News

The AMC Networks April 2025 schedule has been announced and includes the season finale of lauded noir thriller Dark Winds, starring Zahn McLarnon, and the return of AMC+ mystery Black Snow, starring Travis Fimmel and Jana McKinnon.

The lineup also includes new episodes of the Liane Moriarty adaptation The Last Anniversary, starring Teresa Palmer and Miranda Richardson on AMC+, new seasons of popular Acorn TV Originals The Chelsea Detective and Brokenwood Mysteries, and an all-new spring simulcast season on Hidive.

Black Snow Season 2

Shudder celebrates its second favorite time of year, Halfway to Halloween, with a lineup of new original films, including retro thriller Dead Mail, exorcist horror Shadow of God, Irish-language folk horror Féwaka, 825 Forest Road, from the creator of the Hell House LLC franchise, and more.

AMC Networks April 2025 Schedule

AMC & AMC+

Dark Winds Season 3 (AMC Original Series) – New Episodes Every Sunday Until the Season Finale on April 27 on AMC and AMC+ (9 p.

The season two trailer for Black Snow teases that dark secrets run deep. AMC+ unveiled the official trailer along with announcing the much-anticipated second season will premiere on April 24, 2025. The season will kick off with the release of the first two episodes, with new episodes streaming on Thursdays.

Travis Fimmel reprises his starring role as Detective Cormack. Jana McKinnon (Bad Behaviour) returns as Zoe Jacobs. Season two also stars Megan Smart (Class of ’07), Alana Mansour (Erotic Stories), Dan Spielman (The Newsreader), Victoria Haralabidou (The Tourist), and Kat Stewart (Offspring).

“In season two, Fimmel reprises his role as Detective Cormack as he tackles two separate missing persons cases. One is professional, as he investigates the disappearance of Zoe Jacobs (McKinnon), from her own 21st birthday party in 2003,” reads AMC+’s Black Snow synopsis. “And the other is personal, as Cormack searches desperately for his own younger brother, who went missing when they were children.

“My Melbourne” (2024) is a unique Indo-Australian collaboration where Indian filmmakers, namely, Onir, Imtiaz Ali, Rima Das, and Kabir Khan, team up with local talents in Melbourne to tell four stories about race, gender, sexuality and disability. Based on true migrant experiences, the anthology of four shorts features tales of displacement, discrimination, inequality, alienation, and estrangement of four individuals grounded by unique situations in Melbourne but bound together by similar aspirations and themes. Reflecting on South Asian realities, the film provides the platform to showcase a few unsaid stories and represent some of the underrepresented voices in the Australian city of Melbourne that resonate globally.

With “My Melbourne” (2024), each filmmaker directs a prime display of their auteurship by doing what they do best. Rima Das directs “Emma” which tells the story of a talented deaf dancer in pursuit of acceptance while overcoming discrimination. “Jules” by Imtiaz Ali is a story of self-discovery,...

Sundance Now and AMC+ have released the first photos of Travis Fimmel (Vikings) and Jana McKinnon (Bad Behaviour) in the upcoming season of the Sundance Now Original Series Black Snow, currently filming in Queensland, Australia.

The new season of the six-part mystery-drama produced by Goalpost Pictures and set in the Glasshouse Mountains sees Travis Fimmel reprise his role as Detective Cormack.

Fimmel is joined by new cast members, including McKinnon, Megan Smart (Class of ’07), Alana Mansour (Erotic Stories), Dan Spielman, Victoria Haralabidou (Tourist), and Kat Stewart (Offspring).

In this second season, Detective Cormack tackles two separate cases of missing persons. One is professional, as he investigates the disappearance of Zoe Jacobs (McKinnon) from her 21st birthday party in 2003. The other is personal, as Cormack searches desperately for his own younger brother, who went missing when they were children.

“I think Australian film and television has never been stronger. Now, with...

Travis Fimmel in ‘Black Snow’ season 2 (Photo Courtesy of Sundance Now)

AMC+ and Sundance Now released the first two photos from the upcoming second season of Black Snow as shooting is underway in Queensland. The photos feature returning series star Travis Fimmel (Vikings) as Detective Cormack and series newcomer Jana McKinnon (Bad Behaviour) as Zoe Jacobs.

Season one premiered in December 2022. Sundance Now hasn’t announced a launch date for the six-episode second season.

“I think Australian film and television has never been stronger. Now, with the addition of streaming networks and their reach, I’m so proud that our local productions and their hard work can be recognised not only here, but around the world,” said Fimmel. “I’m excited to be a part of another season of Black Snow and showing off what Australians have to offer. That, and I’m happy to have free food and a job.

“Vikings” star Travis Fimmel reprises his role as Detective Cormack in a second season of Australian mystery drama series “Black Snow.” The six-part series is now shooting in Queensland, Australia, and has unveiled first-look images.

“Australian film and television have never been stronger. Now, with the addition of streaming networks and their reach, I’m so proud that our local productions and their hard work can be recognized not only here, but around the world,” said Fimmel in a prepared statement.

