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Poster art by Jeremy Love.

1967, the height of the Red Scare. Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt is embroiled in a power struggle after discovering his spymaster has illegally investigated and exposed Red sympathisers embedded within Holt's administration.

That's the premise for an ambitious new Australian short film set in the period leading up to the Holt's famous disappearance at Victoria's Cheviot Beach.

The Defector is written, directed and produced by Scott Mannion and executive produced by Antonia Barnard, Nick Cole, Greg Dick and Simon de Bruyn, who describes the short as "an Australian spy film made to world class standards."

Mannion came to de Bruyn's attention in his capacity as an acquisitions executive with international sales agent and production company Xyz Films..

"As part of my role at Xyz, and its joint venture Xyz-gfc, I am tracking some of the best genre talent in this region and Scott had quickly...

Though actors, writers, and directors often receive the lion’s share of the credit for the success of a film, there are plenty of people behind the scenes that do marvelous, unsung work. Take legendary Hollywood costume designer Orry-Kelly for instance, who put his signature on such films like “Casablanca,” “42nd Street,” “An American in Paris,” and more. The new documentary “Women He’s Undressed” explores the life and career of Orry-Kelly by mixing recreations of his life with testimonies from intimates and admirers in order to better understand one of the godfathers of glamour. Some of the interviewees include Jane Fonda, Angela Lansbury, Leonard Maltin, and more. Watch an exclusive clip from the film below featuring a discussion about Orry-Kelly’s work on Billy Wilder’s “Some Like It Hot.”

Read More: Coronado Island Film Festival to Launch Inaugural Event With ‘Some Like it Hot,’ Leonard Maltin and More...

On June 27, Text Classics is publishing two of Helen Garner.s screenplays, for 1986's Two Friends and 1992's The Last Days of Chez Nous, with an afterword by screenwriter Laura Jones (High Tide, The Potrait of a Lady, Brick Lane).

Jones is the recipient of the 2016 Australian Writers' Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, and will be appearing in conversation with Holding the Man's Tommy Murphy at an Awg event in Sydney next week.

Two Friends was directed by Jane Campion and released as a made for television feature in 1986, while The Last Days of Chez Nous was directed by Gillian Armstrong and starred Lisa Harrow, Bruno Ganz and Kerry Fox.

Courtesty of Text, Jones' afterword is reproduced below.

All Those Tears, by Laura Jones

Most of us watch films but don.t read screenplays. They are odd pieces of writing because they only exist in order to become something else.

Judy Davis on the Sff red carpet with the winners of the Lexus Short Film Fellowship.

As the Lexus Short Film Fellowship jury chair, Judy Davis last week selected four young filmmakers - Alex Ryan, Anya Beyersdorf, Alex Murawski and Brooke Goldfinch - to receive $50,000 each to make a short that will premiere at next year's Sydney Film Festival.

The gender parity of the winners was a coincidence, Davis told If.

"On this jury, there was no quota, and I chose the films I liked. But as the afternoon wore on, it became clear it was looking like two and two. And one of the other members of the jury said, 'that's really good'."

Asked for her opinion on quotas, Davis said she wonders whether they might "breed resentment and mistrust", and argued instead for a shift in mindset: "that gradual but inevitable realisation that the female voice can be a profound voice,...

Laura Jones, the winner of the inaugural Awg Lifetime Achievement Award and screenwriter of Brick Lane, will appear in conversation with Holding the Man scribe Tommy Murphy later this month.

Jones has worked with Gillian Armstrong on High Tide and Oscar and Lucinda, with Jane Campion on An Angel at My Table and A Portrait of a Lady, with Samantha Lang on The Well and Jocelyn Moorhouse on A Thousand Acres.

As well as Holding the Man, Murphy has written episodes of Spirited, Offspring and Devil's Playground.

The event will be held at Sydney's Harlequin Hotel on June 28.

www.awg.com.au/index.php?option=com_awgevents&layout=event&eid=137&Itemid=122...

Australian actress Claudia Karvan is set to receive the 2016 Chauvel Award as part of the 14th annual Gold Coast Film Festival..

The Chauvel Award, named in honour of Charles Chauvel, commenced in 1993 and acknowledges an individual who has made significant contribution to Australian cinema.

