News

David Lightfoot, the Australian producer behind Wolf Creek, Rogue and more, died in an Adelaide hospital on Sunday, after suffering a heart attack. He was 61.

News of his passing was confirmed via the official Facebook page for Ultrafilms, the production company he founded in 1997.

“It is with deep sadness that Ultrafilms announces the death of founder David Lightfoot,” read their statement. “David Lightfoot was one of the most experienced and widely regarded production executives in the country…David dedicated his life to the film industry, and was passionate about Australian film and telling Australian stories.”

“David…was a close friend of mine for 20 years and a generous mentor,” Lightfoot’s business partner and co-producer, Sabella Sugar, told Deadline. “He gave so much and he touched so many lives.”

Lightfoot embarked on his career in film in 1982, joining the South Australian Film Corporation after playing cricket for South Australia and spending...

David Lightfoot, an Australian producer behind such films as Wolf Creek, Rogue and Never Too Late, died Sunday in a hospital in Adelaide after a heart attack, his production company announced. He was 61.

With more than 30 years in the industry, Lightfoot was one of the most experienced and widely regarded production executives in his country. He launched his company, Ultrafilms, in 1997.

Lightfoot began his career at the South Australian Film Corp. in 1982 and worked as an associate producer on Bad Boy Bubby (1993), as a location manager on Babe (1995), as a co-producer on The Sound of One Hand Clapping (1998) and ...

David Lightfoot, an Australian producer behind such films as Wolf Creek, Rogue and Never Too Late, died Sunday in a hospital in Adelaide after a heart attack, his production company announced. He was 61.

With more than 30 years in the industry, Lightfoot was one of the most experienced and widely regarded production executives in his country. He launched his company, Ultrafilms, in 1997.

Lightfoot began his career at the South Australian Film Corp. in 1982 and worked as an associate producer on Bad Boy Bubby (1993), as a location manager on Babe (1995), as a co-producer on The Sound of One Hand Clapping (1998) and ...

David Lightfoot, producer of films such as Wolf Creek, died on Sunday following complications from recent surgery.

Lightfoot worked in the screen industry for more than 30 years, beginning at the South Australian Film Corporation in 1982.

His prolific career spanned more than 80 credits in various roles, including associate producer of Bad Boy Bubby; location manager for Babe; co-producer for The Sound of One Hand Clapping and line producer for Japanese Story.

Lightfoot was both producer and line producer for Greg McLean’s 2005 hit Wolf Creek, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and screened in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight.

He continued to collaborate with McLean on 2007’s Rogue, and went on to produce Rupert Glasson’s thriller Coffin Rock in 2009.

Mickey Rourke, Matt Hearn, Greg McLean, Cassandra Magrath and David Lightfoot in Cannes, 2005.

More recently, via his company Ultrafilms, he produced Jack Thompson, Jacki Weaver and James Cromwell-starrer Never Too Late with Antony I. Ginnane.

‘Never Too Late’ (Photo credit: Bradley Patrick).

The launches of the Liam Neeson action drama Honest Thief and Australian ‘geezer’ comedy Never Too Late helped reverse a three-week slide at cinemas last weekend.

But ticket sales remain depressed and the year-to-date national Bo total through Sunday is $334 million, a woeful 67.5 per cent down on last year’s $1.03 billion.

Among the limited releases, Polish drama Corpus Christi posted the weekend’s highest per-screen average while US indie comedy-drama Kajillionaire struggled. The Taika Waititi-produced Kiwi comedy Baby, Done did not resonate either.

Numero reported the top 20 titles generated $2.28 million, 7 per cent up on the previous frame.

The feature writing and directing debut of Ozark co-creator Mark Williams, Honest Thief stole $696,000 on 206 screens and $722,000 with previews for Rialto, in line with the US results where it’s been No. 1 for three weeks in a Covid-19 devastated market.

Neeson plays Tom Carter, a...

Antony I. Ginnane.

