News

Romantic comedy You, Always, starring Adrian Grenier and Jessica De Gouw, has wrapped production in Queensland, Australia.

Principal photography for You, Always primarily took place on location in far-north Queensland, with some scenes shot at Screen Queensland Studios’ sound stage in Cairns.

Grenier, who previously starred in Entourage and The Devil Wears Prada, plays the role of Ethan in You, Always. Ethan is a devoted best friend who soon realises he has long been in love with Dr Jen Bell (played by The Union star De Gouw). However, Jen’s world is turned upside down by the arrival of a charismatic author named Patrick (played by Desmond Chiam from Joy Ride and Mortal Kombat 2).

Other cast members include comedian Yasmin Kassim (One Perfect Match), Spencer McLaren (The Secret Life of Us) and newcomer Adyn Kingi.

Produced by Brisbane-based Jaggi Entertainment, You, Always is written by Ansley Gordon and directed by Christine Luby,...

Watch out, Yellowstone! There's a new Western family in town thanks to the Oct. 24 release of Territory on Netflix. The Australian drama series centers on the Lawson family and their Marianne Station cattle station and the various rivals looking to swoop in and pounce on the dynasty's plans for succession in the midst of a personal family tragedy.

The action-packed drama series has all the makings of a new binge-watch obsession for viewers who can't get enough of shows like the aforementioned Yellowstone, Succession, Dynasty, and various series about taut family businesses and the social politics that define their past, present, and future. Before the series becomes the next Netflix hit, learn who's who in the show.

Here's the full Territory cast list:

Anna Torv as Emily LawsonMichael Dorman as Graham LawsonRobert Taylor as Colin LawsonSam Corlett as Marshall LawsonSara Wiseman as Sandra KirbyDan Wyllie as Hank HodgeClarence Ryan as...

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...

Mark Ruffalo didn't know if he could pull off the unorthodox character of Duncan Wedderburn in Poor Things. Ruffalo, known for his roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was excited to explore comedic elements in the film. Costume designer Holly Waddington collaborated with Ruffalo to create a unique wardrobe for Duncan, drawing inspiration from satirical illustrations of powerful men from the 19th century.

Mark Ruffalo isn’t “the monster” this time around… or is he? In the latest film from director Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things, no one has to worry about Ruffalo “hulking” out as he does so often in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Nonetheless, Ruffalo still transforms on the screen and into a role he’s not all that accustomed to. And the MCU mainstay actually worried whether he could pull off the unorthodox character of Duncan Wedderburn. Ruffalo said, while alongside co-star Willem Dafoe, in an exclusive interview...

Vmi Releasing will be giving the slasher movie House of Dolls a cable VOD and digital HD release on October 3rd – but if you happen to be in the Dallas area, you’ll have the chance to see the movie a few days earlier, as it’s getting a theatrical release there on September 30th. To help you decide whether or not House of Dolls is a movie you’d like to catch in theatres or on VOD, we have the film’s trailer embedded above.

Directed by Juan Salas, House of Dolls tells the following story: A family reunion turns deadly when three estranged sisters return home to fulfill their father’s last wishes and collect an inheritance. The catch being they must work together to solve a puzzle that will lead to a fortune hidden inside a giant dollhouse. But soon they fall prey to a knife wielding-maniac with plans of his own.

How far would you go for $300,000? In Juan Salas’ latest slasher flick, House of Dolls, a set of sisters are pushed to the brink of sanity and the boundaries of safety to find out the answer for themselves. Collider can now exclusively reveal a first look at the feature — the trailer unlocks the horror inside an old house shrouded in mystery. Featuring iconic horror and sci-fi star Dee Wallace, the title’s ensemble includes Alicia Underwood (Ghost Party), Meeko Gattuso, Naomi Lopez (The Secret Life of Us), Trey Peyton (Just Lie Here), and Taylor Cox.

Australian dramedy Bump has been dropped by the CW midseason, Deadline has confirmed. The network quietly removed the summer series about a pregnant 17-year-old from its Monday night lineup. It’s being replaced with repeats of Whose Line Is It Anyway? in the 9:30 pm slot. Five episodes of the second season of Bump have aired and the remaining five episodes of Season 2 will be available on the CW app and Cwtv.com.

Earlier today, additional changes were announced for the network’s fall schedule, with FBoy Island moving to Mondays from its originally scheduled Thursday night slot. Canadian comedies Son of a Critch, Run The Burbs and Children Ruin Everything and British comedy Everyone Else Burns will be moving from Monday nights to Thursday nights.

Bump is the latest acquisition to be pulled by the CW. Travelogue series Down To Earth with Zac Efron and Fantastic Friends were pulled in...

The CW reveals Canadian sitcom “Run the Burbs” will make its US debut as the network unveils its Summer 2023 programming lineup.

