News

Exclusive: More cast has been set for Good Cop/Bad Cop, the one-hour procedural dramedy starring Leighton Meester, Clancy Brown and Luke Cook.

Devon Terrell, Grace Chow, Blazey Best, Philippa Northeast, William McKenna, Shamita Siva and Scott Lee have all joined the series, which is for The CW and The Roku Channel in the U.S. and Stan in Australia.

They will join Meester and Cook, who play an odd couple brother and sister detective team Lou and Henry in a small Pacific Northwest police force who work under police chief Big Hank (Brown), who happens to be their father.

Terrell will play charming but nerdy Detective Shane Carson, Best will be Big Hank’s somewhat cryptic Russian girlfriend Nadia, Lee plays the loveable and long-tenured Officer Joe Bradley, McKenna is nervous wreck new boy Officer Sam Szczepkowski, Siva has been cast as fearless and overly devoted Officer Sarika Ray, Chow...

With the conclusion of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,’ the Dceu has officially wrapped up, making way for the Dcu to take charge. Despite James Gunn’s upcoming ‘Superman: Legacy’ being labeled as a soft reboot, it appears that under his guidance, the narratives of DC characters are heading in a fresh direction. Gunn, known for keeping fans informed through social media updates, recently addressed some production details on Threads.

According to Gunn, the development of ‘Superman: Legacy’ is progressing smoothly, with sets under construction, costumes finalized, and actors adapting to their roles. When asked about the cast, Gunn mentioned that over 90% are confirmed but not yet 100%, leaving some characters without attached actors, sparking further speculation.

Recent rumors from The Hollywood Reporter suggest that the selection for Dcu’s Supergirl has been narrowed down to Milly Alcock and Meg Donnelly after a screen test in Atlanta. This aligns with previous speculation,...

With the release of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ Dceu officially ended, and now Dcu is taking over. Even though Gunn’s reboot is supposed to be a soft reboot, it looks like the stories of DC characters under his leadership are going in a new direction. Since Gunn often likes to provide fans with updates via Social Media, he is always eager to answer questions regarding the development of his upcoming ‘Superman: Legacy’ the movie that is supposed to kick off the live-action portion of the Dcu.

Recently, Gunn used Threads to clear up some details regarding the production of the movie. He cleared up that the development so far is going “swimmingly” as sets are being built, costumes are finished, and actors are adjusting to their roles. One fan took the opportunity to ask Gunn how much the cast he has locked in for ‘Legacy,’ and Gunn was...

Victoria Justice and Adam Demos are teaming up for a new Netflix romcom, set to film on location in Queensland, Australia.

In the film, Justice stars as a hard-driving L.A. wine-company exec who, in order to land a major client, travels to an Australian sheep station where she ends up working as a ranch hand and sparking with a rugged local.

The as-yet-untitled movie will be directed by Stuart McDonald, from a script by Elizabeth Hackett and Hilary Galanoy, who previously worked with Demos on 2019’s “Falling Inn Love,” which also starred Christina Milian.

The project is produced by Robyn Snyder, Deborah Evans, Deborah Glover and Tracey Vieira. Tracey Robertson, Nathan Mayfield, Hackett, Galanoy and Fernando Szew serve as executive producers.

Both Justice and Demos have a history with the streamer, as Justice is next set to star in the Netflix movie “Afterlife of the Party” and Demos starred in the steamy drama “Sex/Life.

'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,...

Hounds of Love..

In a David and Goliath battle, the screenplays for Ben Young.s debut feature Hounds of Love and Mel Gibson.s Hacksaw Ridge will compete for the original feature film prize at this year.s Awgie Awards.

That pits a low-budgeted film scripted by Young, which has grossed $125,000 in three weeks at six Australian cinemas, against the $US40 million WW2 drama written by Andrew Knight with Robert Schenkkan, which has amassed $US175.3 million worldwide.

There is only one nomination for the feature film adaptation category so the winner almost certainly will be Luke Davies for Lion, based on Saroo Brierley.s memoir.

The 50th Annual Awgie Awards presented by the Australian Writers. Guild will be handed out in Sydney on Friday August 25.

Individual category winners will be eligible for the Major Award, given to the most outstanding script of the year. Past winners have included the writers...

Shaun Grant.

Screenwriter Shaun Grant has been working non-stop since the release of Snowtown, his first film, in 2011.

Grant divides his time between La and Melbourne these days after wrapping up work on projects as diverse as Deadline Gallipoli, Jasper Jones and Berlin Syndrome at home in Australia.

Now working out of an office in West Hollywood, the scribe is working on several projects, including a long-gestating adaptation of Peter Carey.s True History of the Kelly Gang for producer Liz Watts and Snowtown director Justin Kurzel.

