News

El Estudio has acquired rights to adapt hit Australian comedy format “Here Come the Habibs” for Mexican audiences, partnering with Los Angeles-based Happy Accidents on the project.

The original series, which aired on Australia’s Channel 9, broke ground as the first mainstream commercial TV comedy to feature a Middle Eastern family in leading roles. The fish-out-of-water comedy follows a Lebanese family who strike it rich through a lottery win and move into an upscale neighborhood, creating a culture clash with their more buttoned-up neighbors.

The format comes from Jungle Entertainment, the Australian production powerhouse behind “Population 11” (Stan), “Wakefield” (ABC), “No Activity” (adapted in over eight territories) and “Mr Inbetween” (FX).

Set to be reimagined in Mexico City, the adaptation aims to explore themes of class mobility, cultural identity and social integration through a distinctly Mexican lens.

“El Estudio shares our vision for creating content that resonates across cultures while maintaining local authenticity,...

The Office is being remade again for the thirteenth time. This adaption will be an Australian version featuring a female lead, Felicity Ward, for the first time. Ward will be acting as Hannah Howard, the manager of one of the branches of Flinley Craddick, a packaging company. This adaption differs from the original U.K. version as it will follow what happens to Howard and the other branch workers when they must work from home due to their branch being shut down.

Prime Video Australia will be creating the show and it will be an eight-part series. Filming will start in June and is set to launch in 2024. Viewers can access the show through Prime membership, as it will be an Amazon Original show.

Other actors will star in the series including Steen Raskopoulos, Firass Dirani, Susan Ling Young, Josh Thomson, Shari Sebbens, Edith Poor, Lucy Schmit, Jonny Brugh, Raj Labade and Pallavi Sharda.

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...

Production has begun in Tasmania, Australia on “Deadloch,” a noir comedy that will be an Amazon original series.

The story is set in the once sleepy seaside hamlet of Deadloch and begins after a man’s dead body is found on the beach. Two female detectives are thrown together to solve the case, one fastidious, the other a more rough and ready type from out of town. Along with an over-eager junior they have to pool forces to solve the case while the town is putting on its annual crafts, culture and cooking festival.

The eight-part show was conceived by comedy duo Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan and will star Kate Box, Madeleine Sami “The Breaker Upperers”), Alicia Gardiner (“Wakefield”) and Nina Oyama (“Utopia”), as well as an ensemble cast.

“Deadloch” is to be directed between February and May by acclaimed Australian directors Ben Chessell, Gracie Otto and Beck Cole.

Production has begun in Sydney on the television drama “After the Verdict,” with Michelle Lim Davidson and Tess Haubrich joining the cast.

The six-part series follows four people who have just finished jury duty on a high-profile murder trial. As they return to normal life, they begin to question their verdict and take matters into their own hands, investigating the murder themselves.

The show was created, written and executive produced by Subtext Pictures’ Ellie Beaumont and Drew Proffitt. The completed series will premiere on the 9Network in Australia with Entertainment One (eOne) handling international sales. The production also received major investment from federal body Screen Australia in association with region screen agency Screen Nsw.

Lim Davidson (“The Newsreader”) and Haubrich (“Wolf Creek”) join the previously announced Sullivan Stapleton, Magda Szubanski and Lincoln Younes in the show’s main cast. Other roles go to Virginia Gay (“Judy and Punch”), Emma Diaz...

Showtime's quirky new psychological mystery Wakefield concluded on December 6, 2021, with the brilliant and gifted nurse Nik Katira (Rudi Dharmalingam) finally uncovering the repressed memory regarding his brother's death. During the course of the 8-episode season, Rudi encountered many likable coworkers and patients alike who helped him both directly and indirectly on his quest to find the truth.

Related: 10 Best Shows That Changed Networks

As fans hope to hear more about the show, now is a perfect time to reassess what transpired during the season and honor those who provided the most compellingly sympathetic and amusingly enjoyable moments on the show.

This weekly feature is in addition to TVLine’s daily What to Watch listings and monthly guide to What’s on Streaming.

With nearly 500 scripted shows now airing across broadcast, cable and streaming, it’s easy to forget that a favorite comedy is returning, or that the new “prestige drama” you anticipated is about to debut. So consider this our reminder to set your DVR, order a Season Pass, pop a fresh Memorex into the Vcr… however it is you roll.

