News

Hulu has always been the streaming service for the people who want to get their money’s worth and this month with some brand new animes, some original shows and movies, and a Marvel series they will get it. So, start the first month of the new year with Hulu’s entertaining offerings and handpick what to watch this month CinemaBlind is always here to help you.

Ishura Season 1 (January 3)

Anime is one of the most popular and creative platforms for telling out-of-this-world stories and over the years, it is becoming more and more mainstream with some animes like Attack of Titan, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, and many more becoming even more popular than your average streaming shows. Hulu has always been ahead in the anime game in the US, if we compare it to other streaming services this month we will see the second part of The Devil is a Part Timer!

Kindling Pictures, the new production company headed by award-winning Australian producer Imogen Banks has begun production on its maiden show “Safe Home.”

The four-part thriller, which is made for Australian public broadcaster Special Broadcasting Services (Sbs), stars Aisha Dee (“Sissy” and TV’s “The Bold Type”) in the tale of a twenty-something professional who leaves her job at a prominent law firm to help a struggling family violence legal center stop looming funding cuts. As interconnecting stories unfold, relationships are tested and the pressure mounts to save the center. With so much at stake, the woman must navigate a path that isn’t always clear – and things aren’t always as they appear.

Directed by award-winning director Stevie Cruz-Martin and created by acclaimed playwright Anna Barnes, “Safe Home” was inspired by Barnes’ time working at a family legal center in Melbourne. The series is written by Barnes, Michelle Law and...

Vixen star Megalyn Echikunwoke is set as one of the two co-leads opposite Brittany Snow in Fox’s drama pilot based on the Endemol Shine Australia series Sisters. The untitled project (fka Sisters) hails from Annie Weisman, Jason Katims, as well as the original series’ co-creator Imogen Banks, Universal TV and Endemol Shine North America.

Written by Weisman based on the Australian series created by Jonathan Gavin and Banks, with Leslye Headland set to direct the pilot, the drama centers on Julia Bechley (Snow), an only child who finds her life turned upside down when her father is forced to reveal that over the course of his pioneering career as a fertility doctor, he used his own sperm to conceive dozens of children. As she dutifully begins to track down her emerging group of siblings, among a sea of brothers, Julia discovers only two sisters – both of whom quickly become...

Network 10’s ‘Sisters’.

First announced last October, the Fox network’s remake of Imogen Banks’ and Jonathan Gavin’s drama Sisters is finally getting traction.

Leslye Headland, the co-creator/director of the Netflix comedy Russian Doll, has signed on to direct the pilot scripted by executive producer Annie Weisman, whose credits include the series The Path, About a Boy and Desperate Housewives.

Casting is underway on the untitled one-hour series which centres on Julia Bechly, an only child whose life is turned upside down when her father is forced to reveal that during his career as a fertility doctor, he used his own sperm to conceive dozens of children.

As Julia begins to track down her siblings, among a sea of brothers she discovers only two sisters – both of whom quickly become a part of her now redefined family.

The project was rated as one of the hottest drama...

Shane Jacobson in 'Kenny', written and directed by brother Clayton. The two will join forces again on 'Sibling Rivalry'.

The brothers behind Kenny,.Shane and Clayton Jacobson, are set to reunite for a new film, black comedy Sibling Rivalry..

The feature is one of four film projects and seven television dramas supported by Screen Australia in its latest $8.8 million funding round..

The pair will co-star in the film, which revolves around two brothers who, with their mother at death.s door, go to extreme lengths to protect their inheritance.

Clayton will direct the film and produce along with Jason Byrne (Sucker, How to Talk Australians). The script has been penned by Jamie Browne (The Mule, Secret Daughter, Please Like Me), with Tait Brady (The BBQ, Little Acorns, Healing) and Julia Adams (Mako Mermaids,The Day My Butt Went Psycho) executive producing..

Among the other projects funded...

Sisters..

Network Ten has unveiled its 2017 line-up, with two new local dramas leading the slate; Sisters,.starring Barry Otto and Catherine McClements, and the previously announced.Wake in Fright.

Other new local content includes Common Sense, a news-focused show from the creators of Gogglebox; The Biggest Loser: Transformed; and a new series of.Russell Coight.s All Aussie Adventures,.after 15 years away from screens..