.It.s a beautifully written book,. says Grant. .He.s an iconic character in our country, so of course when Liz approached me I had some trepidation. But the things that scare me are usually the ones I.m drawn to. And Justin and I have been looking to work together since Snowtown..

Like Animal Kingdom before it, Snowtown put a rocket under...

Kris Mrksa.

Filming has begun in Wales on Requiem, a 6x60' drama created and written by Aussie writer Kris Mrksa, commissioned by BBC One and co-produced by Netflix.

In 1994 a toddler disappears from a small Welsh town, never to be seen again. Twenty-three years later, talented young cellist Matilda, played by Lydia Wilson (Star Trek Beyond, About Time), has her life turned upside down by her mother.s inexplicable suicide..

In the wake of the tragedy Matilda begins to question everything she thought she knew about herself, embarking on a quest that leads her to that same Welsh village, where the secrets she uncovers threaten to unravel her very identity.

Also in the cast is Animal Kingdom.s James Frecheville, playing an Australian who arrives in town and may not be all that he seems.

This is the first show Mrksa, whose credits include East West 101, Underbelly, Devil.s Dust and Janet King,...

Claire van der Boom. (Photo: David Cook)..

The ABC.s new medical drama.Pulse.goes into production in Sydney today.

The series, from Clandestine Beyond, is inspired by a true story of a transplant patient who became a doctor, and is created by Kris Wyld, Michael Miller and Mel Hill..

Set in a western suburbs teaching hospital, Claire van der Boom (Sisters of War) stars as Frankie Bell, a second year practising doctor who, eight years after her own kidney transplant, is set to start on a renal rotation..

Pulse will also star Andrea Demetriades (Janet King), Owen Teale (Game of Thrones), Liam McIntyre (Spartacus: War of the Damned), Susie Porter (Puberty Blues), Arka Das (Top of The Lake), Penny Cook (A Country Practice), Blessing Mokgohloa (Hunters), Pallavi Sharda (Lion) and Renee Lim (Please Like Me).

The series is produced by Wyld and Antony I. Ginnane, with Beyond Entertainment.s...

Marta Dusseldorp as Janet King..

The third season of Screentime.s ABC drama Janet King, starring Marta Dusseldorp, goes into production this week.

Joining the established cast of Damian Walshe-Howling, Peter Kowitz, Christopher Morris, Andrea Demetriades, Anita Hegh and Hamish Michael for the third instalment will be Don Hany, Robert Mammone, Susie Porter, Andrew Ryan, Huw Higginson, John Bach, Steve Le Marquand, Arka Das and Adam Demos.

This season, Janet will confront .a hornet.s nest of illegal gambling, organised crime and money laundering, while investigating the tragic death of a young sports star..

Written by Greg Haddrick, Felicity Packard, and Niki Aken with Alexa Wyatt as writer/script producer, the season will be directed by Peter Andrikidis, Grant Brown and Catherine Millar.

Janet King is produced by Karl Zwicky and Lisa Scott with Hilary Bonney and Marta Dusseldrop as associate producers. Screentime.s Haddrick, ABC.s Sally Riley and Kym Goldsworthy are executive producers.

Claudia Karvan as Josephine Newton.

The ABC has revealed the first part of its 2017 slate, with more programs to be unveiled in February.

The schedule includes over 20 new Australian shows, in addition to new seasons for established titles such as You Can't Ask That, Cleverman, Janet King and The Doctor Blake Mysteries..

Cleverman is returning.—.with a season that ABC TV's Richard Finalyson calls "a little less dark than the first".—.as is Glitch. The second season of the Matchbox zombie drama will be co-produced by Netflix and the ABC.

Perhaps the highest-profile new program comes from the team behind Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Fiona Eagger and Deb Cox:.Newton's Law stars Claudia Karvan as Josephine Newton, "a suburban solicitor with an over-developed sense of responsibility who attempts to return to her briefly glorious stint at the Bar."

Finlayson describes the eight-episode show as "really broad and light and funny.

Writer/director Jub Clerc, from Quedjinup, Wa is one of 12 women selected to participate in Screenwork's Athena Project.

Following a nation-wide callout, Screenworks has selected 12 female filmmakers from across regional Australia to participate in its upcoming career enhancement program, The Athena Project.

Among those selected are BAFTA Award winning director Hattie Dalton (Byron Bay Nsw), award-winning animated film writer/director Justine Wallace (Barkers Creek Vic), Nyul Nyul/Yawuru woman and writer/director Jub Clerc (Quedjinup Wa) and co-winner of the Northern Territory Book of the Year 2016, Clare Atkins (Darwin Nt).

The twelve selected participants will spend two and a half days in an intensive residential program in Byron Bay, where they will receive advice from some of the most notable woman in the Australian screen industry, including Gillian Armstrong (Women He.s Undressed, My Brilliant Career), Felicity Packard (Janet King), Debbie Lee (Barracuda) and Cate McQuillen (dirtgirlworld).