The first season of “Black Snow” was nominated as ‘most outstanding drama series’ at the 2023 Logie Awards and received two nominations at the 2024 Aacta Awards – for best drama series and best lead actor in a drama, for Fimmel. It sold to all major international territories including the U.S., where it screened on AMC Networks’ streamer Sundance Now. “Black Snow” also won the Screen Business Export Award at the recent Australian Screen Producer Awards.

Travis Fimmel's Detective Cormack will work to crack two new mysteries in the second season of 'Black Snow', which will feature new cast members Jana McKinnon, Megan Smart, Alana Mansour, Dan Spielman, Victoria Haralabidou and Kat Stewart.

The post Jana McKinnon, Megan Smart, Alana Mansour on the scent in Queensland for ‘Black Snow’ S2 appeared first on If Magazine.

Exclusive: Jana McKinnon (Bad Behaviour) is among new cast joining Travis Fimmel on the second season of Australian mystery-drama series Black Snow.

Production is underway in Queensland, Australia, on the Stan and Sundance Now original series, with first-look images of Fimmel (Vikings) and McKinnon above. Joining them are Megan Smart (Class of ’07), Alana Mansour (Erotic Stories), Dan Spielman (Bad Behaviour, The Newsreader), Victoria Haralabidou (The Tourist) and Kat Stewart (Offspring).

In season two, Detective Cormack (Fimmel) tackles two separate missing persons cases. One is professional, as he investigates the disappearance of Zoe Jacobs (McKinnon), who disappeared from her own 21st birthday party in 2003. The other is personal, as Cormack searches desperately for his own younger brother, who went missing when they were children.

Director Sian Davies (The Gloaming), executive producer Rosemary Blight (The Invisible Man), and series creator Lucas Taylor (Harrow) return for season two, with Helena Brooks (Population 11) joining as a director.

Kat Stewart leads the cast of Robin Summon’s short Victim, which explores the creeping influence of radicalisation. Shot on 16mm, the film premiered at the Melbourne Film Festival in 2022, and won best narrative short film at the Brisbane International Film Festival 2022 and Best Film at the Peninsula Film Festival 2022. Stewart was awarded Best Lead Actor at CinefestOz 2022. Starring alongside Stewart are Ned Stanford, Harlene Hercules and Krista Vendy. Summons writes, directs and produces, working alongside producer...

The post ‘Victim’ (Short) appeared first on If Magazine.

Hidden in the darker recesses of the internet are some sinister and threatening places which act as insidious catalysts for a variety of radicalising groups amongst them Incels (Involuntary celibates), whose alarming appeal to isolated men is starkly depicted in Robin Summons’ latest short Victim. The Australian filmmaker – who we last saw on Dn’s pages with thought-provoking therapist drama Occupation – doesn’t however focus on the expected vantage point of his disturbing subject matter but instead examines the impact such radicalisation has on a mother and son’s relationship, and the terrifying conflict of emotions faced by any parent in such a situation. Shot entirely on 16mm, Victim focuses on the mundanity of this escalating suburban nightmare as it metastasizes behind the locked door of a teenage bedroom, stoking the parental terror of knowing that your increasingly distant child has not only the capacity but perhaps the intention do real irrevocable harm.

Exclusive: Australian Emmy winner Craig Anderson is to showrun the first season of Charles Jazz Terrier’s Melbourne fitness comedy WTFitness.

Anderson has been signed up as a packaged principal director and showrunner of Red Empire’s show, which isn’t yet attached to a network.

Starring Kat Stewart (Five Bedrooms), Christopher Kirby (Iron Sky), Jonny Brugh (What We Do In The Shadows), Trevor Jamieson (Rabbit-Proof Fence) and Terrier (Legacies), the eight-part comedy is set in an inner-city Melbourne fitness center, following a mismatched cast as they confront the everyday Dodgeball-esque trials and tribulations of running an unpopular gym and facing off against rival Punch Fitness.

Anderson has won Australian Emmys for Double the Fist and Black Comedy and recently finished producing a behind-the-scenes documentary for ABC’s Indigenous Department.

“Apart from other people’s sweat, the gym is full of deeply awkward interactions, cringeworthy employees and desperate clientele...

An ominous voice-over, scenes of suburban decay, dour grey skies and desolate exterior shots. This is how Director Robin Summons' latest short Victim is introduced; a moody landscape to paint the equally stormy relationship between a mother and son. The mum Chrissy is desperate and distressed, her house is dilapidated, her nerves frayed as her son Beau (Ned Stanford) continually ignores her in his locked room where she coaxes him out for take-out, it is her birthday after-all. Hardly a word is said as the clearly antisocial boy and the mum eventually eat in awkward forced conversation and stilted body language. The dysfunction is evident, the physical clues and absence of father hinting at the darkness beneath the surface of soft-spoken...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Australian actor and filmmaker Charles Jazz Terrier has completed post-production on a speculative pilot for “WTFitness,” a comedy series set in Melbourne’s gym scene.

‘WTFitness’ is proposed to be a series with eight half-hour episodes that boasts an ensemble cast including Terrier, Christopher Kirby, Kat Stewart, Jonny Brugh and Trevor Jamieson.