After 50 years in the business of producing films, Antony I. Ginnane is calling on the screen industry to fight to help the next generation of creatives.

Ginnane slammed key measures of the Federal Government’s media reforms including lowering the Producer Offset for films to 30 per cent and exempting producers’ overheads from the minimum qualifying Australian production expenditure (Qape), coupled with the failure to impose local spending obligations on SVOD services.

“It’s vital that we push back on these changes to film regulations,” he said in a webinar with Screen Producers Australia CEO Matt Deaner. “We have to fight to help the next generation so they don’t come in and get screwed from the get-go.”

The producer who has more than 70 screen credits fears many films won’t get made because the ensuing funding gap of 15 per cent – 25 per cent will be impossible to fill.

‘Relic’s’ Robyn Nevin with Natalie Erika James.

Natalie Erika James’ Relic continued its reign as the top title in its second weekend in the fractured US theatrical market while Mark Lamprell’s Never Too Late launched on a combination of virtual cinemas and hard tops.

Released by IFC Midnight, the psychological horror movie co-scripted by James and Christian White, rang up $US192,000 in its first weekend at 69 drive-ins: the biggest opening weekend in almost three months.

Last weekend the haunted house movie featuring Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin and Bella Heathcote expanded to 126 locations, generating $US236,000, which brings the 10-day total to $US581,000, according to Box Office Mojo.

Produced by Carver Films’ Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw with Nine Stories Productions’ Jake Gyllenhaal and Riva Marker, Relic premiered on Stan on July 10 as a Stan Original.

The US distributor Blue Fox Entertainment launched Never Too Late in 15 hard tops plus...

‘Never Too Late’ (Photo credit: Bradley Patrick).

Blue Fox Entertainment has bought the Us rights to Mark Lamprell’s Never Too Late and will release the comedy-drama on about 25 screens, followed by transactional VOD two weeks later.

That’s the distributor’s third Aussie acquisition following Stephan Elliott’s Swinging Safari and Russell Mulcahy’s In Like Flynn last year.

Starring Jack Thompson, James Cromwell, Dennis Waterman and Roy Billing as Vietnam veterans who plan to break out of their nursing home, the film scripted by Luke Preston will open the Young at Heart Senior Film Festival at Palace cinemas across Australia on February 19.

It will play each day for a couple of weeks in the festival then go out on a broader national release on April 23 via R&r Films.

Jacki Weaver plays Norma, the long-lost love of Cromwell’s character Bronson, formerly a Us soldier whom she met...

Seller also reports international deals for first time.

Kirk D’Amico’s Myriad Pictures has closed a Us deal on upcoming Efm screening Never Too Late and has announced previously unreported international sales on the Australian comedy starring James Cromwell and Jacki Weaver.

Blue Fox Entertainment has acquired Us rights to Mark Lamprell’s tale about a band of retired Vietnam War veterans who plan to break out of their retirement home and reunite their friend with his lost love.

Dennis Waterman also stars in Never Too Late, which Lamprell directed from a screenplay by crime novellist Luke Preston.

D’Amico...

Angela Little.

Screen composer Angela Little is pursuing her career in Hollywood after completing her Master of Music in Screen Scoring at the University of Southern California while continuing to work on Australian productions.

Little has signed with the Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency, which represents numerous composers, music producers, songwriters, music supervisors and music editors.

“The agency wants to build a relationship with me and they told me to run all deals through them, which is really exciting,” she tells If via Skype.

She has just scored Mark Lamprell’s Never Too Late, a comedy-drama starring Jack Thompson, James Cromwell, Dennis Waterman and Roy Billing as Vietnam veterans who plan to break out of their nursing home. Jacki Weaver plays Norma, the long-lost love of Cromwell’s character Bronson, who was a Us soldier whom she met when he was in Australia on R&r.

Angela oversaw the live recording of two...

James Cromwell.

Mark Lamprell’s Never Too Late (formerly The Chain Breakers), a comedy-drama about four heroic Vietnam veterans who plan to break out of their nursing home, will start shooting in South Australia on March 18.