“Run the Burbs” follows the Phams, a young, bold Vietnamese-South Asian family taking a different approach to living life to the fullest, while changing the way we think about contemporary family values and life in the burbs.

Phung (“Kim’s Convenience”), who co-created and executive produces the series with Scott Townend, stars as stay-at-home dad Andrew Pham. Rahkee Morzaria (“What We Do in the Shadows”) plays Andrew’s free-spirited entrepreneur wife Camille, Zoriah Wong (“Nancy Drew”) as their teenage daughter Khia, and Roman Pesino (“Odd Squad”) as their clever young son Leo. The show is a CBC Original Production produced by Pier 21 Films and distributed by Fifth Season.

The network has renewed both newcomers “Family Law” and the comedy “Bump” for second seasons. Starring Jewel Staite and Victor Garber,...

The CW has unveiled its slate of original scripted and unscripted programming set to debut on the network this summer.

Canadian family comedy Run The Burbs, from Kim’s Convenience breakout star Andrew Phung and dramedy Moonshine, about dysfunctional siblings battling for control of their family business are among titles on the network’s scripted slate for summer debut. Legal drama Family Law, starring Jewel Staite and Victor Garber, and comedy series Bump also return for second seasons.

New summer unscripted programs include the four-part docuseries Greatest Geek Year Ever: 1982, chronicling a classic moviegoing year in pop culture, and extreme cooking competition Recipe for Disaster. Additionally, Down To Earth With Zac Efron will make its broadcast television debut, along with new seasons of returning alternative series Great Chocolate Showdown and Mysteries Decoded. Airdates and times for all these series will be announced at a later date.

All join prevously announced summer series,...

The acclaimed Australian actor is a stalwart of the Star Wars universe as well as a veteran of a string of chewy independent thrillers – so get your questions over to him now

Like most Australian actors in Hollywood, you can trace Joel Edgerton’s career back to a soap opera. In this case, it’s The Secret Life of Us,, which led to his breakout film role as “Uncle” Owen Lars in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, as well as the 2022 TV series Obi-Wan Kenobi. (It definitely helped that Edgerton has an uncanny resemblance to Phil Brown, who played Luke Skywalker’s step-uncle in the original 1977 Star Wars film.

And, once you’ve done Star Wars, Hollywood beckons. Edgerton appeared with James Gandolfini and Chris Pratt in Zero Dark Thirty, the dramatisation of the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Australian series “Bad Behaviour,” which is set to premiere at Berlinale Series next month, has its first trailer and release date.

The series – based on the book by Rebecca Starford – will bow on Australian streamer Stan on Feb. 17 as a boxset.

“Bad Behaviour” is a four-part series that tells the story of an exclusive girls boarding school, where the options are to be bullied or to become a bully as the girls vie for power and acceptance.

The show stars Jana McKinnon (“We Children from Bahnhof Zoo”), Markella Kavenagh (“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”) and Yerin Ha (“Halo”).

McKinnon plays 25-year-old Jo Mackenzie, who has flashbacks to her brutal year at boarding school when she bumps into an old friend, Alice (Ha).

Erana James (“The Wilds”), Tuuli Narkle (“Mystery Road: Origin”), Dan Spielman (“Stateless”), Diana Glenn (“Harrow”), Mantshologane Maile (“The Pm’s Daughter”) round out the cast alongside newcomers Melissa Kahraman,...

This week’s guest is Joel Edgerton.

In a chat about the plethora of projects he has in the offing, including the upcoming George Clooney-directed The Boys in the Boat, Edgerton reveals the moment he decided to be an actor, how he wanted to be Indiana Jones growing up, and the time his dad woke him up and took him to see Return of the Jedi in his pajamas.

He also recalls the time he saw Elizabeth Taylor having a nightcap with James Earl Jones, imagining the conversation as, “Darth Vader don’t ‘Force choke’ me, I’ll have another drink.”

The Australian native got his start on stage and on well-loved Melbourne-set show The Secret Life of Us, and shot to worldwide fame when he joined the Star Wars franchise with Attack of the Clones, then Revenge of the Sith.

Apple TV+ has given a nine-episode series order to Dark Matter, an adaptation of the 2016 Blake Crouch sci-fi novel.

Joel Edgerton — whose previous TV credits include The Underground Railroad, Australia’s The Secret Life of Us and Disney+’s upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi (in which he reprises his role as Star Wars‘ Uncle Owen) — will headline the series as well as serve as an executive producer, while Crouch himself will showrun the Sony Pictures Television production.

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Jana McKinnon, Markella Kavenagh and Yerin Ha have joined the cast of Australian TV series “Bad Behaviour.”

Filming of the four-part show, which is adapted from the acclaimed book of the same name by writer Rebecca Starford, has now completed in Victoria, Australia. It is expected to play on Australian streaming platform Stan later this year.

McKinnon (“We Children of Bahnhof Zoo”) stars as scholarship student, who arrives at Silver Creek for a year of character building at the wilderness campus of an exclusive girl’s boarding school. Instead, she finds herself in a dormitory of the most volatile and the most vulnerable.

