News

Thomas H. Brodek, a producer on the 1980s films The Aviator, starring Christopher Reeve; The Principal, starring Jim Belushi and Louis Gossett Jr.; and Transylvania 6-5000, starring Jeff Goldblum; has died. He was 86.

Brodek died June 15 of cancer at a hospice facility in Surprise, Arizona, his wife of 63 years, author and former Warner Bros. executive Lorraine Brodek, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Brodek served as a senior vp and executive producer for ABC Productions from 1990-2002, when he worked on two Stephen King miniseries, 1999’s Storm of the Century and 2002’s Rose Red; the 2003 telefilm The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer; and a 2004 series developed by the author, Kingdom Hospital.

Earlier, he was the executive in charge of production on another high-profile ABC miniseries, the 1981 adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden.

In 2009, Brodek was hired to produce the final four episodes of Showtime’s The Tudors in Ireland, and he...

Anni Browning and Dan Read.

Film Finances Australasia managing director Anni Browning today announced that she will step down from her position, and will be succeeded by Dan Read, who joined Film Finances in 2013 and was appointed as CEO in 2017.

However, Browning will continue in an advisory position for the completion guarantor company into the foreseeable future.

“Dan will do a wonderful job. He knows the people and the business really well. Under his care the company will continue to thrive.

“I have had a fabulous 22 years at Film Finances. But now it is time to hand over the tiller so I can go sailing. It has been a complete privilege to work with so many talented and ingenious filmmakers and help realise so many really wonderful films and TV shows,” Browning said.

“I am not going far and will continue to be available to Dan and our great team.

Steve McNeil May 12, 2017

Dara O Briain's Go 8-Bit returns to our screens next week - and Steve McNeil has been telling us more about it...

The smash-hit videogaming TV show Dara O’Briain’s Go 8 Bit returns to our screens next Monday at 10pm, along with a brand new spin-off show, Go 8 Bit Dlc, immediately afterwards. Ahead of the series’ premieres, we grabbed an exclusive chat with show co-creator, and team captain, Steve McNeil.

So, first of all, for anyone who’s not seen the show before – what is it?

It’s a comedy panel show, hosted by Dara O’Briain. We have two celebrity guests each week - one on my team, one on Sam Pamphilon’s [Steve’s long-time double-act partner] – and we all compete on videogames. The final ingredient is Ellie Gibson, a brilliant games journalist and comedian that explains the rules and tells us more about the games.

Australia.s pioneering entertainment lawyer Lloyd Hart has retired after nearly 45 years of service to the industry.

Arguably the first lawyer to specialise in entertainment law for the Australian film and television industry, he qualified as BA Llb in Brisbane, where he was born into a legal family and his father was a Supreme Court judge in Queensland.

He then travelled to the UK and Canada, gaining an Llm . Master of Laws . from London University. He started in the entertainment business in 1971 as in-house legal for the Australian Film Development Corporation, the first government funding agency, which was set up by the Gorton government in 1970. No film investment contracts existed at that time because there had never before been government funds available to be invested. As there were no precedents he had to create the basic development and investment contracts from scratch. In 1975 when the Australian Film Commission replaced the Afdc,...

Richard Soames, a well-known and influential figure in the Australian screen industry for 30 years, has died at his home in Los Angeles, aged 78. Soames was the long-time CEO of completion guarantor Film Finances, the first company to provide completion guarantees at the introduction of the 10Ba tax incentives in 1981. The London-born Soames joined Film Finances in the early 1970s and expanded the business in the Us, Canada and Australia. "Richard was such a part of the scene down here in the 80s and 90s," said Sue Milliken, who represented Film Finances in Australia until Anni Browning took over as MD in 2010. "He visited at least three times a year, travelled all over the country to film locations and he was on the telex and later the fax and email on a daily basis no matter where he was in the world. Our working relationship was a fantastic one, based totally on trust.