Jack Thompson, James Cromwell, Dennis Waterman and Roy Billing play the quartet, who were famous for escaping from a Vietnamese Pow camp.

Now residents of the Hogan Hills Retirement Home for Returned Veterans, each has an unrealised dream he wants to achieve before it’s too late. They devise a plan to escape but the rules of engagement have changed. Indeed, they can’t even remember what the rules were and that’s half the problem.

Jacki Weaver plays Norma, the long-lost love of Cromwell’s character Bronson, formerly a Us soldier. They met when he was in Australia on R&R but he was posted back to Vietnam before he could propose. Norma’s...

Jacki Weaver.

Comedy feature The Chain Breakers, to star Jacki Weaver, Jack Thompson, James Cromwell, Denis Waterman and Shane Jacobson, is one of seven projects to have recently received production funding from Screen Australia.

Written by Luke Preston and directed by Mark Lamprell, the film follows four Vietnam vets, famous for escaping a Pow camp, who find themselves in a new hell: The Hogan Hills Retirement Home for Returned Veterans. Each has an unrealised dream they want achieve, and so they band together to escape again. Produced by Antony I. Ginnane and David Lightfoot, the film is billed as a cross between Grumpy Old Men and The Great Escape. It will be distributed via R & R Films, the new venture between Richard Becker and Robert Slaviero.

Among the other projects to have shared in the $7.5 million of funding from the federal agency is Lone Wolf, writer-director Jonathan Ogilvie’s...

Morgan Griffin and Xavier Samuel

Shooting has commenced in Adelaide on suspense thriller Bad Blood, written and directed by David Pulbrook (Last Dance). As If has previously reported,.the feature will star Adelaide-raised Xavier Samuel (Fury, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) alongside Morgan Griffin (San Andreas, Unbroken). Just announced to be joining them is a supporting cast featuring all South Australian actors, including Tess Fowler (Raising the Bar, Sam Fox: Extreme Adventures), Rob Macpherson (Deadline Gallipoli, Danger 5), Elena Carapetis (One Eyed Girl, Burning Man, Look Both Ways) and Patrick Frost (the.Wolf Creek series, Deadline Gallipoli). Casting director Angela Heesom said, .We have been able to find the entire supporting cast out of South Australia which is incredibly exciting. This means, with the inclusion of South Australian lead, Xavier Samuel, it.s a very home grown picture for us all to be making and showcases the extraordinary talents of our local acting community.

Xavier Samuel in Kimble Rendall's Bait 3D.

Adelaide-raised Xavier Samuel is returning home to star in South Australian feature Bad Blood, a suspense thriller to be directed by David Pulbrook (Last Dance) about a couple's long weekend away that turns sinister.

Samuel will star alongside Morgan Griffin (San Andreas, Unbroken) in his first Sa-shot film since his debut film, 2006's 2:37 (the film which also provided an early breakout role for Teresa Palmer).

Bad Blood will be produced by Wolf Creek's David Lightfoot alongside Antony I. Ginnane, with filming in the Adelaide Hills and at Adelaide Studios to begin June 6 and run for three weeks.

.Interest in filming in South Australia is currently very high, with the State.s experienced crews, diverse filming locations and the state-of-the-art Adelaide Studios all proving strong drawcards among producers and directors," South Australian Film Corporation Chief Executive Annabelle Sheehan said.

.In the last two years,...

Exclusive: Xavier Samuel has joined the Australian suspense thriller along with San Andreas actor Morgan Griffin.

Xavier Samuel (The Twilight Saga) and Morgan Griffin (San Andreas) have signed on to star in David Pulbook’s Australian suspense thriller Bad Blood.

The film is produced by Antony I. Ginnane (Screamers) through his Fg Film Group banner, along with David Lightfoot (Wolf Creek) through his production outfit Ultra Films.

Shanghai-based post house Leading Digital Post is part-financing the film through its multi-year co-financing partnership with The Little Film Company, which is handling international sales on Bad Blood.

