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Jane Campion’s debut short thrives on unpredictable rhythms. Right from the start, there’s the pounding sound of an orange bouncing off the windscreen of a car, given the echoey amplification of a ball in a school corridor by excellent sound design. Then there’s the cars that whoosh past at random intervals throughout its nine minutes, their closeness bringing a sense of additional threat. Not that there’s much need for extra menace given the occupants of this particular car.

The orange is being flung by a little boy (Ben Martin), his gingery hair recalling the colour of its peel. A brief title card clues us into his relationship with the driver and backseat passenger. At the wheel is his dad (Tim Pye), whose hair matches his son, while behind them sits the little boy’s aunt (Katie Pye).

The peel of the title will soon be deposited...

ITV in the U.K. has acquired “Bali 2002,” a new four-part drama exploring the everyday heroes directly impacted by the terrorist bombings on the Indonesian island’s tourist hotspots 20 years ago. Represented by Banijay Rights, the drama stars Rachel Griffiths (“Total Control”), Richard Roxburgh (“Rake”) and Claudia Jesse (“Bridgerton”). It will air on the new streaming service Itvx next year.

“Bali 2002” was co-produced by Banijay labels, Endemol Shine Australia and Screentime, and marked the first original drama co-commissioned by the Australian streamer Stan and commercial TV group 9Network. The series premiered last month on Stan.

“Bali 2002” recounts the tragic events of October 12, 2002, when the island was shattered by a terrorist attack on two of Kuta Beach’s busiest nightclubs. Local Balinese, as well as Australian and British tourists, scrambled to rescue the injured, while the Australian and Indonesian authorities mobilized to evacuate survivors, identify victims and investigate what really took place.

Exclusive: Australia’s Stan and 9Network have commenced production on Bali 2002, based on the terrorist attacks on the nation’s tourist hotspots 20 years ago, with distributor Banijay Rights launching at yesterday’s London Screenings showcase.

The show is the first to be co-commissioned between Stan and 9Network and features the likes of Rachel Griffiths (Total Control), Richard Roxburgh (Rake) and Claudia Jessie (Bridgerton). Banijay labels Endemol Shine Australia and Screentime are producing.

Based on the 2002 terrorist attacks on Bali’s tourist hotspots, the four-parter explores how everyday heroes from Bali, Australia and beyond defied the odds to bring order from chaos and hope from despair.

Airing later this year, distributor Banijay Rights launched sales yesterday at its London Screenings showcase alongside a wealth of dramas and entertainment tentpoles.

Stan Chief Content Officer Callah Scobie said: “Bali 2002 promises to be a powerful, inspiring and sensitively told drama series that pays respect to everyday heroes from Australia,...

A mix of high-profile Kiwi and international talent will join Lucy Lawless in the New Zealand-based second season of Greenstone TV mystery series My Life Is Murder.

The second iteration sees the show shift from Melbourne to Auckland, and produced is for Tvnz, Acorn TV, and Dcd Rights, in association with Network 10.

Alexa Crowe (Lawless) finds herself back in her home country for the first time in years, and can’t help herself when she is asked to look into a bizarre unsolved murder.

Joined again by her partner-in-crime-solving, Madison Feliciano (Ebony Vagulans) as well as series newcomers, Harry (Rawiri Jobe), and café owner Reuben (Joe Naufahu), she quickly finds herself investigating other murder mysteries in surprising, glamorous worlds filled with characters who are hiding dangerous and deadly secrets.

A host of Lawless’ former castmates from Spartacus and Xena: Warrior Princess have been added to the cast, including Anna Hutchison,...

Mac Gudgeon and Jan Sardi.

Shaun Grant, Tony McNamara, Jacquelin Perske, Andrew Knight, Kate Mulvany, Jan Sardi and Mac Gudgeon were among the recipients of the 52nd annual Awgie Awards presented in Sydney on Thursday night.

Grant won the feature film adaptation prize for True History of the Kelly Gang while McNamara and Deborah Davis shared best original feature screenplay for The Favourite.