The show was created by Terrier of Fantome Bay Pictures and was developed in conjunction with award-winning filmmaker Nicholas Potaris. Terrier aims to create a genuine Australian workplace comedy while exploring real-world diversity, social and economic issues. He likens it to “The Office” meets “Parks & Recreation.”

“In ‘WTFitness’ we saw a unique opportunity to marry the Aussie sense of humor with a series that navigates both Australian and universal social and economic issues, with the content in some cases acting as a teaching mechanism between the situation and the audience,” said Terrier. “The series has been created in...

The third season of Hoodlum’s Five Bedrooms will stream on Paramount+ New Year’s Day.

Back for another eight-episodes Kat Stewart, Stephen Peacocke, Doris Younane, Roy Joseph, Katie Robertson and Johnny Carr.

This season, they navigate their way through the perils and pleasures of not only co-housing, but turning said house into a bed and breakfast.

Plus, there are now two couples living under one roof, a garden-variety blindside betrayal, a brave new sexual journey, an unexpected parenting proposal, plus one-and-a-half unexpected marriage proposals.

Five Bedrooms is created by Michael Lucas and Christine Bartlett, who wrote the third iteration with Alisha Hnatjuk and Mithila Gupta.

The set-up director is Peter Templeman, alongside Fiona Banks and Craig Irvin.

Andy Walker is the producer, with executive producers Nathan Mayfield and Tracey Robertson.

The third season has been developed and produced with support from Film Victoria, and assistance from Screen Australia.

The...

Your favorite Aussie singles are back.  Season two of Peacock's dramedy Five Bedrooms returns Thursday, Aug. 19 and E! News has an exclusive first look at the adorable new character portraits featuring co-stars Kat Stewart, Doris Younane, Stephen Peacocke, Katie Robertson and Roy Joseph. So what does the sophomore season have in store for these five friends who moved in together after drunkenly meeting at a wedding? Well, let's just say they're moving. "After losing their first communal home at an auction, season two finds this one-of-a-kind family house hunting once again, believing they have prevailed as a unique collective," reads the Peacock description....

The second season of Hoodlum Entertainment’s Five Bedrooms was among the key launch titles for Paramount+ as it went live in Australia yesterday. The streamer seems assured of its continued success, with production already underway on a third in Melbourne.

Key cast Kat Stewart, Stephen Peacocke, Doris Younane, Roy Joseph and Katie Robertson will all return as flawed, disparate housemates. No plot details have been revealed as yet.

Five Bedrooms is created by Michael Lucas and Christine Bartlett, who script the third iteration with Alisha Hnatjuk and Mithila Gupta.

The set-up director is once again Peter Templeman, alongside Fiona Banks and Craig Irvin.

Andy Walker is the producer, with executive producers Nathan Mayfield and Tracey Robertson.

Lucas said: “We are so ridiculously invested in these five characters, we simply can’t stop imagining funny, fraught, tragic, joyful situations to put them in. So, we are beyond delighted that we...

The second season of Hoodlum Entertainment’s Five Bedrooms will premiere on Paramount+ August 11 as the streaming service launches in Australia.

Kat Stewart, Stephen Peacocke, Doris Younane, Katie Robertson, Roy Joseph, Kate Jenkinson and Hugh Sheridan return, joined by new faces Daniel Lapaine and Josh McKenzie.

The second instalment sees a new home. A DIY renovation. A DIY renovation injury. Two pregnancies. An ex-husband. A workplace bullying complaint. An unexpected tragedy. Love found and love lost.

Five Bedrooms is created by Michael Lucas and Christine Bartlett. Andy Walker is the series producer and the scripts are by Lucas, Bartlett, Mithila Gupta and Xavier Coy.

Peter Templeman is the set-up director, working with Fadia Abboud and Shirley Barrett.

Five Bedrooms is supported by Screen Australia and Film Victoria.

The post ‘Five Bedrooms’ (Season 2 Trailer) appeared first on If Magazine.

The second season of Hoodlum Entertainment’s Five Bedrooms will premiere exclusively on Paramount+ when it launches in Australia August 11, with the ViacomCBS streamer also announcing three new local productions today.

They include comedy Spreadsheet, drama Last King of the Cross and feature film 6 Festivals, each of which is expected to commence production soon.

Paramount+, a rebrand of 10 All Access, will have a have starting subscription price of $8.99 per month, cheaper than competitors Netflix, Stan, Disney+ and Binge.

The content line-up includes series and films such as The First Lady, Dexter, The Luminaries, The Harper House, The Man Who Fell To Earth, The Gilded Age, Yellow Jackets, Coyote, Mayor of Kingston, Everyone is Doing Great, Spy City, Anne Boleyn, Leonardo, The Godfather, Mission: Impossible and Paw Patrol.

Other exclusive titles include Lioness, Halo, The Offer, Y:1883, Flatbush Misdemeanors, Stephen, Crossing Swords, Help, No Return, Line In The Sand and Ripley and documentaries,...

