News

Taika Waititi, Mia Wasikowska, David Walliams, Richard Roxburgh, Penelope Wilton, Blake Harrison and Robyn Nevin are set to star alongside newcomer Iona Bell in the screen adaptation of David Walliams’ international best-selling children’s book “Fing.” Variety reported in November that Waititi was in talks to star in the film.

The fantasy feature film is co-written by Walliams and Kevin Cecil, with director Jeffrey Walker at the helm.

Principal filming has commenced at Screen Queensland Studios in Brisbane, Australia, secured through Screen Queensland’s Production Attraction Strategy.

The film is an official Australian U.K. co-production led by Jo Sargent from London-based King Bert Productions, and Todd Fellman from Queensland’s Story Bridge Films; with AGC Studios co-financing and handling worldwide sales and distribution.

Transmission Films will release theatrically in Australia and New Zealand, with Stan premiering as a Stan Original on SVOD.

Sky is co-financing and has developed the project in the U.

If spoke with Netflix Anz director of content Que Minh Luu, Stan’s chief content officer Cailah Scobie, Prime Video Australia and New Zealand head of content Alexandra Gilbert about their approach to local content in 2025.

The post ‘Ultimately, everyone is working towards the same goal’: Netflix, Stan, and Prime Video on telling local stories in 2025 appeared first on If Magazine.

Exclusive: Lydia West, Abbie Cornish and Brooke Satchwell are among high-profile acting talent leading Stan’s tenth anniversary slate, we can reveal.

The Australian streamer is today unveiling its latest TV series, films and acquisitions at a splashy showcase event held at Linseed House at the Grounds of Alexandria in Sydney. In total, it unveiled 14 originals — three scripted series, six features and five docs — along with a host of acquisitions.

On the originals front, Stan’s Chief Content Officer Cailah Scobie and Head of Originals Amanda Duthie are announcing the likes of He Had It Coming, Love Divided By Eleven and Whale Shark Jack, and a horror-comedy series, Gnomes.

He Had it Coming stars Lydia West (It’s a Sin), Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Ahsoka: Star Wars) and Liv Hewson (Yellowjackets). It follows Elise (West), an awkward English scholarship student who forms an unlikely alliance with fashion influencer Barbara (Liu Bordizzo) after...

An adaptation of the classic novel, Lord of the Flies, has officially begun filming. The BBC production recently revealed the cast for the upcoming series, as well as the first set photo of the iconic island the youngsters find themselves trapped on.

Per Deadline, filming on Jack Thorne's Lord of the Flies series is currently underway in Malaysia. The upcoming series is an adaptation of the iconic William Golding novel of the same name, which centers around a group of young boys who are stranded on a remote island and their struggles to create a sustainable society for themselves. The BBC reportedly cast many unknown actors to play the many memorable characters from the novel, some without any prior acting experience. The series stars David McKenna as Piggy, Winston Sawyers as Ralph, Lox Pratt as Jack, Isaac Talbut as Simon, Thomas Connor as Roger, Cornelius Brandreth as Maurice, Tom Page-Turner as Bill,...

The BBC and Stan have unveiled a cast of up-and-comers for Jack Thorne’s Lord of the Flies adaptation, with Hans Zimmer set to do the score.

The networks said they cast following an open call with many actors who don’t have previous experience. David McKenna will play Piggy alongside Winston Sawyers as Ralph, Lox Pratt as Jack, Isaac Talbut as Simon, and Thomas Connor as Roger. Noah and Cassius Flemyng have been cast as the twins Sam and Eric, with Cornelius Brandreth as Maurice, and Tom Page-Turner as Bill, alongside an ensemble of more than 20 other boys playing the desert island camp’s “big ‘uns” and “little ‘uns”.

Zimmer, who has also scored upcoming BBC drama Virdee, will do the music with Kara Talve (Tattooist of Auschwitz, Prehistoric Planet) for Bleeding Fingers Music.

Lord of the Flies is an iconic 1950s story from William Golding of a group...