Sardi and Gudgeon accepted the award on Grant’s behalf; he is in La and will head to Toronto for the world premiere of Justin Kurzel’s bushranger tale which stars George Mackay, Russell Crowe, Nicholas Hoult, Essie Davis and Harry Greenwood.

That was Shaun’s fourth Awgie following Snowtown, Jasper Jones and Deadline Gallipoli.

Perske’s The Cry was named best telemovie or miniseries of four hours or less and Knight’s first episode of the second season of Jack Irish was judged best series or miniseries of four hours plus.

‘My Life is Murder.’

Cjz’s private investigator series My Life is Murder and Closer Productions’ four-part drama The Hunting have been acquired by UK broadcasters.

Multi-channel operator UKTV will screen the 10-part Cjz production, which follows Lucy Lawless as former homicide cop Alexa Crowe as she investigates baffling and bizarre murders, on its crime drama channel Alibi.

Directed by Leah Purcell, Mat King and Jovita O’Shaugnessy and produced by Elisa Argenzio and Cjz head of development Claire Tonkin, the series premiered on Network 10 on Wednesday night.

The first episode drew 482,000 viewers in the mainland capitals, trailing Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell’s 495,000, despite the fact the ABC mistakenly put to air the previous week’s episode of Micallef.

However the 7-day and 28-day figures for 10’s murder-mystery are bound to be a lot higher. The consolidated total for Five Bedrooms, for example, was 642,000 in the five metros,...

(l-r) Ebony Vagulans, Lucy Lawless and Bernard Curry.

Cjz’s murder-mystery My Life is Murder, which stars Lucy Lawless, Bernard Curry and Ebony Vagulans, will premiere on Network 10 on Wednesday 17 July at 8.30 pm.

Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess) plays private investigator Alexa Crowe, a former homicide detective whose insights into the darker quirks of human nature enable her to provoke and push felons’ right and wrong buttons as she unravels the truth behind baffling and bizarre crimes.

Very few people know the full truth about why or how she left the police, only that her husband, fellow cop Gary, died a few years ago.

Wentworth‘s Curry is her former colleague and long-time friend Detective Inspector Kieran Hussey, who enlists her help.

Nida graduate Vagulans is the bubbly, sarcastic, ambitious Madison, who works as a data analyst for the police.

The series regulars and guests include Danielle Cormack, Don Hany,...

Lucy Lawless, Bernard Curry and Ebony Vagulans.

Wentworth’s Bernard Curry and Nida grad Ebony Vagulans will star alongside Lucy Lawless in Cjz mystery drama My Life Is Murder, which enters production today in Melbourne for Network 10.

Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess) plays Alexa Crowe, a compelling, charismatic and complex homicide detective. Fearless and unapologetic, her unique insights into the darker quirks of human nature allow her to prod, provoke and push every felon’s right and wrong buttons as she unravels the truth behind the most baffling and bizarre crimes.

As If has previously reported, the 10-part series, backed by Screen Australia and Film Victoria, has already sold to Acorn TV in the Us via Dcd Rights.

The series producer is Elisa Argenzio with Cjz’s head of development Claire Tonkin, and the EPs Nick Murray, Lawless and writer Tim Pye. The start-up director is Leah Purcell, who will...

Leah Purcell and Bain Stewart.

This year is shaping as the most memorable and action-packed in the 20-year-career of Indigenous writer-director-producer-actor Leah Purcell.

After focussing on acting for the past few years she has signed on as the start-up director of My Life is Murder, the 10-part mystery-drama starring Lucy Lawless, commissioned by Network 10.

That assignment will help her prepare for her biggest project: directing, co-producing, writing and starring in The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson, the feature film adaptation of her play ‘The Drover’s Wife’ in September.

Later this year she will return to the TV screens as Rita Connors in season seven of Foxtel/Fremantle’s Wentworth and she will embark on season eight after the movie wraps.

Penguin Random House has commissioned her to write a novel based on the play, which will be published in mid-2019, and the producers are also developing a TV series spin-off.