Kavenagh has recent roles in “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” while Ha has credits including “Halo.” Other newly-announced additions to the cast are: Tuuli Narkle (“Mystery Road”), Dan Spielman (“Stateless”), Diana Glenn (“Harrow”), Mantshologane Maile (“The PMs Daughter”), Erana James (“The Wilds”) and newcomers Melissa Kahraman,...

Top Australian actor Damon Herriman and U.K.-Italian star Greta Scacchi join “Succession” star Sarah Snook in horror-thriller “Run Rabbit Run” from “The Handmaid’s Tale” director Daina Reid. The film starts production in Victoria and South Australia this week.

Snook replaced Elizabeth Moss who was previously attached, but who dropped out late last year due to scheduling clashes. Snook plays a fertility doctor whose firm grasp on the cycle of life is put to the test as her young daughter begins to exhibit increasingly strange behavior.

The script was written by acclaimed South Australian novelist Hannah Kent (“Devotion,” “Burial Rites”) from an original idea developed with Carver Films. Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw of Carver Films are producing.

Los Angeles-based XYZ Films is executive producing, financing and handling world sales, having taken over sales duties from STX International which previously touted the project at 2020’s virtual Cannes Market. Storyd...

“Oh, she’s always challenging me.”

Deborah Mailman is reflecting on playing Senator Alex Irving, her in character Total Control – the most complex role she believes she’s had in a more than 20 year career.

The Blackfella Films political drama is set to return for a second season tonight on the ABC, and for Mailman, the emotional stakes this time around are higher again.

In the Aacta Award-winning first season, Irving engineered a coup to dethrone Prime Minister Rachel Anderson (Rachel Griffiths), who appointed her to the Senate.

Now, she must face the reality of the alliance she’s made with the Opposition Leader Laurie Martin (William McInnes), taking orders from him and his offsider, enigmatic Indigenous politician Paul Murphy (Wayne Blair).

“In season two, the writers took Alex pretty much to breaking point,” Mailman tells If.

“The emotional energy that was required for some of those moments was exhausting.

“The Last of Us” series at HBO has cast Anna Torv in a recurring guest star role.

Torv joins previously announced series leads Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as well as cast members Gabriel Luna, Merle Dandrige, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlet, Con O’Neill, and Jeffery Pierce.

“The Last of Us” series was first announced as being in development at the premium cabler last March, with the show landing a formal series order in November. Based on the video game of the same name, the series takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel (Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Ramsey) out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

Torv will appear as Tess, a smuggler and hardened survivor in a post-pandemic world.

Fringe alum Anna Torv has joined the cast of HBO’s The Last of Us in a recurring role opposite Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. The series, based on the widely popular 2014 PlayStation game of the same name, hails from Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin and The Last Of Us creator Neil Druckmann.

Based on Naughty Dog’s award-winning video game, The Last of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed by a deadly virus. Joel (Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone to the Fireflies, a cure-searching organization. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

Torv will recur as Tess, a smuggler and hardened survivor in a post-pandemic world. In the original video game...

After working as a writer for nearly two decades across projects like Please Like Me, Ready For This, Dance Academy, Molly and The Secret Life of Us, Liz Doran had been curious about producing.

Yet she regards her first producing credit, Sbs short-form drama The Tailings, as almost accidental.

Set in Tasmania, the 6 x 10 minute series, which premiered on Sbs On Demand this weekend, follows a troubled teen, Jas (Tegan Stimson), who launches an investigation into her dad’s death. Her accusations put her into conflict with her new teacher Ruby (Mabel Li), who is trying to make an impression during her first posting.

The script is penned by first-time writer Caitlin Richardson, from Tasmania, to whom Doran was script editor and mentor from the project’s early stages.

During that early development, Doran and then Sbs head of scripted drama Sue Masters struck up a conversation about who should produce the project.

Spectrum Originals has headed down under to find its latest international drama – Australian thriller Eden.

The Charter Communications broadcaster has picked up the eight-episode drama, which comes from Australian streamer Stan and distributor All3Media International. It will air in 2021.

It becomes the latest international series set to air on the platform – Spectrum has already aired British drama Temple and teamed with UK streamer BritBox for Cold War espionage series A Spy Among Friends starring Damian Lewis and Dominic West.

Eden is centered around an idyll waterside town that holds some very dark secrets. It follows the disappearance of a girl in Byron Bay, an Australian town that seems to be a paradise. Each episode is told from a different character’s perspective, and the mystery unfolds through multiple lenses as the secrets that bind this supposed nirvana are exposed.

The cast includes Sophie Wilde (Bird), Samuel Johnson Oam (The Secret Life of Us...

Spectrum Originals is adding a new drama to its slate.

Charter Communications’ Ott service has picked up Australian drama “Eden,” with the aim of debuting the eight-episode series on Spectrum on Demand in 2021.

