News

Once Upon a Time was a host for many classic stories and characters over its seven-season run, but some of these characters were repeated and re-used throughout the series, such as Rapunzel, Jack, and Hansel and Gretel. During its run, the show also introduced two different variations of Cinderella. The first variation is played by Jessy Schram and appears in four episodes across the first six seasons of the show. She was a more stereotypical version of the princess, with the blue dress, the blonde hair, the big ball and the glass slippers.

The second variation of Cinderella (Dania Ramirez) was written as the new main princess for Once Upon A Time's final season, which was a soft reboot. She is a lot more hardcore, demonstrating strong skills in fighting and self-defense. In her first scene, she punches Henry (Andrew J. West) in the face and steals his motorcycle. She...

Ever since audiences—at least according to myth—ran screaming from the premiere screening of Auguste and Louis Lumière’s 1895 short black-and-white silent documentary Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat, the histories of filmgoing and horror have been inextricably intertwined. Through the decades—and subsequent crazes for color and sound, stereoscopy and anamorphosis—since that train threatened to barrel into the front row, there’s never been a time when audiences didn’t clamor for the palpating fingers of fear. Horror films remain perennially popular, despite periodic (and always exaggerated) rumors of their demise, even in the face of steadily declining ticket sales and desperately shifting models of distribution.

Into the new millennium, horror films have retained their power to shock and outrage by continuing to plumb our deepest primordial terrors, to incarnate our sickest, most socially unpalatable fantasies. They are, in what amounts to a particularly delicious irony,...

Devil's Peak features top-tier talent both in front and behind the camera, adding depth to its gripping crime narrative. Led by Billy Bob Thornton, the cast offers strong support, contributing to a complex story of family loyalty and conflict. Streaming on Hulu, this thriller delves into the dark world of a drug empire in the Appalachian Mountains, providing suspenseful entertainment.

The 2023 thriller Devil's Peak unites some impressive talent both in front and behind the camera, giving the movie's cast list some impressive heft. Directed by Ben Young, whose previous credits include the Netflix movie Extinction and the crime-horror Hounds of Love, Devil's Peak has discovered a new lease on life on streaming after a low-key initial release. As a result of this newfound popularity, many fans are keen to learn more about the Devil's Peak cast.

Devil's Peak is now available to stream on Hulu.

Like some of Ben Young's previous work,...

Viewership Record

Indian streaming service JioCinema claimed a record for the number of concurrent viewers this week. It reported that 32 million viewers were simultaneously using its service to watch the Ipl cricket final match between The Chennai Super Kings and the Gujarat Titans. The platform’s previous peak was 25 million. Chennai eventually won the rain-affected and one-day delayed match

Dark Matter

Warner Bros Discovery (Wbd) has removed its bouquet of 14 channels from Indonesia’s TV largest platform, Mnc, ending decades-long affiliate arrangements, Content Asia reported. The decision, confirmed by Wbd, involves channels from HBO and Cartoon Network to Discovery and TLC, all of which came off air on May 12. The move is understood to be the culmination of a payments disagreement. In November last year, beIN removds its sports service from Mnc. Wbd content remains available on three smaller platforms in Indonesia, IndiHome First Media and Trans.

Location Attraction

Ausfilm,...

Exclusive: Academy Award nominee Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children) and longtime The Walking Dead cast member Ross Marquand have signed on to star alongside Daniel Roebuck (Rob Zombie’s The Munsters) in the crime thriller Tuesday’s Flu, which Roebuck is directing from a script by brothers Stephen and Brian Parri.

Related Story ‘The Umbrella Academy’: Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally & David Cross Join Final Season Cast Related Story Netflix's Spy Pic 'Our Man From Jersey' Adds J.K. Simmons, Jackie Earle Haley, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica De Gouw & Alice Lee Related Story Jackie Earle Haley, Emma Booth And Brian d'Arcy James Join 'Where All Light Tends To Go'

‘Tuesday’s Flu’ is the term that bookies use when gamblers conveniently disappear after the weekend’s losses. The film heading into production next month on the East Coast tells the story of Jason McCutchen (Marquand), a compulsive...

The dynamics between fathers and sons, and whether the younger generation can ever escape the family legacy, is at the heart of “Devil’s Peak.” It’s apt then that director Ben Young cast Hopper Penn — son of Sean — as his lead. In this adaptation of David Joy’s novel “Where All Light Tends to Go,” the father, Charlie (Billy Bob Thornton), is a drug lord in North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountains, with a firm grip on his son’s life and livelihood. Jacob (Penn) works as a runner for his dad, while the latter withholds his wages, thus totally controlling his son. Young and screenwriter Robert Knott build on these intriguing family dynamics to create an entertaining drama that’s unfortunately let down by its lead performance.

The conflict between father and son takes hold when Jacob falls for a local woman (Katelyn Nacon) at the same time that Charlie...