‘My Life is Murder’

Cjz’s mystery-drama My Life is Murder starring Lucy Lawless will make its Us debut on Acorn TV, North America’s largest streaming service focused on British and international programming, following its broadcast premiere on Network 10 next year.

Lawless, who is well known in the Us for her roles in Spartacus, Ash vs Evil Dead, Parks and Recreation, Battlestar Galactica and Xena: Warrior Princess, plays private investigator Alexa Crowe, who uncovers the truth behind the most baffling of crimes.

The 10-part series set in Melbourne was developed in-house at Cjz, The writing team includes Peter Gawler (Wolf Creek), Tim Pye (The Doctor Blake Mysteries), Ainslie Clouston (Playing for Keeps), Matt Ford (House Husbands), Monica Zanetti (Sisters) and Paul Bennett (House of Hancock).

Dcd Rights sold the series, which was co-funded by Screen Australia and Film Victoria, to Acorn TV, which is home to numerous Australian...

Australian Writers' Guild President, Jan Sardi.

The Australian Writers. Guild has launched a multi-million dollar legal action in the Federal Court against royalty collection and distribution society Screenrights.

The action, which was filed on March 3 by the 2,600 member guild, comes after protracted negotiations between the Awg and Screenrights over the distribution of royalties to writers.

Screenrights was established in 1990 to administer provisions in the Australian Copyright Act that allow educational institutions to copy from television and radio, provided payment is made to the copyright owners.

A case management hearing has been set for April 5, with Justice Jane Jagot presiding.

The Awg has issued a statement alleging that screenwriters have been deprived of royalties for more than two decades.

.Scriptwriters say that instead of protecting them, Screenrights may have misdirected possibly tens of millions of dollars in royalties that should have been paid to writers over the past two decades,. according to the Awg.

Meet some of the best directors working today, who haven't gone down the blockbuster movie route...

Ever find it a bit lame when the same big name directors get kicked around for every high profile project? Christopher Nolan, Jj Abrams, maybe the Russo Brothers? With so much focus on blockbuster films these days, getting a major franchise job seems like the main acknowledgement of success for a filmmaker. And yes, both the financial and creative rewards can be great. But there are plenty of other directors out there, doing their own thing, from art house auteurs to Dtv action specialists.

Here are 25 examples.

Lee Hardcastle

Even if you don’t know his name, you’ve probably seen Lee Hardcastle’s ultraviolent claymations shared on social media. He first started getting noticed for his two-minute remake of The Thing, starring the famous stop motion penguin Pingu. Far from just a cheap one-joke mash-up,...

Andrew Anastasios and Andrew Knight.s The Water Diviner won the top prize and the gong for best original feature at the 2015 Awgie Awards.

It was the first time a feature collected the Australian Writers' Guild's Major Award and the gong for original feature since 2012 when Tony Briggs and Keith Thompson won with The Sapphires.

The prize for feature film adaptation was shared by Brendan Cowell for Scarlett Productions'. Ruben Guthrie and Tommy Murphy for Matchbox Pictures' Holding the Man.

Matchbox and Full Clip.s Deadline Gallipoli was named best original TV miniseries, acknowledging the work of writers Jacquelin Perske (also script producer), Stuart Beattie, Shaun Grant and Cate Shortland.

FremantleMedia.s Wentworth Season 3, Episode 3 The Governor.s Pleasure by Stuart Page shared the TV series award with Endemol Australia.s Offspring Episode 511 by Michael Lucas. Jan Sardi and Mac Gudgeon took the award for best miniseries adaptation for...

Nine features have been nominated for this year's Awgie Awards for performance writing.

Eight telemovies and miniseries are in contention. The Australian Writers. Guild says nominations in the 25 categories for the 48th Annual Awgie Awards reflect the abundance of outstanding work currently being produced in Australia. Nominees for best original telemovie are Steven McGregor for Redfern Now: Promise Me and Katherine Thomson for House of Hancock, while Christopher Lee.s Gallipoli and Jan Sardi and Mac Gudgeon.s The Secret River contend for best adaptation in a television miniseries. There are four nominees for original television mini-series: The Principal by Alice Addison and Kristen Dunphy; The Kettering Incident by Vicki Madden, Andrew Knight, Cate Shortland and Louise Fox; Deadline Gallipoli by Jacquelin Perske, Stuart Beattie, Shaun Grant and Cate Shortland; and Love Child: Series 2 from Tim Pye, Cathryn Strickland, Chris McCourt, Jane Allen and Tamara Asmar. In the categories...