Exclusive: Will Forte and D’Arcy Carden have been cast as leads in darkly comic drama series Sunny Nights for Australian streamer Stan. As we revealed in March, Trent O’Donnell is directing and exec producing, and Echo Lake Entertainment is among the producers.

Sunny Nights will follow siblings Martin (Forte) and Vicki (Carden) Marvin who venture to Sydney determined to start their spray tan business. When they get caught up in the city’s criminal underworld, they must figure out how to stay alive, out of prison and in the black. It’s billed as “a story of how a little bit of sun, a change of scenery, and a touch of violent crime can help a person find their true self.”

The series continues a recent trend for Nine Entertainment-owned streamer Stan to order plot-driven comedy-dramas with a mix...

Exclusive: Stan is saying goodbye to the Chalmers-Davis family.

The Australian streamer has put a fifth and final season of Bump into production, with filming underway in Sydney. The comedy-drama is Stan’s longest-running local scripted series, with the first season having launched back in January 2021.

The show is centered around ambitious teenage girl Oly, who unexpectedly has a baby, and the complications that follow for the Davis and Chalmers families.

The final season will hint at the future for the lead characters, jumping between past and present, as they face the cancer diagnosis of Oly’s mother Angie (Claudia Karvan) and try to celebrate the joy of Oly’s second pregnancy. Stan is providing the audience with a chance to be an extra by providing 30-second videos explaining what they’d like to see happen in the final episodes.

Nathalie Morris (We Were Dangerous), who plays Oly, will return...

Production has begun on a second season of “Scrublands,” the Australian crime thriller series starring Luke Arnold (“Black Sails”) and Bella Heathcote.

With action set a year after the events of the first season, award-winning investigative journalist Martin Scarsden (Arnold) has returned to his coastal hometown, Port Silver, in Western Australia, to set up a new life with partner Mandy Bond (Heathcote). When he arrives to find his childhood friend Jasper brutally murdered and Bond the prime suspect, Scarsden struggles with doubts – about Bond and about his own ability to recognize the truth. As he pushes forward to find the real murderer and absolve Bond, Scarsden confronts secrets about Port Silver and his long-buried past.

The series is directed by Ben Young and written by Felicity Packard, Fiona Kelly and Jock Serong. It is based on “Silver,” the best-selling novel by Chris Hammer that is a sequel to the author’s “Scrublands” title.

Exclusive: Luke Carroll (The Artful Dodger), Debra Lawrance (Please Like Me) and David Roberts (Please Like Me) are among the new stars of Australian drama Scrublands, which is gearing up for its second season on Stan and 9 Network.

Also starring alongside returning leads Luke Arnold and Bella Heathcote in Scrublands: Silver are Tasma Walton (The Twelve), Luke Pegler (Hacksaw Ridge), Caroline Brazier (Year Of), Joel Jackson (Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door), Toby Truslove (La Brea), Sarah Roberts (Home and Away), Hamish Michael (The Twelve), Radek Jonak (The Surfer) and Damian De Montemas (Hounds of Love).

Above you can see an exclusive first-look image of season 2, with filming now underway in Augusta, Western Australia.

The season is being adapted from author Chris Hammer’s novel ‘Silver’, and here are some new plot details: A year after the life changing events of season 1, investigative journalist Martin Scarsden (Arnold...

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...

AMC Networks announced today that the four-part Australian rural noir crime drama Scrublands will premiere on Thursday, May 2, on Sundance Now and AMC+, with additional episodes dropping weekly on both platforms.

Based on Chris Hammer’s award-winning and bestselling crime novel by the same name, the captivating series follows a country town grappling with the aftermath of a horrible crime, still trying to come to terms with it a year on.

In an isolated and struggling country town, a charismatic and dedicated priest, Father Byron Swift, calmly opens fire on his congregation, killing five parishioners. One year later, investigative journalist Martin Scarsden arrives in Riversend to write what should be a simple feature story on the anniversary of the tragedy.

