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Exclusive: Fifth Season has taken worldwide sales on The Artist, the gilded age series starring Mandy Patinkin and Kaos’ Janet McTeer.

The Artist is for Aram Rappaport’s nascent streamer The Network and also stars Danny Huston, Zachary Quinto and Patti LuPone. Additional cast include Hank Azaria, Clark Gregg, Katherine McPhee, Jill Hennessy and Ever Anderson.

In the twilight of the gilded age, the show starts with a murder that strikes the estate of an eccentric and failing tycoon. As he hosts the era’s biggest celebrities including Thomas Edison, Edgar Degas and Evelyn Nesbit, mystery and ambition collide as the truth is shockingly revealed.

The Network founder Rappaport is creator, executive producer, writer and director, with Hilary Shor (Children of Men) producing. The show is Fifth Season’s first from The Network, which was launched last year by Rappaport with content including Steve Coogan’s Chivalry and The Green Veil starring John Leguizamo.

Welcome to Deadline’s London TV Screenings list, our definitive look at next week’s buzzy event taking Soho by storm. Hundreds, if not thousands of buyers will be in town between Sunday, February 23 and Friday, February 28, and if you’re wondering who’s exhibiting and what’s on offer and want to dive deeper into the sellers’ strategies, we’ve done the work for you, presenting profiles from more than 30 exhibiting sales houses. Below, check out profiles for all the Americans and companies from the rest of the world exhibiting at the London TV Screenings bar Disney, which declined to take part. We strived to get three picks from each distributor as and where possible. Read on, and find all our London TV Screenings content here.

The Americans

Amazon MGM Studios

Key Show

The Institute – When twelve-year-old genius Luke Ellis’ parents are murdered, he is kidnapped and awakens in The Institute,...

God of War has a new boss: Ronald D. Moore (Outlander, Battlestar Galactica) will take over as showrunner for Prime Video’s series adaptation of the popular video game, our sister site Variety reports.

Moore replaces Rafe Judkins, who departed the project last week as showrunner, along with executive producers Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus. Per Variety, Amazon and co-producer Sony Pictures Television opted to go in a different creative direction.

More from TVLineGhosts Trio Crush on Survivor's Jeff Probst in Crossover Promo (Exclusive)Laid: Stephanie Hsu's Lovers Keep Dying in Peacock's Dark Rom-Com - Watch Teaser and...

Suits: L.A. won't be the only new drama series in 2025 to be headlined by Stephen Amell. The Arrow alum was recently announced as one of the lead stars of Underbelly, a new crime drama coming to the small screen next year.

Per Bell Media, Underbelly is an upcoming six-part crime drama set in the 1000 Islands region, home to a picturesque river that serves as a border between Canada and the United States. Amell plays Officer Henry Roland, who finds evidence linking a case of missing illegal substances to his childhood best friend, Tommy Hawley (Hamza Haq). As Henry embarks on a mission to save his friend, a ruthless British crime family, led by matriarch May Ferguson (Minnie Driver), is also looking for the missing contraband and Tommy. Underbelly was created by Saving Hope's Graeme Stewart and will be an original series on the Canadian streaming service Crave. Check...

Exclusive: Stephen Amell, Minnie Driver and Hamza Haq will star in Underbelly, a crime drama set in the 1000 Islands region, home to a picturesque river that serves as a border between Canada and the U.S. The series was created by Saving Hope’s Graeme Stewart and will be an original for Canadian streamer Crave. Tamara Podemski also stars.

Shaftesbury, producer of Hudson & Rex and Murdoch Mysteries, is making the six-part series. Fifth Season is co-financing and will distribute. It is warming up international buyers here at MIPCOM on the buzzy project, which will premiere on Crave next year.

Deadline can reveal the news and share the first image from the series.

Amell, soon to appear in Suits L.A., plays Officer Henry Roland. He finds evidence linking a case of missing illegal substances to his childhood best friend, Tommy Hawley, played by Haq. As Henry embarks on a mission to save his friend,...

Writer/Director Luke Sparke (Occupation Rainfall, Bring Him To Me) is adapting author Ethan Pettus’ sci-fi military novel Primitive War, testing a military unit’s survival skills against an unlikely enemy: dinosaurs. A new poster and images have been released, introducing the human side of the equation.

The poster, along with images below, teases dino carnage and promises that Primitive War is arriving in 2025.

Jeremy Piven (“Entourage“, Old School), Tricia Helfer (“Battlestar Galactica”, “Lucifer”), Ryan Kwanten (“True Blood”, Glorious) and Nick Wechsler (“The Boys“) are set to headline Primitive War.