On April 9, the Gold Coast Film Festival will welcome audiences to David Stratton In Conversation With Claudia Karvan..

The night will be an intimate look at Karvan.s career, accompanied by footage from her films and moderated by film critic and previous Chauvel Award recipient, David Stratton..

Stratton said he was looking forward to the event.

.I have known Claudia since she started acting and even appeared in a film with her once — something I.m certain will be referred to in our informal chat," he said. .

"Her career has gone from strength to strength, and she is unquestionably one of our finest actors..

Karvan.Karvan...

Laura Jones.

Laura Jones will receive the inaugural Australian Writers. Guild Lifetime Achievement Award at this year.s National Screenwriters. Conference.

A joint initiative of the Awg and Foxtel, the Lifetime Achievement Award is decided by a unanimous vote of the Awg National Executive Committee, and recognises significant contribution to the Australian screen industry. .

Jones' screenwriting credits include Angela.s Ashes, Possession, A Thousand Acres, Oscar and Lucinda, The Portrait of a Lady, An Angel at My Table, Hightide and Brick Lane. .

.Laura.s characters and stories resonate powerfully with audiences and bring a uniquely Australian perspective to the world,. said Foxtel.s Group Director of Corporate Affairs Bruce Meagher..

.She has achieved a sustained critical and commercial success throughout an entire career which is a brilliant feat for an Australian feature film writer. We are delighted that Laura is the inaugural recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award..

Australian Writers. Guild President,...

Antony I. Ginnane has long been concerned about what he regards as a high level of film illiteracy among many writers, producers and directors, both established and emerging.

And the veteran producer/distributor believes that even among those filmmakers who are steeped in screen history, some have little or no knowledge of the countless classic films produced in the decades before the 1970s.

That.s part of the motivation for Ginnane.s new book, The Unusual Suspects: 104 Films That Made World Cinema, which Currency Press is launching next month.

His eclectic choices range from D.W. Griffith.s Way Down East (1920) through to Quentin Tarantino.s Kill Bill Volume 1 (2003).

Omitting any title produced after 2003, he explains, does not suggest that no great films had been made since then, but rather that the grammar of cinema had already been laid down.

He is quick to point out his list, which includes Alfred Hitchcock.s Vertigo,...

It’s the classic time travel question – would you kill a dangerous killer in their crib, before they’ve actually done anything? Well, what is you weren’t sure the baby was going to do anything? What if you were asked to…

Kill The Moon

By Peter Harness

Directed by Paul Whilmshurst

Clara speaks to the entire Earth – they run the risk of the Earth being destroyed if they don’t kill an innocent being. “The man who normally helps” is nowhere to be found, and a decision must be made. Flashing backwards, we learn that Coal Hill student Courtney Woods has not reacted well to her brief run on the Tardis. The Doctor told her she “wasn’t special”, a comment she’s taken to heart. Clara asks him to apologize; he instead offers her a chance to be the first woman on the Moon.

Alas, all is not well there.

You will remember Harry Melling as the obese and cruel Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films, but you may not recognise him today.

The 25-year-old actor has appeared in a number of iconic stage plays on both sides of the Atlantic, and is about to go on tour with a brand new production titled The Angry Brigade by James Graham.

Digital Spy caught up with Melling to see what he has been up to since waving goodbye to Dudley back in 2010.

Harry is the grandson of Doctor Who actor Patrick Troughton

"I come from quite an actor family so I definitely grew up watching theatre from a young age, and always knew there was something magical about that. And always knew that I wanted to be involved in that.

"But saying that I think that screen work is equally as magical, but just in very different ways really. At...

Captain Phillips is still afloat, but it's kids of all ages who are calling the UK box-office shots this week

• Review of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2

• Interview with Captain Phillips director Paul Greengrass

The winner

Four years ago, the October half-term holiday was owned by Pixar's Up, which occupied the top spot for three straight weekends, and went on to clock up a hefty £34.6m. Sony animation Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs found its own niche in September that year, without the benefit of kids on holiday, but facing no direct competition for the family audience.

This half-term it's a different story for the sequel to Cloudy. The chief cinema attraction for families is DreamWorks Animation's Turbo, which released on October 18, with previews the weekend before. Sony evidently thought the competitive environment was less formidable this time around, mounting a bid to share the half-term...

