News

Renowned Indigenous writer/director Jon Bell, writer and producer Adam Zwar, and documentary filmmaker Damon Gameau are among the first speakers to be confirmed for Screenworks' Regional to Global Screen Forum, to be held in Lennox Head from July 31 - August 2.

The post Jon Bell, Damon Gameau, Adam Zwar included in early Regional to Global line-up appeared first on If Magazine.

“Scrublands”is a new Stan Originals Australian-produced live-action ‘rural noir’ TV drama series, directed by Greg McLean, based on the novel by Chris Hammer, streaming May 2, 2024 on Sundance Now and AMC+:

“…in an isolated and struggling country town, a charismatic and dedicated priest, ‘Father Byron Swift’ (Jay Ryan) opens fire on his congregation, killing five parishioners.

‘One year later investigative journalist ‘Martin Scarsden’ (Luke Arnold) arrives to write what should be a simple feature story on the anniversary of the tragedy. But when Martin's instincts kick in and he digs beneath the surface, the previously accepted narrative begins to fall apart, and he finds himself in a life and death race to uncover the truth.

“Martin finds the people of ‘Ruversend’ deeply scarred and hostile to journalists, with local bookstore owner ‘Mandy Bond’ (Bella Heathcote), ‘Constable Robbie Haus-Jones’ (Adam Zwar), and widow ‘Fran Landers’ (Victoria Thaine) giving him short shrift.

AMC Networks announced today that the four-part Australian rural noir crime drama Scrublands will premiere on Thursday, May 2, on Sundance Now and AMC+, with additional episodes dropping weekly on both platforms.

Based on Chris Hammer’s award-winning and bestselling crime novel by the same name, the captivating series follows a country town grappling with the aftermath of a horrible crime, still trying to come to terms with it a year on.

In an isolated and struggling country town, a charismatic and dedicated priest, Father Byron Swift, calmly opens fire on his congregation, killing five parishioners. One year later, investigative journalist Martin Scarsden arrives in Riversend to write what should be a simple feature story on the anniversary of the tragedy.

But when Martin’s instincts kick in, and he digs beneath the surface, the previously accepted narrative begins to fall apart, and he finds himself in a life-and-death race to uncover the truth.

Australian writer-director Michael Jenkins, known for provocative Australia teen drama Heartbreak High, has died aged 77.

His management confirmed his death via through his partner, Amanda Robson. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2020. His friend, Ian Barry, wrote in a tribute that he had passed away on March 4 with Robson and close family by his side.

The statement from Jenkins’ management said that his “contributions to the entertainment industry and his legacy as a film-maker and storyteller will be well remembered.”

Known for a gritty and frenetic style of directing, Jenkins was behind some of Australia’s most notable TV series, with his internationally-popular 1990s high school drama Heartbreak High was rebooted for Netflix in 2022. He had initially co-created the series, which helped launch the career of The Mentalist actor Simon Baker, with Ben Gannon for Network Ten in 1994.

He was also behind Blue Murder, the Australian series...

Trailer

Netflix has unveiled the first trailer for “Jaane Jaan,” “Kahaani” filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh‘s Indian adaptation of Japanese author Higashino Keigo’s bestselling 2005 novel “The Devotion of Suspect X.”

The cast is led by Bollywood royalty Kareena Kapoor Khan and also includes Jaideep Ahlawat (“Paatal Lok”) and Vijay Varma (“Dahaad”).

The film follows a single mother and her daughter who commit a crime and a neighbor who helps them cover it up amidst a police investigation.

The novel has been adapted numerous times including in Japan as “Suspect X” (2008), in Korea as “Perfect Number” (2012) and in China as “The Devotion of Suspect X” (2017). A Hollywood version is in development.

“Jaane Jaan” is produced by 12th Street Entertainment and Northern Lights Films in association with Kross Pictures and Balaji Motion Pictures. Producers include Jay Shewakramani, Akshai Puri , Hyunwoo Thomas Kim, Shobha Kapoor and Ekta R. Kapoor.

Kapoor Khan said: “This...

Exclusive: Luke Arnold, Bella Heathcote and Jay Ryan are set to lead Scrublands, a TV adaptation of Chris Hammer’s novel for Australian streamer Stan.

We’ve learned production in underway in Victoria, Australia on the crime series, which is a co-commission of the Nine Network and its streamer Stan. Easy Tiger, which optioned rights to the story back in 2018, is producing in association with VicScreen.

Scrublands is set in isolated country town Riversend brought to its knees by endless drought, where a charismatic and dedicated young priest (Jay Ryan) calmly opens fire on his congregation, killing five parishioners. A year later, investigative journalist Martin Scarsden (Luke Arnold) arrives to write what should be a simple feature story on the anniversary of the tragedy but when his instincts kick in and he digs beneath the surface, the previously accepted narrative begins to fall apart and he finds himself in a...

Bryan Brown and Greta Scacchi will lead the new mystery drama Darby and Joan, which Cjz is producing for Acorn TV.

The eight-part series stars Brown as a retired Australian policeman with a dog as his only company and Scacchi as a widowed English nurse. The pair meet each other and embark together on an epic odyssey in the outback of northern Australia.