Pulbook is directing from a script he co-wrote with Patrick Edgeworth about a woman (Griffin) who accepts an invitation to spend a weekend at a mountain resort with a male friend (Samuel) but quickly realises something is wrong.

The film is being produced with financial assistance from the South Australian Film Corporation and Screen Queensland. Production is scheduled...

Only a handful of people in the Us and Australia paid to see John Doe in cinemas last year but the vigilante thriller has suddenly become one of the most downloaded titles on torrent sites globally.

Directed by Kel Dolen (Reign in Darkness, Gates of Hell) and scripted by Steve Coates, the film stars Battlestar Galactica.s Jamie Bamber as an anti-hero who attempts to rid the community of criminals while taking out those he knows are about to commit crimes.

The film was released theatrically in the Us a year ago and the producers believe it was first pirated last July after it was released on DVD in the Netherlands.

After being launched on DVD and in a small number of cinemas in Australia last October, the film reappeared briefly on some torrent sites.

.Last Friday the Us DVD/Blu-ray was released onto the torrents and for some reason it has taken off,...

Australian filmmaker Rupert Glasson today launched a crowdfunding campaign to complete his Us-set road movie What Lola Wants, which stars Sophie Lowe, Beau Knapp and Robert Taylor.

Glasson hopes the film will be a springboard for his next, rather more ambitious project, The Vault, a futuristic film in which the .villains. are Australia.s banks.

The plan is to shoot in Melbourne next March, produced by Ayisha Davies (with whom he collaborated on Lola) and David Lightfoot of Ultrafilms.

.Lola is an entree to the main course - a larger film we're putting together for next year called The Vault," Glasson tells If. .It's a bank heist set in a near-future Australia where the banks are over-invested in mining projects.

.When the Chinese economy stutters and stalls those loans go bad and the banks teeter on the edge of collapse. So they stop lending, they call everything in - home loans,...

Claire van der Boom and Eamon Farren are playing the leads in Love is Now, a romantic drama now shooting in Sydney and regional Nsw.

It.s the first narrative feature from writer/director Jim Lounsbury and producer Behren Schulz, who formed Eponine Films in 2009.

The plot follows experienced photographer Audrey (van der Boom) and aspiring snapper Dean (Farren) as they embark on a trip through orchard country and a passionate relationship develops.

The supporting cast includes Anna Torv, Dustin Clare, Heather Mitchell and Chris Haywood.

Schulz told If that he and Lounsbury came up with the idea on a plane trip and the first draft of the script was written in one weekend.

He raised the budget from private investors and sponsorship from Nikon and Reid Cycles. The filmmakers announced the partnership with Nikon at Tropfest last year; the film is being shot on Nikon cameras and Nikkor lenses.

Kelly Dolen.s John Doe: Vigilante premiered in Us cinemas last Friday and was met with mostly negative reviews which branded it as shrill, gory and pseudo-intellectual.

However one critic hailed the thriller as "riveting, unsettling, important, and poignant."

Main Street Films launched the film starring Battlestar Galactica.s Jamie Bamber as John Doe, a self-styled vigilante who is on trial for 33 murders, on 20 screens in California, Colorado and Arizona.

The screenplay by Stephen M. Coates follows a vigilante group called Speak for the Dead which supports Doe.s cause while he.s in prison, igniting a debate about justice versus vengeance. Lachy Hulme (Offspring, Power Games: The Packer-Murdoch Story, The Matrix Revolutions) plays a reporter who is trying to uncover the true story about Doe..

Produced by Screen Corp.s James M. Vernon and Kristy Vernon, Keith Sweitzer and David Lightfoot, the film will debut in Australia on May 1 via Monster Pictures.

Kelly Dolen.s John Doe: Vigilante will debut in Us cinemas on March 21, the tenth Australian film to have secured a cinema release in that market this year.

Monster Pictures will launch the thriller starring Battlestar Galactica.s Jamie Bamber as John Doe . a man accused of being a vigilante serial killer- in Australia on May 8.