“Eden” hails a from “Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries” creators Fiona Eagger and Deb Cox, as well as “Skins” co-creator Bryan Elsley and Vanessa Gazy. It follows the disappearance of a girl in Byron Bay, an Australian town that seems to be a paradise. Each episode is told from a different character’s perspective, and the mystery unfolds through multiple lenses as the secrets that bind this supposed nirvana are exposed.

The cast of “Eden” includes Sophie Wilde (“Bird”), Samuel Johnson Oam (“The Secret Life of Us”), Bebe Bettencourt (“The Dry”), Christopher James Baker, Cody Fern (“American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace”), Keiynan Lonsdale (“The Flash”), Claude Jabbour (“Stateless”) and Cassandra Sorrell (“Plastic”).

“Eden” is a...

Frank Woodley.

Many producers fear the Federal Government’s sweeping media reforms will spell the death knell of Australian features, forcing them and some writers and directors to focus on content for streamers or free-to-air broadcasters.

Lowering the Producer Offset for films to 30 per cent from July 2021 will leave a gap of at least 25 per cent of the budgets which most producers will find impossible to fill, according to producer/distributor Sue Maslin.

“The exceptions will be largely foreign-financed films or local films with cast led by foreign actors making the most of Australian financial incentives, cast, crew and locations. That or extremely low budget films with little hope of competing in the cinema market,” the Film Art Media principal tells If.

“I find this summary dismissal of Australian cinema devastating and will be forced to relegate all feature films currently in development to the bottom drawer until we see...

Female-led caper mini-series “The Unusual Suspects” has begin filming in Sydney this week. The four-part series, which also highlights Australia’s ethnic diversity, is being produced for publicly-funded broadcaster Sbs.

Set in the upmarket eastern suburbs of Sydney, the story features the theft of a multi-million-dollar necklace and the women from different walks of life who come together to ensure that justice is served.

The cast is headlined by Miranda Otto as well as Filipina-American actress Aina Dumlao, and Michelle Vergara Moore.

The series is written by Jessica Redenbach, Roger Monk and Vonne Patiag, with Margarett Cortez as script consultant. It is directed by Emmy Award-winning Natalie Bailey and Melvin Montalban.

“Suspects” is produced by award-winning filmmaking duo Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford. Vonne Patiag (“Halal Gurls”) is associate producer, while executive production credit goes to Sbs’s acting head of scripted, Amanda Duthie.

It has major production investment from...

Coeli Cutcliffe.

Coeli Cutcliffe has joined Jude Troy and Richard Finlayson’s Wooden Horse, where she will serve as development manager.

Most recently Cutcliffe was a development executive at Porchlight Films, where she worked for three years until the company closure in June 2020. Prior to this she was an executive at Southern Star, where she worked with John Edwards for almost a decade on shows such as The Secret Life of Us and Love My Way.

At Wooden Horse, Cutcliffe will be responsible for working with established and emerging creatives, and developing Australian stories for global audiences. The company currently has projects in development with Stan, ABC, and Sbs.

Joint CEOs Finlayson and Troy said: “We are thrilled to have Coeli join the Wooden Horse family. She is highly regarded within the creative community and her development skills a great asset as we continue to expand our slate of distinctive and diverse stories.

Roger Monk.

When screenwriter Roger Monk was offered a gig on the Aquarius Films/Sbs crime caper The Unusual Suspects, he seized the opportunity to channel his favourite film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

Tonally he saw similarities with Pedro Almodóvar’s Oscar-winning 1988 black comedy-drama about a woman who embarks on a strange journey to try to discover why lover suddenly left her without any explanation.

Set in Sydney’s affluent Eastern suburbs, The Unusual Suspects revolves around the theft of a $10 million necklace from self-made Filipino businesswoman Roxanne Waters’ home during her twins’ birthday party,

The suspects include including socialite Sara Beasley, whose life is crumbling fast, and her long-suffering nanny, Evie De La Rosa, a godmother of sorts for other Filipino domestic workers.

“The show is about female frenemies, disparate characters who come together through circumstance and become friends,” Monk tell If.

Producers Angie Fielder...

‘Five Bedrooms’ cast celebrate the wrap.

ViacomCBS is calling for the scrapping of the drama quota, pointing to the steep decline in commercial free-to-air viewing of Australian dramas in the past 10 years, which is worse than the overall drop in Fta levels.

The owner of Network 10, 10 All Access and pay channels including MTV and Nickelodeon, the company says overall primetime commercial viewing from 2010 to 2019 fell by 28 per cent while drama audiences plummeted by 53 per cent in that period.

Local dramas drew an average primetime audience of 530,000 last year, down from 1.139 million in 2010, James Boyce, Network 10’s head of government and regulatory affairs, tells If.