As part of the residential program,...

The Dressmaker.

Apra Amcos and the Agsc have unveiled the nominees for this year's Screen Music Awards.

The Dressmaker is out in front, up for Best Feature Film Score of the Year and Best Soundtrack Album, thanks to the work of David Hirschfelder.

Also up for gongs are well-known names such as Cezary Skubiszewski, Antony Partos, David Bridie, Michael Yezerski, and duo Adam Gock and Dinesh Wicks.

The most nominated composers are Partos and Yezerski, up for four awards each for work across various productions.

First-time nominees include Darren Seltmann, a former member of the Avalanches, and his singer-songwriter wife Sally. Their song from The Letdown, .Dancing in the Darkness., is up for Best Original Song Composed for the Screen.

Other new faces include Adam Moses, Nicholas Robert Thayer, Tristan Dewey, Helen Grimley and Anthony Egizii.

Winners will be announced November 8 at the City Recital Hall, Sydney. Emmy Award winning...

Girl Asleep.

CinefestOZ kicks off on August 24, with The Death and Life of Otto Bloom, Girl Asleep, Jasper Jones and Spin Out battling it out for the festival's third annual Film Prize, worth $100,000.

The jury includes producer Sue Taylor (The Tree, Looking for Grace), cinematographer Garry Phillips (House of Hancock, The Railway Man, Candy), actor-director Damian Walshe-Howling (Janet King, Mystery Road, Underbelly), actress Emma Booth (Hounds of Love, Gods of Egypt, Jack Irish) and jury chair Gillian Armstrong.

.We are delighted to bring such diverse minds together to spark conversation,. said CinefestOZ Film Festival Chair Helen Shervington. .Our jurors are as unique and multi-faceted as the films they will judge.

The winning film will be announced at the Festival.s Gala Night on Saturday 27 August.

Each of the four finalists will screen during CinefestOZ, along with other new Australian and French features, short films, documentaries, industry workshops and related events,...

Marta Dusseldorp as Janet King.

The ABC has given the greenlight to a third season of Janet King, with shooting expected to begin in the second half of this year..

The show stars Marta Dusseldorp and is produced by Karl Zwicky, and is made with the financial assistance of Screen Nsw, with Dcd Rights handling international sales. . .

Screentime.s Greg Haddrick and the ABC.s Kym Goldsworthy and Alastair McKinnon are executive producers, with Hilary Bonney and Dusseldorp as associate producers.

.We are delighted to have audience favourite Marta Dusseldorp bring her immense talents back for a third season of thrilling drama in Janet King", ABC TV.s Acting Head of Fiction Alastair McKinnon said.

Screentime.s Head of Drama Greg Haddrick commented that .Janet King has been embraced by audiences and critics alike, and we look forward to her continued quest for justice with an innate ability to unravel...

Jacki Weaver returns to Australian television in Secret City.

New Australian political drama Secret City - starring Jacki Weaver, Anna Torv and Dan Wyllie - is set to premiere on June 5.

Filmed in Parliament House and locations across Canberra and Sydney, Secret City is inspired by the best-selling novels The Marmalade Files and The Mandarin Code, written by Canberra political journalists Chris Uhlmann and Steve Lewis.

Amidst rising tension between China and America, Canberra press gallery journalist Harriet Dunkley (played by Anna Torv) forces her way closer to the truth, uncovering a secret city of interlocked conspiracies which will threaten her career, her life and endangers the freedom of every Australian. .

Weaver makes her return to Australian television in the role of Labor powerbroker Senator Catriona Bailey, while Dan Wyllie plays Minister of Defence Mal Paxton.

Weaver said she loved the story and the character.

.It.s very authentic because...

Jessica Mauboy.

Channel Seven's The Secret Daughter, starring Jessica Mauboy, has begun filming in Sydney and country Nsw.

Mauboy leads the cast as Billie Carter, a part-time country pub singer whose life changes forever after a chance meeting with wealthy city hotelier Jack Norton, played by Colin Friels.

The drama will also star Bonnie Sveen (Home and Away), Matthew Levett (A Place To Call Home, Devil.s Playground), David Field (Catching Milat, No Activity), Rachel Gordon (Winter, The Moodys, Blue Heelers), Salvatore Coco (The Principal, Catching Milat) and Jared Turner (The Almighty Johnsons, The Shannara Chronicles).

Supporting cast members include former Miss World Australia Erin Holland, Jr Reyne (Neighbours), Libby Asciak (Here Come The Habibs), Johnny Boxer (Fat Pizza vs Housos), Terry Serio (Janet King), Waapa graduate Harriet Gordon-Anderson, Jeremy Ambrum (Cleverman, Mabo) and Amanda Muggleton (City Homicide, Prisoner).