More from TVLineWorld Beyond Series Finale Recap: Who Lived, Who Died and Which Long-Lost Walking Dead Character Showed Up?...

Continuing its strong relationship with top-notch Australian drama series, London-based Dcd Rights has acquired for international distribution the anticipated high-end series “Love Me,” starring Hugo Weaving.

The first drama series to enter production for Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia, “Love Me” also marks its first project for Australian SVOD service Binge, launched in May last year by the Foxtel Group.

News of the “Love Me” acquisition comes as Dcd Rights has pre-sold has season two of the “The Secrets She Keeps” to AMC Networks’ streaming service Sundance Now in the U.S. and Canada and BBC One and iPlayer in the U.K. The series is produced by Sydney-based Lingo Pictures Production for Paramount Plus.

Enjoying major production investment from Screen Australia and financed with support from Film Victoria, “Love Me” is now in production.

The six-hour romantic drama turns on how love can appear at the most inconvenient of times,...

Nominations for this year’s Australian Directors’ Guild (Adg) Awards are shared amongst the likes of Wayne Blair, Shannon Murphy, Daniel Nettheim, Tennika Smith, and Jonathan Brough, who have all scored two nods each.

Murphy is one of two women included in the category for Best Direction in a Feature Film for Babyteeth, joining Unjoo Moon (I Am Woman) in a field that also includes Seth Larney (2067), Maziar Lahooti (Below), and Robert Connolly (The Dry).

She also gets the nod for Best Direction in a TV or SVOD Drama Series episode for Killing Eve, where she will compete against fellow double nominee Nettheim, who features for Halifax: Retribution (Series 1 Episode 7), and is also up for Best Direction in a TV or SVOD Miniseries Episode for Line of Duty (Series 6 Episode 1).

Blair is up for Best Direction in a Feature Documentary with co-director Nel Minchin for Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra,...

ABC’s The Newsreader has collected a further six Aacta Award nominations, taking its total to 16, with the academy unveiling the technical craft nominees today.

Nitram now leads in film after picking up another eight nominations, taking its total to 15. High Ground gathered four further nods, taking its tally to 12, tying it with The Dry, which gained another six today.

This year’s Industry Awards will again be virtual, broadcast online on Aacta TV as part of the 2021 ScreenFest Program, as well as Binge and Foxtel Arena, December 6. The ceremony will then be held two days later at the Sydney Opera House.

This year, key film prizes as best supporting actor and actress in a film, as well as best original and adapted screenplays, will be presented during the industry awards, rather than the main ceremony as has been the case in previous years. Other key TV prizes will also...

Showtime has promoted Jessie Dicovitsky to the role of senior vice president of original programming.

“Jessie Dicovitsky has been a tremendous asset to our dynamic original programming team,” said Amy Israel, Showtime’s executive vice president of scripted programming, to whom Dicovitsky reports. “Her incisive development and production skills, her feel for what will resonate with our audiences and her advocacy for artists and their shows have made her invaluable to our network.”

Dicovitsky is based in the Showtime West Coast offices in West Hollywood. She works across the development and production of comedy, drama and documentary programming.

She has creative oversight of upcoming Showtime dramas “American Gigolo” created by David Hollander and starring Jon Bernthal, “Three Women” created by bestselling author Lisa Taddeo and starring Shailene Woodley, and “Halo,” airing on Paramount Plus. This year, Dicovitsky worked on the new comedy series “Flatbush Misdemeanors” and oversaw acquisitions for international...

Jessie Dicovitsky’s rise at Showtime continues.

Dicovitsky has been promoted to SVP Original Programming. She was previously VP Original Programming, having been upped from Director of Original Programming in 2019.

Dicovitsky, who was promoted in August, reports to EVP Scripted Programming Amy Israel and has been with the ViacomCBS premium network for close to 10 years after starting her career at NBCUniversal.

She works across the development and production of comedy, drama and documentary programming and has creative oversight of shows such as American Gigolo, Three Women and Halo as well as recent comedy series Flatbush Misdemeanors and international acquisitions Wakefield and We Hunt Together.

She has also overseen shows such as Shameless, The L Word: Generation Q, Black Monday and Episodes and on the nonfiction side, shepherds docuseries The Circus.