The official synopsis: “Vietnam. 1968. A search and rescue team known as Vulture Squad is sent to an isolated jungle valley to uncover the fate of a missing Green Beret platoon. As they hunt through the primordial depths of the valley, they discover ancient horrors that not only threaten to unravel their minds, but to end their lives as well. Dinosaurs have somehow been unleashed!

Exclusive: Media veterans Jeff Bewkes, Howard Stringer and Jeremy Fox have launched Thoroughbred Studios. Their fledgling business has galloped to an overall deal with iHeartPodcasts and scored a second season order for its first project, a BBC audio drama about the CIA.

Thoroughbred’s Usp will be creating drama based on monumental events from modern U.S. history. One of the first out of the gate will be a moon-landing podcast for iHeart from 24 producer Stephen Kronish. Another project will be on the Vietnam war.

The focus will be on dramas that delve into hidden truths behind events of the American Century, a period taken as starting in the middle of the 20th century. The iHeartPodcasts deal is for a minimum of four podcasts over the next two years.

The Thoroughbred set-up sees Bewkes serve as Chair, Fox as CEO and Stringer as Exec Producer. The trio have held several...

Writer/Director Luke Sparke is adapting author Ethan Pettus’ sci-fi military novel Primitive War, pitting soldiers against dinosaurs…in 1968?! Per Deadline, the sci-fi horror film is lining up a rather robust cast.

Jeremy Piven, Tricia Helfer, Ryan Kwanten and Nick Wechsler (“The Boys“) are set to headline Primitive War.

The dino horror film follows “an elite recon unit known as the Vulture Squad, who, in 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War that is sent to an isolated jungle valley to uncover the fate of a missing Green Beret platoon. They soon discover they are not alone. Dinosaurs have been let loose in the jungles.”

Anthony Ingruber, Aaron Glenane, Carlos Sanson Jr, Ana Thu Nguyen (Mortal Kombat 2), Adolphus Waylee (Nautilus), Richard Brancatisano (The Messenger), Marcus Johnson and Jake Ryan also star.

“I was captivated by the imagery surrounding Ethan’s book and the story it told. I’ve worked hard...

Exclusive: Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jeremy Piven, Tricia Helfer, SAG Award Nominee Ryan Kwanten and Nick Wechsler are set to headline Primitive War, Luke Sparke’s sci-fi horror adaptation of Ethan Pettus’ sci-fi military book series.

The film also includes actors Anthony Ingruber, Aaron Glenane, Carlos Sanson Jr, Ana Thu Nguyen (Mortal Kombat 2), Adolphus Waylee (Nautilus), Richard Brancatisano, Marcus Johnson and Jake Ryan.

Primitive War follows an elite recon unit known as the Vulture Squad. In 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War they are sent to an isolated jungle valley to uncover the fate of a missing Green Beret platoon. They soon discover they are not alone.

Stars: Camille Rowe, Jeremy Scippio, Stasa Stanic | Written by Franck Khalfoun, Glen Freyer | Directed by Franck Khalfoun

Night of the Hunted, the latest film from Franck Khalfoun is a remake, but not of Jean Rollin’s 1980 paranoid thriller of the same name, though that would be a logical choice for rebooting in these conspiracy-riddled times. Instead, he and co-writer Glen Freyer have reworked and updated Rubén Ávila Calvo and David R.L.’s 2015 Spanish thriller Night of the Rat.

This film begins in a hotel room where Alice is talking to her husband on the phone, we hear something about an appointment with a fertility specialist before she hurriedly hangs up as John enters the room. Driving back to town in the pre-dawn darkness they make a stop for gas despite Jiohn’s insistence that he filled the tank the day before. Alice goes in to grab some snacks, and as...

Prime Video Australia is remaking The Office as a female-led comedy starring stand-up Felicity Ward in the role Ricky Gervais first made famous.

Gervais’ David Brent will become Hannah Howard in the series, with Ward putting her own spin on bad team management at packaging company Flinley Craddick. When she gets news from Head Office that they will be shutting down her branch and making everyone work from home, she goes into survival mode, making promises she can’t keep in order to keep her ‘work family’ together.

Ward is best known as a stand-up and for ABC series Spicks and Specks and The Ronnie Johns Half Hour. She also appeared in Wakefield and The Inbetweeners.

Additional cast includes Edith Poor (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Power of the Dog), Steen Raskopoulos (The Duchess, Feel Good), Shari Sebbens (The Sapphires, Thor: Love and Thunder), Josh Thomson...

“The Office” comedy franchise will see middle management led by a woman for the first time in an Australian version that will play on Amazon’s Prime Video.

Australian comedian and actor Felicity Ward will portray Hannah Howard, the MD of packaging company Flinley Craddick in “The Office Australia.” In a post-covid plot twist, Howard gets news from head office that her branch will be shutting down and that staff will have to work from home. She goes into survival mode, making promises she can’t keep and launches outlandish plots in order to keep her “work family” together.

