News

Actor/director Leah Purcell added to writing team for Redfern Now series two

Screen Australia is to fund a second series of gritty indigenous drama Redfern Now as part of a $5.5m funding round.

The public funding body has also announced that it is to invest in feature films Son of a Gun - by Julius Avery and starring Ewan McGregor – and My Mistress, to be produced Leanne Tonkes, directed Stephen Lance and written by Gerard Lee.

Joining Redfern Now’s writing team of last year; Jon Bell, Steven McGregor and Adrian Wills, is first series directors Wayne Blair and Leah Purcell.

The series, made up of six standalone episodes, is produced by Darren Dale and Miranda Dear for Blackfella Films. Redfern Now debuted on ABC1 on Thursday 1 November rating 721,000.

Jimmy McGovern, creator of the UK’s Cracker and The Street will again lead the development process of the series.

As we're in the thick of the awards season, here's a gentle reminder (as if you already didn't know) that it's not really about "the best" of anything, but mostly about who has the most efficient campaign. If the right people get nominated and win along the way, that's almost a happy accident. But just as often, great, deserving films get overlooked. Let's take Jane Campion's "Bright Star" for example, an utterly gorgeous, affecting, aching film powered by a beautiful turn by Abbie Cornish, breathtaking cinematography and a tone and tenor unlike any film that year. That it received only a paltry Costume Design nomination is a crime, but at least Campion is still solidering on and her next effort sounds absolutely great.

With “Mad Men” star Elisabeth Moss already set in the lead, “Top Of The Lake” reunites Campion with Gerard Lee, the writer of her 1989 film “Sweetie,” for the tale of a detective investigating the disappearance of a 12-year-old pregnant daughter of a local drug lord. With the Sundance Channel now teaming with BBC Worldwide to co-produce and distribute the seven-part mini-series, Deadline reveals that the show is casting up. “The Piano” star and Oscar winner Holly Hunter, Peter Mullan (”Tyrannosaur,” “War Horse”) and David Wenham (Faramir in a couple of “The Lord Of The Rings”) have all come on board...

An Australian TV network has pulled funding from a BBC/Sundance Channel miniseries -- because its lead actress, Elisabeth Moss, isn't Australian.

Moss was cast last week in "Top of the Lake," a BBC miniseries in which she plays a detective investigating the disappearance of a young pregnant girl who's also the daughter of a drug kingpin. (Sundance is co-producing it and will air it in the U.S.) Holly Hunter and Peter Mullan ("Trainspotting," "Red Riding") also star.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp. initially kicked in some money for the project as well, but has now withdrawn that commitment after the casting of "Mad Men" star Moss. (The miniseries is set and will film in New Zealand.)

"We went into this with the understanding the lead actor would be an Australian. But when that could not happen, we removed ourselves from the deal," a network spokesperson tells Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper.

Top of the Lake mini-series coming to BBC Two via Sundance Channel, BBC The Sundance Channel and BBC Worldwide are set for a co-production of Jane Campion's Top of the Lake miniseries, which is set to play on BBC Two. Deadline reports that Oscar winner Campion (The Piano) will helm the 7-part series with Australian director Garth Davis. Campion and Gerard Lee have writing credits for the miniseries starring Elisabeth Moss, Holly Hunter, Peter Mullan and David Wenham. Series takes place in New Zealand's remote mountains of tells of Robin Griffin (Moss) who investigates the disappearance of Tui, a pregnant twelve-year-old who was last seen in a frozen lake. Griffin must lose herself in order to find Tui and during this investigation...

Downton Abbey

Acclaimed period drama "Downton Abbey" has been commissioned for an eight-part third season according to ITV.

The new run will be set in the early 1920s and continue to chart the fortunes of the Crawley family and their servants.

The current season, set around World War I, finishes this Sunday in the UK. A Christmas special airs late next month. [Source: BBC News]

Top of the Lake

"Mad Men" actress Elisabeth Moss has scored the lead role in BBC Two's six-hour mini-series "Top of the Lake" which Jane Campion, Emile Sherman and Ian Canning will produce.

Moss plays a detective investigating the disappearance of a 12-year-old pregnant girl, who is the daughter of a local drug lord.

Campion directs from a script she co-wrote with Gerard Lee. Shooting begins in January in New Zealand. [Source: Daemon's TV]

The CW

The CW Network have announced mid-season return dates for their various shows. "The Vampire Diaries...

Exclusive: Mad Men star Elisabeth Moss is in final negotiations to play the lead in BBC Two’s six-hour miniseries Top Of The Lake, from the Oscar-winning trio of writer/director Jane Campion (The Piano) and producers Emile Sherman and Iain Canning (The King’s Speech). The project centers on Robin Griffin (Moss), a detective investigating the disappearance of a 12-year-old pregnant girl, who is the daughter of a local drug lord. Campion is set to direct from a script she co-wrote with Gerard Lee, with Sherman and Canning producing. Filming is tentatively slated to begin in New Zealand in January. The limited series doesn’t have an U.S. network yet, with Sundance Channel rumored as a possibility. Moss is currently in production on Season 5 of Mad Men, which will debut in March. She will do Top Of The Lake during her hiatus from the AMC period drama that has earned her 3 Emmy nominations.

Seventeen feature films have received support for development by Screen Australia, with a spend totalling $500,000.

The productions include projects involving Emile Sherman, Johnathan Teplitzky, Helen Pankhurst and Jan Sardi.

Martha Coleman, Screen Australia’s head of development, said: “I’m proud of our association with this compelling group of feature projects by such talented filmmaking teams. The quality and range of projects we are seeing is hugely inspiring and our development team care passionately about assisting the filmmakers we are working with to achieve the best possible version of their story. This is a very exciting time.”

Projects include:

Tim Winton’s best selling surfing story, Breath will get an adaptation by Simon Baker producing with Jamie Hilton and Mark Johnson and written by Peter Duncan. Four comedies have received funding including Ali’s Wedding, written by Osamah Sami and Andrew Knight will be developed by producers Helen Panckhurst, Michael McMahon...