.Seven is the home of Australian drama and we.re immensely...

Top: Fayssal Bazzi as D-mac, Rahel Romahn as Nick, Michael Denkha as Ibrahim and Lincoln Younes as Hassim

Bottom: Damon Herriman as Jason, Justin Rosniak as Ditch, Alexander England as Shit-stick and Chris Bunton as Evan

Photographer credit: David Dare Parker

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Abe Forsythe's black comedy Down Under is set to hit Australian cinemas on August 4.

Distributed by StudioCanal, the film is a black comedy set during the aftermath of the Cronulla riots.

As Forsythe's second feature, it is the story of two carloads of hotheads from both sides of the fight destined to collide..

Sincere, though misguided, intent gives way to farcical ineptitude as this hilarious yet poignant story of ignorance, fear and kebab-cravings unfolds, and what was meant to be a retaliation mission turns into something neither side could have imagined.

During the shoot, Forsythe told If the narrative mined comedy through the heavy drama.

.The humour turns...

Kris Mrksa

Australian screenwriter Kris Mrksa (Glitch, Janet King, The Slap, Underbelly, The Secret Life of Us) will write a six-part series for BBC Drama..

Requiem will be made by New Pictures (coming off the back of a great success with The Missing, starring Australia's Frances O'Connor) and will consist of six one-hour episodes. The show will be executive produced by Willow Grylls, Elaine Pyke and Charlie Pattinson for New Pictures and Polly Hill for BBC One.

A thriller which flirts with the supernatural, Requiem is the story of a young woman who discovers, in the wake of her mother's death, that everything she thought she knew about herself was a lie.

So: expect a more adult, ambiguous, and female version of Harry Potter.

"Requiem is the show I've always wanted to make", Mrksa said. "To be making it with the team at New Pictures, and for the BBC, a...

Director Abe Forsythe and Studiocanal have given us the first look at the new Australian feature film set during the aftermath of the Cronulla riots.

Down Under is a black comedy about two carloads of hotheads from both sides of the fight who are destined to collide..

Sincere, though misguided, intent gives way to farcical ineptitude as this hilarious yet poignant story of ignorance, fear and kebab-cravings unfolds.

What was meant to be a retaliation mission turns into something neither side could have imagined.

Director Abe Forsythe, who is also responsible for writing the film.s screenplay, has .taken a balanced look at the ridiculous side of a serious subject..

.There is nothing more satisfying than getting people to laugh at something they feel like they shouldn.t be laughing at. Comedy is the best way to say something meaningful,. he said.

This first-look image introduces characters from both sides of the story.

Newcomers Elias Anton and Ben Kindon are playing the leads in Barracuda, the 4-part Matchbox Pictures drama for ABC directed by Rob Connolly.

The ABC revealed the casts and storylines of its 2016 adult dramas, all previously commissioned and announced, at its upfronts presentation on Tuesday night.

The broadcaster confirmed a third season of Matchbox Pictures. Nowhere Boys and announced two animated series. Planet 55 Studios. sci-fi/adventure Prisoner Zero follows teen heroes Tag and Gem and their mysterious friend Prisoner Zero.

Stark Production.s The Deep is the saga of the Nekton family who encounter leviathans swimming through sunken cities, modern day pirates lurking amidst floating black markets and mysterious guardians who conceal long lost secrets.

The teen-targeted slate also includes Ambience Entertainment.s Tomorrow, When the War Began, based on the novels by John Marsden. In Barracuda, Anton plays Danny Kelly, a Melbourne teenager who yearns for a gold medal...

Richard Brancatisano.and.Andrea Demetriades

.

Director Peter Andrikidis was bowled over by the audience reactions to his romantic comedy Alex & Eve when it screened at the Greek Film Festival at Palace.s Norton Street Leichhardt cinemas on Sunday.

It was the first time he.d seen the film with a paid audience and he marvelled at their rollercoaster of emotions, from laughter to tears to laughter.

After several decades in the business Andrikidis knows not to get carried away - festival patrons don.t always reflect mainstream tastes - but the omens are favourable in the lead up to the opening this Thursday. After all, Oddball shows broad. Aussie comedies can resonate effectively.. .

.I am optimistic but you never know,. says the director, acknowledging that some of what he regarded as his best TV works did not succeed while programs he was less happy with did so.

Exhibitors are supporting...

Rahel Romahn is 22 but he.s carving out quite a career playing high school students of various ethnic origins, mostly rebellious or with a dark side.

Since quitting his full-time bank job a year ago, the Kurdish-born, Australian-raised actor.s career has accelerated.