The screenplay by Stephen M. Coates follows a vigilante group called Speak for the Dead which supports Doe.s cause while he.s in prison, igniting a debate about justice versus vengeance.

Lachy Hulme (Offspring, Power Games: The Packer-Murdoch Story, The Matrix Revolutions) plays a reporter who is trying to uncover the true story about Doe.

.John Doe: Vigilante is intended to create a debate and put a mirror up to society,. said Dolen. .We aren.t glamorising violence, but posing the question.is violence ever really justified? Who decides what is right and what is wrong?...

Dominic Purcell, Viva Bianca and Robert Taylor are set to star in Turkey Shoot Reloaded, an action adventure set in the near future.

The director is Jon Hewitt (X, Acolytes, Bloodlust), who co-wrote the screenplay with his wife, actress-writer Belinda McClory, with whom he collaborated on X and Acolytes.

Hewitt tells If the film is in the spirit of Brian Trenchard-Smith.s 1982 cult item Turkey Shoot but is not a reboot. .I loved Turkey Shoot but I did not want to remake it," he says. "This is a complete reinvention..

Principal photography starts in Melbourne on February 5. The Post Lounge is handling the visual effects and investing in the film. The producer is Antony I. Ginnane, who produced Turkey Shoot, with David Lightfoot as line producer and Lizzette Atkins as associate producer. Trenchard-Smith is an executive producer.

Turkey Shoot (also known outside Australia as Escape 2000 and Blood Camp Thatcher...

Main Street Films has bought North American rights to John Doe, an Australian thriller about an anti-hero who attempts to rid the community of criminals while taking out those he knows are about to commit crimes.

The director is Kel Dolen (Reign in Darkness, Gates of Hell), the screenplay is by Steve Coates and the cast is headed by Battlestar Galactica.s Jamie Bamber and Lachy Hulme (Howzat! Kerry Packer's War, Beaconsfield).

The film was produced by ScreenCorp..s James M. Vernon and Kristy Vernon with Keith Sweitzer and David Lightfoot. Leanne Walker is the executive producer.

Main Street Films chairman Craig Chang along with Harrison Kordestani saw John Doe at the Cannes Film Market and negotiated the deal with Vernon. .We used our two screenings at Cannes to create a profile for the film and it turned out better than expected,. Vernon told If.

The Us company is releasing Mike Newell.s Great Expectations,...

The Spaa Fringe, a two day film, television and new media conference held by the Screen Producers Association of Australia will this year run during the inaugural Cockatoo Island Film Festival. The festival runs from 26 and 27 October.

The announcement:

Screen Producers Association of Australia (Spaa) has announced the return of the original format Spaa Fringe, an inspirational two-day film television and new media conference from 26th to 27th October 2012 hosted during the inaugural Cockatoo Island Film Festival on Cockatoo Island, Sydney Harbour.

The inaugural Cockatoo Island Film Festival, 24th to 28th October, will feature the largest competitive film program in Australia and will showcase films to the Australian and International screen industry professionals and festival-goers.

Now in its 14th year, Spaa Fringe is aimed at those who are serious about building a career in the Australian screen industry, giving attendees the unique opportunity to meet and learn from established screen...

Writers Andrew Connell and Gordon Napier's Till Death Do Us Die script has.taken out top honours at the inaugural Australian Writers. Guild Terror Australis Horror Script Competition. The script, about a groom who is forced to battle supernatural forces when a cursed wedding ring unleashes an ancient evil upon his bride, was chosen from 130 entries. It will now be read by genre producers Chris Brown (Daybreakers, The Proposition), David Lightfoot (Wolf Creek, Rogue), Josh Reed (Primal) and Andrew Traucki (Black Water, The Reef). The two writers have also won a micro-mentorship with Shayne Armstrong and Shane Krause (Acolytes). Kraken by Rick Kalowski (story by Rick Kalowski and Andrew Jones) was highly commended by the judges. Also on the finalists' shortlist...