Screen Australia today announced investment of nearly. $965,000 for three films and a feature documentary, estimated to generate more than $6.8 million of production.

Fiona Cameron, Screen Australia.s chief operating officer, said, .This round we have backed a diverse collection of projects that promises audiences an amusing, informative and imaginative experience with innovative narratives and vivid characters..

Funding was allocated to Madman Productions for the feature A Month of Sundays from writer/director Matthew Saville (Felony, Noise, The Slap, Cloudstreet) and producers Nick Batzias and Kirsty Stark.

The film follows real estate agent Frank Mollard (played by Anthony Lapaglia), whose life takes an unexpected turn when he receives a call from his dead mother, sending him on a journey of redemption.

WildBear Entertainment will receive completion funding for Electric Boogaloo: The Wild Untold Story of Cannon Films, Mark Hartley's doco about movie-obsessed immigrant cousins, Yoram Globus and the late Menahem Golan,...

Director Tim Story’s Think Like A Man Too opens in theaters this weekend on June 20. The film is the follow-up to the hit ensemble comedy Think Like A Man and reunites the original cast, including Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy, Jerry Ferrara, Regina Hall, Gabrielle Union and Taraji P. Henson.

Story teamed up again with composer Christopher Lennertz for the film’s score.

He first made a splash with his breakout score for Alvin And The Chipmunks, which has grossed over $360 million worldwide. Since then he’s proven his steadfast talent with films like the star-studded Horrible Bosses, and Universal’s box office smash Ride Along.

Lennertz’s other recent scores include the hit comedy Identity Thief and the critically acclaimed drama Thanks For Sharing with Mark Ruffalo & Gwyneth Paltrow.

While his knack for comedy is undeniable in films like Think Like A Man, he’s also contributed his unique...

For the best part of 20 years Chris Blackburn tried his hand at writing film scripts, a sideline to his day jobs as a newspaper and TV reporter, reality show producer and, currently, as a co-executive producer on Big Brother.

Eighteen months ago he had an idea for a crime drama about a young man whose sister has been brutally murdered, set primarily in a row of vacant houses near his home on the north coast of Nsw.

Blackburn wrote the script and asked his son Tim, a TV editor who has directed several short films to direct. Entitled Burns Point, the film is now in day seven of a 21-day shoot in and around the town of Ballina.

Asked how he.s financed the film, Chris tells If, .It.s mostly me. I.ve saved up for this and put money aside." Cast and crew are working on deferred. fees in some cases.

Nobody does the everyman better than Matt Damon. His common touch has made him one of the world's most bankable stars. He tells Tim Lewis about offending Barack Obama, his love for Ben Affleck and marrying outside the Hollywood elite

'I got the fortunes of heaven

in diamonds and gold

I got all the bonds baby

that the bank could hold'

'Ain't Got You' – Bruce Springsteen

In 1987, when Bruce Springsteen wrote the song "Ain't Got You", he was the biggest rock star in the world. He had vast estates in New Jersey and Beverly Hills, and he had not long returned from a honeymoon at Gianni Versace's villa in Lake Como. "Ain't Got You" was Springsteen's attempt to make a self-aware nod to his outrageous fortune, the Rembrandts on his walls, and how he had come a long way from his working-class upbringing.

Before he released it, Springsteen played...

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

First of all, I don’t care how much Meredith wants to boom him, I hate Brian.

Secondly, I loved “Junior Salesman” and thought it was an excellent episode. It was another example of finding that sweet balance of humor and pathos. The episode was book-ended by very well restrained reminders of the Brian situation with a whole lot of Dwight in the middle and just enough contributions from the supporting cast to remind us they still have to exist in the world of Dunder Mifflin without crowding the episode by dragging on their own extraneous plot. While I don’t necessarily think the now defunct, once proposed Dwight spin-off, The Farm, would have worked as a long term series, smaller doses of Dwight’s associates are clearly comedic gems when handled well and in this case they absolutely were.

