox, Rebecca Gibney, Sacha Horler, Shane Jacobson, Alison Whyte, Genevieve Lemon and Sarah Snook.
There have been two changes in the cast since it was first anounced in Cannes. Elizabeth Debicki dropped out to play the lead in the Foxtel drama The Kettering Incident, replaced by Sacha Horler. And Isla Fisher dropped out and Sarah Snook took her role. .
Directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and based on the best-selling novel by Rosalie Ham, The Dressmaker is a bittersweet comedy set in 1950s Australia.
Tilly Dunnage (Winslet) is a beautiful and talented misfit who after many years working as a dressmaker in Parisian fashion houses returns home to Dungatar - a fictional rural town - to right some wrongs of the past.
- 10/21/2014
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
There.s a lot going on for Sacha Horler right now.
Currently in Monte Carlo, the Aussie actress is waiting to find out if she will take home a Golden Nymph after being nominated for outstanding actress in the Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo for her work on The Moody.s.
.I.m only up against people like Julie Bowen from Modern Family,. she tells If. .Patrick [Brammall] is up against Ian McKellan. It.s not very stiff competition..
Both herself and Brammall have been tipped with an acting nomination while the show itself has also received a nod for best TV comedy series.
Fremantlemedia production Wentworth also received accolades in the drama TV series category, with Robbie Magasiva and Danielle Cormack also nominated.
.Our show is up against Episodes, Mrs Brown.s Boys, a Norwegian show [Lilyhammer] and a couple of other high rating international comedy shows,. Horler says. .I think...
Currently in Monte Carlo, the Aussie actress is waiting to find out if she will take home a Golden Nymph after being nominated for outstanding actress in the Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo for her work on The Moody.s.
.I.m only up against people like Julie Bowen from Modern Family,. she tells If. .Patrick [Brammall] is up against Ian McKellan. It.s not very stiff competition..
Both herself and Brammall have been tipped with an acting nomination while the show itself has also received a nod for best TV comedy series.
Fremantlemedia production Wentworth also received accolades in the drama TV series category, with Robbie Magasiva and Danielle Cormack also nominated.
.Our show is up against Episodes, Mrs Brown.s Boys, a Norwegian show [Lilyhammer] and a couple of other high rating international comedy shows,. Horler says. .I think...
- 6/11/2014
- by Emily Blatchford
- IF.com.au
Rolf de Heer on location for.Charlie's Country with David Gulpilil
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Rolf de Heer's Charlie's Country, Warwick Thornton.s The Darkside and Rowan Woods' The Broken Shore will have their world premieres at the 2013 Adelaide Film Festival, which runs October 10-20. Among the other world premieres unveiled today by the Aff.s new CEO/ Director Amanda Duthie are the Adelaide-shot features One-Eyed Girl and 52 Tuesdays and the documentaries All This Mayhem, Muriel Matters and Sons and Mothers. Duthie ticked off an impressive list of 166 titles from 48 countries, including 28 world premieres, 47 Australian premieres and 34 South Australian projects. The line-up features 14 works including seven features which were supported by the Aff.s investment fund. As announced, the fest will open with John Curran.s South Australian-shot Tracks, the true story of Robyn Davidson.s solo 2,700 km trek via camels across the Australian desert in 1977, accompanied by her dog Diggity. Curran,...
.
Rolf de Heer's Charlie's Country, Warwick Thornton.s The Darkside and Rowan Woods' The Broken Shore will have their world premieres at the 2013 Adelaide Film Festival, which runs October 10-20. Among the other world premieres unveiled today by the Aff.s new CEO/ Director Amanda Duthie are the Adelaide-shot features One-Eyed Girl and 52 Tuesdays and the documentaries All This Mayhem, Muriel Matters and Sons and Mothers. Duthie ticked off an impressive list of 166 titles from 48 countries, including 28 world premieres, 47 Australian premieres and 34 South Australian projects. The line-up features 14 works including seven features which were supported by the Aff.s investment fund. As announced, the fest will open with John Curran.s South Australian-shot Tracks, the true story of Robyn Davidson.s solo 2,700 km trek via camels across the Australian desert in 1977, accompanied by her dog Diggity. Curran,...
- 8/28/2013
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
The question of what Martha Coleman would do after she steps down at the end of the year as Screen Australia's Head of Development has been answered.
Coleman will produce film and TV content for Goalpost Pictures, which made The Sapphires, Closed for Winter, Clubland and the upcoming Felony, starting in January.
Thus Coleman returns to her roots in production. Before she joined Screen Australia in 2009 she spent seven years in the UK as Head of Development at Icon Entertainment International, Head of Creative Affairs at Material Entertainment and as a consultant producer.
At Material Entertainment she was executive producer on the UK box-office hit Run Fat Boy, Run, which starred Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton and Hank Azaria.
In 1998 she produced director John Curran.s debut feature Praise, which starred Sacha Horler, Peter Fenton, Joel Edgerton and Marta Dusseldorp.
In May she revealed she had told Screen Australia CEO...
Coleman will produce film and TV content for Goalpost Pictures, which made The Sapphires, Closed for Winter, Clubland and the upcoming Felony, starting in January.
Thus Coleman returns to her roots in production. Before she joined Screen Australia in 2009 she spent seven years in the UK as Head of Development at Icon Entertainment International, Head of Creative Affairs at Material Entertainment and as a consultant producer.