The Australian adaptation is the 13th iteration of the show that was originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Other international retreads have included those in France, Canada, Chile, Israel and the Middle East.

Filming of the eight-part series will commence in Sydney in June. Production is by Prime Video,...

Exclusive: London-based sales company Kaleidoscope Film Distribution (Kfd) has acquired the international sales rights for the Australian-produced time-traveling thriller, Time Addicts.

Kfd will attend the European Film Market in February, where Time Addicts will privately screen for buyers, and marketing materials will be available for review.

Written, directed, and produced by Sam Odlum, the pic was originally conceived as a short in 2020. The film’s feature-length adaptation will mark Odlum’s full-length directorial debut. The film stars Freya Tingley, Charles Grounds, and Elise Jansen.

The plot follows: In desperate debt to their volatile drug dealer, best friends, Denise and Johnny, agree to a sketchy job to pay off their last hit – breaking into a decrepit stash house to steal a bag of mysterious drugs. But whilst getting into the house may be easy, escape proves more troublesome,...

Australia’s Nine Network has ordered a local version of Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars and a two-part drama event series based on the late cricket maverick Shane Warne. Both shows were presented at Nine’s Upfront today.

Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars is the latest adaptation of celeb chef and present Ramsay’s cooking competition format, which All3Media International sells globally, after the original Fox show and the UK remake on the BBC. Endemol Shine Australia and Studio Ramsay are making the show, in which Ramsay and business mogul Janine Allis will mentor and guide competing two teams, with each contestant vying for their food business idea to be invested in and taken forward.

In the U.S. Fox ordered a second season of the format back in May, while the BBC’s Future Food Stars aired between late March and May. The Aussie version debuts next year.

Warnie,...

Exclusive: Tim Roth is replacing Ian McShane in Paramount+’s buzzy Australian drama series Last King of the Cross.

Roth takes on the role of antagonist Ezra Shipman in the Helium Pictures-produced serialized crime drama after McShane withdrew due to health concerns.

McShane was originally cast as Shipman in late March. He is also set to reprise his role opposite Keanu Reeves in John Wick: Chapter 4. Deadline has reached out to his reps.

The show’s producer/executive producer and Helium founder Mark Fennessy said: “It’s unfortunate that Ian is unable to join us and we wish him a speedy recovery. We are truly delighted that the super brilliant Tim Roth joins our cast as Ezra and cannot wait to see him breathe life into yet another unforgettable character.”

Inspired by John Ibrahim’s best-selling autobiography, the ten-part Last King of The Cross...

“Gangs of London” producer Pulse Films has secured the rights to Anna Whitehouse and Matt Farquharson’s Sunday Times-bestselling novel “Underbelly.”

Released early in August, the book tells the story of two women, Lo and Dylan, who are living parallel lives while being worlds apart. Lo is a middle-class mother with perfectly polished Instagram posts, while Dylan holds down a zero-hours telemarketing job while trying to keep food on the table. When they meet at the school gates, they are catapulted into each other’s homes and lives — with devastating consequences.

The book deal was brokered for the authors by Luke Speed on behalf of Cathryn Summerhayes of the Curtis Brown Group and by Jamie Hall and Tim O’Shea for Pulse Films. Storylining has begun, with the novel being adapted for the screen by Farquharson and Whitehouse, who are married and write together under the latter’s name.

Whitehouse is the founder of Mother Pukka,...

In 2001, the world was introduced to the iPod and Australia had its first taste of digital television.

It’s fair to say the year left its mark in more ways than one, but for Cameron McCulloch, not everything went to plan.

At the time, the then film student was on the verge of completing his feature debut, Scam, starring Kestie Morassi, only for a large portion of the footage to be destroyed in a housefire at a crew member’s place.

Twenty years on and the film is set to have its world premiere at next month’s Monster Fest after being resurrected by cast member and editor Nathan Hill during the 2020 lockdown.

McCulloch, who wrote and then filmed the project on a MiniDV in 12 days for $5,000, said he was “in awe” that it was finally seeing the light of day.

“During lockdown last year, Nathan was prepping another feature...

Endeavor Content has come on board as the global sales agent for “The Panthers,” a music-influenced social justice drama series from New Zealand.

It was Friday confirmed that the series will make its international premiere as an official selection at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, as part of the Primetime program.

The six, hour-long episodes, based-on-a-true-story series covers a devastating and resonant period in New Zealand’s history through the dramatization of the founding of The Polynesian Panthers – a revolutionary social justice movement directly inspired by the Black Panther movement in the U.S.