Offspring and The Wrong Girl will return, alongside lifestyle and reality programming such as MasterChef Australia, I.m A Celebrity. Get Me Out Of Here!, Gogglebox, Have You Been Paying Attention?, Family Feud, The Living Room, Shark Tank, Australian Survivor, The Bachelor Australia and The Bachelorette Australia..

Network Ten chief content officer Beverley McGarvey said the 2017 slate was .diverse and deeply engaging..

.Wake In Fright and Sisters are extraordinary Australian stories. The Biggest Loser: Transformed will take a beloved brand to a whole new level,...

Rebecca Gibney will reprise her role as Detective Sergeant Eve Winter in Seven.s new series Winter. Winter was a popular character on the successful TV movie The Killing Field, which aired on Seven last year. Peter O.Brien will also return to his role of Detective Inspector Lachlan McKenzie. Joining them are Matt Nable, Antonia Prebble, Akos Armont and Sara West. The series will follow Winter and her colleagues who are tasked with solving the murder of a 23-year-old mother Karly in a fishing town in south Nsw. But things become complicated when Federal Policeman Jake Harris (Nable) is reluctant to share his case or main witness Indiana. Winter doesn.t give up and continues to dig deeper, while McKenzie runs his own investigation into a cold case of a separate murder years ago, which took place in the same town. Winter is an in-house Seven Production and is produced by Chris Martin-Jones,...

More4 will air the Australian period drama Anzac Girls.

The show, based on real-life stories from Australia and New Zealand during World War I, follows a group of nurses who are sent to the Middle East as part of a secret military mission.

The six-part series is based on letters and diaries of the five women, and also draws inspiration from The Other Anzacs, a book by Peter Rees.

Anzac Girls is currently shown on ABC Australia, and stars Georgia Flood, Antonia Prebble and Laura Brent.

Louise Pedersen of all3media International said: "I'm delighted that More 4 has acquired Screentime's Anzac Girls.

"It's a work of exceptional quality and sensitivity, which launched to tremendous critical acclaim and high audience viewing figures on its debut with Australia's ABC."

Anzac Girls is due to air on More4 in 2015.

Screentime.s Anzac Girls will premiere in the Us next month on Us subscription streaming service Acorn TV.

The WW1 miniseries based on the true stories of five Australian and New Zealand nurses at Gallipoli and the Western Front will launch on October 6, with a new episode screening each Monday until November 10.

In early 2015 Acorn will release the 6-part series on DVD and syndicate it to public television stations nationwide.

Owned by Rlj Entertainment, Acorn TV bills itself as the first British-tv focused streaming service in North America.

Its programming this year includes Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries series 2, Jack Irish, Midsomer Murders, Murdoch Mysteries and Rlj-owned series George Gently, Agatha Christie's Poirot: Curtain and Poirot's Last Case. Anzac Girls stars Georgia Flood (House Husbands), Antonia Prebble (White Lies), Laura Brent (Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader), Anna McGahan (House Husbands) and Caroline Craig (Underbelly) as the five nurses.

Georgia Flood as Alice behind the scenes of Anzac Girls. .A Screentime production for ABC TV.

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While writer-producer Felicity Packard was researching an ABC WW1 drama, she made a shocking discovery: More than 3,700 Australian and New Zealand nurses served overseas during the war- but only seven were awarded military medals.

The reason for that anomaly is one of the recurring themes of Anzac Girls, a six-hour series based on real people and events at the Western Front and Gallipoli, which premieres at 8.30 pm on Sunday August 10.

Packard believes the Australian Army refused to honour the nurses because officers were opposed to young women being involved in the war.

.The Army was quite hostile to them,. Packard tells If. This attitude is personified in the show by Colonel Thomas Fiaschi (John Waters), who, she says, .was obstructionist and critical of the nurses.. Those medals were awarded to people of .other ranks,...

Like any filmmaker, New Zealand-based Australian David Gould wants his action-thriller The Cure to reach a wide audience- but he.s concluded that releasing the film in cinemas in either country is not cost-effective.

The film will premiere on February 6 at The Embassy Cinema in Wellington and will then be available on DVD, VOD platforms Vimeo and IndieReign and pay-tv.s Rialto Channel.