At Material Entertainment she was executive producer on the UK box-office hit Run Fat Boy, Run, which starred Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton and Hank Azaria.
In 1998 she produced director John Curran.s debut feature Praise, which starred Sacha Horler, Peter Fenton, Joel Edgerton and Marta Dusseldorp.
In May she revealed she had told Screen Australia CEO...
- 8/28/2013
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
.
Ruth Harley may or may not be reappointed as chief executive of Screen Australia but the agency is losing two senior executives. Head of production investment Ross Matthews and head of development Martha Coleman plan to step down.
Matthews joined Screen Australia as senior investment manager after spending eight years with its predecessor, the Film Finance Corporation. He.s held his current post since January 2009. In 30 years as a producer, co-producer and executive producer his credits include the films Kick, Fast Talking, Australian Dream, Waiting, Short Changed and Heatwave and the TV series Correlli.
Coleman worked in the UK for seven years as head of development at Icon Entertainment International, head of creative affairs at Material Entertainment and as a consultant producer. At Material Entertainment she was executive producer on the UK box office hit Run Fat Boy, Run, which starred Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton and Hank Azaria.
She returned...
Ruth Harley may or may not be reappointed as chief executive of Screen Australia but the agency is losing two senior executives. Head of production investment Ross Matthews and head of development Martha Coleman plan to step down.
Matthews joined Screen Australia as senior investment manager after spending eight years with its predecessor, the Film Finance Corporation. He.s held his current post since January 2009. In 30 years as a producer, co-producer and executive producer his credits include the films Kick, Fast Talking, Australian Dream, Waiting, Short Changed and Heatwave and the TV series Correlli.
Coleman worked in the UK for seven years as head of development at Icon Entertainment International, head of creative affairs at Material Entertainment and as a consultant producer. At Material Entertainment she was executive producer on the UK box office hit Run Fat Boy, Run, which starred Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton and Hank Azaria.
She returned...
- 5/25/2013
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Ruth Harley may or may not be reappointed as chief executive of Screen Australia but the agency is losing two senior executives. Head of production investment Ross Matthews and head of development Martha Coleman have told colleagues they plan to step down.
Matthews joined Screen Australia as senior investment manager after spending eight years with its predecessor, the Film Finance Corporation. He.s held his current post since January 2009. In 30 years as a producer, co-producer and executive producer his credits include the films Kick, Fast Talking, Australian Dream, Waiting, Short Changed and Heatwave and the TV series Correlli.
Coleman worked in the UK for seven years as head of development at Icon Entertainment International, head of creative affairs at Material Entertainment and as a consultant producer. At Material Entertainment she was executive producer on the UK box office hit Run Fat Boy, Run, which starred Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton and Hank Azaria.
Matthews joined Screen Australia as senior investment manager after spending eight years with its predecessor, the Film Finance Corporation. He.s held his current post since January 2009. In 30 years as a producer, co-producer and executive producer his credits include the films Kick, Fast Talking, Australian Dream, Waiting, Short Changed and Heatwave and the TV series Correlli.
Coleman worked in the UK for seven years as head of development at Icon Entertainment International, head of creative affairs at Material Entertainment and as a consultant producer. At Material Entertainment she was executive producer on the UK box office hit Run Fat Boy, Run, which starred Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton and Hank Azaria.
- 5/25/2013
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Don Groves is a Deadline contributor based in Sydney New films from Red Dog director Kriv Stenders, Samson & Delilah helmer Warwick Thornton and first-time feature directors Wayne Hope and Kasimir Burgess are among 11 film and TV projects that secured funding Monday local time from Screen Australia. The agency is investing more than $A11.4 million ($12 million) in five features, five adult TV drama series and one children’s series, with combined budgets of more than $64 million. Stenders will direct Kill Me Three Times, a black comedic thriller set in an Australian coastal town written by James McFarland, starring Abbie Cornish, Alice Braga and Sullivan Stapleton; Wme and Cargo Entertainment are handling international sales and Hopscotch eOne is the Australian distributor. Thornton’s The Darkside is a collection of ghost tales related by actors including The Sapphires’ Deborah Mailman and Sheri Sebbens, Bryan Brown, Brendan Cowell and Sacha Horler, which will give...
- 12/17/2012
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
Filmmaker/animator Sarah Watt, winner of the Australian Film Institute's (AFI) Best Director and Best Screenplay awards for the 2006 drama Look Both Ways, has died of cancer. Watt, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, was 53. Watt directed a series of animated shorts before turning to features. In Look Both Ways, William McInnes — Watt's husband in real life — plays a photographer who is diagnosed with cancer. In addition to Watt's awards for direction and screenplay, Look Both Ways was the AFI's Best Film of the year and Anthony Hayes was voted Best Supporting Actor. The film also received the Discovery Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, among several other international awards and nominations. Released in 2009, My Year Without Sex also dealt with illness — in this case, a wife and mother (Sacha Horler) who must refrain from sex (among other things) because of an aneurysm. The comedy-drama received...
- 11/6/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
"The much-loved Australian writer, director and artist Sarah Watt — the wife of the actor William McInnes — has died of cancer," report Garry Maddox and Rebecca Richardson in the Sydney Morning Herald. "Watt, 53, was recognized as a rare talent through a series of heartfelt animated shorts before triumphing with the 2005 film Look Both Ways, which starred McInnes as a photographer dealing with cancer. It won her the best film, director and original screenplay awards at the Australian Film Institute Awards as well as the Discovery award at the Toronto International Film Festival. But by the time of the film's release, she was dealing with her own diagnosis of breast cancer, and she chronicled the experience of illness with humor and heart in her 2009 film My Year without Sex, which starred Sacha Horler and Matt Day."