Five strangers move in together…what could go wrong? That's the plot of the new Peacock original series Five Bedrooms. The show, which launches on NBCU's streaming service today (Aug. 13), follows the story of five Australian singles who get tipsy at a wedding together and decide to pool their money to buy a house they otherwise couldn't afford individually. While the premise sounds like a catalyst for lots of laughs, the show's stars Kat Stewart, Doris Younane, Katie Robertson, Roy Joseph and Hugh Sheridan promise lots of heartwarming moments too. "It not a straight comedy and it's not a straight drama. To me, it's rooted in...

The streaming service field is becoming more fractured, as more and more media companies break from Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu in favor of creating their own streaming services. NBCUniversal—the Comcast Corp. division that owns NBC, MSNBC, USA, and the Universal Pictures movie studio—is next up with new streaming service Peacock.

Peacock will feature content from NBC, Bravo, USA Network, Syfy, Oxygen, E!, CNBC, MSNBC, Nbcsn, Golf Channel, Universal Kids, A&e, ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox, History, Nickelodeon, Showtime, Universal Pictures, DreamWorks, Focus Features, Illumination, ViacomCBS, Paramount, Lionsgate, Warner Bros., and Blumhouse.

Here’s what we know:

Peacock Release Date

Peacock was made available to Comcast’s Xfinity X1 platform subscribers on April 15, 2020. The service will officially roll out to the rest of the country on July 15, 2020. NBCUniversal has plans for an international release of the service but no timeframe has been announced yet.

Peacock Price

What is Peacock going to cost?...

The wait is almost over, “A.P. Bio” fans. On Tuesday, Peacock, NBCUniversal’s new streaming service, revealed the premiere date for Season 3 of the Glenn Howerton-led comedy, which was originally canceled at NBC last May and then picked up by Peacock the following month.

The third season of “A.P. Bio” will launch Sept. 3 on Peacock, according to the streaming service, which rolls out nationwide Wednesday. Other upcoming Peacock original series that received debut dates from the platform today include “Departure,” a Canadian-British drama starring Archie Panjabi and Christopher Plummer, which will premiere Sept. 17, Australian comedy “Five Bedrooms” (Aug. 13) and the Sky Studios-produced “Hitmen” (Aug. 6).

While you still have to wait a little while for these series to drop, Peacock is launching in full tomorrow with originals “Brave New World,” “The Capture,” “Intelligence,” “Psych 2: Lassie Come Home,” “Where’s Waldo?,” “Cleopatra In Space” and ”Curious George,” along with an extensive lineup of library content.

(L-r) Katie Robertson, Doris Younane, Stephen Peacocke, Kat Stewart and Roy Joseph pre-pandemic.

Hoodlum Entertainment will resume filming the second season of Network 10’s Five Bedrooms in Melbourne on Friday, three months after production was forced to shut down.

The producers are adhering to the Covid-Safe Guidelines developed by the Australian Screen Sector Task Force, supplemented with individual safety plans for department heads.

“Scripts are tweaked, hand santizer is stocked and our amazing cast is ready to walk back into scenes they began three months ago,” Michael Lucas, who co-created the show with Christine Bartlett, Tweeted on Sunday. “Trust me it’ll be seamless…”

Filming of episodes 5 and 6 was more than half way through when production paused, with episodes 7 and 8 to follow.

Doris Younane, who plays the lusty Heather, and her husband Billy lived in the Five Bedrooms house during the hiatus.

Younane, who has since moved to an apartment with Billy,...

‘Five Bedrooms.’

BBC One has acquired both series of Hoodlum Entertainment/Network 10’s Five Bedrooms from NBCUniversal Global Distribution.

It’s the second major deal for the Michael Lucas and Christine Bartlett-created relationships dramedy, which launches in the Us on NBCU’s streaming service Peacock in April.

The first series will premiere on BBC’s main channel in a daytime slot soon.

Now shooting, the second season again stars Kat Stewart, Stephen Peacocke, Doris Younane, Katie Robertson, Roy Joseph, Kate Jenkinson and Hugh Sheridan, with Andy Walker as series producer.

The new faces are Daniel Lapaine as Joseph, brother of Peacocke’s Ben, and Josh McKenzie as Xavier, a potential love interest for Joseph’s Harry. Screen Australia and Film Victoria are co-funding with 10.

Directors Fadia Abboud and Shirley Barrett joined set-up director Peter Templeman. Emerging writer Xavier Coy is the new addition to the writing team alongside Lucas,...

Exclusive: BBC One has secured the keys to Australian drama Five Bedrooms from NBCUniversal Global Distribution.

The British public broadcaster becomes the latest international network to pick up the series, which will launch on NBCU’s streaming service Peacock in the U.S. in April. The show is set to launch on BBC’s main channel in a daytime slot soon.

The eight-part series is produced by Hoodlum Entertainment, the Tracey Robertson and Nathan Mayfield-run company behind ABC Studios International’s crime drama Harrow, with production investment from Screen Australia and developed and produced with the assistance of Film Victoria. international sales are being handled by NBCUniversal Global Distribution on behalf of Sky Studios.