Filming will begin in Queensland this month, with major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Screen Queensland.

Darby and Joan will be executive produced by Claire Tonkin, David Hannam, Matt Campbell, Bea Tammer and Catherine Mackin, with series producer Pino Amenta.

Created by Glenys Rowe and Phillip Gwynne, the series’ writers include Hannam, Beck Cole, Andrew Anastasios, Giula Sandler, Ainslie Clouston, Adam Zwar and Paul Bennett. The set-up director is David Caesar.

Cjz CEO Matt Campbell said the company was always convinced of the project’s potential.

MTV released a trailer for “The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies” and announced the first-ever “The Challenge: Fantasy League.”

The new season of the long-running franchise, which premieres Aug. 11 at 8 p.m., will showcase 17 international players alongside U.S. players. It will then roll out globally across MTV’s international networks in more than 190 countries throughout the coming months.

The trailer, which you can watch below, starts off with contestants atop cars swerving around tracks. “The Challenge” host T.J. Lavin tells contestants that the competition will be more complicated than ever before. “Agents, here on ‘The Challenge,’ the missions are harder, my eliminations — tougher. So I’ve brought 34 of the most elite agents from around the globe to test every one of your skills,” he says.

Aside from physical competition, the trailer provides a sneak peek into the contestants’ personal lives, with dancing, partying and romance being showcased between the players.

Cocktail star Bryan Brown and War & Peace’s Greta Scacchi are to play two strangers trekking on the road in the Australian outback in a new Australian drama series.

Acorn TV has ordered Darby and Joan and will air the eight-part series, which comes from My Life Is Murder producer Cjz, in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Latin America, Australia, Spain and Portugal.

Brown plays a retired Australian policeman with a dog as his only company and Scacchi, who also featured in AMC’s The Terror, as a widowed English nurse. The pair meet each other and embark together on an epic odyssey in the outback of northern Australia.

The series, which has received major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Screen Queensland, will air in 2022.

Darby and Joan shines a light on isolated and often unseen areas of regional Australia, and a myriad of characters...

Rob Gibson and Ian Collie.

TV drama producers face a balancing act next year: How to take advantage of the 30 per cent Producer Offset while coping with watered-down local content regulations and the financial constraints affecting all Australian broadcasters – public and commercial.

For Easy Tiger, and no doubt other production companies, one solution lies in attracting more investment from international streamers, networks and co-productions.

Hence Easy Tiger founder/producer Ian Collie and CEO/producer Rob Gibson are working on multiple international deals, not just with the US and the UK, but also with less obvious markets such as Mexico, Norway and India.

In addition, the production company backed by Fremantle continues to foster new and emerging writing talent including Imogen McCloskey, Hannah Lehmann, Anchuli Felicia King and Julia Patey.

“The drama market in Australia is increasingly tough and the changes to the sub-quotas leave the industry in a much more precarious position,...

Rachael Turk.

After more than 10 years as a development producer – the last seven and a half years at Easy Tiger/Essential Media and Entertainment – Rachael Turk is pursuing her passion for screenwriting, creating her own projects and script producing with other creatives.

“This was a long-planned strategic move in order to do what I love best: not only creating and developing shows but writing on them too,” Turk tells If.

As an indie, she hopes her first project to go into production will be female-led, international mystery thriller The Red Cord, which has been in development for several years with Easy Tiger and Fremantle’s global drama division and recently received script funding from Screen Nsw.

The plot follows two women, one in Australia, the other on the other side of the world, who set out to solve a mystery surrounding a child whom they inadvertently share. Easy Tiger’s...

(L-r) Yvonne Strahovski, Cate Blanchett and Emma Freeman on the ‘Stateless’ set.

The suspension and postponement of numerous screen productions has disrupted directors as much as any industry cohort – but many continue to develop film and TV projects.

“I’m using my downtime to develop some feature projects, in particular The Circus written by Alice Bell, and writing my first feature screenplay,” says Emma Freeman, who co-directed Stateless and was working with Tony Ayres on Netflix’s Clickbait until production halted.

To be produced by Leanne Tonkes, The Circus follows a circus troupe that is stranded by a horrific roadside accident in the middle of drought-stricken farmlands. As the troupe becomes more desperate, their star trapeze artist falls in love with a farmer and must choose between the life she’s always known and the life that could be if she stayed.

“This is an epic love story,” says Freeman,...

Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul are returning to Fox.

The pair have signed on as writers of the half-hour single-camera comedy project “Mr. Black,” which was first announced as being in development back in August. Mogel and Paul previously created the Fox comedy series “The Grinder” starring Rob Lowe and Fred Savage, which aired during the 2015-2016 broadcast season. They most recently co-created the Netflix series “Huge in France” and also directed every episode of that series. They also wrote and directed the 2015 comedy feature “The D Train” as well as the 2008 Jim Carrey vehicle “Yes Man.”

“Mr. Black” is based on the Australian format of the same name. It follows the acid-tongued Mr. Black, a man who has one dying wish: to break up his adult daughter and her boyfriend – whom he happens to live with. The original series was created by Adam Zwar and produced by Cjz for Australia’s Network Ten.