The 1974-set narrative follows a young man who is the black sheep of his Tongan family who is frustrated by his community being stuck in a broken economic and criminal justice system. In the face of increasingly aggressive racial-profiling from the government and police force, he forms his own revolutionary movement The Polynesian Panthers, while also...

Soap opera actor Dieter Brummer has died at his home in Sydney, Australia at 45. Brummer was best known for appearing in several Australian soap opera television shows, including Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities from 2009 to 2010, Winners and Losers from 2013 to 2014 and the long-running iconic series Neighbours from 2011 to […]

The post Dieter Brummer, ‘Home & Away’ Star, Dies At 45 appeared first on uInterview.

Former Home and Away heartthrob Dieter Brummer has died aged 45.

The actor appeared in 557 episodes of the soap from 1991-96, playing Shane Parrish. He also had roles in Neighbours, Underbelly, and Winners & Losers.

Nsw Police confirmed that local officers responded to reports of a concern for welfare at a home in Glenhaven, Sydney on Saturday and that the body of a man was located inside the home. His death is not believed to be suspicious.

In a statement, Brummer’s family confirmed the “handsome, funny, complicated, and beloved” actor had died on Saturday morning.

I wrote for him on H and A and later on Crash Palace where he was a senior cast member and was really modest and helpful to everyone. Rip https://t.co/YBCNOcCEtT

— B E Ayshford (@episode2480) July 26, 2021

“He has left a massive hole in our lives and our world will never be the same,...

Dieter Brummer, a former star of iconic Australian soap operas Home And Away and Neighbours, has died at the age of 45.

Brummer’s death has been widely reported in Australia, including by Seven Network, which broadcasts Home And Away. He was found dead at home in Sydney, though police are not treating the matter as suspicious.

Deadline has contacted Seven Network for comment. A spokesperson told 7 News: “Home And Away and Channel 7 are deeply saddened to hear of Dieter Brummer’s passing.

“Dieter was a much-loved Home And Away cast member and celebrated by Australian and international audiences for his award-winning portrayal of Shane Parrish. We send our sincere condolences to Dieter’s family and friends during this very difficult time.â€.

Brummer starred as Shane Parrish for five years and was considered to be a heartthrob in Australia. After leaving Home And Away in 1996, he worked as a high-rise...

John Clabburn, a TV director for three decades on such Australian shows as Home And Away, Underbelly, Survivor, LoveChild, The Wiggles and Wonderland, died April 6 at his home in Sydney.

Clabburn was trimming hedges with a new power saw at his home when he cut his hand. He fell ten feet from his ladder and was soon discovered by his wife. He had just bought the chain saw that day.

His death was attributed to cardiac arrest from the blood loss from his slashed hand.

“When I went out to the back garden, he was crawling on the ground on his stomach, said Clabburn’s wife, Melissa, speaking to the Daily Telegraph. “There was so much blood, he was clutching his torso.

“I kept getting towels to stem the flow, but the blood wouldn’t stop.”

“All he said was, ‘Call an ambulance now,’” she said. “One minute we were...

Production begins this month on “Surviving Summer,” a teen-surfing drama series for Netflix and Zdf Enterprises. The show is produced by Werner Film Production, a three-time Emmy-nominated Australian firm headed by Joanna Werner.

Sky Katz (previously known as Skylar Katz) (Disney Channel’s “Raven’s Home”) stars as the titular character Summer, a fierce Brooklyn teen who is sent ‘Down Under’ to live with family friends in a coastal town on the Great Ocean Road. She stars alongside Brazilian rising star Joao Gabriel Marinho (“Malhacao”), Australia’s Kai Lewins (“Wild Boys”) and Savannah La Rain (“Content”). It also stars Lilliana Bowrey, a five-time Queensland junior state surf champion, making her first foray into acting.

The ten-part show will be shot at some of Australia’s most iconic surf beaches in Victoria.

It was created by Werner and Josh Mapleston (“Ready For This,” “Beat Bugs,” “Dance Academy”), and was written by Mapleston,...

Jessica de Gouw in ‘Operation Buffalo.’

After starring in Network 10’s The Secrets She Keeps and the ABC’s Operation Buffalo, Jessica de Gouw’s career continues to flourish while many in her profession are idle due to the pandemic.

The London-based actress heads to Austria next month to start filming the second season of Vienna Blood, the British/Austrian murder mystery which screened on BBC2, PBS in the US, Germany’s Zdf and Austria’s Orf.

Adapted from Frank Tallis’ novels and set in 1900s Vienna, the series starred Matthew Beard as Max Liebermann, a doctor and protégé of Sigmund Freud. When Liebermann comes into contact with Oskar Rheinhardt (Juergen Maurer), a detective struggling with a baffling murder case, he agrees to help solve the investigation.