“Jessie Dicovitsky has been a tremendous asset to our dynamic original programming team,” Israel said. “Her incisive development and production skills,...

The editors behind Nitram, I Met A Girl, The Furnace and June Again will compete for this year’s Ellie Award for Best Editing in Feature Drama, while the television drama category will be a contest between those who cut Wakefield, The Tailings, Jack Irish, Eden and Bump.

The annual awards of the Australian Screen Editors (Ase) will be held in early February with the hope that travel restrictions between states will have eased.

“It’s been a tough two years and we think we all deserve to be together in person to celebrate these fine achievements in editing, and the results of everybody’s hard work during such difficult times,” Ase president Danielle Boesenberg tells If.

In addition to the feature film prize, I Met A Girl editor Melanie Annan will also be in contention for Best Editing in Documentary and Series for Three Songs for Benazir, shared with Christoph Wermke.

Aacta has revealed those in contention for the major film, television and short-form prizes at this year’s awards, with High Ground leading the charge in the film categories and The Newsreader ahead in television.

The nominations follow those revealed for feature documentary in July, with the technical craft categories still to come.

Aacta also announced today that this year’s awards will move from The Star to the Sydney Opera House, with the ceremony to be held December 8.

There has also been a change in broadcast partners from Seven to 10, where the ceremony will air first followed by an encore on Fox Arena on Foxtel, Binge, and Aacta TV.

High Ground has earned eight nominations, including Best Film. Also nominated for the night’s major prize are Nitram, which earned seven nods, The Dry, which has six, as well as The Furnace, Penguin Bloom and Rams.

The Best Indie Film Award,...

Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps are among the writers aiming to win consecutive prizes at this year’s Awgie Awards.

Grant, who won the adaptation prize with Cripps for Penguin Bloom in 2020 and for the True History of the Kelly Gang in 2019, is nominated this year for his work on Nitram, against the Here Out West writing team of Nisrine Amine, Bina Bhattacharya, Matias Bolla, Claire Cao, Arka Das, Dee Duygu Dogan, Vonne Patiag and Tien Tran; Falling for Figaro‘s Ben Lewin and Allen Palmer; and The Furnace‘s Roderick MacKay in the original feature film category.

Cripps and Robert Connolly have been recognised for The Dry, which is one of two nominees for the feature film adaptation award alongside Babyteeth, written for the screen by the original playwright Rita Kalnejais.

In the television categories, Tony McNamara’s The Great is pitted against Wakefield, Five Bedrooms and Wentworth for...

Traditional distribution pathways may have been upended by Covid-19, but in some ways, the pandemic has strengthened the landscape for social impact documentary.

That’s according to Leeanne Torpey, Jungle Entertainment’s communications and impact manager, who has led the impact campaign for the company’s doco Big Deal, about the influence of money on politics.

“Community connections are becoming more important. And if [a project] is addressing a real need in the community, then an audience is going to exist passionately whether or not it’s convenient to get to the cinema,” she tells If.

Big Deal, directed by Craig Reucassel and presented by Christiaan Van Vuuren, marks Jungle’s first social impact documentary. Aline Jacques produces, while executive producers include Jason Burrows, Jen Peedom, Bridget Callow-Wright, Malinda Wink, and Paul Wiegard.

The project follows Van Vuuren as he meets with a host of prominent parliamentary and media figures to understand...

This weekly feature is in addition to TVLine’s daily What to Watch listings and monthly guide to What’s on Streaming.

With nearly 500 scripted shows now airing across broadcast, cable and streaming, it’s easy to forget that a favorite comedy is returning, or that the new “prestige drama” you anticipated is about to debut. So consider this our reminder to set your DVR, order a Season Pass, pop a fresh Memorex into the Vcr… however it is you roll.

More from TVLineSuccession Stars Preview Season 3, Tease Shifting Loyalties: Who's Team Kendall, and Who's Team Logan?The Blacklist Season...

(Welcome to ...And More, our no-frills, zero B.S. guide to when and where you can watch upcoming movies and shows, and everything else you could possibly stand to know.)