"It was Watt's animated shorts that gained the writer and director attention, while her 1995 work Small Treasures won awards,...
"It was Watt's animated shorts that gained the writer and director attention, while her 1995 work Small Treasures won awards,...
- 11/6/2011
- MUBI
Us actor Willem Dafoe, currently shooting The Hunter in Tasmania, will be one of the presenters at the Samsung Mobile AFI Awards this Saturday in Melbourne.
Other presenters include Catherine McClements, Sigrid Thornton, Asher Keddie, Vince Colosimo, Nick Giannopoulous, Stephen Curry, Julia Zemiro, Josh Lawson, Joel Edgerton, Alan Jones, Caitlin Stasey, Yvonne Strahovski, Alex Dimitriades, Fred Schepisi, Shaun Micallef, Adam Zwar, Poppy Lee Friary, Claudia Karvan, Lincoln Lewis and Nash Edgerton.
Both the Industry Awards (Dec 10) and the Awards Ceremony (Dec 11) will be hosted by Shane Jacobson. The broadcast on the Nine Network will include coverage of the red carpet arrivals, hosted by Giaan Rooney.
Celebrity guests include Ben Mendelsohn, Justine Clarke, Sacha Horler, Aaron Pederson, Deborah Mailman, Aden Young, Clayton Jacobson, The Hon. Simon Crean, Giaan Rooney, Damien Walshe-Howling, James Frecheville, Harrison Gilbertson, Morgana Davies, Laura Wheelwright, Cheree Cassidy, Ashleigh Cummings, Deniz Akdeniz, Phoebe Tonkin, Chris Pang, Nathan Phillips,...
Other presenters include Catherine McClements, Sigrid Thornton, Asher Keddie, Vince Colosimo, Nick Giannopoulous, Stephen Curry, Julia Zemiro, Josh Lawson, Joel Edgerton, Alan Jones, Caitlin Stasey, Yvonne Strahovski, Alex Dimitriades, Fred Schepisi, Shaun Micallef, Adam Zwar, Poppy Lee Friary, Claudia Karvan, Lincoln Lewis and Nash Edgerton.
Both the Industry Awards (Dec 10) and the Awards Ceremony (Dec 11) will be hosted by Shane Jacobson. The broadcast on the Nine Network will include coverage of the red carpet arrivals, hosted by Giaan Rooney.
Celebrity guests include Ben Mendelsohn, Justine Clarke, Sacha Horler, Aaron Pederson, Deborah Mailman, Aden Young, Clayton Jacobson, The Hon. Simon Crean, Giaan Rooney, Damien Walshe-Howling, James Frecheville, Harrison Gilbertson, Morgana Davies, Laura Wheelwright, Cheree Cassidy, Ashleigh Cummings, Deniz Akdeniz, Phoebe Tonkin, Chris Pang, Nathan Phillips,...
- 12/8/2010
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
Animal Kingdom received 18 nominations for this year’s Australian Film Institute Awards, followed by Beneath Hill 60 (12), Bright Star (11), Tomorrow, When the War Began (8), The Tree, Bran Nue Dae (7 each) and The Boys Are Back (4)
The Best Film category will see Animal Kingdom competing against Beneath Hill 60, Bright Star, Bran Nue Dae, The Tree and Tomorrow, When the War Began.
Australia’s top rated drama productions – Packed to the Rafters and Underbellly: The Golden Mile – were both absent from the main Television categories (except for Underbelly‘s two acting nods).
The winners will be revealed on December 10 (Industry Awards) and 11 (main Awards Ceremony) in Melbourne.
This is the full list of nominees:
AFI Members’ Choice Award
Animal Kingdom. Liz Watts. Beneath Hill 60. Bill Leimbach. Bran Nue Dae. Robyn Kershaw, Graeme Isaac. Bright Star. Jan Chapman, Caroline Hewitt. The Boys Are Back. Greg Brenman, Tim White. Tomorrow When The War Began.
The Best Film category will see Animal Kingdom competing against Beneath Hill 60, Bright Star, Bran Nue Dae, The Tree and Tomorrow, When the War Began.
Australia’s top rated drama productions – Packed to the Rafters and Underbellly: The Golden Mile – were both absent from the main Television categories (except for Underbelly‘s two acting nods).
The winners will be revealed on December 10 (Industry Awards) and 11 (main Awards Ceremony) in Melbourne.
This is the full list of nominees:
AFI Members’ Choice Award
Animal Kingdom. Liz Watts. Beneath Hill 60. Bill Leimbach. Bran Nue Dae. Robyn Kershaw, Graeme Isaac. Bright Star. Jan Chapman, Caroline Hewitt. The Boys Are Back. Greg Brenman, Tim White. Tomorrow When The War Began.
- 10/27/2010
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
Two more tales of terror are on their way courtesy of American World Pictures and we've got the scoop along with some exclusive artwork for you to sink your teeth into! Dig it!
From the Press Release
American World Pictures (Awp), a Los Angeles based independent motion picture distribution and production company, has nabbed the worldwide sales rights to Savages Crossing and Kill Katie Malone.