Taking a longer-term view, in its submission to the government’s ‘Supporting Australian Stories on Our Screens’ options paper review, ViacomCBS said audiences for adult drama on commercial Fta TV have fallen by 61 per cent over the past 20 years as platform competition and content options have mushroomed.

To mark the release of Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears on 11th May, we’ve been given 2 copies to give away on DVD.

The fantastic Miss Phryne Fisher (Essie Davis), lady detective extraordinaire, is perfectly at home wielding a pearl-handled pistol and her dagger-sharp wit on the backstreets of Melbourne…but a new case sees her spanning the world from Australia to London and Palestine, where she frees Shirin Abbas, a young Bedouin girl (Izabella Yena) from her unjust imprisonment in Jerusalem. In doing so, Phryne begins to unravel a decade-old mystery concerning priceless emeralds, ancient curses and the truth behind the suspicious disappearance of Shirin’s forgotten tribe.

.

We see the return of Detective John Robinson aka Jack, Phryne’s faithful, flirtatious friend, who is more often than not in need of rescue. Other featured fan favourites include Phryne’s trusty companion and maid Dot and her naïve husband Constable Hugh Collins,...

Rachel Griffiths, Liz Doran and Que Minh Luu.

Screen Australia has announced the 18 members of the new iteration of the Gender Matters Taskforce, which provides independent advice to the agency, and works beyond Screen Australia’s direct sphere of influence to deliver outcomes for female creatives and assist in broader industry efforts to achieve gender parity.

Formed in 2016 and updated in 2018, the Gender Matters Taskforce is a volunteer-based advisory body made up of women working across the Australian screen sector. Returning members include taskforce chair Joanna Werner; deputy chair Deanne Weir and Lisa French.

Werner said: “These 18 brilliant women represent a cross section of the screen sector and come from varying backgrounds with a range of expertise locally and internationally. This taskforce will be integral in helping to shape Screen Australia’s next steps as well as promoting the broader industry systemic change that is needed.”

“Whilst Screen Australia’s...

Ratidzo Mambo.

Last year Ratidzo Mambo figured she wasn’t being offered the type of roles she wanted and so she made a pivotal decision.

The Zimbabwean-born actor and former sales agent and distribution consultant resolved to take her fate into her own hands by becoming a creative producer, developing her own TV and film projects.

“I’ve had to learn how to multi-task because acting jobs are scarce and the types of roles I want to do are seldom offered to me,” Rati tells If via Skype from Bali, where she is finishing the bibles and treatments for a bunch of projects.

“Rather than blame people or live in a space of negativity, I have to take accountability. I have a lot to say and I am a storyteller as well.”

With the help of her Us manager, Fictional Entity’s Krista Carpenter (a former head of development at...

Martin Armiger.

Martin Armiger, composer or music arranger of such movies as Yahoo Serious’ Young Einstein, Alex Proyas’ Dark City, Cherie Nowlan’s Thank God He Met Lizzie, Jane Campion’s Sweetie and Kriv Stenders’ Red Dog, has died in France, aged 70.

UK-born, he began his career as a singer, songwriter and guitarist for legendary Melbourne-based rock band The Sports.

In 1972 he embarked on composing, initially on a short film called Drac. From From 1984 he was the musical director for the the ABC series Sweet and Sour as well as providing backing vocals, lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums and lyrics and producing the soundtrack album.

His other screen credits include the series The Secret Life of Us, The Surgeon, Come In Spinner and Police Rescue and the documentary Cane Toads.

For 14 years he was the head of screen music at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, where he...

Martin Armiger, a musician turned record producer, academic, and film and TV composer, based in Australia has died. He was 70.

Born in the U.K. as John Martin Armiger, he relocated to Australia with his family as a teenager. He is known for Australian film classics Yahoo Serious’ “Young Einstein,” and the Alex Proyas-directed “Dark City,” on which he was music producer and arranger.

Armiger kicked off his music career as a singer, songwriter and guitarist for legendary Melbourne based rock band The Sports. In 1972, he started his screen profession composing music for a short film called “Drac.” From 1984, Martin was musical director for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation series “Sweet and Sour,” a 20-episode, weekly pop music, drama TV series. He provided backing vocals, lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums and lyrics and produced the soundtrack album.

His other screen credits include the feature film “Thank God He Met Lizzie,...

Lillian Crombie and Ningali Lawford-Wolf.

Indigenous performers Lillian Crombie and the late Ningali Lawford-Wolf have been voted joint recipients of the 10th annual Equity Lifetime Achievement Award.

Australian actor, writer and director Wayne Blair was among the 32 members of the Equity National Performers’ Committee who selected Lillian and Ningali for this year’s award.

“Their rich and varied careers have been observed by generations of First Nations performers coming behind them. They have led by example and paved the way for so many others to follow in their footsteps,” says Blair.