In the show produced by Red Arrow Studios’ Endor Productions and Austria’s Mr Film, de Gouw she played Amelia Lydgate, a...

While much of Australia’s film and TV slate is currently being held up over insurance matters, production has now begun near Sydney on low budget feature “Dark Noise.” It is one of the first local films in Australia to start since the end of nationwide coronavirus lockdowns.

The film features the rising star of the British Shakespearean stage Imogen Sage (BBC TV’ “Doctors”) as a young woman foley artist alone in a forest listening for frogs. She hears something she shouldn’t have and stumbles upon a cocaine farm. Other cast includes features Callan Colley (“The Letdown”), Brett Rogers (“Rake”) and Australia’s Leah Vandenberg and Lauren Clair (“Packed To The Rafters,” “Underbelly”).

“Dark Noise” is written and directed by Clara Chong and produced and shot by her partner Ben Allan. Carlo Giacco serves as the film’s composer, while Sam Wilde is the production designer. Production is by Main Course Films company,...

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,...

The NBC drama pilot about a young Robert Langdon has found its lead actor.

Ashley Zukerman has been cast in “Langdon,” which is based on Dan Brown’s best-selling book “The Lost Symbol.” The series follows the early adventures of famed Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Zukerman), who must solve a series of deadly puzzles to save his kidnapped mentor and thwart a global conspiracy.

Zukerman recently appeared as Nate Sofrelli on the Emmy- and Golden Globe Award-winning HBO series “Succession.” He is also known for starring in the Emmy-winning Wgn America series “Manhattan,” which dramatized the creation of the atomic bomb during the Manhattan Project. His other American TV credits include shows such as “Designated Survivor,” “Masters of Sex,” and “Fear the Walking Dead.” He has starred in Australian shows such as “The Code,” “Rush,” and “Underbelly.” He will next be seen starring opposite Kate Mara in the FX limited series “A Teacher.

(L-r) Daniel Lapaine, Jacqueline McKenzie, Nathan Page and director Tony Tilse on set in Victoria.

The relationship between Essie Davis’ Phryne Fisher and Nathan Page’s Jack Robinson breaks new ground in Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears.

That’s according to Tony Tilse, who directed Every Cloud Productions’ murder-mystery/adventure/romance, which premieres in Australian cinemas on February 27.

“The lovely tension between Phryne and Jack is always there but the two of them on screen together is just magic in a way we haven’t seen before,” Tilse tells If.

“Nathan is fantastic, absolutely up there with Essie’s performance level. It’s beautiful to watch.”

Tilse, who was the set-up director of Ms Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, was the natural choice by producer Fiona Eagger and scriptwriter/executive producer Deb Cox

to helm the feature.

“After the third series we started talking about the movie as a way to continue the franchise,...

Bob Campbell.

Screentime executive chairman Bob Campbell has retired from the production company he co-founded with Des Monaghan 23 years ago.

That marks the end of an era at the company best known for the Underbelly franchise, Pine Gap, Wolf Creek, Cloudstreet, Janet King and Anzac Girls as well as light entertainment fare such as Anh’s Brush with Fame, Rbt, Hughesy, We Have a Problem and The Secret Life of Four Year Olds.

The co-founders sold a controlling stake to French-based entertainment giant Banijay in 2012 and Monaghan stepped down as executive chairman in 2014.

Campbell departed before the completion of Banijay’s takeover of the Endemol Shine Group (Esg), which will create one of the world’s biggest independent production and distribution banners with a catalogue of 85,000 hours.

Rory Callaghan will continue to run Screentime as CEO. In an unrelated move, Screentime executive producer Johnny Lowry has been promoted to head of non-scripted,...

Hamilton Entertainment, BeaglePug, Footprint Films, and Enriched Media Group produce Australia-uk co-pro.

Gary Hamilton’s Arclight Films has struck major new deals on the Daniel Radcliffe true-life prison break thriller Escape From Pretoria led by a sale to Signature in the UK.

Besides the UK, rights have also gone in Latin America (Turner). Additional recent deals include Benelux (Dfw), Scandinavia and Iceland (Mis. Label), Italy (Minerva), Japan (At Entertainment), Poland (Monolith), Portugal (Films4You), Turkey (Sayez Films), and Israel (Shoval).

Arclight previously announced completed deals with: Ksm GmbH for Germany, Top Film for Cis, Inopia Films in Spain, Spentzos for Greece,...

Rebecca Gibney, Anthony Lapaglia and Jessica Marais head the cast of crime thriller mini-series “Halifax: Retribution.” The show is the revival of an iconic Australian series that ran on the Nine Network for six seasons from 1994 to 2002, starring Gibney.