Screen Rant is proud to present an exclusive clip from the new drama, Devil's Peak. Set in the Appalachian Mountains, this tense thriller from Screen Media follows the son of a domineering and violent drug lord. When he meets the girl of his dreams, he finally finds a reason to try and escape from under his father's shadow before following in his criminal footsteps. But he won't escape unscathed and will need to confront his father face-to-face, and the terrifying patriarch will stop at nothing to force loyalty from everyone around him.

Devil's Peak is based on David Joy's first novel, Where All Light Tends to Go. The novel was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Devil's Peak hits theaters on February 17 and will be available on demand on February 24.

Related: How House of Cards Prepared Robin Wright to Direct Ozark Season 4

More About Devil's Peak...

"We do not choose this life. It chose us... It'll be that way 'till we ain't breathing." Screen Media Films has revealed an official trailer for Devil's Peak, a "tense thriller" from filmmaker Ben Young. It's adapted from the novel Where All Light Tends to Go by David Joy, which was the original title before this film before they hcanged it to the VOD-search-friendly Devil's Peak. Set in the Appalachian Mountains, the story follows a family being dominated by a crime lord who uses his fists to control both them and his business. When his son meets the girl of his dreams, desperately wanting to escape the life he's expected to lead and then gain freedom from his father, he is forced to go head-to-head with the terrifying man who will stop at nothing to ensure loyalty from all of those around him. Intense! The film stars Billy Bob Thornton,...

Exclusive: Harrison Gilbertson, Katelyn Nacon and David Kallaway have joined the cast of Where All Light Tends to Go. Billy Bob Thornton, Robin Wright, Hopper Penn, Jackie Earle Haley, Brian D’arcy James and Emma Booth are also starring.

Ben Young will direct with and Robert Knott penning the script based on David Joy’s novel. The film will be produced by Griff Furst of Curmudgeon Films, Josh Kesselman of Thruline Entertainment and Wright. Ruth Bornhauser will co-produce.

Based on the David Joy novel, the story is set in North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountains, where Jacob McNeely is torn between appeasing his meth-dealing kingpin father and leaving the mountains forever with the girl he loves. Kallaway will also co-produce.

Gilbertson will be seen next in Amazon Studios’ The Peripheral. His other recent credits include Picnic at Hanging Rock and In the Tall Grass. He is repped by Anonymous Content and Helen Pandos Management.

Exclusive: Emma Booth, Brian d’Arcy James and Jackie Earle Haley have joined the cast of Where All Light Tends To. Ben Young will direct with and Robert Knott penning the script based on David Joy’s novel.

They join the previously announced leads Billy Bob Thornton, Robin Wright and Hopper Penn. Production began November 1st in Atlanta, Georgia.

The film will be produced by Griff Furst of Curmudgeon Films, Josh Kesselman of Thruline Entertainment and Wright. Ruth Bornhauser will co-produce. Based on the David Joy novel, the story is set in North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountains, where Jacob McNeely is torn between appeasing his meth-dealing kingpin father and leaving the mountains forever with the girl he loves.

Booth can be seen next in the Anonymous Content TV Studios adaptation of Proxy. She is repped by represented by Anonymous Content and Shanahan Management.

James can be seen next in as Officer...

Director Sophia Banks has lined up her second feature off the back of action-thriller Black Site, with the announcement today she will helm Cosmos Pictures’ Street Rat Allie.

The first in what is expected to be a trilogy of films, the story follows Allie, who is presented with a ticket to escape a post-apocalyptic city sealed off by a dome. She and her ‘Street Rats’, a pack of Dickensian girls who depend on each other for survival, become the targets of every criminal – human or otherwise. Armed with only her wits and a skateboard, Allie faces incredible dangers and perhaps the biggest battle of all, fighting her own conscience in leaving the Street Rats behind.

Production will commence in Australia next year, with Hacksaw Ridge trio Bill Mechanic, Paul Currie, and Rick Nicita to produce for Cosmos Pictures.

Street Rat Allie is the debut film project for writer Walker McKnight,...

Anonymous Content has announced a new sci-fi series based on Sophia Banks’ short film Proxy, starring Emma Booth (The Gloaming).

Set in the near future, at a time when electronic mass surveillance and a social credit system have entirely crippled personal freedom across the world, Proxy explores how psychological ‘surrogates’, titled Proxies, have now become the only reasonable option for anyone who can’t risk losing their wealth and liberty for undesirable behavior.

The serialised drama was created and will be written by Halil Ozsan (What Would Diplo Do?) and Dominick Joseph Luna, who wrote the short film that Banks directed during 2020.

Booth also starred in the original short, which played at more than 20 festivals, including Los Angeles Short Films Festival, London Sci-Fi Film Festival, and the Detroit Shetown Film Festival, where it won Best in Fest.

Banks, whose debut feature Black Site recently shot on the Gold Coast with Jason Clarke,...

Exclusive: Emma Booth, who is currently starring in Starz’ The Gloaming, is to lead a TV adaptation of short film Proxy from Anonymous Content.