Huge in France and The Grinder creators Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul have been tapped to write Mr. Black, a single-camera half-hour comedy based on the praised Australian series, which is in the works at Fox. The project hails from original series’ creator Adam Zwar and producer Cjz, Gail Berman and Fox Entertainment-owned SideCar.

Created by Zwar and Cjz based on the Network Ten series, and written by Mogel and Paul, the comedy follows the acid-tongued Mr. Black, a man who has one dying wish: to break up his adult daughter and her boyfriend — whom he happens to live with.

Mogel and Paul executive produce alongside Berman, who executive produces via SideCar which co-produces with Fox Entertainment.

Mogel and Paul recently created and directed every episode of Netflix series Huge in France. The pair previously created and executive produced The Grinder for Fox. They also wrote and directed The D Train,...

Justin Rosniak in ‘Les Norton’ (Photo: Tony Mott).

Justin Rosniak has been cast as crooks and other wayward types so often in his career he is relishing the opportunity to play more upstanding characters.

“There is not a lot of diversity in characters in Australia so once you get locked into something, some people only see you as one thing,” he tells If. “I often long to get to show my range a bit more, or a softer side.

“So it’s been good that in the last couple of years I have started to get roles that push me in other directions and allow me to add a few different layers.”

In the second season of Mr Inbetween, the comedy/drama created by and starring Scott Ryan as criminal-for-hire Ray Shoesmith, he gets the chance to show a different side to his character Gary, Ray’s best friend.

“Gary...

‘Mr Black’

When Adam Zwar first pitched the Mr Black concept to Cjz, group CEO Matt Campbell was immediately impressed, telling Zwar: “This is so formattable, everyone can relate to the character.”

So it has proved as Cjz has signed a format deal with Fox Entertainment’s SideCar, a content development accelerator launched earlier this year by Hollywood heavy-hitter Gail Berman.

SideCar has made a script development commitment to the single-camera comedy, with Berman, a former president both of Fox Entertainment and Paramount Pictures, as executive producer.

Several Us production companies were chasing the remake rights. Campbell tells If that SideCar won mostly due to the enthusiasm of Berman, who told him: “We have been waiting for a show like Mr Black to come along. We’re thrilled to have him.”

The La-based Zwar, who co-created Squinters, Lowdown and Wilfred, is expected to be involved in the development of the remake.

Fox is developing a single-camera comedy series based on the Australian show “Mr. Black,” Variety has learned.

The half-hour series follows the acid-tongued Mr. Black, a man who has one dying wish: to break up his adult daughter and her boyfriend – whom he happens to live with. The original series, which premiered in Australia earlier this year, was created by Adam Zwar and produced by Cjz for Australia’s Network Ten.

No writer is currently attached to the American version. Gail Berman will executive produce via SideCar, with SideCar and Fox Entertainment producing. Fox announced a new deal with Berman back in February just ahead of the 21st Century Fox-Disney merger. Under the new deal, Berman and SideCar are to identify and incubate programming both for the network and third-party platforms. SideCar will be responsible for developing scripted and unscripted programming to complement the active development of Fox.

Fox has put in development Mr. Black, a single-camera half-hour comedy based on the praised Australian series, from original series’ creator Adam Zwar and producer Cjz, Gail Berman and Fox Entertainment-owned SideCar.

Created by Zwar and Cjz based on the Network Ten series, it follows the acid-tongued Mr. Black, a man who has one dying wish: to break up his adult daughter and her boyfriend — whom he happens to live with.

Berman executive produces via SideCar which co-produces with Fox Entertainment.

Mr. Black premiered on Australia’s Network Ten in May. Created by Zwar and written by Zwar and Amanda Brotchie, the series stars Stephen Curry, Nadine Garner, Sophie Wright, Angela Geraldine Black, Nick Russell and Paul Denny. You can watch a trailer below.

Zwar also co-created the Australian comedy series Squinters, Lowdown and Wilfred.

Fox Buys Period Western Drama ‘Go West’ From Bridget Carpenter With Penalty...

‘Nice Shorts.’

Nick Boshier and Jazz Twemlow are leading the team of comedy writers/performers who will create Nice Shorts for Bunya Entertainment.

The online sketch comedy of 16 episodes, ranging from 3-10 minutes, will tap into national and international conversations to create videos for weekly release via social platforms.

Apart from Boshier and Twemlow the team includes Nazeem Hussain (Legally Brown), Greta Lee Jackson (Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am), Penny Greenhalgh (The Lost Tapes) and Bjorn Stewart.

The Bunya Group is not looking to monetize the low-budget online series, instead using it as the first opportunity to work with comedy creatives and as the first foray into comedy for the new banner Bunya Entertainment.

“Like the dramas we’re best known for, the quality of writing in Nice Shorts will be the hallmark of this show,” says Bunya Group CEO Sophia Zachariou.

Bunya Entertainment is developing seven narrative comedies including one with Adam Zwar.

Nell Scovell and Adam Zwar.