But when Martin’s instincts kick in, and he digs beneath the surface, the previously accepted narrative begins to fall apart, and he finds himself in a life-and-death race to uncover the truth.

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.

Exclusive: The CW, Roku and Australia’s Stan are working up Good Cop/Bad Cop, a comedic crime procedural with Jeff Wachtel’s Future Shack Entertainment and Jungle Entertainment.

Good Cop/Bad Cop stars Gossip Girls alumna Leighton Meester in her return to the CW, Clancy Brown (Dexter: New Blood) and Australian actor Luke Cook (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina). The series comes from writer John Quaintance (Will & Grace) and marks the latest international co-production for Stan, The CW and Roku, all of which have identified the model as core to their strategies.

Cook and Meester play a brother-sister detective team in a small Pacific Northwest police force who must contend with colourful residents, a serious lack of resources, their very complicated dynamic with each other and their police chief, Big Hank (Clancy Brown), who happens to be their father.

Production on the original series begins soon in Queensland, Australia, with Jungle Entertainment...

Jessica Mauboy, star of 2013 Australian breakout hit “The Sapphires,” returns to a leading film role for the first time in over a decade in family feature “Windcatcher.”

Directed by Tanith Glynn-Maloney, from a screenplay by Boyd Quakawoot, the film is branded as a Stan Original and will play on the Australia-only streamer from March 28.

Set in a small country town, “Windcatcher” follows the unlikely friendship between Percy Boy, newcomer Keithy Cobb and the spirited Daisy Hawkins, as they band together to take the local school sports day title from a group of grade five bullies. But as Percy Boy trains with the help of his mates, he then discovers his supernatural ability to see lost souls – a gift passed down from his grandfather. Percy Boy must overcome his fears, prove his resilience and become a force to be reckoned with.

Mauboy, who is an iconic figure in Australian entertainment has...

“Fool Me Once” star Michelle Keegan is set to return for a second season of “Ten Pound Poms.”

Set in post-war Britain, the U.K.-Australian co-production follows a group of Brits as they leave behind their dreary lives to seek adventure down under. (In Australia “Pom” is a nickname for British people).

Keegan stars as nurse Kate Thorne in the show, which was created by “Fool Me Once” screenwriter Danny Brocklehurst.

Season 2 will pick up as Thorne tries to turn her Australian dream into reality as well as introducing some new characters who are sure to bring the drama, including the Skinner family, who have arrived from Ireland, and an unscrupulous landlord called Benny Bates.

Faye Marsay (“Black Mirror”) and Warren Brown (“Luther”) will also reprise their roles in the show alongside Rob Collins (“Mystery Road”) as Ron, Leon Ford (“Elvis) as Bill, Declan Coyle (“Long Black”) as Stevie,...

Exclusive: Superstore star Ben Feldman will lead Australian comedy crime caper Population 11.

Lionsgate, streamer Stan and Phil Lloyd and Trent O’Donnell from No Activity producer Jungle Entertainment have teamed for the 12-part series ahead of a March 14 launch in Australia.

The series, which Jungle produces Entertainment in association with Factor 30 Films, has been quietly shooting in Western Australia’s Kimberley Region. We’ve now got full cast details, a trailer (see below) and first-look images.

Based on true events, the series is based around a man, Hugo, who goes missing from a tiny outback town of only 12 residents. His son, Andy Pruden (Feldman), a suburban Ohio bank teller, has journeyed across the world to visit and is alarmed when he discovers he is missing. Andy teams with another outsider Cassie (Perry Mooney) on a quest to find his father, and the pair find themselves in increasing danger as they...

Exclusive: Here’s your first look at Stan’s upcoming mega-church drama Prosper.

The Lionsgate family drama stars Richard Roxburgh (Rake, Elvis, Stan Original Series Bali 2002) as Cal Quinn, the founder and global pastor of one of the fastest growing megachurches in the world, and Rebecca Gibney, as his wife Abi Quinn.