Proxy was originally written by Dominick Joseph Luna and directed by Sophia Banks, whose debut feature Black Site starred Jason Clarke, Michelle Monaghan and Jai Courtney. The short film, which also starred Booth, played over 20 film festivals including Los Angeles Short Films Festival and London Sci-Fi Film Festival.

It is now being turned into a TV series by Luna and Halil Ozsan, who recently wrote the reboot of Scorpion Queen for Universal and was a co-ep on Vice’s What Would Diplo Do?.

Proxy is a serialized, global sci-fi drama set in a near-future where electronic mass surveillance and a social credit system have entirely crippled personal freedom across the world. Proxies— psychological ‘surrogates’ — have become the only reasonable option for anyone who can’t risk...

Vulture Watch

Is there more story to tell? Has The Gloaming TV show been cancelled or renewed for a second season on Starz? The television vulture is watching all the latest cancellation and renewal news, so this page is the place to track the status of The Gloaming, season two. Bookmark it, or subscribe for the latest updates. Remember, the television vulture is watching your shows. Are you?  

What's This TV Show About?

Originating in Australia and airing on the Starz cable channel in the United States, The Gloaming TV series is set in Tasmania and stars Emma Booth, Ewen Leslie, Martin Henderson, Aaron Pedersen, Rena Owen, Josephine Blazier, and Matt Testro. When a woman is found brutally killed, the clues surrounding her death connect to murders both past and present. Political corruption and shady business dealings are soon entwined with sinister crimes and...

The Gloaming series was produced in Australia and aired there more than a year ago. A second season was in development when the pandemic hit. It's unclear if season two will actually be made or if Starz will want to air it. Will The Gloaming be cancelled or officially renewed? Stay tuned.

A drama series, The Gloaming TV series was filmed and set in Tasmania, Australia. It stars Emma Booth, Ewen Leslie, Martin Henderson, Aaron Pedersen, Rena Owen, Josephine Blazier, and Matt Testro. When a woman is found brutally killed, the clues surrounding her death connect to murders both past and present. Political corruption and shady business dealings are soon entwined with sinister crimes and occult practices. At the center of this web are two detectives, Molly McGee (Booth) and Alex O'Connell (Leslie) who share a tragic past. In...

Will Molly and Alex uncover the truth in the first season of The Gloaming TV show on Starz? As we all know, the Nielsen ratings typically play a big role in determining whether a TV show like The Gloaming is cancelled or renewed for season two. Unfortunately, most of us do not live in Nielsen households. Because many viewers feel frustrated when their viewing habits and opinions aren't considered, we invite you to rate all of the first season episodes of The Gloaming here.

An Australian drama series that airs on Starz in the United States, The Gloaming TV series is set in Tasmania and stars Emma Booth, Ewen Leslie, Martin Henderson, Aaron Pedersen, Rena Owen, Josephine Blazier, and Matt Testro. When a woman is found brutally killed, the clues surrounding her death connect to murders both past and present. Political corruption and...

Network: Starz

Episodes: Ongoing (hour)

Seasons: Ongoing

TV show dates: March 22, 2021 -- present

Series status: Has not been cancelled

Performers include: Emma Booth, Ewen Leslie, Martin Henderson, Aaron Pedersen, Rena Owen, Josephine Blazier, and Matt Testro.

TV show description:

An Australian drama series, the first season of The Gloaming TV series is set and filmed in Hobart, Tasmania.

Read More…...

Starz has acquired the US and Canadian rights to The Gloaming, with the eight-episode drama to premiere across each of the cable network’s platforms next month.

Filmed in Tasmania, The Gloaming stars Emma Booth and Ewen Leslie as two detectives with a tragic past that investigate a brutal murder.

In a journey to find the truth, their fate is coerced by the ghosts of the unsettled dead that linger in the liminal space between life and death — known as “The Gloaming.”

The series also features Martin Henderson (Grey’s Anatomy), Aaron Pedersen (Mystery Road), Rena Owen (The Orville), Josephine Blazier (True History of the Kelly Gang), and Matt Testro (Nowhere Boys).

Written and created by Victoria Madden, who also serves as showrunner, The Gloaming is a co-production between Sweet Potato Films and John Molloy’s 2 Johns Productions and ABC Signature, a division of Disney Television Studios.

There are directorial contributions from including Greg McLean,...

In today’s TV news roundup, “South Park” is back with a new Covid-19 vaccine special, and Amazon Prime Video offered a first look at animated series “Invincible,” starring Steven Yeun.

Casting

The Feb. 22 episode of “The Good Doctor” will feature Southern California Special Olympics global messenger Caley Versfelt, Variety has learned exclusively. She portrays Jamie Chabner, a patient suffering from end-stage liver disease. Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann) forms a special with Jamie and takes it upon herself to try to find a matching donor in time to save her life.

Dates

Starz announced “The Gloaming” will debut on March 21 at 9 p.m. Over eight episodes, detectives Molly McGee (Emma Booth) and Alex O’Connell (Ewen Leslie) endure a harrowing journey to find the truth about a woman who is brutally killed, but they end up coerced by the ghosts of the unsettled dead. The limited series, written by showrunner Victoria Madden,...