Currently on screen in Sbs.s The Principal and ABC3.s Ready for This, Romahn appears in Peter Andrikidis. comedy Alex + Eve, which opens in cinemas on October 22.

Next year he will be seen in writer-director Abe Forsythe.s black comedy Down Under and in the ABC series Cleverman.

This week he started filming a recurring role in the second series of Screentime.s ABC legal drama Janet King.

And he belongs to Blunt Gorilla, a filmmaker collective which makes TVCs and music videos and aims to produce its first feature next year.

That.s quite a resume for an actor who had been considering moving to...

Janet King season 2 begins production this week with Marta Dusseldorp reprising her lead role.

In the second series, King is seconded from the Dpp to lead a Royal Commission into a deadly upsurge in gun crime..

King is joined by conscripting solicitors Richard Stirling (Hamish Michael) and Lina Badir (Andrea Demetriades), and the ambitious Owen Mitchell (Damian Walshe-Howling) as Counsel Assisting.

With coercive powers Detective Andy Campbell (Christopher Morris) can only dream of, King and her team peel back the complex layers of intrigue underpinning the illicit trade in weapons..

Completing the cast are Peter Kowitz, Leah Purcell, Terry Serio, Philip Quast, Anita Hegh, Aaron Jeffrey, Genevieve Hegney, Nicholas Hope and Ewen Leslie.

The series is produced by Screentime, a Banijay Group company, and series produced by Karl Zwicky, produced by Lisa Scott, with Hilary Bonney and Marta Dusseldorp as associate producers, and Greg Haddrick as executive producer..

It is written by Haddrick,...

Offspring actor Matthew Le Nevez is set to star in the new Endemol Shine production for Network Ten - Brock.

Le Nevez will bring to life the story of one of Australia.s greatest and most complex sporting heroes, Peter Brock.

The cast will also include Ella Scott Lynch as Bev Brock, Steve Bisley as Harry Firth and Natalie Bassingthwaite as Julie Bamford.

Le Nevez, best known for his role as Dr Patrick Reid in the multi-award winning drama Offspring, is no stranger to portraying real-life individuals.

He has already played Matthew Wales in the critically acclaimed The Society Murders, Australian cricket legend Dennis Lillee in Howzat! Kerry Packer.s War and Damien Parer in Parer.s War.

Le Nevez said it was a privilege to be involved in the Brock project..

"Growing up as a kid, I watched Peter conquer the mountain many times and now to be playing him,...

ABC TV has confirmed new series of. Janet King, Rake, Jack Irish, The Code and The Doctor Blake Mysteries.

Marta Dusseldorp will star in the second series of Janet King, Richard Roxburgh returns as Cleaver Greene in the fourth series of Rake and Guy Pearce stars in a six-part series based on the crime novels by Peter Temple in Jack Irish: The Series, a spin-off of the three telepics. Craig McLachlan returns as. Dr Lucien Blake in the fourth outing of The Doctor Blake Mysteries, together with Nadine Garner as his housekeeper Jean Beazley. Dan Spielman and Ashley Zuckerman are back for the second season of The Code. ABC Head of Fiction Carole Sklan said: .ABC TV is very happy to be able to bring back this collection of hugely entertaining, favourite dramas. They feature such a wonderful, eclectic mix of indelible characters.. Head of Programming Brendan Dahill said: .This...

Indiana Evans and Justine Clarke have joined the cast of the fourth season of Playmaker Media.s House Husbands, now shooting in Melbourne.

Evans (Secrets & Lies, Janet King) is playing Tash, a single mother new to Melbourne who ignites a tumultuous love triangle. Clarke is Eve, the hot-headed tuckshop lady who competes with the catering business run by Kane (Gyton Grantley).

Also new to the cast are Akos Armont (Winter, Janet King) as the charming and ambitious Dr Saxon, whose presence creates tension within the hospital, and Jane Kennedy as Belinda, the resident Director of Medical Services.

Returning regulars include Lewis (Gary Sweet), Justin (Firass Dirani), Mark (Rhys Muldoon), Gemma (Julia Morris), Abi (Natalie Saleeba), Alex (Darren McMullen) and Miss Looby (Louise Siversen). Mark.s controlling boss Rachel, played by Jane Allsop in season one, makes a fiery comeback . Also returning from season one to cause trouble is Rodney (Nicholas Coghlan...

A chance meeting at the 2013 Logie awards was the catalyst for the launch of a joint venture between Blackfella Films and Werner Film Productions.

Big Chance Films. first production, Ready for This, a teenage drama with mostly Indigenous characters commissioned by ABC3, is now shooting in Sydney.

The ensemble cast includes two newcomers, rapper/singer Majeda Beatty who competed in The X Factor, and Liam Talty, who studied at the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts in Brisbane.