Writers Andrew Connell and Gordon Napier's Till Death Do Us Die script has.taken out top honours at the inaugural Australian Writers. Guild Terror Australis Horror Script Competition. The script, about a groom who is forced to battle supernatural forces when a cursed wedding ring unleashes an ancient evil upon his bride, was chosen from 130 entries. It will now be read by genre producers Chris Brown (Daybreakers, The Proposition), David Lightfoot (Wolf Creek, Rogue), Josh Reed (Primal) and Andrew Traucki (Black Water, The Reef). The two writers have also won a micro-mentorship with Shayne Armstrong and Shane Krause (Acolytes). Kraken by Rick Kalowski (story by Rick Kalowski and Andrew Jones) was highly commended by the judges. Also on the finalists' shortlist...

Writers Andrew Connell and Gordon Napier's Till Death Do Us Die script has.taken out top honours at the inaugural Australian Writers. Guild Terror Australis Horror Script Competition. The script, about a groom who is forced to battle supernatural forces when a cursed wedding ring unleashes an ancient evil upon his bride, was chosen from 130 entries. It will now be read by genre producers Chris Brown (Daybreakers, The Proposition), David Lightfoot (Wolf Creek, Rogue), Josh Reed (Primal) and Andrew Traucki (Black Water, The Reef). The two writers have also won a micro-mentorship with Shayne Armstrong and Shane Krause (Acolytes). Kraken by Rick Kalowski (story by Rick Kalowski and Andrew Jones) was highly commended by the judges. Also on the finalists' shortlist...

More outer space hijinx are ready to ensue with the latest period piece that rides the stars to infinite terror. Get ready, kids. It's time to check into the Skylab.

Skylab will be directed by Rupert Glasson. James M. Vernon, David Lightfoot, Ayisha Davies, and Kristy Veron star.

Synopsis

Skylab is a taut, claustrophobic, edge-of-your-seat sci-fi thriller in which three astronauts find themselves stranded 200 miles above the Earth and forced into a desperate fight to the death with a malevolent alien. Set onboard Nasa’s eponymous space station, the action takes place in the hours leading up to its famous crash landing in the Outback of Australia.

Set in 1978, Skylab begins as a classic paranoid Cold War thriller. The space station is due to be decommissioned and has been an empty vessel for over two years, left to its lonely orbit around the Earth. Nasa is thrown into panic stations...

The Australian Writers’ Guild has celebrated Halloween by launching the Terror Australis Horror Script Competition.

Seeking the best unproduced horror feature script in Australia, the Australis Horror Script Competition is looking for the next Saw, Undead or Wolf Creek.

The winning writer will receive an audience with, and script read by, producers Chris Brown (Daybreakers, The Proposition), David Lightfoot (Wolf Creek, Rogue), Josh Reed (Primal) and Andrew Traucki (Black Water, The Reef) as well as a micro-mentorship from Shayne Armstrong and Shane Krause (Acolytes).

The Awg welcome all horror-related sub-genres; slasher films, vampire scripts, zombie flicks, thrillers, horror-westerns, you name it.

The competition closes Friday 18 November.

For more information, visit awg.com.au...

The Australian Screen Editors Guild has nominated Animal Kingdom, Bright Star and Beneath Hill 60 for Best Editing in a Feature, alongside 2009 releases Balibo and – surprisingly – Coffin Rock.

This is the first and only award nomination the David Lightfoot production has received since its release in November 2009.

The TV drama category sees the telemovie A Model Daughter competing against All Saints, Packed to the Rafters and Wilfred.

The nominees are:

Avid Award for Best Editing in a Feature Film

Animal Kingdom – Luke Doolan

Balibo - Nick Meyers Ase

Beneath Hill 60 – Dany Cooper Ase

Bright Star – Alexandre de Franceschi Ase

Coffin Rock - Adrian Rostirolla

The Lab Award for Best Editing in a Television Drama

A Model Daughter: The Killing of Caroline Byrne – Deborah Peart

All Saints, Episode 478 – Nicholas Holmes Ase

Packed to the Rafters, Episode 44 – James Manche Ase

Wilfred Series 2, Episode 8 – Richard Hamer

Best Editing in a Documentary

Catching Cancer...