Captain Phillips | Enough Said | Escape Plan | Prince Avalance | The Lebanese Rocket Society | Like Father, Like Son | The Broken Circle Breakdown | Turbo | Last Passenger

Captain Phillips (12A)

(Paul Greengrass, 2013, Us) Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Michael Chernus. 134 mins

No room for Depp-like jollity aboard this pirate tale. Instead, Greengrass brings his usual reportage-style urgency to a true-life Indian Ocean hijack situation. It's tense, credible and intelligent, even if pitting four Somali fishermen against Hanks, a big ship and formidable back-up is a pretty unfair contest – that very imbalance is part of the point.

Enough Said (12A)

(Nicole Holofcener, 2013, Us) Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Gandolfini, Catherine Keener. 93 mins

Gandolfini's final performance elevates a polished but trifling comedy, centring on a blossoming romance poisoned by an ex-wife.

Escape Plan (15)

(Mikael Håfström, 2013, Us) Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger. 115 mins

The "geriaction" veterans join forces to punch their way out of a high-tech super-prison.

Prince Avalanche (15)

(David Gordon Green,...

"You Are In Love" - Shannon Whitworth: High Tide (Ef Records)

Damn, playing a Gibson Sg never looked or sounded so sexy! Before the press folks dropped her new album on me, I didn't know of this compelling singer-songwriter formerly with the North Carolina outfit The Biscuit Burners. This is my pick hit from her new effort. Collaborating with bassist Bill Reynolds of Band of Horses has given her a chiming folk-rock vibe on her third solo effort. And tours with the Tedeschi Trucks Band and Chris Isaak certainly helped inform her "new" sound.

"The Corner Man" - Barrence Whitfield & The Savages: Dig the Savage Soul (Bloodshot)

He's back!!!! Punk-rockin' horn-honkin' R&B fury comin' at you like Iggy channeling Lil' Richard and Wicked Wilson Pickett. Everybody on the floor and do the worm! Now the Gator!!! Download it now!

"It Was My Season" - Okkervil River: The Silver Gymnasium (Ato)

Will Shelf's rollicking,...

As spring approaches and you grab your friends for a wild spring break, make sure you’re in on the hottest new color trend — coral! Check out our favorite product picks from this under-the-sea trend!

It’s time to get fine for the summer time with the hottest new color on the beach! HollywoodLife already brought you into the wonderful world of teal. So, of course, its complementary color coral is a makeup bag must-have! This yummy color is a mix of pink and orange that can spark up just about any look. Now You can join in on this trend and we’ll tell you exactly where to get our top picks!

This coral trend is so hot that celebs have already started pulling it out of their pocket. Actress Jessica Lowndes looked lovely with her coral lips at the Dukes Of Melrose launch in Los Angeles on Feb.

Wow, has it really been a month since "Far Cry 3" was released? Back in December, Ubisoft announced that the tropical open world shooter would be getting PS3-exclusive Dlc, and on January 15th, you PlayStation 3 gamers can check it out as "High Tide" hits Psn.

The Dlc features two chapters, Jailbreak and Redemption, and according to this PlayStation blog post, the two parts are described as continuation of the six chapters in the current co-op and "the gang's final moments."

That doesn't sound ominous, right? "High Tides" will be available for free on Psn on January 15th.

[Source: PlayStation Blog via Joystiq]

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Follow @MTVMultiplayer on Twitter and be sure to "like" us on Facebook for the best geek news about comics, toys, gaming and more! And don’t...

If you’ve been looking for a film for your young children, you might want to take a look at “Reef 2: High Tide,” starring Busy Phillips, Frankie Jonas, Jamie Kennedy, Donal Logue, Drake Bell and Rob Schneider. The 3D-animated film, which will be exclusively sold in Walmart and available on Video On Demand August 28, involves steroid-fueled fish, love and something called “water fu”: “The reef… a tropical paradise underwater. If it weren’t for the sharks! The meanest of them all, Troy, escapes a Navy research facility and returns to the reef pumped on steroids and rage. It’s been a year since Pi, a little fish with a big heart, [ Read More ]...