Originally commissioned by Australia’s Network Ten, This Life-esque Five Bedrooms is the story of five loosely connected friends at the singles table at a wedding who, after too many champagnes, and wines and whiskeys and beers,...

(L-r) Katie Robertson, Doris Younane, Stephen Peacocke, Kat Stewart and Roy Joseph.

Directors Fadia Abboud and Shirley Barrett are joining set-up director Peter Templeman on the second season of Network 10/Hoodlum Entertainment’s Five Bedrooms, which is now shooting in Melbourne.

Emerging writer Xavier Coy is the new addition to the writing team, alongside the creators Michael Lucas and Christine Bartlett, while Mithila Gupta also returns.

The housemates face multiple questions in the new season, not least: After auctioning their communal home in the last episode, how quickly will they find a new abode?

How will the dynamic change with the pregnancy of Ainsley (Katie Robertson) and how will that affect the child’s father Lachlan (Hugh Sheridan)?

Will Harry (Roy Joseph) find new love with Xavier (Bad Mothers’ Josh McKenzie) and how will the arrival of Ben’s (Stephen Peacocke) brother Joseph (Daniel Lapaine), a successful international businessman,...

Stephen Peacocke, Katie Robertson, Doris Younane, Roy Joseph and Kat Stewart at a table read for series 2.

NBC’s Us streaming service Peacock has bought Hoodlum Entertainment’s Five Bedrooms just as production of the second series of the relationships dramedy gets underway for Network 10.

Peacock will start to roll out in the Us on Comcast and Flex on April 15, spanning 24 million homes, followed by a nationwide launch on July 15.

There will be three versions: free, ad-supported; a more extensive, ad-supported tier that will be free to Comcast and Cox Cable subscribers and cost $US5 a month for everyone else; and an ad-free offering for $US5 for Comcast and Cox subscribers and $US10 for everyone else.

Created by Michael Lucas and Christine Bartlett, the second series again stars Stephen Peacocke, Katie Robertson, Doris Younane, Roy Joseph and Kat Stewart.

The network is expected to announce the full cast, directors and writers later this week,...

Zombies just seem to go really well with genre mashups. A straight zombie movie? Sometimes, especially lately, that can feel lacking. It’s when the walking dead, as it were, are mixed with other cinematic elements, that the undead really sing. Little Monsters is another example of this, finding a mixture of horror and romantic comedy, all taking place while on a school trip. It’s an unlikely pairing, but it truly works, due in no small part to the talents of Lupita Nyong’o. She’s absolutely aces here. The film is a mix of horror and rom com. After a relationship filled with arguing, Dave (Alexander England) has broken up with his girlfriend, something she ultimately takes better than he does. A struggling musician and screwup, he’s decided to try and get over the situation be staying with his sister and spending more time with his young...

Little Monsters will be hitting Hulu on October 11th, but there will be opportunities across the country to see the movie tomorrow and it includes a live-stream Q&a with Lupita Nyong'o, Alexander England, and Abe Forsythe. We've included the announcement below and to see if your city has a screening, visit: lilmonstersmov.com

October 7, 2019 (New York) - Neon and Hulu will present an exclusive one night engagement of the Hulu Original Film, Little Monsters on Tuesday, October 8th with an in person appearance at the AMC Lincoln Square with stars Lupita Nyong'o and Alexander England joined by director Abe Forsythe. The film will play a limited theatrical engagement nationwide on Tuesday, October 8th with all theaters broadcasting the live-stream Q&a.

Dave (Alexander England), a washed-up musician, volunteers to chaperone his nephew’s kindergarten field trip after taking a shine to the plucky schoolteacher, Miss Caroline (Lupita Nyong’o...

"That might be a little much for everyone..." Hulu has released a brand new Us red band trailer for Abe Forsythe's Little Monsters, the wacky fun zombie comedy horror film that first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. This wild and crazy zombie comedy is about a teacher and an aimless guy who end up on a field trip to a petting zoo when a zombie outbreak takes over. It also played at the SXSW Film Festival this year, and will be debuting on Hulu starting in October. Lupita Nyong'o stars as the enigmatic teacher who fights back to keep her kids safe, along with Alexander England as the tag along Dave, and Josh Gad as an asshole TV personality who freaks out when the zombies show up. Also starring Stephen Peacocke, Kat Stewart, Nadia Townsend, Marshall Napier, Henry Nixon, and Rahel Romahn. This is an extra gory,...

Little Monsters Trailer Abe Forsythe‘s Little Monsters (2019) movie trailer has been released by Neon and stars Lupita Nyong’o, Josh Gad, Alexander England, Kat Stewart, and Diesel La Torraca. Plot Synopsis Little Monsters’ plot synopsis: “Little Monsters follows Dave (Alexander England), a washed-up musician who volunteers to chaperone his nephew’s kindergarten class field trip after taking a serious [...]

Continue reading: Little Monsters (2019) Red Band Movie Trailer: Lupita Nyong’o Protects a Kindergarten Class Against Zombies...