Hold onto your hats, TV Fanatics, because this will be a long ride to the finish.

There is so much news out of the TCA Winter Press Tour today that we can hardly keep up.

Here's a roundup of some new and returning shows that you do not want to miss. What a way to start the weekend!

Starz announced today that their upcoming limited series, The Gloaming, will premiere on Sunday, March 21, across all available platforms.

When a woman is found brutally killed, the clues surrounding her death connect to murders both past and present. Political corruption and shady business dealings are soon entwined with sinister crimes and occult practices.

At the center of this web are two detectives, Molly McGee and Alex O’Connell, who share a tragic past.

In a harrowing journey to find the truth, their fate is coerced by the ghosts of the unsettled dead that...

We don’t know much, but we do know that if a trailer involves haunting music, glass-eyed dolls in disarray and mummified animal corpses… there’s some twisted stuff going down.

And all of those elements are present in the exclusive preview of Starz’s new murder mystery, The Gloaming, which you can sample below.

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The Australian series...

Shannon Murphy’s feature debut Babyteeth leads the early Aacta Awards race, scoring nods in 12 out of 13 film categories, while Mystery Road and Stateless are ahead in television.

The Australian Academy revealed the first round of nominees for the annual awards over the weekend, to be presented across two ‘reimagined’ events later this month.

Television and documentary craft nominations, visual effects and animation, casting, hair and make-up and subscription television presenter categories are yet to be announced, expected on November 12.

Despite the disrupted year for film, some 19 narrative features are nominated so far.

However, six dominate alongside the aforementioned Babyteeth: Justin Kurzel’s True History of the Kelly Gang, with 10 nominations, John Sheedy’s H is for Happiness with nine, Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man and Unjoo Moon’s I Am Woman close behind with eight and seven nominations respectively, and Natalie Erika James’ Relic with five. Each will...

Tania Chambers.

Years of perseverance in developing feature films and TV series with multiple collaborators are paying off for producer Tania Chambers.

The MD of Feisty Dame Productions is in the midst of financing How to Please a Woman and casting the co-lead of Time to Tango, a feature inspired by Miranda Edmonds and Khrob Edmonds’ short film Tango Underpants.

In addition, she is holding a writers’ room on a TV drama with such talent as Renée Webster, Miley Tunnecliffe and Kelly Lefever.

Webster is writing and will direct How to Please a Woman, a comedy-drama about a mature woman who must embrace her sexuality when her all-male house-cleaning business gets out of control.

Supported in development since 2016 by Screen Australia and Screenwest, the film has an Australian distributor and sales agent attached and the plan is to start shooting in Perth in March with funding from Screenwest’s West Coast Visions.

Emma Booth.

Emma Booth has been named an official patron of CinefestOZ, joining other patrons David Wenham, Kelton Pell, Myles Pollard and Barry House.

The Wa-born actress has been attending the festival since 2012, and is among the stars of H is for Happiness, the winner of last year’s $100,000 CinefestOZ Film Prize.

“Over the years, the team behind CinefestOZ has become like a family to me and I am in awe of the effort they put into the festival,” said Booth.

“It’s truly a magical experience for everyone who attends. Busselton is my home when I’m in Australia and CinefestOZ has always been one of the highlights of the year.”

CinefestOZ chair Helen Shervington credited Booth as having played an integral part in the growth and success of the festival over the years.

“Emma understands and embodies all that the festival is about and her talent, drive and...

‘Hi is for Happiness’ (Photo credit: David Dare Parker).

John Sheedy’s debut feature H is for Happiness has been acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films in North America and Germany’s Telepool as well as distributors in multiple other markets.

The comedy-drama which opened the Generation Kplus section at the Berlin International Film Festival is Goldywn’s fifth Australian acquisition this year.

The distributor released Wayne Blair’s Top End Wedding in February and Mirrah Foulkes’ Judy & Punch in May, to be followed by Gregor Jordan’s Dirt Music on July 17 and Paul Ireland’s Measure for Measure on September 4, all on VOD.

The international sales agent, Tine Klint’s LevelK, negotiated the H is for Happiness deals including the Middle East and North Africa (Front Row), the Nordics excluding Iceland (Angel Films/FilmCentrum), Estonia (Estin Film) Poland (New Horizons Assoc.), Eastern Europe (HBO Central Europe), Israel (yes Dbs...

Samuel Goldwyn in North America and Telepool in Germany are some of the major buyers lured by “H is for Happiness,” the acclaimed feature debut of seasoned Australian theater director John Sheedy.

The Australian heartwarming comedy drama is represented in international markets by LevelK. It opened the Generation Kplus section at this year’s Berlinale, where it received the Children’s Jury Special Mention.

LevelK has scored deals for North America (Samuel Goldwyn), Germany (Telepool), the Middle East and North Africa (Front Row), the Nordics excluding Iceland (Angel Films/FilmCentrum), Estonia (Estin Film) Poland (New Horizons Assoc.), Eastern Europe Israel (yes Dbs) and Holland (Npo Holland).

