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China’s vertical short drama boom took center stage on Hong Kong Filmart’s opening day, with a collection of the creatives driving the trend extolling the opportunities being offered in a market they predict will soon be worth around $14 billion annually.

“The rise of this format means that there are a lot of audiences who haven’t been satisfied by the current supply of the media market,” said Zhou Yuan, founder and CEO of the Beijing-based vertical film production house Content Republic.

For the uninitiated, the phase “vertical short drama” refers to series shot with a vertical rather than horizontal orientation so they can more easily be viewed on smartphones.

They first emerged on Snapchat and Instagram Stories before being picked up by the likes of the California-based ReelShort and Singapore’s DramaBox platforms. More recently, Chinese creators have come to dominate the market as TikTok and its Chinese...

Miranda Otto on set of Dance Academy: The Movie at Sydney Opera House. (Photo: Simon Cardwell). Miranda Otto (The Lord of The Rings, The Daughter, The Thin Red Line, Homeland) has joined the cast of Dance Academy: The Movie, which is currently shooting in Sydney before production moves to New York.

Otto will star in the role of artistic director of the National Ballet Company, Madeline Moncur, responsible for the new direction of the Company and choreographing its new works.

She joins previously announced cast members including Xenia Goodwin, Dena Kaplan, Thomas Lacey, Jordan Rodrigues, Alicia Banit, Keiynan Lonsdale, Tara Morice and Nic Westaway.

.Miranda Otto is one of my favourite actors on the planet. I can think of no greater artistic director — she is glitteringly beautiful, formidable but also brings a wonderful humanity to this key role,. said creator and writer Samantha Strauss.

Otto already has some connections with Dance Academy and its cast.

X Factor winner Cyrus will perform live on the red carpet at this year's Aacta Awards.

Rachel Griffiths and Teresa Palmer have also been anounced as presenters at tonight's ceremony at The Star Event Centre in Sydney.

Griffiths and Palmer will join guests and presenters including Mel Gibson, Radha Mitchell, nominee Patrick Brammall, Stephen Peacocke, Magda Szubanski, Megan Gale and Home and Away's Georgie Parker and Bonnie Sveen.

A highlight of the show will be the presentation of Australia.s highest screen award, the Aacta Longford Lyell Award, to Cate Blanchett..

Hugo Weaving (nominated for his performance in The Dressmaker) and Richard Roxburgh will present the Award, with a tribute from Gillian Armstrong and filmed tributes from Martin Scorsese, Robert Redford, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Ron Howard.

In a record-breaking year for Australian films at the local box office, anticipation around who will take home a golden statuette is hot.

Foxtel and Seven West Media's streaming platform Presto will stream its first local commission in a world premiere on December 9.

The exclusive special event, Home and Away: An Eye for an Eye, was made spcificially for the streaming service and sits immediately after the season finale of the regular series on Network Seven..

It centres on the Braxton family and will see the special guest return of two of Home and Away.s favourite characters, Heath (Dan Ewing) and Bianca (Lisa Gormley), to Summer Bay.

The Braxton family face their biggest challenge when Brax (Steve Peacocke) and Ricky.s (Bonnie Sveen) baby son Casey is kidnapped in a calculated act of revenge by Brax.s arch nemesis . Gunno (Diarmid Heidenreich) . the man responsible for his seeming .death..

It.s a race against time as Heath, Ash (George Mason) and Kyle (Nic Westaway) frantically search for baby Casey while Bianca,...

Home and Away star Steve Peacocke has spoken about his new Us film role for the first time, admitting that he was surprised to land the part so soon after leaving Summer Bay.

As announced earlier in the week, the actor has been cast in an untitled Paramount Pictures project starring Tina Fey and Margot Robbie. It will be based on Kim Barker's wartime memoir Taliban Shuffle, which is an account of her experiences as a terrorism and international affairs journalist.

Peacocke only filmed his final scenes as Home and Away's Darryl 'Brax' Braxton before Christmas and he will remain on screen in the long-running soap for months to come.

Speaking to the Aaa about his film success, Peacocke commented: "To land a role this soon was a bit unexpected but I'm looking forward to it. The cast and directors are all people whose work I've admired for a long time.

Home and Away star Steve Peacocke has revealed that fans can expect a furious reaction from his character Brax when he learns that his brother Heath is in serious danger. Back in November, Australian viewers saw Heath left for dead out at sea after being attacked by unstable Jamie Sharpe (Hugo Johnstone-Burt) in the soap's 2012 season finale. As the show's 2013 season kicks off, Heath's on-off love interest Bianca Scott (Lisa Gormley) is first to notice that he is missing, and she raises her concerns with Brax. With half-brother Kyle (Nic Westaway) backing him up, Brax has a dramatic showdown with Jamie, realising that he and his villainous father Adam (Martin Lynes) must be responsible. Peacocke told TV Week: "Bianca's genuinely worried, so [Brax] thinks, 'Okay, this is cause for concern'. He starts (more)...

Home and Away's Casey Braxton finds himself in a desperate situation on UK screens later this month after being kidnapped by mystery guy Kyle Bennett. Casey (Lincoln Younes) is knocked out and snatched by Kyle while on a camping trip with his brother Brax in the coming days. However, Brax fails to realise the danger that Casey is in, mistakenly believing that he must have gone on the run to avoid his upcoming murder trial. When Casey finally regains consciousness, he is stunned to find himself handcuffed out in the desert. Kyle (Nic Westaway) confronts him shortly afterwards, and Casey is shocked to learn that this stranger is another son of his late father Danny. Back in Summer Bay, Brax still has no idea what is going on and tells Natalie that he is cutting ties with Casey, furious over the implications of his disappearing act. Out in the desert,...