Stan says the show, which we first revealed in March, takes a “provocative peek behind the curtain of power and privilege.”

The ensemble cast includes Ewen Leslie (Stan Original Series Bali 2002, The Stranger), Ming-Zhu Hii (La Brea, Peter Rabbit), Jacob Collins-Levy (Stan Original Film True History of the Kelly Gang, The Witcher: Blood Origin), Hayley McCarthy, Jordi Webber (Nomad, Deadlands, Power Ranger) Jacek Koman (Moulin Rouge!, Children of Men, Rake), Andrea Solonge (Class of ’07, Privileged), Brigid Zengeni (Stan Original Series Totally Completely Fine, The Secret She Keeps), Alex Fitzalan (The Wilds, Slender Man) and Alexander D’Souza.

Amid breaking news coverage of the attacks on Israel, Fremantle has decided against bringing the Australian satirical comedy C*A*U*G*H*T, which stars and is executive produced by Sean Penn, to MIPCOM for promotion and international sales amid the expanding conflict with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

“In light of the current situation unfolding in Israel, we have taken the decision not to showcase C*A*U*G*H*T at MIPCOM this year. At this time, our hearts and thoughts are with our colleagues and our partners in Israel, and all those affected,” a Fremantle spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The Stan original comedy follows four Australian soldiers who are sent on a secret mission to a war-torn country. Mistaken for Americans, they are captured by freedom fighters and appear in a hostage video that goes viral.

When the soldiers reach celebrity status, they decide being caught might just be the best...

C*A*U*G*H*T, the Sean Penn-starring war satire series, is opting out of next week’s Mipcom Cannes following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East.

“In light of the current situation unfolding in Israel, we have taken the decision not to showcase C*A*U*G*H*T at Mipcom this year,” said a spokesman from the show’s distributor, Fremantle. “At this time, our hearts and thoughts are with our colleagues and our partners in Israel, and all those affected.”

Meanwhile, UK streamer Itvx is delaying its launch of the show, having been due to launch on Thursday (October 12), as we reported last week.

Penn, creator Kick Gurry and Matthew Fox were due to attend the international TV confab next week to promote the show in a Media Mastermind Keynote on October 18 at 12pm local time in France, alongside distributor Fremantle.

Sean Penn, whose Volodymyr Zelenskyy documentary “Superpower” recently launched on Paramount+, will be on the iconic stage of Cannes’s Grand Auditorium later this month — but it won’t be for a movie.

The Oscar winner is set to attend Mipcom, the international TV conference, alongside Matthew Fox (“Lost”) and Kick Gurry (“Edge of Tomorrow”) to discuss their wartime satire series “C*A*U*G*H*T” as part of a Media Mastermind Keynote on Oct. 18. Penn, who stars and serves as executive producer on the show, will participate in a panel discussion with Fox and Curry. The session will see them discuss ways in which the series explores themes of identity, fame and social media absurdities.

Landing a Hollywood star like Penn is a massive coup for Mipcom, which has sought to raise its profile within a competitive landscape for industry events.

A Stan original, “C*A*U*G...

Sean Penn, Matthew Fox, and Kick Gurry are heading to Mipcom Cannes to talk about their satirical comedy series C*A*U*G*H*T.

In a major coup for the TV market, they’ll discuss the Australian show in an exclusive Media Mastermind Keynote on Wednesday, October 18 at 12pm local time in France, alongside distributor Fremantle.

Two-time Academy Award winner actor Penn, who serves as an executive producer (and acts as himself in the series), will feature in the panel in at the Palais des Festivales’ Grand Auditorium, alongside Fox (Lost), and Curry (Edge of Tomorrow), moderated by TV and film critic Rhianna Dhillon.

The session will feature footage and an ‘In Conversation with’ segment featuring Penn, Fox and Gurry, bringing insights about approach taken for the series, which explores themes of identity, fame, and the absurdity of the viral age and looks to comedically deconstructs the intellectual ideas humanity faces.