Based on Australian author Barry Jonsberg’s popular young adult novel “My Life as an Alphabet,” the film follows Candice Phee, an optimistic 12-year-old girl from a small coastal town who is determined to bring her family back from the brink while facing the trials of adolescence.

‘The Gloaming’.

Screen Tasmania has put funding towards the development of a second season of Stan original series The Gloaming, created by Victoria Madden.

The money comes via the state government’s Covid-19 cultural sector support package, which facilitated, inter alia, additional advanced development funding. Stan will match the funding as the virtual writers’ room begins developing a possible new season.

The Gloaming is the first of four projects to be approved through accelerated assessment, with the government’s hope that projects will be in a position to seek finance to start production when the current restrictions are eased.

Produced by Madden, 2 Jon’s Jon Molloy and Fiona McConaghy, the first season of the crime drama starred Emma Booth, Ewen Leslie, Aaron Pedersen, Rena Owen, Matt Testro and Josephine Blazier. It spent $7.5 million on Tasmanian cast, crew and services.

“John Molloy and I are excited to be collaborating once more...

More often than not, “A” festival competitions privilege the arty over the entertaining, so hats off to the Berlinale Generation section, where the two qualities frequently coexist. A case in point: the delightful coming-of-age dramedy “H Is for Happiness,” which provides feel-good entertainment for the entire family without pandering — and definitely without sacrificing style or substance. In his feature helming debut, Aussie theater director John Sheedy proves a talent to watch. . Other strong selling points include the source material, a prize-winning young adult novel (published in the U.S. as “The Categorical Universe of Candice Phee”), stellar performances from a talented youth cast and top-notch production work. Above all, “Happiness” is a heck of a lot of fun.

Shot on location in the timeless-looking Western Australia coastal town of Albany, the story provides a fresh exploration of universal themes such as dysfunctional families, friendship, loss, grief and acceptance of difference.

‘H is for Happiness.’

John Sheedy’s debut feature H is for Happiness seemingly had a fair bit of momentum in the lead-up to the Australian release last weekend.

The comedy-drama with mystical elements adapted from Barry Jonsberg’s young adult novel My Life as an Alphabet won last year’s $100,000 CinefestOZ Film Prize, as well as second place in the audience awards at the Melbourne International Film Festival.

In its international premiere the film starring Richard Roxburgh, Emma Booth, Miriam Margolyes, Joel Jackson, Deborah Mailman and newcomers Daisy Axon and Wesley Patten will open the Berlin International Film Festival’s Generation KPlus section this month.

Pre-release, the film grossed $117,000 from advance screenings and the Perth Festival – so how to explain the modest opening weekend of $96,000 on 158 screens, distributed by R&R Films for Universal Pictures?

Julie Ryan, who produced with Tenille Kennedy and screenwriter Lisa Hoppe, tells If:

“It...

Richard Roxburgh, Emma Booth and Daisy Axon in ‘H is for Happiness.’

The Australian presence at the Berlin International Film Festival has been bolstered with the selection of the shorts Elders, Grevillea and The Flame in the Generation program.

It will be the world premieres for Jordan Giusti’s Grevillea and Nick Waterman’s short doc The Flame. Tony Briggs’ Elders played at the Melbourne and Sydney Film Festivals and had its first international screening at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival in Toronto.

John Sheedy’s debut feature H is for Happiness, which opens in Australian cinemas on February 6, was announced today as the opening film of the Generation KPlus section, its international premiere.

In addition, Australian director Kitty Green’s #MeToo Us drama The Assistant will screen in the Panorma sidebar, which the programmers say is “emblematic of the urgency for political action and civil disobedience.”

The Generation...

Ewen Leslie and Emma Booth filming The Gloaming (Photo credit: Stan).

For Vicki Madden, Blake Ayshford, Glendyn Ivin and no doubt myriad other content creators, the challenge is to find unique Australian stories which resonate internationally and can cut through the worldwide glut of English-language drama.

More broadly, Madden calls for more respect for writers from some producers and networks, telling If: “At times there is too much interference and the stories become bland and impersonal.”

Ayshford welcomes increasing collaboration between experienced writers and newer voices and predicts: “I think the next few years could be transformational for our industry and usher in a new generation of voices and stories.”

Ivin is excited by the competition from streaming services but wonders how many consumers can afford to spend more than $100 a month to subscribe to multiple platforms.

However Ivin, the director of The Cry, Safe Harbour and Penguin Bloom, the...

Zenia Starr in ‘The End’ (Photo credit: Foxtel).

Zenia Starr made her screen debut in Mark Grentell’s 2013 cricket comedy Backyard Ashes but this year has been the first when she has worked virtually non-stop.

The Indian-born, Australian-raised actor modestly credits that to a number of factors including audiences’ growing appetite to see diversity on screens and those producers and directors who were willing to take a risk in hiring her.