A proud woman from the Pitjintjara/Yungkuntjara Nation, Crombie left Port Pirie in South Australia as its best classical ballerina and landed in Sydney in the 1970s to dance her way into Black performance, politics and culture.

Her career as one of Australia’s leading performers followed with roles in Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, The Secret Life of Us,...

Kris Mrksa.

Kris Mrksa loves writing Australian dramas but his primary focus now is creating projects for UK producers – and cracking the Us market.

The in-demand screenwriter has created two miniseries for the UK’s New Pictures and is developing two shows for the same producer and another for Lookout Point and Expanded Media.

After signing with ICM he is also looking at opportunities in the Us. “Nothing firm yet, but I have been talking to a few people and there are some interesting projects being discussed,” he tells If.

His first UK commission was Requiem, a six-part supernatural drama/thriller which starred Lydia Wilson as an accomplished cellist whose life is turned upside down after her mother’s suicide, produced by New Pictures for BBC One and Netflix.

New Pictures and ITV then commissioned him to create White House Farm, a crime drama based on the infamous case of Jeremy Bamber,...

Joel Edgerton has signed on for a role in the Barry Jenkins’ Amazon series “The Underground Railroad,” Variety has learned exclusively.

Edgerton will play the part of Ridgeway, a slavecatcher. He joins previously announced cast members Thuso Mbedu, Chase W. Dillon, and Aaron Pierre.

The role will mark Edgerton’s first regular TV role in some time. He previously starred in the series “The Secret Life of Us” in his native Australia early in his career in addition to a handful of other TV roles. Nowadays, Edgerton is known for his film work. He most recently starred in, wrote, and directed the film “Boy Erased,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018. He made his feature directorial debut in 2015 with the Stx thriller “The Gift,” in which he also starred and wrote. His other film roles include “Loving,” “Red Sparrow,” “Bright,” “Jane Got a Gun,” and “Midnight Special.

L-r: Fred Schepisi, Minister Martin Foley, Andrew Knight, Film Victoria CEO Caroline Pitcher, Film Victoria president Ian Robertson, Claire Dobbin, Jan Sardi, John Howie and Tony Reed.

Film Victoria’s annual screen awards were held yesterday evening, honouring writer/producer Andrew Knight, director Daina Reid, games advocate Tony Reed and Melbourne International Film Festival (Miff) chair Claire Dobbin.

Knight, whose credits include TV shows such as Fast Forward, Full Frontal, SeaChange and Jack Irish and features like The Water Diviner, Ali’s Wedding and Hacksaw Ridge, was recognised with the Jan Sardi Award for his significant achievements as a screenwriter.

Daina Reid was presented Fred Schepisi Award for significant achievement in directing. Reid began her career in television as a comedy writer and actor, before moving into directing. Her creidts include Blue Heelers, The Secret Life of Us, Rush, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Offspring, Nowhere Boys, The Secret River,...

Synchronicity Films this month scored the U.K.’s second-largest drama launch of the year with BBC One’s “The Cry,” and the series’ distributor, Drg, announced further international pre-sales at Mipcom for the Jenna Coleman-led series.

Following a previously unveiled co-production deal with ABC in Australia and distribution in the U.S. with Sundance Now, Drg has now announced the series also pre-sold to M6 in France, TV2 in Norway, C More (TV4) in Sweden, Canal Plus in Poland, Tvnz in New Zealand, BBC Worldwide for its channels in Benelux, the Middle East and Africa and Npo in the Netherlands.

“The Cry” is based on the book of the same name by author Helen FitzGerald which was adapted for the screen by Jacquelin Perske (“The Secret Life of Us”), and was directed by Glendyn Ivin (“Gallipoli”).

Jenna Coleman, who is in Cannes wooing potential buyers, plays Joanna and...

Ron Moore’s upcoming Apple series is filling out its main cast.

Joel Kinnaman, Michael Dorman, and Sarah Jones have all been cast in the series, which takes place in a world where global space race never ended. Kinnaman will play Edward Baldwin, one of the top Nasa astronauts. Dorman and Jones have been cast as Gordo and Tracy Stevens, a prominent Nasa couple.

The role keeps Kinnaman in the TV sci-fi space, with the actor recently starring in the first season of the Netflix series “Altered Carbon.” He is also attached to the Amazon series adaptation of the film “Hanna” in a lead role. He is also known for his roles on the shows “House of Cards” and “The Killing.” On the film side, he starred in “Suicide Squad,” “Child 44,” and the “RoboCop” reboot. He is repped by Wme and Magnolia Entertainment.

Dorman currently stars in the Amazon series “Patriot,...

We reported last month that Marvel has looked at over 65 directors as possible candidates to take the helm on their highly-anticipated Black Widow movie, and now a new report claims there may be a front runner. Australian filmmaker Cate Shortland (Lore) is reportedly one of the contenders on the studio's "short list". Amma Asante, known for her movie Belle and Maggie Betts, who directed Novitiate, are the other two top contenders. All three have met with Marvel's Kevin Feige and Scarlett Johansson, whittled down from a list of 49 hopefuls. There is no indication as to when a final decision may be made on who will take the helm on this long-awaited project, but progress is being made.