It’s clearly been too long...

Revisiting 18 years of pop culture, from Britpop to the Spice Girls, via Father Ted

1994: Mad fer it!

Issue No 1 Previously a broadsheet section in the newspaper, The Guide was expanded into a magazine proper on 27 August 1994. Nobody bothered to archive a copy, though, so the best we can do is show you a Xeroxed reproduction of the cover. At the time we were concerned with the weird state of science shows on TV and had a wander around the Notting Hill Carnival.

Spotted! All Saints From a review of their single Silver Shadow: "Born in the same year and in the same area of London, what else could these girls do but form a swingbeat group? Their debut is a sickly Atlantic Starr cover with an idiotic number of mixes, encompassing every dance style bar Morris. Eternal may rest easy in their Timberlands." Note: swingbeat was a form of...

The Australian screen industry is lobbying the Federal Government to implement two key Convergence Review recommendations that would bolster the level of Australian content on free-to-air and pay-tv.

High-profile screen industry practioners descended on Canberra today including actors Roy Billing, Simon Burke and Matt Day; producers Penny Chapman and Brian Rosen; writers Tim Pye, Roger Simpson and John Collee; and directors Gillian Armstrong, Rowan Woods and Ray Argall.

Screen Producers Association of Australia (Spaa) president Brian Rosen said the Convergence Review report, delivered in March, recommended that the current Australian Content Standard be extended to the new digital multi-channel environment and the pay-tv platform. "We were told that the government supported this move but, six months later, the lack of progress has us worried,. Rosen said in a statement.

Other guilds and industry bodies to express concern about the future of local content regulation included the Australian Directors Guild (Adg...

It’s Monday, so we all know what that means! Yes, it’s time for another rundown of DVDs and Blu-ray’s hitting stores online and offline this week. It’s a jam-packed week, with plenty of movies waiting to take you money, so let us breakdown the new releases and highlight what you should – and shouldn’t – be buying from today, August 6th 2012.

Pick(S) Of The Week

Castle: Season 3 (DVD)

Famous mystery novelist Richard Castle and NYPD detective Kate Beckett return for the suspenseful Third Season of ABC Studios’ brilliantly funny series, Castle. Enjoy every inspired idea and flirtatious moment as this fiery duo solve the strangest homicides New York has to offer. It’s the most entertaining season yet as Castle’s wildly funny storytelling skills work their way into every case. Between his mixed-up partnership with Beckett and his relationships with his diva mother and his clever daughter,...

A frantic 911 call was placed after Monkees singer Davy Jones suffered a massive heart on Wednesday in Florida.

The distressed woman who dialed the emergency number pleaded for an ambulance to "hurry," before suggesting it might be faster to put Jones in a car and drive to the nearest hospital -- which was 27 miles away.

Jones had complained of breathing trouble early in the morning, and was later taken to a hospital in the town of Stuart,...

What a fantastic episode of Justified this week, as "Thick as Mud" featured Raylan at his most sarcastic, Dewey as his most desperate and Psych's Maggie Lawson at her most dastardly.

In the latest edition of the TV Fanatic Round table, staff writers Dan Forcella and Jim Garner are joined by Tiffany Vogt of TVAddict.com in recounting the best scenes and most mysterious notes from our latest visit to Harlan...

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What was your favorite moment from the episode?

Dan: The best moment had to be the man, the myth, the cowboy himself killing Layla through Lance's body while half-tranquilized. It doesn't get much tougher than that.

Jim: The sit down between Quarles and Boyd. I said it last week that Quarles had less to worry about from Raylan and more to worry about from Boyd. That five-minute meeting hinted that I was right.

Tiffany: Hard not to...

If an actor is lucky, they'll star in a successful series at some point in their career -- and if they're really lucky, they'll star in two. But Tiffani Thiessen is currently working on her third hit show since White Collar has quickly developed the kind of devoted fan following that took Saved By The Bell and Beverly Hills, 90210 multiple seasons to establish.