Couple of interesting ratings today beginning with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's CG motion picture Resident Evil: Damnation getting an R-rating. The film hits [amazon asin="B008H6GHL0" text="DVD"] and [amazon asin="B008H6GH8I" text="Blu-ray"] on September 25, two weeks after Resident Evil: Retribution, the fifth film in the theatrical franchise, arrives on September 14. I've included the trailer to the right for those interested. Additionally, Neckbone Productions has gone and submitted Jeff Nichols' Mud for an MPAA rating following its Cannes premiere, after which it wasn't picked up for distribution. The reviews out of Cannes weren't glowing, but they weren't downright miserable either, and I'm surprised no one has stepped up to give it a shot just yet, but I expect someone will soon enough. Otherwise, this week also brings ratings for the Gerard Butler surfing flick Chasing Mavericks, Martin McDonagh's highly anticipated Seven Psychopaths starring Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson and the Clint Eastwood starrer Trouble with the Curve.

You would have to look at people like Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra or Johnny Cash to find those who have achieved the same kind of iconic, influential status of Bob Marley. The reggae legend took his unique sound from Jamaica around the world, inspiring millions with his message of togetherness, rebellion and love. And while his face has become an image almost as ubiquitous as that of Che Guevara, a whole new generation of music fans may not be familiar with his work and achievements, but the upcoming, years in the making, Kevin Macdonald directed documentary "Marley" will hopefully change that.

As the film gears up to hit theaters next month, Island Records will drop a 2xCD, 3xLP soundtrack featuring 25 songs from Bob Marley. The tunes, which will be presented as they appear in the film, run from his pre-Wailers day, through to his biggest hits, and for the first time on record,...

Film executive Ann Lyons has passed away after a short illness this week.

Lyons was co-founder of La-based Ifm World Releasing Inc and long time business partner of Antony I Ginnane in Australia’s Fg Film Productions Pty Ltd.

Ginnane said: “I have lost my best friend. Ann was the rock solid underpinning of our production and distribution activity for more than 30 years. She was an extraordinary judge of story and had an editor’s eye for structure.”

Lyons began her film industry career in 1976 on immigration to Australia, after joining the Melbourne-based studio Corporation and The Film House. In her early years she worked as an assistant to director Fred Schepisi.

Joining Ginanne in 1981 at Fg Productions, Lyons collaborated on the production and financing of films Turkey Shoot, High Tide and The Lighthorseman, and supervised their local and international distribution.

In 1996, after Lyons relocation to Los Angeles in 1993, she...

Film producer and distributor Ann Lyons has passed away after a short illness. Lyons was the long-time business partner of producer Antony I. Ginnane, joining his Fg Productions company in 1981 and collaborating on films such as Turkey Shoot, High Tide and The Lighthorseman. .I have lost my best friend," Ginnane said in a statement. "Ann was the rock solid underpinning of our production and distribution activity for more than 30 years. She was an extraordinary judge of story and had an editor.s eye for structure.. She relocated to Los Angeles in 1993 and, together with Ginnane, provided consulting services to Fries Distribution. While there, she also supervised production and post-production on Fries. sci-fi production Screamers starring Peter...

Australian film Last Dance has begun production in Melbourne.

Directed by David Pulbrook, principle photography began on Monday in and around St Kilda, Melbourne.

The film is Pulbrook’s debut feature film. Pulbrook has had a long history as an editor, beginning his career in the 60s working on episodes of Homicide and Division 4. He’s since edited Gillian Armstrong’s Smokes and Lollies, Kevin Dobson’s Squizzy Taylor, Michael Pattinson’s Street Hero and Ground Zero which he won an AFI for. Most recently he edited Simon Wincer’s The Cup.

The film stars Julia Blake (Innocence, Bed of Roses), Firass Dirani (Killer Elite, Underbelly) and Alan Hopgood.

Pulbrook said of his film: “Last Dance digs beneath the stereotypes to reveal the basic humanity of the two principle protagonists and transcends the tragedy of their pasts and speaks of optimism, possibilities and tolerance. We were careful not to...

Yesterday saw the launch of a ground-breaking celebrity charity social media campaign, ’I’m Gonna Be Your Friend’ supported by many of the world’s most famous names in entertainment and their fans, including Beyoncé Knowles, Annie Lennox and Sting.