Equally graciously she also thanks her agent, Catherine Poulton Management, luck and “maybe some divine intervention.”

After a string of roles in the ABC’s The Unlisted, the second series of Seven Network’s Drop Dead Weird, Stan’s upcoming The Gloaming, Foxtel’s The End and Maziar Lahooti’s debut feature Below, she says: “It’s the most momentum I’ve ever had.”

Playing a Mumbai resident in Anthony Maras’ Hotel Mumbai alongside Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Jason Isaacs...

Ratidzo Mambo.

Last year Ratidzo Mambo figured she wasn’t being offered the type of roles she wanted and so she made a pivotal decision.

The Zimbabwean-born actor and former sales agent and distribution consultant resolved to take her fate into her own hands by becoming a creative producer, developing her own TV and film projects.

“I’ve had to learn how to multi-task because acting jobs are scarce and the types of roles I want to do are seldom offered to me,” Rati tells If via Skype from Bali, where she is finishing the bibles and treatments for a bunch of projects.

“Rather than blame people or live in a space of negativity, I have to take accountability. I have a lot to say and I am a storyteller as well.”

With the help of her Us manager, Fictional Entity’s Krista Carpenter (a former head of development at...

Keli Lee with The Gloaming’s Emma Booth and Ewen Leslie.

Disney Television Studios has axed ABC Studios International, the London-based unit which has a first-look deal with Hoodlum Entertainment and co-commissioned The Gloaming with Stan.

The London-based unit led by Keli Lee, ABC Studios’ managing director, international content and talent, appears to be a victim of Disney’s $US71 billion acquisition of most of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets.

Disney TV Studios, which encompasses ABC Studios/ABC Signature, 20th Century Fox TV and Fox 21 TV Studios, is re-evaluating its UK presence and overall international strategy, according to Variety.

However the move may not have any immediate or even longer term impact in Australia. Hoodlum had renewed its first-look deal with ABC Studios International and Disney Media Distribution will handle sales of The Gloaming.

Produced by the creator/showrunner, Sweet Potato Films’ Vicki Madden, Fiona McConaghy and 2 Jons’ John Molloy and Jon Adgemis,...

George MacKay in ‘True History of the Kelly Gang.’

Justin Kurzel’s True History of the Kelly Gang will open in Australian cinemas on January 9, just 18 days before its Australia Day premiere on Stan.

The short window and limited theatrical release were virtually inevitable after Stan announced the bushranger epic starring George MacKay, Russell Crowe, Nicholas Hoult and Essie Davis would premiere in summer as a Stan Original.

The major chains are determined to protect the traditional 90 day window and will not screen the film so distributor Transmission Films this week will start booking the title at the independent cinemas that are screening the Netflix productions The King, The Irishman, Marriage Story and The Two Popes and Amazon Studios’ The Report and Brittany Runs a Marathon.

The Netflix titles are screening at the Eddie Tamir family-owned Randwick Ritz Cinemas and Melbourne’s Lido, Classic and Cameo cinemas plus Mel Gibson...

Network: Netflix.

Episodes: 18 (hour).

Seasons: Three.

TV show dates: October 15, 2016 — September 25, 2019.

Series status: Ended.

Performers include: Patrick Brammall, Genevieve O'Reilly, Emma Booth, Emily Barclay, Ned Dennehy, Sean Keenan, Hannah Monson, Aaron McGrath, Rodger Corser, Andrew McFarlane, Daniela Farinacci, John Leary, Luke Arnold, Rob Collins, and Pernilla August.

TV show description:

A paranormal drama set in the small, fictional Australian town of Yoorana, Victoria, the Glitch TV show follows police sergeant James Hayes (Brammall). One night, James answers a call regarding a disturbance.

At the local cemetery, James discovers several people have risen from the dead and are seemingly none the worse for the wear. Since they are all somehow connected, they need to figure out why they...

(L-r) John Sheedy, Daisy Axon, Julie Ryan, Lisa Hoppe and Tenille Kennedy (Photo credit: Court McAllister).

John Sheedy’s feature debut H is for Happiness, an adaptation of Barry Jonsberg’s young adult novel My Life as an Alphabet, has won this year’s $100,000 CinefestOZ Film Prize.

Announcing the award at the Saturday night gala, jury chair Rachel Ward said: “If we have the power as jurors to change the world to be a better place, then voting for H is for Happiness to win the CinefestOZ 2019 is our contribution. As juror Alex Dimitriades added, H is also for Hope.”

The other finalists were Owen Trevor’s Go!, Ben Lawrence’s Hearts and Bones, Mirrah Foulkes’ Judy & Punch and Paul Ireland’s Measure for Measure.

Sheedy said: “The competition was so tough. There were five amazing films, I saw all of them. To be chosen in such good company...

‘The Australian Dream’.

This year’s Melbourne International Film Festival (Miff) opener – director Daniel Gordon’s The Australian Dream – has proved an audience favourite, winning the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature.

