Stephen Conroy: Rupert Murdoch’s wisdom made me give all that money to the free TV networks
Stephen Conroy has cited Rupert Murdoch’s public comments about the economics of television as one of the reasons he decided to give Australia’s TV networks a multi-million dollar discount on their licences. Read more »
Australian/Israel co-prod in the works
Underbelly actor Dan Mor is developing a script based on his father’s experiences in the Six Days War, which he hopes will be an Australian/Israeli co-production.
“It will have a global appeal and a clear anti-war message. The project is currently at treatment stage and I am working with experienced industry writers to develop that treatment into an international feature film,” Mor told Encore. Read more »
Screen Australia, willing to support Cannes expat project
Screen Australia’s head of production investment Ross Matthews says the agency would like to support Camera d’Or-winning expat Michael Rowe with his second film.
“It was great to meet Michael in Cannes and Screen Australia would be very happy to help Michael in any way that we can towards furthering his next project,” Matthews told Encore. Read more »
Focus on Victoria: settling the score
Rivalries between the states are inevitable but ultimately unproductive. While Victoria may not have the highest production investment total of the year, the cultural capital of Australia is strengthening its local slate.
Victoria is considered Australia’s cultural capital, so why isn’t it the country’s screen production capital too, or at least not anymore? Read more »
Same Dungog, new content
The Dungog Film Festival starts tomorrow, and according to director Allanah Zitserman, this is the year it will incorporate television into its program, at a much deeper level.
“There’s a lot more room for cross-pollination between film and TV in this country, and we want to encourage it and get both sides talking and discussing ways in which we can work together more,” Zitserman told Encore. Read more »
Exclusive: Camera d’Or winner Michael Rowe
In this exclusive interview, Camera d’Or-winning Australian expat director Michael Rowe talks about his career in Mexico, and how the lack of a treaty or MoU with that country might make production of his next project more difficult.
“It would seem logical [for Screen Australia] to take advantage of this level of international exposure. I spoke to them on the very first day in Cannes, and that was before the award, so maybe now it’s a different story. I have to talk to them again,” Rowe told Encore. Read more »
South Africa doubles for Melbourne
The film Crook: It’s Good to Be Bad, which deals with the Indian student controversy in Melbourne, has been partially shot in Cape Town, with the South African city doubling for the Victorian capital.
“We have a limited budget and the South African rand is cheaper; we felt that Cape Town had the kind of architectural look which could match that of Melbourne,” producer Mahesh Bhatt told Encore. Read more »
Indigenous-themed 3D film in development
Kerri Hill-Grisham and Todd Farmer (My Bloody Valentine) are working on an Indigenous-themed 3D thriller/horror film called The Dark Things.
The pair are currently developing the project, about “Aboriginal legends that become a reality in a small country town on the east coast of Australia”, and looking at Queensland locations for the shoot. Read more »
Limelight, looking for crew
Limelight International co-owner Dale Bradley has announced that the company is looking for crew to work on their new slate of projects, starting in July in Queensland.
“The company is very keen to work with new people who have not previously been involved in our productions,” said Bradley. Read more »
Wog Boy opens with $1.81m
The Kings of Mykonos: Wog Boy 2 has opened at number two of the Australian box office with $1,828,902.
Distributors Paramount/Transmission announced that the film’s opening is currently the highest for an Australian film this year, ahead of Bran Nue Dae’s $1,611,000. Read more »