Susan Sarandon, playing the U.S. Secretary of State Alaska Adams, gets the better of Bryan Brown, as the Australian prime minister, in a fast-paced verbal duel that represents the first footage from the Sean Penn-produced satirical comedy series “C*A*U*G*H*T.”

An elite team of Aussie soldiers is sent to an island nation to retrieve a secret file that has gone astray. Mistaken for Americans, they are captured by freedom fighters and produce a hostage video that goes viral. When the soldiers achieve celebrity status on social media, they realize that being caught might just be the best thing that could’ve happened to them.

“C*A*U*G*H*T” explores themes of identity, fame, and the absurdity of the viral age. “Why can’t we comedically deconstruct the intellectual ideas that humanity is facing right now?” says Kick Gurry who directs, produces and stars in the six-part series.

Exclusive: Stan has ordered a trio of original drama series as part of its content boss Cailah Scobie has called “a massive week” for the Australian streamer.

We can reveal Stan has commissioned Bluey producer Ludo Studio to make eight-part road series Thou Shalt Not Steal, and also ordered coastal mystery thriller Exposure and Invisible Boys, a contemporary drama about a closeted gay teenager in small-town Western Australia. A trio of UK-based international distributors have signed on for the shows.

Stan has been working closely with international partners as it builds out its slate, with Deadline in the past year revealing comedy series C*A*U*G*H*T, which stars Sean Penn and Matthew Fox, and epic family drama Prosper, developed with Lionsgate.

“The shows are representative of our entire slate,” Stan Chief Content Officer Scobie said of the new originals in an exclusive interview with Deadline. “We back distinctive voices and tell Australia...

Exclusive: Two-time Oscar winner and Gaslit star Sean Penn and Lost‘s Matthew Fox are set as leads of an Australian satirical comedy series for streaming service Stan. The pair will star in C*A*U*G*H*T, a six-part series from Kick Gurry (Edge of Tomorrow) that takes aim at fame and stardom.

Joining them are series creator Gurry, Bella Heathcote (Bloom), Bryan Brown (Bloom), Erik Thomson (Black Snow), Ben O’Toole (Hacksaw Ridge), Lincoln Younes (After the Verdict), Alexander England (Black Snow), Mel Jarnson (Mortal Kombat), Fayssal Bazzi (Stateless), Dorian Nkono (The Twelve) and Rebecca Breeds (Clarice).

Stan plans to launch the series, which is in production, in 2023. It is producing in association with Fremantle, which also has international distribution rights and has struck an exclusive UK deal with ITV’s upcoming streaming service, Itvx.

Satirical comedy C*A*U*G*H*T follows four Australian soldiers sent...

“Sex Education” producer Eleven has cast “Ten Pound Poms,” a drama series from “Brassic” creator Danny Brocklehurst for BBC and Australian streamer Stan.

Michelle Keegan (“Brassic”), Faye Marsay (“Game of Thrones”) and Warren Brown (“The Responder”) lead the cast alongside Australian actors Rob Collins (“Mystery Road”), Leon Ford (“Elvis”), Declan Coyle (“Long Black”), David Field (“Shantaram”), Stephen Curry (“Hounds of Love”), Hattie Hook (“Savage River”), Finn Treacy (“The Portable Door”) and Emma Hamilton (“The Tudors”).

The six-part series follows a group of Brits as they leave dreary post-war Britain in 1956 to embark on a life-altering adventure on the other side of the world, in sun-soaked Australia. But life down under isn’t exactly the idyllic dream the new arrivals have been promised.

Brocklehurst said: “ ‘Ten Pounds Poms’ demands an ensemble cast that we are always rooting for, actors we love and want to succeed. I am thrilled to have found those actors.

Sex Education producer Eleven is behind a British/Australian drama series about a group of expats in the 1950s for the BBC and Aussie SVoD Stan.

The Stranger and Brassic writer Danny Brocklehurst is penning Ten Pound Poms, a rare co-production between the British and Australian networks.