"My job is to keep them safe!" Altitude Films has released an official UK trailer for the indie zombie horror comedy Little Monsters, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in the Midnight category earlier this year. This wild and crazy zombie comedy is about a teacher and an aimless guy who end up on a field trip to a petting zoo when a zombie outbreak arrives. It also played at the SXSW Film Festival in spring and the Fantasia Film Festival this summer. Lupita Nyong'o stars as the engimatic teacher who fights back to keep her kids safe, along with Alexander England as the tag along Dave, and Josh Gad as an asshole TV personality who freaks out when the zombies arrive. Also with Stephen Peacocke, Kat Stewart, Nadia Townsend, Marshall Napier, Henry Nixon, and Rahel Romahn. I really, really enjoyed this film at Sundance, it's hilarious and dark...

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,...

Roy Joseph.

Roy Joseph always wanted to be an actor but he was so lacking in self-confidence he did an entertainment management course at the Jmc Academy with a view to working in the music industry.

His self-belief grew after he completed a Nida Open Actors Studio program in Melbourne so he applied to enrol at Nida. Not once, but three times, without success. He also applied to Waapa and was accepted after his second try.

Before he graduated from Waapa at the end of 2017 he was introduced to casting director Nathan Lloyd by a fellow student. That led to his first breakthrough: winning a regular role as Vijay Kapoor, CEO of Doppelganger Designs, in the Gristmill/ ABC comedy Back in Very Small Business.

Lloyd recommended to Five Bedrooms creators Michael Lucas and Christine Bartlett they hire Joseph for the role of Harry, the gay surgeon who is hiding his sexuality from his Indian mother,...

‘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,...

Michael Lucas and Christine Bartlett.

After years of creating fictional characters in such series as House Husbands, Offspring, The Wrong Girl and Playing for Keeps, Christine Bartlett allowed herself the freedom to do something unprecedented in Five Bedrooms.

Namely: To flesh out a character modelled on her own life and experiences.

Doris Younane plays her alter ego Heather in Hoodlum Entertainment’s 8-part comedy-drama co-created by Bartlett and her frequent collaborator Michael Lucas, which premieres on 10 at 8.40 pm on May 15.

The set-up director Peter Templeman describes Heather as “funny, complex and raw, and that’s Chris.”

Bartlett tells If: “Michael gave me permission to be totally unfiltered, so I went balls-out like never before. I was blown away watching what Doris did to bring the character to life.”

At the crossroads in her life, Heather is married to Colin (Alan Dukes), whom she says “peaked at high school,” and they have two doltish adult children.

Peter Templeman on set with Stephen Peacocke.

Director Peter Templeman rates Michael Lucas and Christine Bartlett as Australia’s pre-eminent creators of TV comedy-dramas.

So he jumped at the chance to serve as the set-up director of the duo’s Five Bedrooms, Hoodlum Entertainment’s 8-part series which premieres on 10 at 8.40 pm on May 15.

He could not be happier with the performances of the ensemble cast led by Kat Stewart, Stephen Peacocke, Doris Younane, Katie Robertson, Roy Joseph, Kate Jenkinson and Hugh Sheridan.

“Michael and Chris created totally real characters, each with a rich inner life and a back story,” Templeman tells If. “Working on the show was a great experience. We were spoiled for talent.”

Scripted by Lucas, Bartlett and Mithila Gupta, the plot revolves around five strangers, all misfits, who find themselves at a singles table at a wedding. After an excess of alcohol they decide the solution...

Writer and director Abe Forsythe's Little Monsters is currently showing at this year's SXSW film festival in Austin, Texas, and is one of the event's most must-see titles. Described as "Zombieland meets Kindergarten Cop," the movie is just as hysterical as it is bloody. But despite its raunchy comedy and horror elements, Little Monsters is oddly enough a feelgood movie as well. Full of heart, humor, horrific zombies, and cute animals, the movie is highly entertaining from beginning to end and is certainly a title you will not regret watching.

In the movie, Alexander England plays Dave, a washed-up musician who lives with his sister (Kat Stewart) and her 5-year-old son Felix (Diesel La Torraca). Dave is perhaps not the best role model for Felix, yet it's hard not to feel for the guy who's clearly down on his luck. Completely directionless, things seem like they couldn't be worse...

Abe Forsythe’s Little Monsters cuts through dismal zombified doom-and-gloom as a beaming ray of all-smiles sunshine. Australia’s funniest horror comedy in years doesn’t mince expectancies about being an impossibly entertaining midnight riot. Walkers drool bloody saliva from their flesh-peeled mouths, but Forsythe’s focus is on true to life superheroes (teachers), doofy “fool in love” romantics, and a child-cheerful genre spin so contrastingly rooted in innocence. Movies like Little Monsters and Cooties are a dime a dozen, yet given how well-balanced, ferocious and endlessly entertaining Forsythe’s ode to unsung protectors is, one has to ask a simple question: Why?

Alexander England stars as the recently single slacker Dave, forced to bunk with sis Tess (Kat Stewart) and her tractor-obsessed son Felix (Diesel La Torraca). Dave’s ambitions of rockstar fame have lost momentum since God’s Sledgehammer disbanded, while Sara’s (Nadia Townsend) speedy rebound leaves...