In the new show, produced for Nine, Gibney’s forensic psychiatrist character is called back from academia to the police front line when a serial sniper begins attacking Melbourne.

Original creator and writer Roger Simpson returns as writer and producer, alongside executive producer Mikael Borglund and writers Mac Gudgeon (“Killing Time”), Peter Gawler (“Underbelly”) and the Oscar-nominated Jan Sardi (“Shine”).

Production starts next month in Melbourne with Jacqueline McKenzie, Rick Donald, Hannah Monson (“Glitch”), Craig Hall, Mavournee Hazel and Louisa Mignone among the supporting cast.

“Halifax: Retribution” is a Beyond Lonehand Production with major production investment from Screen Australia, in association with Film Victoria. Beyond Distribution is handling international sales of...

Anthony Lapaglia, Jessica Marais.

Anthony Lapaglia and Jessica Marais will co-star with Rebecca Gibney in the Nine Network’s crime thriller miniseries Halifax: Retribution, which will start shooting in Melbourne later this month.

Jacqueline McKenzie, Rick Donald, Hannah Monson, Craig Hall, Mavournee Hazel and Louisa Mignone round out the cast of the Halifax reboot produced by Beyond Lonehand.

Original creator and writer Roger Simpson returns as writer and producer alongside executive producer Mikael Borglund and writers Mac Gudgeon, Peter Gawler and Oscar-nominated Jan Sardi.

Gudgeon and Sardi both worked with Simpson on Halifax f.p., which ran for seven seasons on Nine and ended in 2002. Rebecca Gibney reprises her role as forensic psychiatrist Jane Halifax, who has carved out a new career as a university professor.

When a serial sniper starts terrorising Melbourne, she is lured back into the field to help the police task force find the killer. As...

Niki Aken.

When screenwriter Niki Aken started writing TV shows seven years ago, she was the only one with an Asian or non-white heritage in the room.

That situation did not change until two years ago when the writer, who has a Malaysian father and an Aussie mother, and Benjamin Law began developing a show for Fremantle.

“For the first five years nearly everyone I worked with was middle class, Anglo and aged 40-plus,” she tells If.

As a founder member of Australian Writers’ Guild’s Diversity and Inclusion Action Committee alongside Law, Kodie Bedford, Jaime Browne, Mithila Gupta and Que Minh Luu, she has been heartened by the much greater diversity on screen and in writers’ rooms in the past couple of years.

One show she is developing with Ian Collie’s Easy Tiger is emblematic of the advances in pluralism across the industry. Based on an idea by Collie,...

Momentum Pictures plans to “Escape From Pretoria.” It has taken North American distribution rights to the movie, which stars Daniel Radcliffe as a political prisoner attempting to break out from a maximum security South African jail. Gary Hamilton’s Arclight Films did the U.S. deal and is continuing sales efforts at Cannes, with new footage from the film in hand.

Radcliffe appears alongside Australian actor Daniel Webber (“The Dirt”). The pair play freedom fighters Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee, who were jailed in 1978 for being involved in covert anti-apartheid operations. Ian Hart (“God’s Own Country”), Mark Leonard Winter (“Cleverman”) and Nathan Page (“Underbelly”) also star.

Based on a true story, the film follows Jenkin and Lee – joined by a fellow inmate – as they decide to escape from prison. After months of planning, and in a race against time as the authorities strengthen the prison’s security, they craft...

Stars: Damian Hall, Ty Perham, Kat Stewart, Tony Nikolakopoulos, Arthur Angel, Kaarin Fairfax, Faye Smythe | Written and Directed by Jason Raftopoulos

It’s no secret that while these fair British Isles basically invented acting and movie-making, another country out there has a particular knack of making some tremendously emotional and jarringly real films and TV shows… Australia I am looking directly at you!

For years now I have championed some of the titles that come out of Australia (especially on the indie scene) the wealth of talent in front of and behind the camera is incredible. Look no further than TV shows like Underbelly or Wentworth; movies like Two Hands, Babadook, Chopper, Wolf Creek, Ned Kelly or Animal Kingdom to name a few.

Now I get to add West of Sunshine to my list of Aussie movies that more than deserve your attention.

I am a sucker for a movie...

Pitch Perfect star Rebel Wilson is to star in an Australian period drama funded by Sonar Entertainment.

Wilson is to front Les Norton, a ten-part series based on Robert G. Barrett’s novels, for Australian public broadcaster ABC. The series is produced by Romper Stomper producer Roadshow Rough Diamond in association with Screen Australia with Taboo distributor Sonar Entertainment selling globally.

Set in 1985, the series will follow the exploits of Les Norton, a man from outback Queensland. On the run from a troubled past, he blows into Sydney where he lands a job as a bouncer at a notorious illegal casino in Kings Cross. He soon finds himself seduced by the city’s illicit charms and dragged into a web of underground criminality.