They join Aaron McGrath (The Code, Redfern Now, The Doctor Blake Mysteries), Leonie Whyman (Redfern Now), Madeleine Madden (The Code, Jack Irish: Dead Point, Redfern Now), Christian Byers (Puberty Blues season 2), Christine Anu (Dance Academy, Outland) and Lasarus Ratuere (The Mule, Mabo, Terra Nova).

Set in inner city Sydney, the plot follows five Indigenous kids who come to the city to pursue their dreams. Anu and Ratuere play the couple who run the kids. boarding house.

A chance meeting at the 2013 Logie awards was the catalyst for the launch of a joint venture between Blackfella Films and Werner Film Productions.

Big Chance Films. first production, Ready for This, a teenage drama with mostly Indigenous characters commissioned by ABC3, is now shooting in Sydney.

The ensemble cast includes two newcomers, rapper/singer Majeda Beatty who competed in The X Factor, and Liam Talty, who studied at the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts in Brisbane.

They join Aaron McGrath (The Code, Redfern Now, The Doctor Blake Mysteries), Leonie Whyman (Redfern Now), Madeleine Madden (The Code, Jack Irish: Dead Point, Redfern Now), Christian Byers (Puberty Blues season 2), Christine Anu (Dance Academy, Outland) and Lasarus Ratuere (The Mule, Mabo, Terra Nova).

Set in inner city Sydney, the plot follows five Indigenous kids who come to the city to pursue their dreams. Anu and Ratuere play the couple who run the kids. boarding house.

A chance meeting at the 2013 Logie awards was the catalyst for the launch of a joint venture between Blackfella Films and Werner Film Productions.

Big Chance Films. first production, Ready for This, a teenage drama with mostly Indigenous characters commissioned by ABC3, is now shooting in Sydney.

The ensemble cast includes two newcomers, rapper/singer Majeda Beatty who competed in The X Factor, and Liam Talty, who studied at the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts in Brisbane.

They join Aaron McGrath (The Code, Redfern Now, The Doctor Blake Mysteries), Leonie Whyman (Redfern Now), Madeleine Madden (The Code, Jack Irish: Dead Point, Redfern Now), Christian Byers (Puberty Blues season 2), Christine Anu (Dance Academy, Outland) and Lasarus Ratuere (The Mule, Mabo, Terra Nova).

Set in inner city Sydney, the plot follows five Indigenous kids who come to the city to pursue their dreams. Anu and Ratuere play the couple who run the kids. boarding house.

The ugly Cronulla race riots in southern Sydney in 2005 may seem an unlikely source of humour but that.s the backdrop of writer-director Abe Forsythe.s latest film.

Set during the aftermath of the riots, the black comedy looks at two carloads of hotheads from both sides of the fight who are destined to collide.

.The narrative mines comedy through the heavy drama,. Forsythe told If on Thursday on the last day of a six-week shoot. .The humour turns on how absurd the situations were and how they spiralled out of control. It doesn.t let the audience off lightly..

Forsythe began writing the screenplay five years ago and the project finally came together with producer Jodi Matterson and Greg Mclean as executive producer. Mclean had admired Ned, Abe.s directing debut in 2003, and the two had long wanted to work together.

The financiers are Screen Australia, Fulcrum Media, the...

Grab your backpack, apply some sunscreen, and keep your wits about you, because we could be returning to Mick Taylor territory in the outback. Since we first saw him approach Liz, Kristy, and Ben's campfire in 2005's Wolf Creek, the malevolent Mick has popped up again in 2013's Wolf Creek 2 and in two prequel novels, but the rugged killer with a warped sense of humor isn't done yet. John Jarratt is set to reprise his role as Mick Taylor in a six-part series for the Australian video-on-demand service Stan, and Greg McLean, the writer/director of the two Wolf Creek films and co-author of the tie-in books, is developing the miniseries.

A project from Screentime (a Banijay Group company and Emu Creek Pictures), the six-part Wolf Creek series is described as "a compelling, psychologically complex and visually spectacular suspense series driven by a young woman’s quest for justice.

The Water Diviner and The Babadook share top film honours and ABC’s The Code is the biggest TV winner. All the red carpet glitz, gossip and gongs from Sydney

Water Diviner and Babadook tie, but at least they’re AussieAactas red carpet: the stars arrive – in pictures

8.58pm Aest

The big winners? The Water Diviner and The Babadook for film, and The Code for its multiple awards in the telly categories.

Plenty more to celebrate and debate in the coming days. We’ll be back on Friday with the best quotes and pictures. Not to mention our weekly film column that sees Luke Buckmaster re-watching the cult classics of Australian cinema, week in week out, for your reading/viewing pleasure.

8.39pm Aest

And, breathe, we’re almost there. Cate and Debs are back on stage to lead into the final and biggest gong of the night: the award for...