When Us writer Nell Scovell started out in the late 1980s, frequently she was the only female in the writers room.

By the time she graduated to writing for such shows as Murphy Brown, Coach, The Simpsons and Late Night with David Letterman , women’s voices were better represented.

But in her view the industry then went backwards and she was often the lone female among the writers on NCIS.

“We were back to the social norm,” Nell tells If on a visit to Sydney where she conducted workshops at Jungle Entertainment including a Q&A with Adam Zwar, who got in touch after reading her memoir Just the Funny Parts.

While her career has flourished as the creator/showrunner on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and with writing credits on Charmed, Monk and The Muppets, she says: “For women it’s a constant struggle. No one will give it up.

(L-r): Nadine Garner, Sophie Wright, Nick Russell, Stephen Curry and Paul Denny in ‘Mr Black’.

Cjz MD Nick Murray and CEO Matt Campbell are grappling with three major issues facing the screen industry as the company ramps up its production and development slates.

They identify the challenges as the rising cost of drama budgets; a shortage of top-class writers given the talent drain to the Us and UK; and finding original concepts for factual and factual entertainment shows.

Murray questions why drama is more expensive to produce than comedy, observing: “I don’t know that the additional money that goes into drama is necessarily visible on screen to the audience.

“The costs of drama are going up and we need to be making it cheaper. There are work practices which make it impossible to make drama at the price it should be made at. We should be employing people differently or with more flexibility,...

Lucy Lawless, star of Cjz’s ‘My Life Is Murder’.

The newly-rebranded Network 10 on Wednesday night unveiled 13 new Australian shows for 2019 including romantic comedy Five Bedrooms, thriller The Secrets She Keeps and four entertainment series spun-off from shows which screened during Pilot Week.

Created by Michael Lucas and Christine Bartlett and produced by Hoodlum Entertainment, Five Bedrooms will follow five very different people who meet on the singles’ table at a wedding and decide to buy a house together.

Lingo Pictures’ The Secrets She Keeps is a psychological thriller based on the novel by Australian author Michael Robotham, a dark tale of two women from different walks of life who have one thing in common – explosive secrets that could destroy their lives.

Jonathan Gavin and Sarah Walker will script the six-part series. The protagonists are Meg, who has a handsome husband, two gorgeous children and a third bundle of joy on the way,...

The Legend of Gavin and the New Best Mate cast.

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Mandy McElhinney and Adam Zwar have joined the cast of Perth Production company Mad Kids' new ABC half-hour pilot The Legend of Gavin Tanner..

Originally a 5-part web series, The Legend of Gavin Tanner is set to make the leap from YouTube to TV having been commissioned for ABC Comedy Showroom, the network.s primetime comedy pilot season, which kicks off this Wednesday April 27 and runs across six Wednesdays.

ABC Comedy Showroom has collected Australia.s top comic talent for six half hour pilots, each the first episode of a brand new sitcom..

ABC audiences will be given the opportunity to vote on which they would like to return as full series. The pilot season is a joint initiative with Screen Australia in association with Film Victoria, Screen Nsw and ScreenWest.

The pilot, entitled:.The Legend of Gavin and...

Mila Kunis and Kick Gurry in Jupiter Ascending.

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Since Jupiter Ascending.s world premiere at Sundance the sci-fi action-adventure and writers-directors Andy and Lana Wachowski have been pilloried by most critics and the production is shaping as a costly write-off for Warner Bros and Village Roadshow Pictures.

Much of that criticism is unfair and disrespectful to the filmmakers, according to Kick Gurry, who plays Jupiter.s cousin Vladie in his second collaboration with the Wachowskis.

.The Matrix was the best action film of the last 25 years,. the Los Angeles-based Gurry tells If. .I don.t know why people revel in lampooning Jupiter Ascending so much. The Wachowskis should be held in higher regard than they are by some reviewers.

.I love the movie, its message and what it stands for. It.s great that movies inspire debate and conversation but it upsets me when some of the criticism gets more personal.

Jennifer Kent.s The Babadook and Russell Crowe.s The Water Diviner tied for best film at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta) awards in Sydney.

That.s the first joint award for best film in AFI/Aacta history. Kent also collected the awards for best director (Crowe wasn't nominated in that category) and original screenplay.

Telecast on Network Ten, the awards drew just 297,000 viewers in the five metro cities last night, proving more popular in Melbourne (107,000) than Sydney (80,000).

Playmaker Media.s conspiracy thriller The Code collared the awards for best TV drama, lead actor in a TV drama (Ashley Zukerman), supporting actress (Chelsie Preston Crayford) and direction in a TV drama or comedy (Shawn Seet). The Longford Lyell Award, named for Australian cinema pioneers Raymond Longford and Lottie Lyell, went to screenwriter Andrew Knight, whose credits as head writer or co-writer include Fast Forward, Full Frontal,...

The first round of Aacta Award winners have been announced today at the 4th Aacta Award Luncheon held at the Star Event Centre in Sydney.

Celebrating screen craft excellence in Australia, 22 awards were presented, recognising the work of screen practitioners working in television, documentary, short fiction film, short animation and feature film.