The Screen Producers Association of Australia (Spaa) has announced the keynote speaker for this years industry conference Spaa Fringe, will be David Michôd – writer/director of internationally acclaimed Australian film Animal Kingdom.

Michôd joins an impressive speaker line-up including Cora Olson, founding partner and producer at Present Pictures Us, Hungry Beast’s Elmo Keep and the team behind Blame – David Lightfoot, Ryan Hodgson and Melissa Kelly.

Spaa describes Michôd achievements: “Michôd was catapulted from relative obscurity to filmmaking fame earlier this year, when his film, Animal Kingdom, was awarded the grand jury prize at Sundance Film Festival – an accolade which until then, had never been awarded to an Australian film. A crime thriller inspired by Melbourne’s Walsh Street murders that was 10 years in the making, Michôd will speak in-depth about his success and provide inspiration for other emerging filmmakers, writers, directors and producers on what can be achieved through ambition,...

This year’s line-up for Spaa Fringe will include La-based Cora Olsen (Present Pictures), distribution specialist and Fringe patron Peter Broderick (Paradigm Consulting), Victoria Treole (Blue Cat Pictures), Gil Scrine (Gil Scrine Films), Michael Favelle (Odin’s Eye Entertainment), Hungry Beast’s Elmo Keep and the team behind Blame, David Lightfoot, Ryan Hodgson and Melissa Kelly.

Spaa Fringe will be held at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, on October 22-23.

Cora Olson, founding partner and producer at Present Pictures (the self-distributed feature film Good Dick, which premiered at Sundance in 2008). Olson will show clips from her new film, The Perfect Family directed by Australian Anne Renton and starring Emily Deschanel (Bones) and Kathleen Turner (Californication). Her presentation will also cover what made Good Dick such a success – from her ‘What Does Good Dick Mean To You’ campaign, to the intensive social networking strategy. Peter Broderick will join the conference again,...

It's been a while since we heard anything from the Coffin Rock camp, but today they dropped the trailer for the film in our inbox and offered Dread Central the chance to debut it on the web.

Rupert Glasson's first feature (read our Coffin Rock review here) has been described as "a skillfully woven tale of palpable unease and gripping suspense." Here's the full synopsis:

In the small coastal town of Coffin Rock, Rob and Jess live an almost idyllic life, their relationship marred only by their inability to have children. In a weak moment Jess sleeps with a stranger and later learns she’s pregnant. But the shocking truth is Evan targeted her the moment she walked into the fertility clinic where he worked. Now Jess’ guilt turns to full-blown horror as Evan begins a petrifying transformation from menacing stalker to unhinged psychopath.

The Aussie film shares a...

One film being shown at this year's Film 4 FrightFest that caught our attention is Rupert Glasson's debut feature, Coffin Rock, described as "a skillfully woven tale of palpable unease and gripping suspense." And if the teaser trailer is any indication, that does indeed seem to be an apt description.

Here's the full synopsis: In the small coastal town of Coffin Rock, Rob and Jess live an almost idyllic life, their relationship marred only by their inability to have children. In a weak moment Jess sleeps with a stranger and later learns she’s pregnant. But the shocking truth is Evan targeted her the moment she walked into the fertility clinic where he worked. Now Jess’ guilt turns to full-blown horror as Evan begins a petrifying transformation from menacing stalker to unhinged psychopath.

The Aussie film shares a producer with Wolf Creek (review here) and Rogue (review here), David Lightfoot,...