Kill Katie Malone stars an ensemble cast known for their hit TV shows including: Dean Cain (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman), Masiela Lusha (George Lopez Show), Stephen Colleti (One Tree Hill), Lil J (Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven) and Nick Hogan (son of Hulk Hogan, Hogan Knows Best). The film centers on college students and best friends Ginger Matheson (Masiela Lusha), Jim Duncan (Stephen Colleti), and Kyle "Dixie" Canning (Lil J), who pool their cash to buy a "ghost" in an online auction.
From the Press Release
American World Pictures (Awp), a Los Angeles based independent motion picture distribution and production company, has nabbed the worldwide sales rights to Savages Crossing and Kill Katie Malone.
Kill Katie Malone stars an ensemble cast known for their hit TV shows including: Dean Cain (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman), Masiela Lusha (George Lopez Show), Stephen Colleti (One Tree Hill), Lil J (Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven) and Nick Hogan (son of Hulk Hogan, Hogan Knows Best). The film centers on college students and best friends Ginger Matheson (Masiela Lusha), Jim Duncan (Stephen Colleti), and Kyle "Dixie" Canning (Lil J), who pool their cash to buy a "ghost" in an online auction.
- 10/5/2010
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Weekend Box Office
1The Social Network$23 million2Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole$10.8 million3Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps$10.1 million4The Town$10 million5Easy a$7 million6You Again$5.5 million7Case 39$5.35 million8Let Me In$5.3 million9Devil$3.6 million10Alpha and Omega$3 million#1#2#3#4#5#6#7#8#9#10
There were some big surprises at the box office last week as Zack Snyder's Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole fell short of its predicted number one debut and was upset by the return of Michael Douglas's Gordon Gekko in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. But with three new movies entering the box office race this week including the Oscar-worthy film The Social Network and the highly anticipated horror flicks Let Me In and Case 39, Mr. Gekko definitely had some trouble trying to stay on top of the charts for a second week in a row.
Debuting at number one this week...
1The Social Network$23 million2Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole$10.8 million3Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps$10.1 million4The Town$10 million5Easy a$7 million6You Again$5.5 million7Case 39$5.35 million8Let Me In$5.3 million9Devil$3.6 million10Alpha and Omega$3 million#1#2#3#4#5#6#7#8#9#10
There were some big surprises at the box office last week as Zack Snyder's Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole fell short of its predicted number one debut and was upset by the return of Michael Douglas's Gordon Gekko in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. But with three new movies entering the box office race this week including the Oscar-worthy film The Social Network and the highly anticipated horror flicks Let Me In and Case 39, Mr. Gekko definitely had some trouble trying to stay on top of the charts for a second week in a row.
Debuting at number one this week...
- 10/3/2010
- MovieWeb
Some promising looking films appear to be coming out of American World Pictures. Check out the official press release below from the company about 'Savages Crossing' and 'Kill Katie Malone'.
American Work Pictures (Awp) a Los Angeles based independent motion picture distribution and production company, has nabbed the worldwide sales rights to Savages Crossing and Kill Katie Malone.
Kill Katie Malone stars an ensemble cast known for their hit TV shows including: Dean Cain (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman), Masiela Lusha (George Lopez Show), Stephen Colleti (One Tree Hill), Lil J (Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven) and Nick Hogan (son of Hulk Hogan, Hogan Knows Best). The film centers on college students and best friends Ginger Matheson (Masiela Lusha), Jim Duncan (Stephen Colleti), and Kyle "Dixie" Canning (Lil J), who pool their cash to buy a "ghost" in an online auction. The...
American Work Pictures (Awp) a Los Angeles based independent motion picture distribution and production company, has nabbed the worldwide sales rights to Savages Crossing and Kill Katie Malone.
Kill Katie Malone stars an ensemble cast known for their hit TV shows including: Dean Cain (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman), Masiela Lusha (George Lopez Show), Stephen Colleti (One Tree Hill), Lil J (Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven) and Nick Hogan (son of Hulk Hogan, Hogan Knows Best). The film centers on college students and best friends Ginger Matheson (Masiela Lusha), Jim Duncan (Stephen Colleti), and Kyle "Dixie" Canning (Lil J), who pool their cash to buy a "ghost" in an online auction. The...
- 10/1/2010
- by admin
- MoreHorror
The writer discusses adapting the screenplay as well as his upcoming movie Anonymous, about William Shakespeare
Writer John Orloff's career began when Oscar winners Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg read a screenplay he wrote called Soul Of The Age, which is about the authorship controversy surrounding many of William Shakespeare's most famous plays. That led to an opportunity for Orloff to write several episodes of the Emmy Award winning mini-series Band of Brothers.
In 2007 the writer's adaptation of Mariane Pearl's memoir A Mighty Heart was released starring Oscar winner Angelina Jolie, and it earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Screenplay. Since then Orloff has been hired to pen several high profile scripts, including a film based on the life of "James Bond" author Ian Fleming called Fleming for Leonardo DiCaprio, and an adaptation of The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury. Not to mention that his screenplay about Shakespeare,...
Writer John Orloff's career began when Oscar winners Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg read a screenplay he wrote called Soul Of The Age, which is about the authorship controversy surrounding many of William Shakespeare's most famous plays. That led to an opportunity for Orloff to write several episodes of the Emmy Award winning mini-series Band of Brothers.