The film, which was also nominated for an Aacta Award earlier this week, explores race, identity and belonging from the perspective of former Sydney Swans captain and Australian of the Year, Adam Goodes. Written by Stan Grant, it opened at Miff to a seven minute standing ovation.

The winner of the Best Narrative Feature went to Celine Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which depicts a romance between a painter and her subject. It won Best Screenplay and the Queer Palm in Cannes earlier this year.

John Sheedy’s debut feature H is For Happiness, which stars Daisy Axon, Wesley Patten,, Richard Roxburgh, Emma Booth, Miriam Margolyes, Joel Jackson and Deborah Mailman, was the runner up in the narrative awards.

"The entire universe will be torn apart." Netflix just announced the premiere date for the third and final season of Glitch.

The Australian drama series takes place in a small town where people have risen from the dead and must figure out why they've returned. The cast includes Patrick Brammall, Genevieve O’Reilly, Emma Booth, Emily Barclay, Ned Dennehy, Sean Keenan, Hannah Monson, Aaron McGrath, and Rodger Corser.

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Julie Ryan.

Producer Julie Ryan was in post-production for Hotel Mumbai when writer Lisa Hoppe’s script for H is for Happiness came across her desk. She loved it straight away – by page 40, she’d recognised it would make a heartwarming, funny family film.

Due to make its world premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival next month as the Family Gala film, H is for Happiness is based on Barry Jonsberg’s children’s book ‘My Life is an Alphabet’ and marks the feature debut of theatre director John Sheedy.

It follows Candice Phee, played by Daisy Axon, a 12-year-old with boundless optimism and a unique view of the world, determined to bring her dysfunctional family back from the brink. Alongside Axon (Judy & Punch) are Wesley Patten, who worked with Sheedy on his acclaimed short Mrs McCutcheon, Richard Roxburgh, Emma Booth, Miriam Margolyes, Joel Jackson and Deborah Mailman.

Ryan,...

Margot Robbie in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood’.

The 2019 Melbourne International Film Festival is being touted as the largest yet, with some 259 features, 123 shorts and 16 Vr experiences, including Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood.

The 1969-set film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, will screen on the opening weekend in the Astor Theatre on 35mm. An elegy to the Golden Age of Hollywood, it also features Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate and Damon Herriman as Charles Manson, as well as Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, Timothy Olyphant, Dakota Fanning, Damien Lewis and Luke Perry.

Of his first program, which includes 44 films straight from Cannes, Miff artistic director Al Cossar said: “I am absolutely thrilled to share my first festival with Melbourne in 2019. Rich in its diversity, this program is a true celebration of cinema: promising countless adventures into the kinds of places and people,...

Owen Trevor’s Go!, John Sheedy’s H is for Happiness, Ben Lawrence’s Hearts and Bones, Mirrah Foulkes’ Judy & Punch and Paul Ireland’s Measure for Measure will compete for Australia’s biggest film prize.

Those are the finalists for the $100,000 prize at CinefestOZ, which will run from August 28 to September 1 in Bunbury, Busselton, Margaret River and surrounds.

CinefestOZ festival chair Helen Shervington said it had been another stellar year for the film prize entries and this year’s finalists are the cream of the crop.

The prize was established in 2014 to recognise excellence in Australian filmmaking and is awarded on the gala night by a five-member industry jury, this year chaired by director/writer Rachel Ward.

Scripted by Paper Planes‘ Steve Worland and produced by See Pictures’ Jamie Hilton and Sonia Borella, Go! stars William Lodder, Anastasia Bampos, Darius Amarfio-Jefferson, Dan Wyllie, Cooper Van Grootel, Damian De Montemas,...

‘H is for Happiness’.

Seven films supported by the Melbourne International Film Festival (Miff) Premiere Fund will make their premiere at this year’s iteration, including Maziar Lahooti’s Below and Paul Ireland’s Measure for Measure.

The Premiere Fund provides minority co-financing to new Australian quality theatrical (narrative and documentary) feature films that then premiere at Miff, and over its history, has invested in more than 70 projects.

The seven films include:

Director John Sheedy’s H is for Happiness, which as previously announced, will form the festival’s Family Gala. The film tells the story of a relentlessly optimistic and hilariously forthright girl who hatches a variety of outlandish schemes to make her fractured family happy again. This charming adaptation of award-winning novel My Life as an Alphabet stars Miriam Margolyes (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries), Emma Booth (Hounds of Love), Richard Roxburgh (Rake), Deborah Mailman (The Sapphires) and...

‘Little Monsters’.

The Melbourne International Film Festival (Miff) has unveiled the first 29 films on its line-up this year, including the world premiere of Good Thing Productions and Passion Pictures’ The Australian Dream which will open the festival August 1.

The documentary, written by Stan Grant and directed by Brit Daniel Gordon, looks at race, identity and belonging from the perspective of former Sydney Swans captain and Indigenous rights activist Adam Goodes, who in 2013 sparked a national conversation about racism after requesting a 13-year-old Collingwood supporter be removed from the ground after calling him an “ape”.