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...

Director Russell Crowe Movie up for Best Film: Australian Academy Awards 2015 nominations (photo: Actor-director Russell Crowe in 'The Water Diviner') Aacta Awards: Feature Film Categories Best Film The Babadook Kristina Ceyton and Kristian Moliere Charlie's Country Nils Erik Nielsen, Peter Djigirr and Rolf de Heer Predestination Paddy McDonald, Tim McGahan, Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig The Railway Man Chris Brown, Andy Paterson and Bill Curbishley Tracks Emile Sherman and Iain Canning The Water Diviner Andrew Mason, Keith Rodger and Troy Lum Best Director The Babadook Jennifer Kent Charlie's Country Rolf de Heer Predestination Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig The Rover David Mich?d Best Actress Kate Box The Little Death Essie Davis The Babadook Sarah Snook Predestination Mia Wasikowska Tracks Best Actor Russell Crowe The Water Diviner David Gulpilil Charlie's Country Damon Herriman The Little Death Guy Pearce The Rover Best Supporting Actor Patrick Brammall The Little Death Yilmaz Erdogan...

The Spierig brothers. Predestination and Russell Crowe.s The Water Diviner lead the film nominees while The Code and Please Like Me head the contenders in the TV categories in the 4th Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta) Awards.

Predestination received nine nominations, followed by The Water Diviner with eight, seven for David Mich?d.s The Rover and six apiece for Jennifer Kent.s The Babadook, Josh Lawson.s The Little Death and Jonathan Teplitzky.s The Railway Man.

Culled from 25 eligible titles, Predestination, The Water Diviner,. The Babadook, Rolf de Heer.s Charlie.s Country, The Railway Man and John Curran.s Tracks are vying for best feature.

Perhaps surprisingly, Crowe was overlooked for best director, which will be a battle between the Spierigs, Kent, de Heer and Mich?d.

The contenders for best TV drama are Endemol.s Puberty Blues season 2, Playmaker Media.s The Code, Screentime...

James Stewart, Kate Jenkinson, Lincoln Younes and Olivia DeJonge will play a family that.s forced to enter a witness protection program in Hiding, an eight-part drama for the ABC.

Created and written by Matt Ford, the Playmaker Media series starts shooting in Sydney on Monday and will later location on the Gold Coast.

Hiding was developed through Screen Australia.s Scribe showrunner development initiative and is backed by Screen Australia, Screen Nsw and Screen Queensland.

Playmaker Media.s David Taylor told If the Scribe program has been so successful, helping to spawn House Husbands (Drew Proffitt), The Code (Shelly Birse) and Love Child (Sarah Lambert), the company will continue to run Scribe sessions, with another to be held later this year.

While the premise of a family forced to move to a strange city is similar to the Us series The Riches, Taylor said Ford got the idea from...

Gnome Master Trevor in Gnomebrook.

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The ultimate multi-tasker, Murray Fahey is getting ready to produce romantic comedy Alex & Eve and to release his feature documentary and an improvised comedy via his own distribution company.

Peter Andrikidis will direct Alex & Eve, with a screenplay by Alex Lykos based on his stage play Alex and Eve which played in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, selling 20,000 tickets.

Casting is underway for the leads. Alex is a handsome Greek Orthodox man aged 35, a school teacher still living with his parents, who expect him to marry a good Greek girl. Alex falls in love with Eve, a Lebanese Muslim corporate lawyer. Her parents have arranged for her to marry a Lebanese Muslim man.

Shooting is due to start in Sydney next month, financed by private investors and the producer offset. Screen Australia supported the development of the project. It.s Andrikidis. second feature; his first was...

Chelsea Williamson and Rebecca Robinson are the latest among a crop of young Western Australian actors who are striving for international careers.

Williamson, who.s 20, has signed with a Los Angeles-based manager and will play a key character named Tiffany in Broken Contract, writer-director James Pentecost.s action comedy that starts shooting in Perth on April 28.

Christopher Morris (Crownies, Janet King) plays Max, a down-on-his-luck club owner struggling to make ends meet. When a local gang threatens his livelihood and his family, he hires a hit man to protect the ones he loves. Tiffany is a bartender in a seedy strip joint who is trying to make ends meet while trying to find a missing family member.

Robinson, 22, is the first Australian in some years to be selected to take part in the Master.s program for film at the Royal Central School for Speech and Drama in London.

Before she departs for London,...

Janet King/Crownies regular Christopher Morris and Home and Away.s Esther Anderson play the leads in Broken Contract, an action comedy that starts shooting in Perth on April 28.

It.s the second feature from writer-director James Pentecost, whose debut was Twisted Minds, and the third from Jag Pannu Productions, in association with Vcr Media.