In 2007 the writer's adaptation of Mariane Pearl's memoir A Mighty Heart was released starring Oscar winner Angelina Jolie, and it earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Screenplay. Since then Orloff has been hired to pen several high profile scripts, including a film based on the life of "James Bond" author Ian Fleming called Fleming for Leonardo DiCaprio, and an adaptation of The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury. Not to mention that his screenplay about Shakespeare,...
- 9/27/2010
- MovieWeb
Weekend Box Office
1Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps$19 million2Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole$16.3 million3The Town$16 million4Easy A$10.7 million5You Again$8.3 million6Devil$6.4 million7Resident Evil: Afterlife$4.9 million8Alpha and Omega$4.7 million9Takers$1.6 million10Inception$1.2 million#1#2#3#4#5#6#7#8#9#10
There were no big surprises at the box office last weekend as director Ben Affleck's second effort The Town won over audience members and critics alike with excellent reviews and a $23.8 million opening weekend total. Also doing well in its debut last week and gaining rave reviews was the new high school comedy Easy a starring Emma Stone. But with three very strong new contenders to the box office race this week including, Zack Snyder's computer animated 3D family film Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, Oliver Stone's long awaited sequel to his classic '80s film Wall Street, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps...
1Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps$19 million2Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole$16.3 million3The Town$16 million4Easy A$10.7 million5You Again$8.3 million6Devil$6.4 million7Resident Evil: Afterlife$4.9 million8Alpha and Omega$4.7 million9Takers$1.6 million10Inception$1.2 million#1#2#3#4#5#6#7#8#9#10
There were no big surprises at the box office last weekend as director Ben Affleck's second effort The Town won over audience members and critics alike with excellent reviews and a $23.8 million opening weekend total. Also doing well in its debut last week and gaining rave reviews was the new high school comedy Easy a starring Emma Stone. But with three very strong new contenders to the box office race this week including, Zack Snyder's computer animated 3D family film Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, Oliver Stone's long awaited sequel to his classic '80s film Wall Street, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps...
- 9/26/2010
- MovieWeb
Predicted Weekend Box Office
1Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole$25.7 million2Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps$24.3 million3The Town$15.2 million4You Again$12.4 million5Easy a$11.9 million6Devil$5.8 million7Resident Evil: Afterlife$5.1 million8Alpha and Omega$4.3 million9Takers$3.6 million10The American$2.3 million#1#2#3#4#5#6#7#8#9#10
As expected last week, director Ben Affleck's second effort The Town won over audience members and critics alike with excellent reviews and a $23.8 million opening weekend total. Also, doing well in its debut last week and gaining rave reviews is the new high school comedy Easy a starring Emma Stone. But with three very strong new contenders coming to the box office race this weekend, Zack Snyder's computer animated 3D family film Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, Oliver Stone's long awaited sequel to his classic '80s movie Wall Street, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and the new romantic comedy You Again starring Kristen Bell,...
1Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole$25.7 million2Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps$24.3 million3The Town$15.2 million4You Again$12.4 million5Easy a$11.9 million6Devil$5.8 million7Resident Evil: Afterlife$5.1 million8Alpha and Omega$4.3 million9Takers$3.6 million10The American$2.3 million#1#2#3#4#5#6#7#8#9#10
As expected last week, director Ben Affleck's second effort The Town won over audience members and critics alike with excellent reviews and a $23.8 million opening weekend total. Also, doing well in its debut last week and gaining rave reviews is the new high school comedy Easy a starring Emma Stone. But with three very strong new contenders coming to the box office race this weekend, Zack Snyder's computer animated 3D family film Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, Oliver Stone's long awaited sequel to his classic '80s movie Wall Street, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and the new romantic comedy You Again starring Kristen Bell,...
- 9/24/2010
- MovieWeb
Director Zack Snyder has earned the title of "visionary director" after only three films. Which, if you think about it, is quite an accomplishment all to itself. He first gained the attention of fans and critics alike for his remake of George A. Romero's classic horror film Dawn Of The Dead. The director then followed that up with two movies both adapted from comic books, the extremely successful "sword & sandal" movie 300 based on legendary comic book scribe Frank Miller's popular graphic novel. And Watchmen, based on equally legendary comic book writer Alan Moore's seminal graphic novel, which is considered by many to be one of the greatest comic books of all-time.
His latest project is the 3D animated family film, Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, which opens in theaters on September 24th, and is based on the successful series of books by author Kathryn Lasky.
His latest project is the 3D animated family film, Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, which opens in theaters on September 24th, and is based on the successful series of books by author Kathryn Lasky.
- 9/24/2010
- MovieWeb
Warner Bros. has released a ton of new photos from the upcoming animated adventure Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, which will arrive in theaters nationwide on September 24. Click on any of the below images from Zack Snyder's new movie to access our huge photo gallery:
Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole comes to theaters September 24th, 2010 and stars Emily Barclay, Abbie Cornish, Essie Davis, Adrienne DeFaria, Joel Edgerton, Deborra-Lee Furness, Sacha Horler, Bill Hunter. The film is directed by Zack Snyder.
Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole comes to theaters September 24th, 2010 and stars Emily Barclay, Abbie Cornish, Essie Davis, Adrienne DeFaria, Joel Edgerton, Deborra-Lee Furness, Sacha Horler, Bill Hunter. The film is directed by Zack Snyder.