The latest limited series for Showtime is coming from down under, with the network set to premiere the popular Australian series "Wakefield" later this fall. The eight-episode seriocomedy originally aired on Australian public broadcaster ABC (not to be confused with the American ABC) back in April, and is inspired by creator Kristen Dunphy's personal experiences dealing with depression and anxiety in a psych ward. Here's everything you need to know about "Wakefield" to prepare for the release.

Described as...

The post Wakefield: Release Date, Cast, And More appeared first on /Film.

Porchlight Films’ Fisk has triumphed at Series Mania in France, taking out the Best Series Award in the comedy competition.

The legal comedy was one of only seven series chosen for the competition screening, joining Bloods (US), Brigade Mobile (France), Frank of Ireland (Ireland and UK), Hacks (USA), Georges and Ferdinand Tribulations (France), and Starstruck (UK).

Written, co-directed, and starring comedian Kitty Flanagan, the ABC-ordered comedy follows Helen Tudor-Fisk (Flanagan), a previously a high-end contracts solicitor who finds herself in the low rent world of wills and probate when she takes the job at Gruber & Gruber, following a humiliating marriage breakdown and professional fall from grace.

Speaking about the win, Flanagan said it was pleasing to see the program resonate globally.

“I’m absolutely thrilled, especially when you look at the competition, we were certainly the scrappy underdog in the fight,” she said.

“It’s incredibly satisfying to learn that...

Ahead of its screening in competition at France’s Series Mania today, co-producer and distributor About Premium Content (Apc) has inked a series of international sales for Aquarius Films’ The Unusual Suspects across Europe, North America and New Zealand.

The title has sold to Hulu for the US, Bell Media for Canada, streaming service Rialto in New Zealand, Ocs in France, Filmin in Spain, AMC Networks International Southern Europe in Spain and Portugal, and Streamz and Proximus in Belgium.

Originally commissioned by Sbs, The Unusual Suspects is a female-led heist caper starring Miranda Otto, Aina Dumlao and Michelle Vergara Moore.

When a $16 million necklace is taken from self-made businesswoman Roxanne Waters’ (Vergara Moore) home in an elaborate heist, the ensuing police investigation exposes cracks in Eastern Sydney’s sparkling façade. With the stakes higher than ever, can the masterminds stop themselves from turning on each other, or will they discover...

Hugo Weaving heads the diverse cast of “Love Me,” a romantic drama series that is now in production in Melbourne, Australia.

The show explores modern love as experienced by different family members at different stages of life. It is adapted from the Swedish series “Älska Mig,” created by Josephine Bornebusch.

To be presented as a six-part series with 43-minute episodes, the show is directed by celebrated Australian director Emma Freeman with lead writer Alison Bell, and writers Leon Ford, Adele Vuko and Blake Ayshford.

“Love Me” is a Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia production in association with Aquarius Films for the Foxtel Group’s streaming service Binge. Major production investment came from Screen Australia in association with Film Victoria.

Binge is an SVOD service launched in May last year by Foxtel, the News Corp. Australia and Telstra-owned pay-tv service in Australia. It offers on-demand and live entertainment across the lifestyle,...

Yet another Jungle Entertainment series is headed Stateside – this time drama Wakefield, with Showtime snapping up the US rights.

It’s the second Australian acquisition by the ViacomCBS-owned premium network of late, having also picked up See-Saw Films’ The End last September.

Created by Kristen Dunphy and originally commissioned by the ABC, Wakefield explores the fine line between sanity and madness through the perspectives of staff and patients at a psychiatric facility.

The cast is lead by Brit Rudi Dharmalingham, a gifted nurse, who is the sanest person in what is a pretty crazy place. But when a song gets stuck in his head, a dark secret from his past begins to intrude into his present.

The ensemble also includes Mandy McElhinney, Geraldine Hakewill, Harriet Dyer, Ryan Corr, Sam Simmons and Felicity Ward.

Sam Meikle is a showrunner with Dunphy, and both wrote alongside Joan Sauers and Cathy Strickland. Series...

MTV is headed back inside celebrity Cribs: More than 20 years after its debut, the network is reviving the unscripted series, which toured famous people’s private homes.

Cribs will return Wednesday, Aug. 11 at 9:30/8:30c and will feature the following celebs: Ashlee Simpson and Evan Ross, Big Sean, Christian Siriano, Johnny Weir, JoJo Siwa, Jordyn Woods, Kathy Griffin, Marsai Martin, Martha Stewart, Nick Young, Nico Tortorella, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Rick Ross, Ryan Lochte, Scott Disick, Tia Mowry, Tinashe and Tj Lavin.