The six-parter, which films shortly in Australia, follows a group of Brits as they leave dreary post-war Britain in 1956 to embark on a life-altering adventure on the other side of the world. At the heart of the drama is the Roberts family, who try to look for ways to make the best of their situation but the poor living conditions at the migrant hostel and local attitudes towards immigrants test them in ways they couldn’t have imagined. And they aren’t the only people at the hostel avoiding the truth.

Sex Education indie Eleven is producing, having been behind the Netflix global...

Netflix’s global hit drama series “Clickbait” was conceived and shot in Melbourne but the settings were California. If it were commissioned today, it would more likely have kept an Australian accent too.

“Clickbait was commissioned out of the global team, but now that the Anz team is operating, we are here to make Australian stories,” said Que Minh Luu, Netflix director of content, Australia and New Zealand recently.

There is a need for local stories to please individual market, but as successes like Korea’s “Squid Game” and Spain’s “La Casa de Papel” have demonstrated, local stories are also increasingly able to cross borders.

Luu was speaking at last month’s Screen Forever conference, taking place in person for the first time in two years, on the Gold Coast. Amazon, Stan, Binge and Paramount Plus (newly launched Down Under) were also present and were, similarly, promising to bolster their Australian content commitments.

Exclusive: Australia’s Stan and 9Network have commenced production on Bali 2002, based on the terrorist attacks on the nation’s tourist hotspots 20 years ago, with distributor Banijay Rights launching at yesterday’s London Screenings showcase.

The show is the first to be co-commissioned between Stan and 9Network and features the likes of Rachel Griffiths (Total Control), Richard Roxburgh (Rake) and Claudia Jessie (Bridgerton). Banijay labels Endemol Shine Australia and Screentime are producing.

Based on the 2002 terrorist attacks on Bali’s tourist hotspots, the four-parter explores how everyday heroes from Bali, Australia and beyond defied the odds to bring order from chaos and hope from despair.

Airing later this year, distributor Banijay Rights launched sales yesterday at its London Screenings showcase alongside a wealth of dramas and entertainment tentpoles.

Stan Chief Content Officer Callah Scobie said: “Bali 2002 promises to be a powerful, inspiring and sensitively told drama series that pays respect to everyday heroes from Australia,...

Stan Original The Tourist, starring Jamie Dornan, Danielle Macdonald, Shalom Brune-Franklin and Damon Herriman, will premiere January 2.

The six-part mystery-thriller is created and written by Harry and Jack Williams of Two Brothers Pictures, producers of Fleabag whose credits also include Baptiste, The Missing and Lair.

Dornan stars as a British man (‘The Man’) who finds himself in the glowing red heart of the Australian outback, pursued by a vast tank truck trying to drive him off the road. An epic cat and mouse chase unfolds and The Man later wakes in hospital, hurt, but somehow alive – except he has no idea who he is. With merciless figures from his past pursuing him, The Man’s search for answers propels him through the vast and unforgiving outback.

Also starring are Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (Trapped, The Missing) and Alex Dimitriades (The End, The Cry) and Damon Herriman (Mindhunter, Justified).

The Williams brothers executive produce with Christopher Aird,...

Sam Neill, Christoph Waltz and Patrick Gibson will head the cast of “The Portable Door,” a fantasy adventure film adapted from the series of novels by Patrick Holt.

The film is now shooting in Queensland, Australia, with Jeffrey Walker directing from a script by Leon Ford (“Griff the Invisible”).

The story sees two lowly, put-upon interns at a mysterious London firm, J.W. Wells & Co., become steadily aware that their employers are anything but conventional. The charismatic villains who run the company are disrupting the world of magic by bringing modern corporate strategy to ancient magical practices.

The film is a Jim Henson Company and Story Bridge Films production and is produced by Blanca Lista from Henson and Todd Fellman from Story Bridge.

Sales agent Arclight Films is handling worldwide rights for all territories outside of North America, Australia and New Zealand. Sky will release the film as a Sky Original in the U.