- 9/20/2010
- MovieWeb
Harry Potter 7 trailer debuts this Wednesday Warner Bros. has announced that it will debut the highly anticipated new full-length trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I this coming Wednesday, September 22nd, at 6 pm Pst/ 9 pm Est. You can expect to see all-new footage from the film, as well as a few unexpected surprises in what is sure to be one of the biggest events leading up to any movie this year.
For those that want to see this exciting footage on the big screen, the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I trailer will also be attached to prints of Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, when it is release this Friday, September 24th, in theaters across the country.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I is the first of a two-part finale for the hugely popular franchise based on the books by J.K. Rowling.
For those that want to see this exciting footage on the big screen, the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I trailer will also be attached to prints of Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, when it is release this Friday, September 24th, in theaters across the country.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I is the first of a two-part finale for the hugely popular franchise based on the books by J.K. Rowling.
- 9/18/2010
- MovieWeb
U.S. rights to Sarah Watt’s “My Year Without Sex” have been acquired by Strand Releasing from The Works International at the American Film Market (Afm), the company unveiled Monday. The La-based distributor’s Jon Gerrans negotiated the deal with Joy Wong of The Works, and Strand plans a Spring 2010 release. Starring Sacha Horler (“Praise”) and Matt Day (“Muriel’s Wedding”), the film centers on a couple, Ross and Natalie, who are forced …...
- 11/9/2009
- Indiewire
Strand Releasing has acquired all U.S. rights to Sarah Watt's "My Year Without Sex" from the Works International.
Written and directed by Watt, the film stars Sacha Horler and Matt Day as a couple who are forced to abstain from sex because of the woman's medical condition.
The Australian film was produced by Bridget Ikin, who produced Watt's previous film, "Look Both Ways." A spring release is planned.
The deal was negotiated between Strand's Jon Gerrans and the Works' Joy Wong at Afm.
Written and directed by Watt, the film stars Sacha Horler and Matt Day as a couple who are forced to abstain from sex because of the woman's medical condition.
The Australian film was produced by Bridget Ikin, who produced Watt's previous film, "Look Both Ways." A spring release is planned.
The deal was negotiated between Strand's Jon Gerrans and the Works' Joy Wong at Afm.
- 11/9/2009
- by By Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
London -- Director Joe Wright will preside over this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival Michael Powell Jury, organizers said Monday.
Wright will be president of the festival's main jury alongside actor Frank Langella, USA Today film critic Claudia Puig, journalist, broadcaster and author Janet Street-Porter and Australian actor Sacha Horler.
Wright said he was delighted to be returning to the Scottish shindig, describing it as a place "which has always been the greatest melting pot of the British film industry and culture."
Named in homage to one of Britain's most original filmmakers and inaugurated in 1993, the Michael Powell Award is sponsored by the U.K. Film Council and carries a purse of £20,000 ($32,700).
The jury will pick a winner from Brian Percival's "A Boy Called Dad," Duncan Ward's "Boogie Woogie," Jan Dunn's "The Calling," Justin Molotnikov's "Crying With Laughter," Andrea Arnold's "Fish Tank" Lindy Heymann's "Kicks,...
Wright will be president of the festival's main jury alongside actor Frank Langella, USA Today film critic Claudia Puig, journalist, broadcaster and author Janet Street-Porter and Australian actor Sacha Horler.
Wright said he was delighted to be returning to the Scottish shindig, describing it as a place "which has always been the greatest melting pot of the British film industry and culture."
Named in homage to one of Britain's most original filmmakers and inaugurated in 1993, the Michael Powell Award is sponsored by the U.K. Film Council and carries a purse of £20,000 ($32,700).
The jury will pick a winner from Brian Percival's "A Boy Called Dad," Duncan Ward's "Boogie Woogie," Jan Dunn's "The Calling," Justin Molotnikov's "Crying With Laughter," Andrea Arnold's "Fish Tank" Lindy Heymann's "Kicks,...
- 6/15/2009
- by By Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In only two feature film, writer/director/animator Sarah Watt has already proven herself to be one of the most important voices in Australian cinema. After the grand debut of Look Both Ways (which won the AFI for Best Film amongst others) she has given us the effortlessly charming My Year Without Sex. Watt creates such real and wonderful characters that help take away from the themes that many deem unpalatable for audiences. It's going to be incredible hard for another Australian film this year - hell, try any film this year - to put forth as honest and delightfully flawed characters as Watt has here.
Starring Sacha Horler (Praise) and Matt Day (returning from overseas TV work such as Secret Diary of a Call Girl) as an ordinary married middle class suburban couple with two kids (Jonathan Segat and Portia Bradley). When Horler's Natalie suffers an aneurysm her life takes many different turns.
Starring Sacha Horler (Praise) and Matt Day (returning from overseas TV work such as Secret Diary of a Call Girl) as an ordinary married middle class suburban couple with two kids (Jonathan Segat and Portia Bradley). When Horler's Natalie suffers an aneurysm her life takes many different turns.
- 4/20/2009
- by Kamikaze Camel
- Stale Popcorn
Look Both Ways
SYDNEY -- Strong thematically and rich with finely honed characterizations, Sarah Watt's Look Both Ways is the best Australian film to hit local screens in more than a year. Although lacking any internationally renowned actors to win more than limited release, the film's energy and stylistic daring mark it as a true original. Opening in Australia on Aug. 18, the drama should find an appreciative audience on the art house circuit in many markets.