Rising star Alexander Bertrand will play the eponymous lead, while Romper Stomper’s David Wenham will star alongside Wilson in the drama, which is directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse,...

Rebel Wilson and David Wenham will star in Australian drama series “Les Norton.” Adapted from the novels of Robert G. Barrett, the show is presented by The Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Screen Australia.

Set in 1985, the series will follow the exploits of a country bloke from outback Queensland, played by rising star Alexander Bertrand. On the run from a troubled past, he blows into Sydney where he lands a job as a bouncer at an illegal casino. A classic fish out of water who is desperate to get home, he soon finds himself seduced by the city’s illicit charms and dragged into a web of underground criminality.

The series will be directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, Fadia Abboud (“Australian Gangster”), David Caesar and Morgan O’Neill. It was created for television by Morgan O’Neill, working alongside writers Christopher Lee Samantha Winston Shanti Gudgeon Malcolm Knox and Jessica Tuckwell.

It...

Rebel Wilson..

The ABC has commissioned 10-part Roadshow Rough Diamond drama Les Norton, based on the best-selling novels by Robert G. Barrett.

Set in 1985, the series will follow the exploits of Les Norton, a country bloke from outback Queensland. On the run from a troubled past, he blows into Sydney where he lands a job as a bouncer at a notorious illegal casino in Kings Cross. A classic fish out of water who’s desperate to get home, he soon finds himself seduced by the city’s illicit charms and dragged into a web of underground criminality.

Rebel Wilson and David Wenham will headline the cast together with up-and-coming actor Alexander Bertrand, who will play Norton.

Daniel and John Edwards will produce the series created by by Morgan O’Neill, who will work alongside writers Christopher Lee (Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo), Samantha Winston (Wentworth), Shanti Gudgeon (Wolf Creek...

Exclusive: A Nice Girl Like You has locked in its supporting cast as filming is underway in New Jersey. The indie rom-com starring Lucy Hale has tapped Leonidas Gulaptis (Australian TV series Underbelly), Skye P. Marshall (CW’s Black Lightning) Stephen Friedrich (Sweet/Vicious), Adhir Kalyan (CBS’ Rules of Engagement), and Mindy Cohn (Natalie from NBC’s The Facts Of Life), all of whom also join previously announced Jackie Cruz. The pic, based on a memoir by Ayn Carrillo-Gailey, is being directed by Chris and Nick Riedell.

The story follows Lucy Neal (Hale), a violinist who is thrown for a loop when she is accused of being too inhibited by her ex-boyfriend. In an effort to prove him wrong, Lucy creates a rather wild to-do list that sends her on a whirlwind journey of self-discovery, friendship, and new love.

Andrea Marcellus adapted the screenplay.

Character breakdowns are as follows: Gulaptis will play Grant,...

Lionsgate is proud to announce Occupation, arriving on Blu-ray (plus Digital), DVD, and Digital September 25.

Prepare for invasion when the sci-fi epic Occupation arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital), DVD, and Digital September 25 from Lionsgate. This film is currently On Demand. When a fleet of spaceships cover the sky in darkness and invade Earth, a small group of civilians band together to fight off their attackers to save their lives along with all of humanity. Featuring eye-grabbing special effects, the high-stakes action film stars Dan Ewing, Temuera Morrison, and Stephany Jacobsen. Occupation will be available on Blu-ray (plus Digital) and DVD for the suggested retail price of $21.99 and $19.98, respectively.

Check out the trailer:

A town is suddenly plunged into darkness. In the sky, a fleet of spaceships appears. The aliens have been watching Earth for centuries; now they have arrived to seize control of our planet. As alien storm troopers cut...

Review by Peter Belsito

Directed by Robert “Corpsy” Rhine (publisher of Girls And Corpses Magazine), who is frequently on camera with mike here, Underbelly: Beneath The World Of Porn takes a unique approach to the increasing numbers of films offering young women full-time jobs at internet web camming, i.e., shooting these porn productions.

This film consists of only close up serious thoughtful interviews with young female porn performers discussing their work, careers, motivation.

It explores the trials and tribulations from dozens of various female performers in the industry today as they share their stories of success, failure and stardom.

These women mostly claim to love what they do, but like in any profession they also experience the highs and lows of a challenging and extremely competitive business.

The adult film business is thriving more than ever today on the Internet with digital pornographic content and burgeoning Web-Camming sites. According to Forbes magazine,...

Critically praised Australian series Safe Harbour is set to make its U.S. debut on Hulu. As part of a deal with NBCUniversal Television and New Media Distribution, the four-part event drama will debut August 24 on Hulu.

