News

Claire Forlani, Ann Cusack and Marama Corlett have been cast as the leads in The Three Lucias, an Australian-produced mystery drama which is set and will be wholly shot in Malta.

The writer-director is Sandra Sciberras, whose parents hail from Malta. It.s her fourth feature following Max.s Dreaming, Caterpillar Wish and Surviving Georgia.

The producer is David Redman, whose credits include Charlie & Boots, Salute, Till Human Voices Wake Us, You and Your Stupid Mate and Strange Bedfellows.

The plot follows Tony, a guy with a colourful past who is about to return home with the young daughter he didn't know he had until her mother Lucia died. His daughter is reluctant to leave and forms an attachment to a movie star with her own secrets. Over three days of Easter their lives intertwine with two other women called Lucia.

Forlani (Meet Joe Black, The Rock, Basquiat) will play Silent Lucia,...

A new short film titled Post Apocalyptic Man and starring Damian Walshe-Howling (Underbelly, the upcoming The Reef) and Michael Dorman (Daybreakers, Suburban Mayhem) has just commenced shooting in Melbourne.   Set in the Australian outback, the short - which has been described as a mash-up of genres - chronicles one man's drive for revenge against a totalitarian empire.   It's directed by Nathan Phillips who is best known for his skills in front of the camera. Many will recall the Aussie actor as the terrorised backpacker Ben Mitchell in the hit horror film Wolf Creek. Phillips has also starred in a number of other home grown flicks including the comedy You And Your Stupid Mate, the acclaimed Balibo and this year's romantic drama Summer Coda.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- State government funding agency Film Victoria has announced the recipients of the latest round of the Commercial Script Development Scheme (CSDS), which over the past four years has subsidized 21 Victorian production companies to the tune of Aus$3.4 million ($2.6 million) in an effort to assist them in fast tracking their development slates. Eleven companies received the funding in this latest round, including kids TV specialist Johnathan M. Shiff Productions and feature and documentary film producer Big and Little Films, of which Walking on Water director Tony Ayres and Wildness producer Michael McMahon are the principals. To date, the CSDS has assisted in the development of 131 projects and employment for 89 writers, 46 script editors and 63 producers, according to Film Victoria. Projects aided by the program include the TV series Holly's Heroes and the feature films You And Your Stupid Mate and The Extra, both currently in production.