The world of newspaper photographer Nick (William McInnes) starts to crumble when he's diagnosed with testicular cancer. Torn up and at a total loss, he's sent on a job with embittered journalist Andy (Anthony Hayes) to cover the scene of a grisly accident where a man has been hit by a train, which serves only to intensify Nick's own grief and confusion.
While there, he not only takes a haunting photograph that will be splattered across the front page but also meets Meryl (Justine Clarke), a struggling artist on the way home from her father's funeral. Although both are dealing with their own personal tragedies, something flickers between Nick and Meryl. Meanwhile, divorced father of two Andy has discovered that his girlfriend, Anna (Lisa Flanagan), is pregnant, and he's not sure how he feels. As a hot weekend gets even hotter, these four characters simmer and struggle through issues of life and death.
For her debut feature, Watt delivers a film of startling immediacy and maturity. As Australian cinema has lately wallowed in a mess of undercooked comedies and half-realized dramas, Look Both Ways is a breath of fresh air. The underlying drive of the film is about death and different ways of handling it. Watt proves herself a surprisingly assured hand: Her script is powerful yet plays out with an admirable light touch.
Although the premise appears bleak, there are strong threads of humor (as well as flashes of inspired animation) throughout. A calamitous scene in which a troubled Nick invites Meryl home to meet his mother (which soon degenerates into a debate about his father's death) is a particular standout.
Watt is aided immeasurably by stunning performances. McInnes (Watt's husband) and Clarke are superb, offering beautifully nuanced turns that perfectly weigh the dizziness of a new romance with the pain of their obvious grief. Equally strong backup comes from Hayes as the journalist working the arts beat who would prefer to be covering bigger stories. He tempers his anger with a strange kind of sweetness that is totally disarming, while Flanagan is appropriately raw and nervy as his pregnant girlfriend. Even the smallest roles -- Daniela Farinacci, Andrew S. Gilbert and Sacha Horler -- are filled with flair.
LOOK BOTH WAYS
Dendy Films (Australia)
Film Finance Corporation Australia, the South Australian Film Corp., SBS Independent and Hibiscus Films
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Sarah Watt
Producer: Bridget Ikin
Executive producer: Andrew Myer
Director of photography: Ray Argall
Production designer: Rita Zanchetta
Costume designer: Edie Kurzer
Music: Amanda Brown
Editor: Denise Haratzis
Cast:
Nick: William McInnes
Meryl: Justine Clarke
Andy: Anthony Hayes
Anna: Lisa Flanagan
Phil: Andrew S. Gilbert
Julia: Daniela Farinacci
Linda: Sacha Horler
Joan: Maggie Dence
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 100 minutes...
The world of newspaper photographer Nick (William McInnes) starts to crumble when he's diagnosed with testicular cancer. Torn up and at a total loss, he's sent on a job with embittered journalist Andy (Anthony Hayes) to cover the scene of a grisly accident where a man has been hit by a train, which serves only to intensify Nick's own grief and confusion.
While there, he not only takes a haunting photograph that will be splattered across the front page but also meets Meryl (Justine Clarke), a struggling artist on the way home from her father's funeral. Although both are dealing with their own personal tragedies, something flickers between Nick and Meryl. Meanwhile, divorced father of two Andy has discovered that his girlfriend, Anna (Lisa Flanagan), is pregnant, and he's not sure how he feels. As a hot weekend gets even hotter, these four characters simmer and struggle through issues of life and death.
For her debut feature, Watt delivers a film of startling immediacy and maturity. As Australian cinema has lately wallowed in a mess of undercooked comedies and half-realized dramas, Look Both Ways is a breath of fresh air. The underlying drive of the film is about death and different ways of handling it. Watt proves herself a surprisingly assured hand: Her script is powerful yet plays out with an admirable light touch.
Although the premise appears bleak, there are strong threads of humor (as well as flashes of inspired animation) throughout. A calamitous scene in which a troubled Nick invites Meryl home to meet his mother (which soon degenerates into a debate about his father's death) is a particular standout.
Watt is aided immeasurably by stunning performances. McInnes (Watt's husband) and Clarke are superb, offering beautifully nuanced turns that perfectly weigh the dizziness of a new romance with the pain of their obvious grief. Equally strong backup comes from Hayes as the journalist working the arts beat who would prefer to be covering bigger stories. He tempers his anger with a strange kind of sweetness that is totally disarming, while Flanagan is appropriately raw and nervy as his pregnant girlfriend. Even the smallest roles -- Daniela Farinacci, Andrew S. Gilbert and Sacha Horler -- are filled with flair.
LOOK BOTH WAYS
Dendy Films (Australia)
Film Finance Corporation Australia, the South Australian Film Corp., SBS Independent and Hibiscus Films
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Sarah Watt
Producer: Bridget Ikin
Executive producer: Andrew Myer
Director of photography: Ray Argall
Production designer: Rita Zanchetta
Costume designer: Edie Kurzer
Music: Amanda Brown
Editor: Denise Haratzis
Cast:
Nick: William McInnes
Meryl: Justine Clarke
Andy: Anthony Hayes
Anna: Lisa Flanagan
Phil: Andrew S. Gilbert
Julia: Daniela Farinacci
Linda: Sacha Horler
Joan: Maggie Dence
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 100 minutes...
- 7/20/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Film review: 'Praise'
Leave it to the Australians to make a brazenly original, warts-and-all relationship picture.