“The Australian Dream is a compelling kickstart both to our festival this year, and to a national conversation,” said Miff artistic director Al Cossar.

‘The Australian Dream’.

“It’s an accomplished piece of documentary filmmaking that tackles broader questions of who we are as a nation, together, in deeply affecting terms. It’s a film for all Australians,...

Rena Owen.

When Rena Owen weighs up whether to accept roles, her main goal is to portray characters who are not the same as or similar to those she’s played before.

That maxim has served the Kiwi actress well in a screen career which spans 30 years since her debut in the Nz police series Shark in the Park.

Currently she is in Hobart playing yet another unique individual – Grace, who runs a community drop-in centre for wayward kids – in The Gloaming, an eight-part drama commissioned by Stan and Disney’s ABC Studios International.

Owen was in Vancouver getting ready to shoot the final episode of the second season of mermaid drama Siren, which screens on Disney’s young-adult Us cable network Freeform, when she was asked to audition for The Gloaming.

Her schedule was so hectic her initial response was that she had no time to do a self-test.

Ewen Leslie and Emma Booth.

Emma Booth and Ewen Leslie are playing detectives and former lovers who investigate the brutal murder of an unidentified woman in The Gloaming.

Aaron Pedersen, Rena Owen, Matt Testro and newcomer Josephine Blazier are co-starring in the eight-part drama commissioned by Stan and Disney’s ABC Studios International, which is now shooting in Tasmania.

In her follow-up to The Kettering Incident, Sweet Potato Films’ Vicki Madden is the creator/showrunner, teaming up with Fiona McConaghy and 2 Jons’ John Molloy and Jon Adgemis. Michael Rymer is the set-up director, working with Greg McLean and Sian Davies.

“The plot combines crime, Gothic and the supernatural, a space in which Australia does not do a lot,” Madden tells If.

“Stan and ABC Studios International’s Keli Lee are very collaborative. They are giving me the freedom to tell the story which taps into Tasmania’s convict history.”

Booth plays unconventional Detective Molly McGee.

Richard Roxburgh, Daisy Axon and Emma Booth in ‘H is for Happiness.’

For Robert Connolly, 2019 is the year when filmmakers will need to rise to the challenge of the massive success of TV drama by offering unique experiences.

For Sue Maslin, the primary goal is for all players in the screen industry to take a more active part in understanding and shaping theatrical features instead of operating like a stack of dominoes in which “each falling tile triggers the movement along the value chain.”

With too many low budget films chasing too few distributors to qualify for the Producer Offset, Sue Milliken is one of many who advocates the government should start allowing contracts with streaming services as an alternative to the requirement for a theatrical release.

These are among the views on the challenges and opportunities facing the feature film industry from key players collated by If as part...

‘H is for Happiness’

Richard Roxburgh, Emma Booth, Miriam Margolyes, Joel Jackson, Deborah Mailman and newcomers Daisy Axon and Wesley Patten are starring in H is for Happiness, a family drama/comedy which marks the feature debut of theatre director John Sheedy.

Adapted from Barry Jonsberg’s children’s book ‘My Life As An Alphabet’ by writer/producer Lisa Hoppe, the film is now shooting in the Wa coastal town of Albany, produced by Julie Ryan, Tenille Kennedy and Hoppe.

Perth-based Axon, who made her debut in Mirrah Foulkes’ Judy and Punch, plays Candice Phee, a 12-year-old with boundless optimism and a unique view of the world, who is determined to bring her dysfunctional family back from the brink.

Patten, who won the best young actor award at this year’s St Kilda Film Festival for his performance in Sheedy’s short film Mrs McCutcheon, plays Douglas Benson, a character from another dimension.

Stars: Michael Peña, Lizzy Caplan, Amelia Crouch, Erica Tremblay, Lex Shrapnel, Emma Booth, Lilly Aspell, Mike Colter, Israel Broussard | Written by Spenser Cohen, Brad Kane | Directed by Ben Young

A family man is plagued by dreams of loss. But his dreams turn out to be more prophetic than paranoid when the planet is attacked by an offworld invasion. As he fight to protect the people he loves, he discovers he has a hidden strength that can keep them safe from harm.

Ben Young’s Michael Pena and Lizzy Caplan starring sci-fi thriller Extinction has a had a rough ride to the finality of audiences eyes glaring upon the screen. Infamously curated by Universal studios as a cinematic release only to be ultimately sold in mid-post-production to the streaming platform Netflix as a Netflix exclusive, two months after it was taken off a cinema schedule, causing questions to be asked long...

Extinction Trailer Ben Young‘s Extinction (2018) movie trailer stars Michael Pena, Lizzy Caplan, Mike Colter, Israel Broussard, and Emma Booth. Extinction‘s plot synopsis: “A father has a recurring dream of losing his family. His nightmare turns into reality when the planet is invaded by a force bent on destruction. Now, fighting for their lives, he comes [...]

Continue reading: Extinction (2018) Movie Trailer: Michael Pena’s Visions of an Alien Invasion Turn Real...