Joel Jackson and Geraldine Hakewill.

Director Fiona Banks is tired of watching shows which depict women as victims, back-stabbers or characters who are pitted against each other.

So she was thrilled when she was offered Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, Every Cloud Productions’ spin off of the ABC series which starred Essie Davis as Phryne Fisher.

“The thing that drew me to the show from the word go is the genuine friendships between the women,” says Banks, who served as the set-up director for the first time in her illustrious career.

“These women support and encourage each other. These are good strong relationships. They are not always in agreement with each other and there is lot of humour and strength of character.”

Created by Fiona Eagger and Deb Cox and produced by Beth Frey, the four telemovies are set in 1964 and follow Geraldine Hakewill as Peregrine Fisher, who takes...

Roz Hammond and Bridie McKim in ‘The Heights’ (Photo: Ben King).

Roz Hammond rates her role in The Heights, the ABC drama serial from Matchbox Pictures and For Pete’s Sake Productions, as the best she’s ever had.

That’s a big call for the Waapa graduate who broke through as Cheryl, one of the “bitchy” bridesmaids in Paul J. Hogan’s Muriel’s Wedding in 1994.

Perhaps best known as a founding member of the cast in Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, she has featured in a raft of comedies including Please Like Me, The Librarians, It’s a Date and Upper Middle Bogan. She has shown her dramatic chops in Jack Irish, Offspring and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.

Co-created by Warren Clarke and Que Minh Luu and set in the fictional inner-city neighbourhood of Arcadia Heights, The Heights explores the relationships between a public housing tower...

Stars: Damian Hall, Ty Perham, Kat Stewart, Tony Nikolakopoulos, Arthur Angel, Kaarin Fairfax, Faye Smythe | Written and Directed by Jason Raftopoulos

It’s no secret that while these fair British Isles basically invented acting and movie-making, another country out there has a particular knack of making some tremendously emotional and jarringly real films and TV shows… Australia I am looking directly at you!

For years now I have championed some of the titles that come out of Australia (especially on the indie scene) the wealth of talent in front of and behind the camera is incredible. Look no further than TV shows like Underbelly or Wentworth; movies like Two Hands, Babadook, Chopper, Wolf Creek, Ned Kelly or Animal Kingdom to name a few.

Now I get to add West of Sunshine to my list of Aussie movies that more than deserve your attention.

I am a sucker for a movie...

(L-r) Roy Joseph, Doris Younane, Katie Robertson, Kat Stewart and Stephen Peacocke.

The Australian obsession with housing prices and affordability is the inspiration behind Five Bedrooms, Hoodlum Entertainment’s drama which started shooting in Melbourne today.

Commissioned by Network 10, the series features an ensemble cast led by Kat Stewart, Stephen Peacocke, Doris Younane, Katie Robertson, Roy Joseph, Kate Jenkinson and Hugh Sheridan.

Created by Michael Lucas and Christine Bartlett, the plot follows a group of very different people who find themselves at a singles table at a wedding.

After a few too many champagnes, wines, whiskeys and beers, the solution to all their problems seems to be buying a house together: A really big, five bedroom house.

Lucas tells If: “The idea of pooling together with friends to crack into the real estate market is something Christine and I have talked about for almost a decade now. As prices...

"Are these men bad?" "It's a bit tricky..." Uncork'd Entertainment has just debuted an official Us trailer for a crime drama titled West of Sunshine set in Australia, the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Jason Raftopoulos. This premiered at the Venice Film Festival back in 2017, but is just now getting a very small released in the Us. The film is about a father who has less than a day to pay back a debt to a violent loan shark, while his relationship with his young son is tested as his plans fall apart. Damian Hill stars as Jim, along with Ty Perham, Kat Stewart, Arthur Angel, Eliza D'Souza, and Kaarin Fairfax. This already opened in Australia last year and is heading to VOD here soon, for those interested in it. One of the quotes mentions Animal Kingdom, which is an exceptional Oz crime drama, but I don't think this one is that good.

‘Jirga’ won the Aacta for Best Indie Film.

Director Benjamin Gilmour’s Jirga took home the inaugural Aacta Award for Best Indie Film – designed to honour films made under $2 million – at the Aacta Industry Luncheon in Sydney yesterday.

The film, produced by John Maynard, beat out Strange Colours, Brothers’ Nest, West of Sunshine and The Second. Starring Sam Smith as a former Australian soldier who returns to Afghanistan seeking forgiveness, Jirga is also Australia’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the upcoming Academy Awards.

Some 35 awards were given away at yesterday’s Aacta event, hosted by actress Kat Stewart and comedian Nazeem Hussain. Other key feature film winners were Sweet Country and Ladies in Black, which each took home three gongs.

David Tranter and Steven McGregor won Best Original Screenplay for Sweet Country, while film’s director and Dop Warwick Thornton was honoured with the award for Best...

Nicole Kidman and Simon Baker.

Nicole Kidman, Simon Baker, Deborah Mailman, Bruce Beresford, Nash Edgerton, Celia Pacquola, Aaron Pedersen, Tina Bursill, Wayne Blair and Leah Purcell are among the nominees who will attend the 2018 Aacta Awards in Sydney on December 5.