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Showtime has headed down under for its latest drama series acquisition.

The ViacomCBS premium cabler has picked up Wakefield, an Australian series starring The Split’s Rudi Dharmalingam and set an October 18 premiere date.

The eight-episode series, which debuted on Australian public broadcaster ABC in April, is a psychological drama that shines a comedic light on what happens when the sanest individual working in a psych ward begins to lose his grip. It is inspired by creator Kristen Dunphy’s personal experiences.

Dharmalingam plays Nik Katira, who after years working as psych nurse at Wakefield, is exceptionally good at his job. With a gift for soothing the afflicted and reaching the unreachable, he’s the most stable person in what tends to be a pretty crazy place. But right now, as his own sanity is slipping, the question is … why? Tackling the complexity of mental illness with humor and heart,...

There will be a strong Australian contingent at Series Mania in France this year, including Jungle Entertainment’s Wakefield, Aquarius Films’ The Unusual Suspects, Porchlight Films’ Fisk and Lazy Susan Films’ Iggy & Ace.

2020 saw the international TV festival initially forced to cancel outright before moving industry meetings and networking online. This year it returns, after two postponements, as an in-person event in Lille August 26 to September 3, with an accompanying special digital program.

Series Mania Forum, the industry arm of Series Mania, is set for August 30 – September 1.

Dramas Wakefield, commissioned by the ABC, and The Unusual Suspects, by Sbs, will each compete in the Panorama section.

ABC-ordered comedy Fisk, written, directed by and starring Kitty Flanagan, will be shown in the comedy strand, while Iggy and Ace, an upcoming short-form drama series for Sbs On Demand, will make its world premiere in the web series competitive section.

Two other Australian shows...

Production on crime series set to begin in July in Queensland

AGC Television and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation are partnering with Screen Australia to co-finance the eight-part crime series Troppo starring Thomas Jane.

Production is set to begin in July in Queensland with Eq Media Group and Beyond Productions on board as producers. AGC Studios holds worldwide rights outside Australia.

Jane will play Ted Conkaffey, a former detective accused of a disturbing crime.

When he escapes to the tropics of Far North Queensland and gets involved with a new private agency, the by-the-book investigator and his new partner start to...

When Wakefield premiered on the ABC this month, it was the culmination of a nearly decade-long journey for creator and showrunner Kristen Dunphy.

Finding a home for the mental health-focused series was only half the battle for its creative team as they were forced to navigate a Covid-19 shutdown across international and state borders. Dunphy and executive producer Chloe Rickard, COO Jungle Entertainment, talk to If about what it meant to finally complete the project.

Introspection resulting from self-isolation is hardly a new phenomenon.

But how does it factor into the portrayal of a fictional character?

In the case of Wakefield, Covid-19 protocol may have given lead actor Rudi Dharmalingam some of the emotional triggers necessary to step into the role of Nikhil Katira, a psychiatric nurse whose sanity begins to unravel while working at the titular facility.

Before he could resume filming the miniseries following the Covid-19 lockdown, Dharmalingam first had to complete quarantine,...

Leading producers Tony Ayres and Belinda Chayko have assembled an extraordinary Australian cast for Fires, a drama series that presents personal tales from the front lines of the country’s recent catastrophic fire season.

The series, which is now shooting in Victoria state is produced by NBCUniversal -backed Tony Ayres Productions and Matchbox Pictures. Australian Broadcasting Corporation is on board as local broadcaster. International rights are handled by NBCUniversal Global Distribution.

The project is helmed by three leading film directors: Michael Rymer, Ana Kokkinos and Kim Mordaunt.

The ensemble cast includes: Eliza Scanlen, Sam Worthington, Richard Roxburgh, Sullivan Stapleton, Miranda Otto (“Homeland”), Hunter Page-Lochard, Anna Torv, Kate Box, Helana Sawires, Daniel Henshall and Noni Hazlehurst.

They are joined by newcomers Ameshol Ajang, Stacy Clausen and Nyawuda Chuol.

Fires” is structured as an anthology that weaves character studies inspired by true stories into a narrative about the Australian bushfires of 2019-...