David Lightfoot, the producer of Wolf Creek and Rogue , is overseeing production on the thriller Coffin Rock . Written and directed by Rupert Glasson, here making his feature debut, Coffin introduces us to Rob and Jess, a couple struggling to conceive a child. In a weak moment, Jess winds up sleeping a stranger named Evan and later learns she's pregnant. Her guilt turns to horror as Evan begins a terrifying transformation from stalker to psychopath, determined to prove paternity of the child and claim Jess as his own. Bankside Films, the film's worldwide sales rep, describes the film as a cross between Fatal Attraction and Cape Fear . Robert Taylor of Rogue stars alongside Lisa Chappell ( Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ) and Sam Parsonson. Coffin Rock is due...

The new Australian thriller Coffin Rock, from producer David Lightfoot (whose credits include Wolf Creek and Rogue) and his Ultrafilm company, was deep into postproduction when Fango got a word in with ultra-busy Ayisha Davies. Having served as 2nd unit production manager on Rogue and produced several shorts (including one called The Bloody Sweet Hit), Davies is excited to talk up Coffin Rock, her first feature as producer.

Starring Lisa Chappell (seen in several episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journies), Robert (Storm Warning) Taylor and Sam Parsonson, Coffin Rock is about “a married woman who’s so desperate for a child that she sleeps with a stranger in a drunken mistake,” Davies tells Fango. “The young stranger’s claims to paternity then turn out to be quite deadly.”

Davies goes on to describe Coffin Rock, which is also the feature debut of its writer/director Rupert Glasson, as “a kind...

GOLD COAST, Queensland -- A sequel could be in the cards for Wolf Creek, said the film's producer, David Lightfoot, who closed the Screen Producers' Association of Australia Fringe Conference on a high note Saturday with a session on the secrets behind the success of the low-budget horror genre. The Fringe conference leads into SPAA's annual confab, which opened here Saturday night and runs through Tuesday. Lightfoot told a packed session of SPAA Fringe that Wolf Creek's writer-director, Greg McLean, has already written a follow-up story to the serial killer thriller set in Australia's Outback. Based on a 40-second teaser, Wolf Creek secured presales to Optimum Releasing for the U.K. and to Bob and Harvey Weinstein's Dimension label for the rest of the world before its international premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this year. It went on to screen at the Festival de Cannes in Directors' Fortnight. The film will open in the U.K. on Sept. 16 at 500 sites and bows Nov. 18 in the U.S. on 2,000 screens. Lightfoot said projected earnings are about $100 million.

GOLD COAST, Queensland -- A sequel could be in the cards for Wolf Creek, said the film's producer, David Lightfoot, who closed the Screen Producers' Association of Australia Fringe Conference on a high note Saturday with a session on the secrets behind the success of the low-budget horror genre. The Fringe conference leads into SPAA's annual confab, which opened here Saturday night and runs through Tuesday. Lightfoot told a packed session of SPAA Fringe that Wolf Creek's writer-director, Greg McLean, has already written a follow-up story to the serial killer thriller set in Australia's Outback. Based on a 40-second teaser, Wolf Creek secured presales to Optimum Releasing for the U.K. and to Bob and Harvey Weinstein's Dimension label for the rest of the world before its international premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this year. It went on to screen at the Festival de Cannes in Directors' Fortnight. The film will open in the U.K. on Sept. 16 at 500 sites and bows Nov. 18 in the U.S. on 2,000 screens. Lightfoot said projected earnings are about $100 million.

SYDNEY -- Australia's principal funding agency, Film Finance Corporation Australia, said Wednesday that it is backing two new feature films. The first, December Boys, based on Michael Noonan's book of the same name, is described as a poignant tale of four young orphan boys in the 1960s. Rod Hardy will direct, with Richard Becker producing. Sales and distribution are being handled by REP, MBM and Aura Entertainment. The second approval is for a low-budget thriller, Wolf Creek, which will be shot digitally by first-time feature writer-director Greg McLean and produced by David Lightfoot. The story is loosely based on real-life events of two years ago that saw British backpacker Peter Falconio killed in the Australian outback while his girlfriend managed a narrow escape. The film will be produced in association with Mushroom Pictures and Arclight Films. The two companies also will oversee sales and distribution.