The Luncheon was hosted by writer/actor/producer/director Adam Zwar, who was also joined throughout the event by a list of distinguished presenters. including Aacta President Geoffrey Rush, David Stratton, Damian Walshe-Howling, Alexandra Schepisi, Charlotte Best and Diana Glenn.

In the feature film category, Predestination took home the most Awards; with Ben Nott Acs taking out the prize for Best Cinematography, Matt Villa Ase winning the award for Best Editing, and Matthew Putland scooping Best Production Design.

Tess Schofield was honoured with the Aacta Award for Best Costume Design for her work on The Water Diviner while...

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts has announced that Cate Blanchett and Deborah Mailman will co-host the Aacta Awards, to be held on January 29, 2015.

Both actresses have a long history with the Awards, with Blanchett holding four AFI Awards and one Aacta Award, and Mailman also having won four Awards from AFI/Aacta. Blanchett also serves as the AFI | Aacta ambassador and has won an Aacta International Award for her role in Blue Jasmine.

In a statement released to the media, Aacta President Geoffrey Rush said: .I.ve had the privilege of working with both these outstanding performers. The Aacta Awards celebrate Australia.s finest, and who better to headline this annual bash than two fabulous women who have blazed like comets across our screens at home and abroad. I encourage everyone to tune in to see these performers at play..

Cate Blanchett said: "It's an honour to...

After playing a drug mule in The Mule, Angus Sampson is staying on the wrong side of the law with a recurring role iin the second season of Fargo.

The La-based Sampson is cast as a member of the Gerhardt crime family in the sequel to the series inspired by the Coen brothers' movie, which starred. Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Allison Tolman, and Colin Hanks and aired on the FX network in the Us and here on Sbs.

His character Bear Gerhardt is described as an intimidatingly large, inarticulate man who happens to be the most decent of the clan.

Shooting of the 10-episode series starts in in Calgary on January 19, forcing Sampson to relinquish the job of hosting the 4th Aacta Awards luncheon in Sydney on January 27.

Writer/actor/producer/director Adam Zwar (Agony Aunts, Lowdown and Wilfred) will host the luncheon. Zwar said: .My role is to...

Geoffrey Rush, Lachy Hulme, Adam Zwar, Marta Dusseldorp and Kat Stewart are just some of the names in an impressive line-up of presenters at this year.s Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta) Awards.

Now in its fourth year (after rebranding from the Australian Film Institute Awards), the ceremony will be held in Sydney on Thursday 29 January and broadcast on Network Ten.

Other actors who will participate in the ceremony include Turkish star Yilmaz Erdogan, making his debut as both presenter and nominee for his work on The Water Diviner; as well as Aussie favourites Stephen Curry, Dan Wyllie and Danielle Cormack. The host of the show is yet to be announced.

See a full list of Aacta Award nominees here..

The Ceremony, held at Star City, will be broadcast nationally on Network Ten at 8:30pm Thursday 29 January, and encored on Foxtel.s Arena channel on Saturday 31 January.

The Railway Man and Rake took the top film and TV drama awards while Playmaker Media was named media super production business of the year at the 14th annual Screen Producers Australia Awards on Tuesday night. Jungleboys. The Moodys was feted as best comedy, Matchbox Pictures. Nowhere Boys took the children.s production gong and Artemis Productions. Who Do You Think You Are?. was best TV documentary. Carbon Media, which produced the first Australian indigenous segment ever aired on Sesame Street and is now co-producing Camp Crazy, a childrens. series with Essential Media & Entertainment, was named breakthrough business of the year. The Natalie Miller Fellowship was awarded to Deluxe Australia.s Rebecca Hammond, who will undertake a women in leadership program at the University of Nsw. . The $300,000 Kickstart prize went to Jessica Leslie from the Northern Territory, who will make a TV series for Foxtel.s Studio channel entitled Renassiance Man,...

Hoodlum, Playmaker Media, Princess Pictures, Screentime and See-Saw Films are the finalists for the Media Super Production Business of the Year gong at the 14th Screen Producers Australia Awards.

Spa also announced Des Monaghan, the former executive chairman of Screentime, will receive the lifetime achievement award at the Screen Forever conference.

Hosted by Adam Zwar, the awards recognise the creation of outstanding screen content; celebrate the skills and accomplishments of production businesses; and aim to increase awareness of the role producers play in creating Australian screen stories for local and international audiences.

Spa executive director Matthew Deaner said: .This year.s awards highlight the incredible contribution individuals and businesses make to the Australian screen industry, and the importance of the awards in recognising excellence and acknowledging their great efforts..

The Media Super Production Business of the Year is awarded to the company that has produced an outstanding project or body...

Hoodlum, Playmaker Media, Princess Pictures, Screentime and See-Saw Films are the finalists for the Media Super Production Business of the Year gong at the 14th Screen Producers Australia Awards.

Spa also announced Des Monaghan, the former executive chairman of Screentime, will receive the lifetime achievement award at the Screen Forever conference.