In out-of-left-field, sexually frank "Praise" -- it could have been called "Last Tango in Brisbane" -- an unemployed, chain-smoking asthmatic (Peter Fenton) finds himself in an intense tryst with a nymphomaniac with severe eczema (Sacha Horler).
Amid all the wheezing and scratching, they could just be each other's salvation, or simply playing out an ill-fated fling.
While this Sundance Film Festival entry isn't quite able to sustain its quirkily provocative first hour, it should nevertheless find some select-site praise for first-time feature director John Curran and writer Andrew McGahan, who adapted the screenplay from his bestselling semi-autobiographical novel.
When we first meet aimless Gordon (Fenton), he's living in a bleak, fleabag rooming house and subsisting on beer, cigarettes and his trusty inhaler.
Enter earthy, mercurial Cynthia (Horler), a woman with a very healthy -- make that exhausting -- libido who initiates a liaison with hesitant Gordon, who's quite open about his feelings of sexual inadequacy.
Their robustly physical relationship soon turns into something more and Cynthia moves in with Gordon, who ultimately becomes conflicted when an old, unrequited crush (Marta Dusseldorp) reappears.
With an overall tone that can best be described as Henry Bukowski meets Franz Kafka, this tragicomic love story isn't exactly a romp. Still, there's an honest audacity to McGahan's script that translates into moments of comic inspiration, at least prior to Gordon and Cynthia's downward spiral.
Curran, meanwhile, directs with a fresh, jittery energy that serves the story well. Toward the end, however, he has problems making a clean escape. The film could have ended several different times.
He also manages to get terrific performances out of his fearless leads. As the terminally laconic Gordon, newcomer Fenton -- lead singer for the popular Aussie band Crow -- conveys a quiet naturalness that works for his submissive character; busy stage actress Horler, her face and body a mess of red, flaky blotches, plunges herself into the kind of starkly naked, anti-glamorous performance that would send most of her American counterparts running for cover.
Technical contributions, including Dion Beebe's no-fuss cinematography, Michael Philips' gritty production design and Alexandre de Franceschi's well-paced editing, are all "Praise"-worthy.
PRAISE
Southern Star Film Sales
An Emcee film
Director: John Curran
Producer: Martha Coleman
Screenwriter: Andrew McGahan
Director of photography: Dion Beebe
Production designer: Michael Philips
Editor: Alexandre de Francheschi
Costume designer: Emily Seresin
Music: Dirty Three
Color/stereo
Cast:
Gordon: Peter Fenton
Cynthia: Sacha Horler
Rachel: Marta Dusseldorp
Leo: Joel Edgerton
Molly: Yvette Duncan
Vass: Ray Bull
Raymond: Gregory Perkins
Cathy: Loene Carmen
Running time -- 98 minutes
No MPAA rating...
In out-of-left-field, sexually frank "Praise" -- it could have been called "Last Tango in Brisbane" -- an unemployed, chain-smoking asthmatic (Peter Fenton) finds himself in an intense tryst with a nymphomaniac with severe eczema (Sacha Horler).
Amid all the wheezing and scratching, they could just be each other's salvation, or simply playing out an ill-fated fling.
While this Sundance Film Festival entry isn't quite able to sustain its quirkily provocative first hour, it should nevertheless find some select-site praise for first-time feature director John Curran and writer Andrew McGahan, who adapted the screenplay from his bestselling semi-autobiographical novel.
When we first meet aimless Gordon (Fenton), he's living in a bleak, fleabag rooming house and subsisting on beer, cigarettes and his trusty inhaler.
Enter earthy, mercurial Cynthia (Horler), a woman with a very healthy -- make that exhausting -- libido who initiates a liaison with hesitant Gordon, who's quite open about his feelings of sexual inadequacy.
Their robustly physical relationship soon turns into something more and Cynthia moves in with Gordon, who ultimately becomes conflicted when an old, unrequited crush (Marta Dusseldorp) reappears.
With an overall tone that can best be described as Henry Bukowski meets Franz Kafka, this tragicomic love story isn't exactly a romp. Still, there's an honest audacity to McGahan's script that translates into moments of comic inspiration, at least prior to Gordon and Cynthia's downward spiral.
Curran, meanwhile, directs with a fresh, jittery energy that serves the story well. Toward the end, however, he has problems making a clean escape. The film could have ended several different times.
He also manages to get terrific performances out of his fearless leads. As the terminally laconic Gordon, newcomer Fenton -- lead singer for the popular Aussie band Crow -- conveys a quiet naturalness that works for his submissive character; busy stage actress Horler, her face and body a mess of red, flaky blotches, plunges herself into the kind of starkly naked, anti-glamorous performance that would send most of her American counterparts running for cover.
Technical contributions, including Dion Beebe's no-fuss cinematography, Michael Philips' gritty production design and Alexandre de Franceschi's well-paced editing, are all "Praise"-worthy.
PRAISE
Southern Star Film Sales
An Emcee film
Director: John Curran
Producer: Martha Coleman
Screenwriter: Andrew McGahan
Director of photography: Dion Beebe
Production designer: Michael Philips
Editor: Alexandre de Francheschi
Costume designer: Emily Seresin
Music: Dirty Three
Color/stereo
Cast:
Gordon: Peter Fenton
Cynthia: Sacha Horler
Rachel: Marta Dusseldorp
Leo: Joel Edgerton
Molly: Yvette Duncan
Vass: Ray Bull
Raymond: Gregory Perkins
Cathy: Loene Carmen
Running time -- 98 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/8/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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