Matt Nable will make his directorial debut with Stan Original feature Transfusion, a thriller set to star Sam Worthington and Phoebe Tonkin.

Shooting now in Sydney, the film sees Worthington play Ryan Logan, a former Special Forces operative who is battling to cope with life after the loss of his wife (Tonkin) and is thrust into the criminal underworld to keep his only son from being taken from him.

Nable directs from his own script and will play a character known as Johnny. Also starring is new talent Edward Carmody, who will play Billy Logan, Ryan’s son.

John and Michael Schwarz from Deeper Water Films are the producers, with Transfusion marking the second Stan original film for the company following Anthony Hayes’ Gold.

Cailah Scobie, Paul Wiegard, Will Clarke, Andy Mayson and Mike Runagall are the executive producers.

Michael Schwarz said: “In Transfusion we’ve found a movie that...

Sam Worthington (“Avatar”) has signed on for crime thriller “Transfusion.” Altitude Media Group will represent the project at the upcoming Cannes Marche du Film (June 21-25).

The feature is helmed by actor, writer and director Matt Nable (“Arrow”) and represents his directorial debut. He previously wrote biker film “Outlaws”.

It began shooting in Sydney, Australia earlier this week.

Worthington is joined by fellow Australian Phoebe Tonkin (“The Vampire Diaries”) in the film, about a former Special Forces operative who finds himself in a criminal underworld as he tries to keep his son from being abducted.

“Transfusion” is produced by John Schwarz and Michael Schwarz of Deeper Water Films. Cailah Scobie from Stan and Paul Wiegard from Madman Entertainment will executive produce. Altitude Media’s Will Clarke, Andy Mayson and Mike Runagall will also executive produce.

“In ‘Transfusion’ we’ve found a movie that has that special combination of visceral action and achingly beautiful emotion,...

Sam Worthington and Phoebe Tonkin are starring in Matt Nable’s directorial debut, Transfusion. The thriller, which also features Nable, is about a former Special Forces operative thrust into the criminal underworld to keep his only son from being taken from him. Production began in Sydney earlier this week and Altitude has added it to its slate with international sales launching at the Cannes Market.

Transfusion is produced by John Schwarz and Michael Schwarz through Deeper Water Films, with executive producers Cailah Scobie from Stan, Paul Wiegard from Madman Entertainment and Will Clarke, Andy Mayson and Mike Runagall of Altitude Media.

The Stan Original Film will premiere on Stan in Australia in 2022 after a theatrical release through Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand.

Nable is also a writer and actor who recently appeared in Oz hit The Dry. Other acting credits include Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge and FX series Mr Inbetween.

Production underway earlier this week in Australia.

UK firm Altitude will launch international sales on Australian writer-director Matt Nable’s thriller Transfusion at the online Pre-Cannes Screenings next week (June 21-25).

The film began production in Sydney earlier this week and stars Sam Worthington, Phoebe Tonkin and Nable in the story of a former Special Forces operative thrust into the criminal underworld in an effort to keep his only son from being taken from him.

John Schwarz and Michael Schwarz are producing for Australia’s Deeper Water Films, with executive producers Cailah Scobie from Australian streaming service Stan, Paul Wiegard...

Stan has launched a matched development fund with the South Australian Film Corporation (Safc), putting out a call for “bold and distinctive” scripted series.

The aim is to develop shows with complex characters set in unusual worlds or situations that merit high production values, resulting in scripted series of “world-class scope and scale”.

The projects must be original, serialised, returnable, and intended for production and post-production in South Australia.

Stan has shot a number of its originals in Sa, including Wolf Creek, A Sunburnt Christmas, Gold and current production The Tourist, a co-order with the BBC and HBO.

Its development fund with the Safc follows funds with other state agencies Film Victoria and Screen Queensland.

Applications are open from today for the first round, taking selected projects from concept to pitch-ready stage.

Following pitching to Stan, two of the projects will then be selected for a further round of development and commissioning consideration,...