Hosted by Adam Zwar, the awards recognise the creation of outstanding screen content; celebrate the skills and accomplishments of production businesses; and aim to increase awareness of the role producers play in creating Australian screen stories for local and international audiences.

Spa executive director Matthew Deaner said: .This year.s awards highlight the incredible contribution individuals and businesses make to the Australian screen industry, and the importance of the Awards in recognising excellence and acknowledging their great efforts..

The Media Super Production Business of the Year is awarded to the company that has produced an outstanding project or body...

Rodger Corser and Asher Keddie

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Adam Zwar, Angus Sampson, Colin Moody, Kaiya Jones, Oliver Ackland and Doris Younane have joined the cast of Party Tricks, the Network Ten drama now shooting in Melbourne.

Michael Lucas (Offspring, Not Suitable for Children) created the 6-part series which stars Asher Keddie as Premier Kate Ballard, whose campaign to be re-elected is upset when popular TV and radio personality David McLeod (Rodger Corser) is drafted in as the Opposition.s candidate.

It turns out Kate and David had a secret, tumultuous affair several years earlier. Party Tricks becomes a cat-and-mouse game which culminates in an election night finale.

Imogen Banks and John Edwards are producing for Endemol Australia, co-funded by Screen Australia and Film Victoria. Endemol Worldwide Distribution is distributing internationally.

Zwar (The Agony of Life, Rush) plays Trevor Bailey, the deputy Opposition leader.. Sampson (Paper Giants: Magazine Wars, Howzat! Kerry Packer.s War) is Wayne Duffy,...

If the 3rd annual Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards could be categorised as a David vs Goliath battle between The Rocket and The Great Gatsby, Goliath is the hands-down winner.

Baz Luhrmann.s opulent romantic drama won six awards tonight, for best film, director, adapted screenplay, lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio, supporting actor Joel Edgerton and supporting actress Elizabeth Debicki.

That.s in addition to the six awards in craft categories plus the Aacta award for outstanding achievement in visual effects bestowed on Luhrmann.s film on Tuesday.

Kim Mordaunt's The Rocket, which had 12 nominations versus 14 for Gatsby, had to be content with just one trophy, for Mordaunt.s original screenplay.

The outcome is likely to reignite the debate about the near-impossibility of comparing a lavishly-mounted 3D film financed by Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures, which cost $160 million, with an independently-funded Lao-set film from a first-time director budgeted at about $2 million.

FX Networks has picked up comedy series Wilfred for a fourth and final season of 10 episodes. The series, an adaptation of Jason Gann and Adam Zwar’s Australian comedy of same name, will move to Fxx. The series, in which Elijah Wood stars, as a young man struggling to make his way in the world and Gann plays the neighbor’s irrepressibly brave, crude, and surly dog, averaged just under 1 million viewers in Season 3, and 655,000 Adults 18-49 per week on a first-run basis. Originally adapted for FX by David Zuckerman (Family Guy, American Dad, King Of The Hill), it’s currently exec produced by Zuckerman along with Gann, Reed Agnew and Eli Jorné, Rich Frank, and Jeff Kwatinetz of Prospect Park, Randall Einhorn, and Joe Connor and Ken Connor of Renegade, producers of the Australian version of the series. Einhorn also serves as director. Around this time last year, when...

Stars: Elijah Wood, Jason Gann, Fiona Gubelmann | Created by Jason Gann, Adam Zwar

‘Comfort’ is a largely standalone episode compared to the premiere’s heavy mythology. They don’t pick up on any of the threads leftover from the previous episode, like the drawing or Ryan seeing Stinky as a lookalike Wilfred (albeit one with a different personality). Instead, they offer up a layered episode that has a lot going on but seem to feel overstuffed. They throw in new people, religion and death into an ever spinning cocktail.

They start changing a little bit of things here and there. For instance, they open up Ryan’s world a little bit in this episode by giving him a friend in Mailman Bob. It’s a good device because all we usually see of Ryan’s world is Jenna and his family, they hadn’t really given Ryan a friend since the show began,...

Stars: Elijah Wood, Jason Gann, Fiona Gubelmann | Created by Jason Gann, Adam Zwar

The mythology base of “Wilfred” is something that set it apart from any other comedy on FX, or on television for the most part. It’s a deep mythology that slowly started to crop up as the first season started to end and rolled straight into the second season. It’s a smart move that they’ve not given too much of the game away but give the viewer just enough morsels to keep you invested, and giving even more pathos and emotion to a show that could’ve stay within the realm of lazy scatological humor and pot jokes. Not that it doesn’t regardless, but where the juvenile humor is only a cursory element in an overall strong comedy. It’s a show you can mostly jump into but may leave new viewers scratching their heads,...

Wilfred, which returns this evening, is not only one of those television series that asks you to take a leap of the imagination, but to uniquely embrace the oddities of both human and canine nature.

Thanks to the vision of Jason Gann, who plays Wilfred and co-created the series with Adam Zwar (the duo also created the original Aussie series of the same name), the FX show has found an audience.

I talked to Gann last week to get the scoop on the Wilfred Season 3, as well as ask about the mystery the show confronts in the new episodes – how long has Wilfred been a part of depressed Ryan’s (Elijah Wood) life?