The last update we got on this Black Widow move was just under a month ago, when a report claimed that production would begin at some point next year, with the studio also...

(Spoiler alert: Read at your own risk if you haven’t seen all of Amazon’s “Picnic at Hanging Rock.”)

By the end of the Amazon limited series “Picnic at Hanging Rock” audiences still don’t know what happened to the girls who went missing at the beginning. But showrunner and director Larysa Kondracki hopes her “enchanted chiller” will give fans an “emotionally satisfying conclusion” nonetheless.

If that’s not good enough for you, Kondracki told TheWrap she has her own “cockamamy idea” about what happened to the young ladies at the center of the TV adaptation based on Joan Lindsay’s iconic Australian novel of the same name, which the director describes as “‘Heathers’ meets ‘The Breakfast Club,’ with a little bit of ‘The Shining.'”

Also Read: 'Picnic at Hanging Rock': Natalie Dormer Tells Us Why It Was 'Delicious' to 'Unravel' in Adaptation

Former...

Natalie Dormer is mad about her latest gig, “Picnic at Hanging Rock.” Partly because she gets to go mad in the new Amazon limited series based on Joan Lindsay’s iconic Australian novel of the same name.

The former “Game of Thrones” star leads the cast of the adaptation as Mrs. Hester Appleyard, the enigmatic headmistress of Appleyard College, a boarding school that she established for young ladies isolated in Australian bushland. The story centers around the mysterious disappearances of three schoolgirls and one teacher on Valentine’s Day in 1900 and the subsequent investigation, covering its impact on students, families and staff at Appleyard College and the nearby town.

“It’s not so much the actual thing of what happened to them, it’s the ripple effect to this community and all these different personalities on what that event does to people. You know, that’s the drama,” Dormer said.

Welcome to Trailer Binge, a recurring feature where we get a chance to catch up on some of the recent trailer releases in the past week. Whether it be indie releases, or recent movie and TV trailers that may have otherwise slipped through the cracks, Trailer Binge allows us to catch up on the seemingly constant onslaught of new new content being released each week.

In this edition of Trailer Binge, we take a look at trailers for ‘Ocean’s 8‘, ‘American Animals‘ and ‘Hot Summer Nights‘. Also we showcase trailers for the amazon studios Series ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock‘ and ‘Rocky & Bullwinkle‘, along with a brand-new Tv spot for ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story‘. Let the Trailer binge begin!

‘Ocean’s 8’ Trailer #2

Gary Ross, the filmmaker behind The Hunger Games and Pleasantville, co-wrote the screenplay with Olivia Milch. The film stars Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina, Sarah Paulson,...

Five-member jury will determine the winner of a €50,000 prize.

Sixteen projects from 15 countries have been selected for the ninth annual Series Mania CoPro Pitching Sessions (April 27-May 5). The event is taking place in Lille for the first time, relocating from Paris.

Christophe Riandee, the deputy chief executive of Gaumont, will head the jury. His credits include Narcos, Hemlock Grove and Hannibal.

The projects include Fixed from the UK’s Origin Pictures, created by Liz Doran (The Secret Life Of Us) and currently at the treatment stage. The six-episode series will follow successful media consultant Flor Bentley, as the re-appearance of...

Kate Dennis..

Kate Dennis, one of the large band of Australian directors who have been forging successful careers in the Us, is coming home to direct Harrow, Hoodlum Entertainment.s 10-part crime drama.

Hoodlum.s Los Angeles-based CEO Tracey Robertson will produce the series commissioned by the ABC and the international distributor, Disney.s ABC Studios International, with Hoodlum co-founder Nathan Mayfield and Leigh McGrath.

Co-created by writer Stephen M. Irwin (Australia Day, Wake in Fright, Secrets & Lies) and. McGrath (Australia Day, Secrets & Lies, Strange Calls), the drama centers on a brilliant forensic pathologist who solves cases while harbouring a dark secret. The lead is yet to be announced. Shooting is due to start in Brisbane on August 7, supported by Screen Queensland.

Dennis moved to L.A. in 2014 to direct Hoodlum.s Us remake of Secrets and Lies for the ABC network, followed by episodes of CSI: Cyber for CBS and AMC.s Turn.

Liz Doran.

Screenwriter Liz Doran has written for The Secret Life of Us, McLeod.s Daughters, Miss Fisher.s Murder Mysteries, Dance Academy and Please Like Me.

She speaks to Jackie Keast about Gender Matters and upcoming projects..

How did you get your start as a writer?