Host Stephen Curry will be joined by an array of presenters including Rebecca Gibney, Marta Dusseldorp, Jack Thompson, Sigrid Thornton, Shane Jacobson, Rodger Corser, Erik Thomson, Nazeem Hussain, Kat Stewart, Julia Zemiro, Gina Riley, Jane Turner and Magda Szubanski.

Among other attendees at The Star Event Centre will be Phoebe Tonkin, Isabel Lucas, David Berry, Shaynna Blaze, Susie Porter, Nicole Da Silva, Daniel Henshall, Melina Vidler, Sara Wiseman, Ada Nicodemou, Gracie Otto, Matt Okine, Madeleine Madden and Lily Sullivan.

After wrapping his 8-month, 83-date ‘Nation of Two’ world tour, Vance Joy will perform, as will five-time Aria Award winner Katie Noonan in an ‘In Memoriam’ tribute.

Joel Edgerton and Simon...

The 58 recipients of Screen Australia's Gender Matters: Brilliant Stories and Brilliant Careers.funding, designed to address.the gender imbalance.in the screen industry, have been unveiled..

$3 million.will be shared.among 45 female-helmed film, TV and online projects and 13 career boosting initiatives. The announcement marked the largest cohort of projects funded in a single.day in Screen Australia's history. ..

Screen Australia started the Gender Matters program.late last year in response to the industry.s gender inequity.in key creative roles..In film, women make up around 32 per cent of producers, 23 per cent of writers and 16 per cent of directors. .

Screen Australia chief operating officer Fiona Cameron said Gender Matters was unashamedly providing .express lane. access to female business ideas and stories...

.The funding boost provided by Screen Australia has been a game-changer, providing the industry with an opportunity to get behind some very commercial and creative prospects. It.s now time for action,...

A Playmaker Media drama starring Jessica Marais and a reality series which reunites people with long-lost family members are among six new Australian shows for Network Ten in 2016.

The line-up includes Australian Survivor, All Star Family Feud, the spin-off I.m A Celebrity. Get Me Out Of Here! Now, and the previously announced telemovie Brock.

Ten said more new local series will be announced next year as it strives to build the momentum which saw the broadcaster record its highest commercial prime time shares since 2011 as audiences increased by 15 per cent this year.

In Playmaker Media's The Wrong Girl, Love Child star Marais will play Lily, a modern woman caught between two guys — one too good to be true and the other so wrong he might be Mr. Right.. Lily and her flatmate Simone are supposed to be taking a sabbatical from men but Lily falls in love with Jack,...

Offspring co-creator Debra Oswald hopes fans will enjoy the sixth season on Network Ten next year - but she won.t be part of it.

The network confirmed on Sunday that Asher Keddie will return as Dr Nina Proudman, with Kat Stewart as her sister Billie.

.Nina.s story and the story of her daughter Zoe, sister Billie, brother Jimmy, mother Geraldine and all her other family and friends is far from over,. Ten said.

However Oswald posted on Facebook, .I'm happy with where we took the story by the end of series 5 of Offspring. For that reason, I've chosen not to be part of season 6. I hope fans enjoy the new series..

Oswald created Offspring with John Edwards and Imogen Banks and worked on the drama for all five seasons. Banks and Edwards, who will produce the sixth season, an Endemol Shine Australia production, are assembling the creative team.

Jurassic World.s Jake Johnson and comedian Tim Minchin guest star in a 6-part improvised comedy that follows two detectives on a stakeout, produced by Jungleboys for Stan.

The streaming platform.s first original production, No Activity stars Patrick Brammall and Darren Gilshenan as the none-too-bright or industrious cops.

At a media lunch today Stan CEO Mike Sneesby revealed the service has more than 300,000 subscribers and has had more than 800,000 users since its Australia Day launch. That is ahead of Citi Research's estimates of 322,000 sign-ups and 153,000 paying customers.

"We have signed up well over 300,000 subscribers since launch," Sneesby tells If. "All of those subscribers enter credit cards at sign up.. We have seen around 70 per cent conversion from free to pay." Sneesby said Stan will soon extend its reach via adding game consoles, smart TVs and devices such as Roku, and it will have a dozen exclusives from now through...

This is a golden era for Australian feature documentaries as typified by the five critically-acclaimed titles in contention for the best feature doc prize at the fifth Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards.

Maya Newell.s Gayby Baby, Michael Ware and Bill Guttentag.s Only the Dead, Jen Peedom.s Sherpa, Damon Gameau.s That Sugar Film and Gillian Armstrong.s Women He.s Undressed are the nominees.

The Aacta Awards will be presented in Sydney in December, with the Seven Network telecasting the major awards on December 9.

Also revealed today were the nominees for best short animation and best short fiction film. In the running for the former are Adam Elliot.s Ernie Biscuit, Joe Brumm.s The Meek, Mikey Hill.s The Orchestra and Janette Goodey and John Lewis. The Story of Percival Pilts.

The nominees for best short fiction are Matt Holcomb.s Flat Daddy,...