A global audience close to 600 million Facebook and Twitter fans will be able to view a short film of the crisis in East Africa created by award-winning director Kevin MacDonald from footage of East Africa. The film is set to the 1973 Bob Marley & The Wailers song ‘High Tide or Low Tide’ and will reach over a billion people.

The campaign was developed to support Save the Children’s fundraising for the devastating food crisis affecting millions of children and their families across East Africa.

Read more...

New York (Reuters) - A global social media campaign featuring a Bob Marley song was launched by some of the music industry's top stars on Tuesday to help stem the hunger crisis that is increasing in the Horn of Africa.

More than 150 stars from Lady Gaga, U2, Justin Bieber, Jay-z, The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney are among the well-known figures using their Facebook pages and Twitter feeds to urge fans to donate money to help the numerous families starving in the region.

The campaign, called "I'm Gonna Be Your Friend," can be found at www.imgonnabeyourfriend.com. It shows a video of Bob Marley & The Wailers' 1973 song, 'High Tide or Low Tide," accompanied by footage of malnourished children created by award-winning film director Kevin Macdonald.

About 3.6 million people are at risk of starvation in Somalia and 12 million people across the Horn of Africa, including in Ethiopia and Kenya,...

A host of celebrities have joined forces in an effort to combat the growing food crisis that's been spreading across Somalia and East Africa. The "I'm Gonna Be Your Friend" campaign aims to reach nearly 600 million potential donors by recruiting celebrities to a post short film about the crisis on their Twitter and Facebook accounts. The film, directed by "The Last King of Scotland" director Kevin Macdonald, uses the 1973 Bob Marley & the Wailers track "High Tide or Low Tide" -- which includes the "I'm gonna be a friend" line...

Los Angeles, California (X17online) - Justin Bieber is joining forces with Britney Spears, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Eminem, Kanye West and over 150 other stars to use social media to bring attention to the drought and food crisis in East Africa. They will take to their Facebook and Twitter pages on August 9 in support of Save the Children's new campaign. The region, and especially Somalia, is facing one of its worst droughts in decades, with over 10 million people effected. The music, sports, fashion and pop culture stars goals is to reach their combined 730 million fans and followers to raise awareness to the tragedy. The campaign features the 1973 Bob Marley song "High Tide or Low Time," picked specifically by the Marley family. The singer's widow Rita Marley said: "Not one child should be denied food nor water. Not one child should suffer. Along with Save the Children, we must stand up together...

Nikki Reed, Facinelli's 'Twilight' co-star and McDonald's girlfriend, brought the pair together for indie film's soundtrack.

By Kara Warner

Peter Facinelli

Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ Getty Images

When he hasn't been busy with the box-office-dominating "Twilight" movies or Showtime's hit show "Nurse Jackie," Peter Facinelli has been working on a passion project, "Loosies," an independent film he wrote, produced and stars in.

In addition to enlisting a high-caliber crew of actors for the project, MTV News has exclusively learned that Facinelli has teamed up with a very special musician to contribute music to the film's soundtrack: recent "American Idol" castoff Paul McDonald.

We caught up with Facinelli on Monday (April 18) to get the scoop on his exciting collaboration.

"I was telling Nikki [Reed, McDonald's girlfriend and Facinelli's 'Twilight' co-star] I was looking for music for my movie, and she said, 'You should look through Paul's stuff,' " Facinelli recalled. "She was a big fan of his, I heard,...

Exclusive: Roseanne Barr is back in primetime as the star of a 16-episode comedic reality series for Lifetime. The show, from Biggest Loser producer 3 Ball/Eyeworks and Full Moon & High Tide Prods., will chronicle the Emmy-winning actress and comedienne’s newfound life managing a fully-functional 40-acre macadamia and live stock farm on Hawaii’s Big Island alongside her long-time writer-musician boyfriend Johnny Argent and son Jake. “I’m coming back down to earth, and keeping it real," Barr said. They’ve said ‘Roseanne’s nuts’ for years, and now I’m going to make that a reality – I’m all about nuts now, macadamia nuts!” The yet-untitled series will premiere later this year. “Roseanne Barr is an undeniable force of nature and the idea of following her in this unique premise excited us from the get-go,” said Lifetime's president and general manager Nancy Dubuc. “Roseanne is funny and brutally-honest, and...