.We are self-distributing in New Zealand as I think that theatrical releases don.t really work for indie films,. says Gould, who worked for Weta Digital on the visual effects of numerous films including two editions of The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The Adventures of Tintin.

.We aren.t doing a theatrical release because we don.t feel that the expense really brings the corresponding returns. The general public want to see the film in a way that is convenient for them,...

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...

Film plays in Toronto’s Cwc programme.

New Zealand has entered White Lies (Tuakiri Huna) for the foreign-language Oscar race.

Click here for Best Foreign-Language Film Academy Award submissions 2013

Dana Rotberg writes and directs the Maori-language feature.

It is produced by Whale Rider producer John Barnett and is based on a novella by Whale Rider author Witi Ihimaera.

White Lies is being presented this week at the Toronto International Film Festival in the Contemporary World Cinema selection.

Graeme Mason, New Zealand Film Commission chief executive, said: “White Lies is a beautiful film with powerful themes and strong female characters, set in Maori culture.

“We are incredibly proud that this is the second time that New Zealand has submitted a film for consideration for the Foreign Language Film category of the Academy Awards, the first being The Orator two years ago.”

Rotberg was born in Mexico but lives in New Zealand.

The film stars...

Film plays in Toronto’s Cwc programme.

New Zealand has entered White Lies (Tuakiri Huna) for the foreign-language Oscar race.

Dana Rotberg writes and directs the Maori-language feature.

It is produced by Whale Rider producer John Barnett and is based on a novella by Whale Rider author Witi Ihimaera.

White Lies is being presented this week at the Toronto International Film Festival in the Contemporary World Cinema selection.

Graeme Mason, New Zealand Film Commission Chief Executive said, “White Lies is a beautiful film with powerful themes and strong female characters, set in Maori culture. We are incredibly proud that this is the second time that New Zealand has submitted a film for consideration for the Foreign Language Film category of the Academy Awards, the first being The Orator two years ago.”

Rotberg was born in Mexico but lives in New Zealand.

The film stars Antonia Prebble, Rachel House and Māori recording artist Whirimako Black.

White Lies is produced...

"White Lies," the Maori language feature film written and directed by Dana Rotberg, has been submitted by New Zealand for the Foreign Language Oscar at the 86th Academy Awards. The film, which centers on a tribal midwife and healer who clashes with European settler society, stars Antonia Prebble, Rachel House and marks the acting debut of New Zealand Maori recording artist Whirimako Black.  Based on the novella "Medicine Woman" by Witi Ihimaera, author of "Whale Rider," "White Lies" opened wide in New Zealand on June 27. It will play Tiff this week in the Contemporary World Cinema selection. Other recent submissions for the Foreign Language category include Singapore's "Ilo Ilo" and Germany's "Two Lives."...

Exclusive: The Film Sales Company head Andrew Herwitz will introduce buyers in Toronto in September to the New Zealand mystery-thriller White Lies and documentary When Jews Were Funny.

The sales agent holds worldwide rights excluding Australia/New Zealand to White Lies, aka Tuakiri Huna [pictured].

Dana Rotberg directed South Pacific Pictures’ Maori and English production about the unlikely relationship between three women: a Maori medicine woman, a posh Englishwoman who comes to see her as her last hope, and the lady’s maid who acts as go-between.

Whirimako Black, Rachel House and Antonia Prebble star in the film, based on a novella by Whale Rider author Witi Ihimaera. Madman released White Lies in Australia/New Zealand.

The Film Sales Company holds worldwide rights to When Jews Were Funny, a documentary directed by Alan Zweig and produced by Jesse Ikeman and Jeff Glickman that explores Jewish comedians doing their ‘schtick’.

The comedy concert film attempts to answer why Jewish...

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,...

Acclaimed Māori author Witi Ihimaera wrote the original novel that the hugely successful film Whale Rider was based on, and now another of his stories has been adapted for the screen by the same producers. Set in 19th century New Zealand, White Lies tells the story of Paraiti (Whitimako Black), a healer and midwife who is approached by the servant of a wealthy woman named Rebecca (Antonia Prebble) who needs her help to hide a secret which could destroy her position in European settler society.Directed by Dana Rotberg, White Lies will be in New Zealand cinemas on 27 June. Check out the trailer below....

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...