Safe Harbour tells the story of five Australians on a yachting holiday from Darwin to Indonesia, whose idyllic vacation takes a disastrous turn when they come across a broken-down fishing boat, full of desperate asylum seekers. The Australians decide to help, towing the refugees, but when they wake the next morning the fishing boat is gone. Five years later they meet some of the refugees again and learn the truth. Someone cut the rope between the two boats and, as a result, seven people died when the fishing boat sank. The revelation drives a wedge of mistrust between the Australians, as they grapple with protecting themselves and doing the right thing. The refugees...

From Saban Films comes Occupation, a story of survival and fighting off an alien invasion. The sci-fi film is arriving on Blu-ray, DVD and digital from Lionsgate. Read all the details below.

Prepare for invasion when the sci-fi epic Occupation arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital), DVD, and Digital September 25 from Lionsgate. This film is currently On Demand. When a fleet of spaceships cover the sky in darkness and invade Earth, a small group of civilians band together to fight off their attackers to save their lives along with all of humanity. Featuring eye-grabbing special effects, the high-stakes action film stars Dan Ewing, Temuera Morrison, and Stephany Jacobsen. Occupation will be available on Blu-ray (plus Digital) and DVD for the suggested retail price of $21.99 and $19.98, respectively.

Official Synopsis

A town is suddenly plunged into darkness. In the sky, a fleet of spaceships appears. The aliens have been watching Earth for centuries...

(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.

Australian cable network Foxtel announced today that Emmy-winning actress Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale) and and Essie Davis (The Babadook) will star in Lambs of God, a four-part original drama series from writer Sarah Lambert and director Jeffrey Walker.

Based on the Marele Day novel, Lambs of God is a dark, gothic story about three nuns, each a generation apart, living in an isolated convent by the coast, and an unwelcome visitor who enters their lives and changes their world forever.

Dowd and Davis will be joined by Jessica Barden (The End Of The F*****World, The Lobster) who will star as the third nun. As the Sisters of St Agnes, the must defend their lives, existence and beliefs when the handsome priest, played by actor Sam Reid (The Railway Main, Belle, Anonymous) attempts to sell their dilapidated monastery. What unfolds is an epic and fantastical tale of faith,...

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,...

Australian actress Emma Booth (Underbelly, Gods of Egypt) has landed a major recurring role on the upcoming seventh season of ABC’s Once Upon a Time, which is undergoing a reset with new stories and a number of new characters. She will play The Witch who is as wicked as they come. Booth’s film Hounds of Love recently premiered at Tribeca and Venice Film Festivals. She will next be seen starring opposite Michael Pena and Lizzie Caplan in Universal’s Extension and can also…...

'Wolf Creek' season one..

Production has begun in South Australia on the second season of Stan's Wolf Creek, with showrunner Greg McLean once again in the director's chair.

John Jarratt reprises the role of Mick Taylor, and will be joined by Tess Haubrich (Alien: Covenant), Matt Day (Rake, Paper Giants, Underbelly, Kiss or Kill), Ben Oxenbould (Comedy Inc., The Kettering Incident, The Code), Laura Wheelwright (Animal Kingdom), Stephen Hunter (The Hobbit, The Leftovers) and Chris Haywood (Shine, Muriel's Wedding, Dogs in Space).

Of the second season McLean said: "We.ll join an amazing cast on a road trip of a lifetime, as they must draw on their inner strength to outwit the terrifying Mick Taylor. John Jarratt returns to take Mick.s dark arts to a whole new level, showcasing the beautiful and dangerous landscapes of the remote outback..

Joining McLean in directing will be Kieran Darcy-Smith (Wish You Were Here,...

Phoebe Tonkin (The Vampire Diaries) and Joel Jackson (Peter Allen: Not The Boy Next Door) are set to star in Sbs' upcoming Safe Harbour.

The Matchbox Pictures four-parter, currently shooting in Brisbane, will also include Ewen Leslie (Rake), Leeanna Walsman (Seven Types of Ambiguity) and Jacqueline McKenzie (The 4400).

They.ll be joined by Hazem Shammas (Underbelly), Nicole Chamoun (Kick) and Robert Rabiah (Tomorrow When the War Began).

Safe Harbour, written by Phil Enchelmaier, Belinda Chayko and Matt Cameron, follows a group of friends who, on a yacht trip from Brisbane to Indonesia, intercept an overloaded asylum seeker boat. .

Glendyn Ivin (Seven Types of Ambiguity, The Beautiful Lie) will take up directing duties, with Matchbox.s Stephen Corvini (Better Man, Hyde & Seek) producing. Sbs. Sue Masters (The Principal, Deep Water) is the executive producer.

.We.ve assembled a brilliant cast that is set to entertain and enthral an audience with...