Well, I did it the classic long way of making sure I was an expert before I put myself forward (laughs). I left school in the early 90s and actually trained as a film editor, but I always only ever wanted to be a writer. After I finished film school I did the usual thing: I applied for a lot of development [funding] for early drafts and I tried to get Screen Nsw funding for things. I was quite lucky; there was a funding round through the F.T.O., the precursor to Screen Nsw, and they funded development on a series of 50-minute scripts.

Cate Shortland has left the German settings of “The Berlin Syndrome” behind for a project set in her homeland.

The award-winning Australian filmmaker behind “Somersault” (starring Abbie Cornish) and the German wartime drama “Lore” will be trying her hand at a true crime limited series, reports If.com. The eight-part series, titled “The Monaro,” is a project that Shortland has been mulling over since her days at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School.

Read More: ‘Berlin Syndrome’ Trailer: Teresa Palmer Becomes Her Lover’s Prisoner in Cate Shortland’s Sundance Thriller

The series is set in the 1830s in the Monaro region of New South Wales, Australia, east of the Snowy Mountains — which is also where the filmmaker shot “Somersault.” That’s all that we know about the plot at the moment.

Shortland has her work cut out for her. “I’m working with this great team of people,...

While Cate Shortland came on our radar with 2004’s “Somersault,” she had a healthy TV career prior to that, helming episodes of “The Secret Life Of Us” and “Bad Cop, Bad Cop.” And between “Somersault” and her 2012’s feature “Lore,” she helmed the TV movie “The Silence.” Now, she’s set to embark on her biggest small screen effort yet.

Continue reading Cate Shortland To Direct 8-Part TV Miniseries ‘The Monaro’ at The Playlist.

Cate Shortland on the set of 'Berlin Syndrome'.

Berlin Syndrome filmmaker Cate Shortland is prepping an eight-part series for Matchbox Pictures.

Titled The Monaro, the series will focus on six women in the 1830s and is based on a true crime case, the director told If.

Shortland will shoot in the titular region, east of the Snowy Mountains, where she also shot her debut feature, Somersault.

.It.s one of my favourite places in the world to shoot so I wanted to do something again there,. the helmer said..

Shortland is an experienced writer for TV, having written episodes of The Slap, Devil.s Playground, Deadline Gallipoli and The Kettering Incident, but this will mark the first series she has directed since The Secret Life of Us in 2003.

She also helmed TV movie The Silence, starring Richard Roxburgh and co-written by Picnic at Hanging Rock.s Alice Addison,...

Alison Nisselle, Greg Mclean, Ian Anderson, Deb Cox and Fiona Eagger.

Greg Mclean and Alison Nisselle are among the five industry leaders honoured by Film Victoria at last night.s Screen Leader Awards.

The Screen Leader Awards were established by Film Victoria in 2012 to recognise screen professionals who.ve shown leadership through their achievements and a commitment to further developing the industry.

This year saw the addition of two new categories to recognise writing and directing.

The inaugural Fred Schepisi Award was presented to Mclean, acknowledging his achievements in directing from his 2005 debut feature Wolf Creek through to his most recent film The Belko Experiment, which screened at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.

Nisselle, whose credits include television dramas Phoenix, Janus, Bed of Roses and the feature film Healing, received the Jan Sardi Award for her significant achievement as a screenwriter.

Deb Cox and Fiona Eagger, the duo behind Miss...

Justine Clarke, Anthony Lapaglia and Matthew Saville on-set.

Palace Cinemas will host actor Anthony Lapaglia and director Matthew Saville for preview screenings of their new film, A Month of Sundays, at Palace Norton Street in Sydney (April 19) and Palace Cinema Como (April 21) in Melbourne.

Screenings will be followed by a Q&A with the pair.

Lapaglia plays Frank Mollard, a divorced Adelaide real-estate agent with a teenage son who strikes up a friendship with an elderly stranger, played by Julia Blake.

This is Saville's third film after Noise and Felony. The filmmaker also has a long resume on TV, including Graham Kennedy TV movie The King, The Secret Life of Us, We Can Be Heroes and Please Like Me..

Tickets for the preview screenings can be purchased here.

Tomorrow When the War Began, the series based on John Marsden's novels, premieres April 23 at 7:30pm on ABC3.

The six-part adventure series tells the story of a group of young Australian friends on the run from a foreign invasion force.

The unsuspecting Australian military is quickly overwhelmed and none of Australia.s allies are willing to risk possible nuclear war to come to our aid.

Veterans Sibylla Budd, Deborah Mailman, James Stewart and Alison Bell are joined by relative newcomers Molly Daniels, Narek Arman, Jon Prasida, Madeleine Clunies-Ross, Madeleine Madden, Andrew Creer, Fantine Banulski and Keith Purcell.

Daniels plays Ellie, the heroine of the books. The young actor starred in two seasons of ABC3's You're Skitting Me, as well as Very Small Business, Party Tricks and The Librarians.

An Ambience Entertainment Production in association with ABC3, Screen Australia and FilmVictoria, the show is produced by Michael Boughen...