TV Fanatic: Because this is such a not-so-traditional sitcom, how do you think of a new season? Do you think of story arcs? Or what you want to do that just makes you laugh?

Jason Gann:...

Actor Penne Hackforth-Jones, a pillar of Australian films and TV for more than 40 years, died in Melbourne on Friday from lung cancer, aged 63.

Her illness was diagnosed in 2012 but she wished to keep the diagnosis private while her father was still alive. She relocated to Melbourne in 2011 to be close to and care for her elderly parents both of whom died recently.

.Penne responded to her own terminal diagnosis with great courage and grace,. said her sisters Jos Hackforth-Jones, Simary Hackforth-Jones and Olivia McNally. .Her health deteriorated in April, but she was able to remain at home because of the wonderful support from her Gp, Mercy and Alfred Palliative care units and friends. Her last weeks were peaceful and happy. She died surrounded by flowers and cards from those closest to her and cared for by family and close friends. She was dearly loved by relations and friends and much...

"Wilfred," FX's quirky comedy about a depressive young man named Ryan (Elijah Wood) and the titular canine that he and only he sees as a grumpy Australian guy (Jason Gann) in a dog suit, will return for a third season on Thursday, June 20th. The show will kick off with back-to-back episodes but without "Louie," with which it was paired last year, as Louis C.K.'s series is taking the year off. The change doesn't seem likely to affect "Wilfred" much -- though "Louie" gets more critical attention, "Wilfred" actually slightly outpaced it in ratings last year. Read More: Does 'Wilfred' Have the Best Guest Star Roles on Television? "Wilfred" is an adaptation of an Australian series that was created by Gann alongside Tony Rogers and Adam Zwar, and also features Fiona Gubelmann as Jenna, Ryan's neighbor and Wilfred's owner, and Dorian Brown as Kristen, Ryan's uptight sister.

The Australian Director.s Guild has announced the winners of the 2013 Adg Awards during their annual Awards ceremony held on Friday night in Sydney.

Women directors took home several of the coveted awards, with Cate Shortland beating male competitors Wayne Blair (The Sapphires) Tony Krawitz (Dead Europe) and Kieran Darcy-Smith (Wish You Were Here) to scoop Best Direction in a Feature Film for Lore..

Women continued to triumph in the television sector, with Rachel Perkins winning Best Direction in a TV Drama Series for Redfern Now (Pretty Boy Blue) and Jessica Hobbs taking home the gong for Best Direction in a TV Mini Series for Devil.s Dust (Parts 1 & 2)..

Also triumphant in their fields were Jessica Reddenbach, who won the Award for Best Direction in a Short Film for Tender; Jennifer Peedom for Best Direction in a Documentary Series for Life at 7; Grace McKenzie for Best Direction in a Documentary...

A host of notable industry figures are set to attend the 2013 Australian Directors. Guild Awards, to be held in Sydney this Friday night.

Amongst those attending are Leah Purcell and Catherine Mckenzie, who are both nominated for their work on Redfern Now, as well as feature film director Cate Shortland (Lore) and Tony Kravitz (Dead Europe)..

Hosted by actor/director/writer/producer Adam Zwar, the Awards will be held at the Hoyts Cinemas at the Entertainment Quarter and will be followed by a dinner at Trackdown Studios..

This year, for the first time, the Adg will be acknowledging the work of Assistant Directors, with a special award to be presented to long-serving First A.D. Jamie Leslie..

Renowned Australian talent Rachel Ward, Bryan Brown, Susie Porter and Denise Roberts have also been confirmed as presenters..

For more information on the Awards or how to purchase tickets, visit.http://www.adg.

With the official ratings year starting in just three days time, My Kitchen Rules again gave Seven an easy win on Wednesday, scoring more than 2m viewers for the third night in a row.

According to preliminary overnight metro ratings from OzTAM, Mkr rated 2.172m.

Nine’s one day cricket game between Australia and the West Indies saw 1.077m tune in over three and a half hours.

It was another poor night for Ten which had just an 8.5% share with the afternoon soap Bold And The Beautiful its third best performing show among all viewers. But it claimed six of the top 20 programs of the night in people 16-to-39, and five of the top 20 programs of the night in 18-to-49s.

ABC1 had an 11.8 per cent share based on its new Wednesday line up of Adam Zwar’s The Agony Of Life (678,000), Craig Reucassel’s clip show Shock Horror Aunty...

The first round of Aacta award winners were announced yesterday in Sydney at the 2nd Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards Luncheon. Held at the Sydney.s The Star Event Centre and hosted by Adam Elliot, the luncheon drew a host of industry representatives including actors Damon Herriman, Daniel Henshall and Felicity Price. The Sapphires was a favourite of the day, taking home five coveted gongs in total for cinematography (Warwick Thornton), editing (Dany Cooper Ase), sound (Andrew Plain, Bry Jones, Pete Smith, Ben Osmo and John Simpson), costume design (Tess Schofield) and production design in a feature film (Melinda Doring.) A jovial Thornton told media working with Sapphires director Wayne Blair wasn.t exactly a walk in the park. .He.s an incredibly hard task master,. he said. .You can.t pull the wool over his eyes when you feel like being lazy.. Cooper spoke of the...