The producer is Hayden Fortescue. Jag Pannu Productions made the thrillers Twisted Minds (which stars John Howard, Kyle Morrison and Jessica Hegarty) and Loren Johnson.s Raven.s Cabin.

Morris plays Max, a down-on-his-luck club owner struggling to make ends meet. When a local gang threatens his livelihood and his family, he hires a hit man to protect the ones he loves. However he soon finds himself spinning out of control as friends and enemies alike start disappearing.

Anderson plays Detective Keeling and Jag Pannu portrays the hit man. Anderson recently participated in Siberia, a...

Fresh from playing the lead in Fat Tony & Co, Robert Mammone will play a homeless man who is confronted by a malevolent presence on a late-night commuter train in Bunny.

The supernatural thriller is due to start shooting in Sydney in May, the feature directing debut of Us screenwriter Peter Schink, who wrote and was associate producer on the 2010 pic Legion, which starred Paul Bettany and Dennis Quaid.

Mammone, who came back last week after playing a Greek general in Russell Crowe.s The Water Diviner, will also serve as an executive producer on Bunny.

The plot revolves around a group of strangers on the train who find the body of a young junkie. The original idea came from Sydney-based, Us producer Jeff Wannberg, who regularly commutes to and from Sydney late at night.

.Jeff pitched it to me as The Conjuring on a train,. Schink told If on the line from the Us.

Ben Lawson is the latest Aussie to land a major role in a Us TV pilot. He.ll play Michael, a smart, funny, good-natured, dermatologist in the ABC comedy Damaged Goods. The show will feature Justin Hartley and Steve Talley as screwed-up guys who hook up with equally screwed-up women.

This is a big year for Lawson. with roles in Hoodlum Entertainment.s Network Ten drama Secrets & Lies, Wayne Hope.s comedy Now Add Honey, Playmaker Media.s Love Child on Nine, and his brother Josh Lawson.s directing debut, black comedy The Little Death. He.s also had guest roles in Rake and the Us series The Exes, Bones and Friends with Better Lives.. He's repped in Australia by United Management.

Aussie actress Indiana Evans has just been added to the cast of ABC.s drama pilot Secrets & Lies, which. starts shooting today in Wilmington, North Carolina. She plays Natalie,...

Des Monaghan has decided to step down as executive chairman of the Screentime Group, producers of the Underbelly franchise, Janet King and Cloudstreet, at the end of May.

Bob Campbell, who co-founded Screentime with Monaghan 18 years ago, will run the company as managing director. The Banijay Group bought a majority stake in 2012.

Monaghan will continue his association with Screentime as a consultant and producer of several projects including the Batavia miniseries for Network Ten.

"It's been an extraordinary run, a fantastic 18 years," he told If. "Television is a very tough game and it's getting tougher. The pressure on program directors is almost impossible with the total unpredictability and the fragmentation of audiences..

"I have had the very great fortune of having Bob Campbell as my business partner. It is fair to say that the success of the company far exceeded our initial expectations."

When Banijay bought into Screentime Monaghan was offered a five-year contract.

Comedies from Matchbox Pictures, Princess Pictures, Working Dog and The Bondi Hipsters are among the highlights of ABC-tv.s 2014 schedule.

The drama slate includes the previously announced Anzac Girls (Screentime), which stars Georgia Flood, Antonia Prebble, Laura Brent, Anna McGahan and Caroline Craig in the saga of five young military nurses from Australia and New Zealand during the Gallipoli and Western Front campaigns; The Code (Playmaker Media), a political thriller about two brothers who stumble across information that people in power will kill to keep secret, starring Ashley Zukerman and Dan Spielman; and Old School (Matchbox), which features Bryan Brown and Sam Neill as a retired crim and ex-cop who solve crimes and unravel scams while avoiding the wrath of the police and the underworld.

Among the other dramas are Janet King (Screentime), a legal drama starring Marta Dusseldorp; crime thriller The Broken Shore (Essential Media); second series of The...

The Anzac spirit will be celebrated in two miniseries that received funding on Tuesday from Screen Australia. While both projects had been announced, the cast for Anzac Girls has been revealed and it.s been confirmed that Sam Worthington is highly likely to star in The Gallipoli Story.

Also funded was Catching Milat, a two-part telemovie recounting the investigation that led to the arrest of serial killer Ivan Milat.

Produced by Screentime for ABC TV, Anzac Girls will chronicle the true story of five young military nurses from Australia and New Zealand who experienced horror, heartbreak and triumph caring for the soldiers at Gallipoli and the Western Front.

The six-part series will star Georgia Flood (House Husbands, Wentworth, Tangle), Antonia Prebble (Outrageous Fortune, The Blue Rose, Super City), Laura Brent (A Few Best Men, Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader), Anna McGahan (House Husbands, Mystery of a Hansom Cab,...