The Sapphires looks set to dominate this year’s Aacta Awards after dominating the categories announced at yesterday’s awards lunch.

The AACTAs – the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts – were held for the first time last year. Yesterday’s lunch at the Star casino in Sydney comes ahead of tomorrow night’s main Aacta ceremony.

The Sapphires won in five of the early categories, including best editing, sound and cinematography.

The event also paid tribute to producer Al Clark with the Raymond Longford Award. Clark was behind films including The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Absolute Beginners and Nineteen Eighty Four.

Tributes were also paid to producer Pat Lovell, who died over the weekend. Lovell was a producer on films including Picnic At Hanging Rock and Gallipoli.

The winners:

Aacta Raymond Longford Award

Al Clark

Aacta Award For Best Visual Effects

Iron Sky. Samuli Torssonen, Jussi Lehtiniemi,...

Adam Zwar returns to ABC1 with his agony aunts and uncles giving advice on Wednesday February 6 from 9pm.

The new series The Agony of Life is a light entertainment series which continues on from his two series of last year with life advice from comedians and media personalities.

Produced by Zwar and Nicole Minchin for High Wire Films production, the 8-part series is also written, directed and narrated by Zwar.

The aunts and uncles offering advice include Yumi Stynes, Mirka Mora, Dave Thornton, Sam Pang, Myf Warhurst, Waleed Aly and Lawrence Mooney.

The episodes will cover the cycle of life childhood, teenager years, plus 20s and 30s, family career, retirement and deathbed revelations.

Agony Aunts has been nominated for Best Light Entertainment Comedy Series, at the forthcoming Aacta Awards.

The post ABC sets date for Adam Zwar’s The Agony of Life appeared first on mUmBRELLA.

Hit musical drama The Sapphires has scored 12 nominations at the 2012 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta) Awards including in the coveted best feature film category.

The Sapphires, which follows four indigenous singers during the Vietnam war, has grossed more than $14 million in Australia to become the biggest local film of the year.

Three other films will be also be vying for the best feature film award: Burning Man (10 nominations in total), Lore (eight nominations in total) and Wish You Were Here (eight nominations in total) at the main Aacta ceremony, which will be held on January 30, 2013, at The Star Event Centre. Last year's event was held at the iconic Sydney Opera House.

P.J. Hogan's Mental also scored eight nominations including Best Lead Actress (Toni Collette), Best Supporting Actor (Liev Schreiber) Best Young Actor (Lily Sullivan) and Best Supporting Actress for Rebecca Gibney and Deborah Mailman.

Not Suitable for Children...

The Sapphires has led the Academy of Australian Cinema and Television Arts Awards nominations being nominated in 12 categories.

Awards will be handed out over two events, with an awards luncheon, focused on craft categories on Monday January 28 and the main event on January 30. Both events will be held at the Star Event Centre, the first public events for the venue.

The Sapphires, distributed by Hopscotch/eOne has been nominated for Best Film, Best Direction and best adapted screenplay as well as Best Lead Actor and Actress for Chris O’Dowd and Deborah Mailman, and Best Supporting Actress for Jessica Mauboy.

Burning Man was not far behind on 10 nominations including best film and best direction as well as best lead actor for Matthre Goode and Best Supporting Actress for Essie Davis.

Three more films, Lore, Mental and Wish You Were Here received eight nominations while Not Suitable For Children received four.

Jason Gann has had a very diverse acting career starting way back in 2000. Two years later, he co-starred in the short film, “Wilfred,” written with co-writer/co-star Adam Zwar. He acted in several roles afterwards before stepping back into the furry role of Wilfred in 2007 for two series in Australia. More recently he’s lept into the hearts of American viewers everywhere as the lovable, sociopathic Wilfred on FX’s hit adaptation. I had the good fortune to speak with Mr. Gann this past week about a litany of things, including just how stepping into Wilfred’s mindset is easier for him than you’d think.

How did you initially feel when approached with the adaptation of your series?

Well, the first thing, is I came over here to sell format rights for two shows that I created back home. My goal was to actually get a job somewhere as a staff writer in Hollywood.

The Australian Writers’ Guild held its annual awards ceremony on Friday 24 August. The Sapphires and screenwriters Tony Briggs and Keith Thompson won most outstanding script. Michael Lucas won two awards, in the feature film original category for Not Suitable For Children and in the TV series category for an episode of Offspring.

The announcement:

The 45th Annual Australian Writers’ Guild Awgie Awards were held on Friday 24th August at Doltone House in Sydney. The only Australian scriptwriting awards judged solely by writers on the basis of the script recognised a new crop of creative talent bringing Australian stories to our screens and stages.

The best of Australian performance writing across feature films, theatre, television, radio, interactive and animation were celebrated at a star-studded affair at Doltone House in Sydney last night as part of the golden 50-year anniversary of the Australian Writers’ Guild. The awards were hosted by iconic Australian...