And while credit must be given to the writing, fans will quickly tell you that the actors' chemistry is one of the biggest reasons why White Collar is so addictive -- and the crucial element that makes Tiffani love her job so much.

In anticipation of tonight's episode, which is very Elizabeth Burke heavy, Tiffani Thiessen rang up ETonline to talk all about her character's exciting outing, her handsome co-stars and what fans can expect from the season finale!

ETonline: It's so nice to see Elizabeth getting in on the action this season, and get...

R&B great Etta James, best known for her classic song "At Last," has died from chronic leukemia. She was 73.

James had been struggling with the disease for several years. She died at a hospital in Riverside, Calif. with her husband of 41 years, Artis Mills, and her sons by her side.

Etta's longtime friend and manager, Lupe De Leon, said, "This is a tremendous loss for the family, her friends and fans around the world.

"Extra" takes a look back at Hollywood's beloved stars who passed away this year.

In Memoriam 2011Harry Morgan

"M*A*S*H" star Harry Morgan died [http://extratv.warnerbros.com/2011/12/mash_star_harry_morgan_dead_at_96.php] at the age of 96 on December 7, after suffering from pneumonia.

Patrice O'Neal

Comedian Patrice O'Neal died at the age of 41 [http://extratv.warnerbros.com/2011/11/charlie_sheen_others_pay_tribute_to_comedian_patrice_oneal.php] on November 29, from complications of a previous stroke.

Ken Russell

British director Ken Russell died [http://extratv.warnerbros.com/2011/11/director_ken_russell_dead_at_84.php] at the age of 84 on November 27, from a stroke.

Theodore Forstmann

"Top Chef" host...

Television writer and script producer Denise Morgan passed away on Saturday 25 June. Denise’s funeral will be held today at the Palm Chapel of Macquarie Park Crematorium (corner of Delhi and Plassey Roads, Macquarie Park), from 2:15pm.

With a career spanning 30 years, Morgan wrote for many Australian dramas including; Blue Heelers, Stingers, Phoenix, Water Rats, Medivac, Murder Call, Flying Doctors, Home and Away, Embassy, A Country Practice, Prisoner and many others.

A member of the Australian Writers’ Guild, the Awg reflected on Morgan’s contribution to the industry in a statement by outgoing Awg President Tim Pye: “Those of us who worked with Denise over the years, and there are very many of us, will remember her as a talented writer and teacher with a hugely generous spirit, a quick wit and an infectious smile. She will endure in our memories for many years.

Vale Denise. You will be very sadly missed.

Acclaimed screenwriter Jan Sardi has been elected President of the Australian Writers’ Guild.

Sardi replaces Tim Pye, who held the role for four years.

In a statement, Sardi said, “I’m honoured to have been given this opportunity to represent our nation’s storytellers as President of the Australian Writers’ Guild, an organisation I’ve been a proud member of for thirty years.”

“Under Tim Pye’s presidency, the Guild has grown to become one of our leading industry organisations and I look forward to following his lead and contributing to the vital role the Guild plays in promoting the craft, status and conditions of Australian performance writers.”

Sardi, who spoke at EncoreLive’s Question Time on Tuesday, wrote, 1997′s Shine, the Australian/UK coproduction Love’s Brother, and adapted hits The Notebook and Mao’s Last Dancer. His current projects include adaptations of Kate Grenville’s Secret River and Tracey Chevalier’s Remarkable Creatures.

Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Jan Sardi has been elected president of the Australian Writers' Guild (Awg) following the end of Tim Pye's four-year term. Sardi, the screenwriter behind films such as Mao's Last Dancer and Shine,.has served on numerous Awg committees including recently as chair of its feature film committee and as an organiser of the National Screenwriters Conference. "I'm honoured to have been given this opportunity to represent our nation's storytellers as president of the Australian Writers' Guild, an organisation I've been a proud member of for thirty years," Sardi said in a statement. .Under Tim Pye's presidency, the Guild has grown to become one of our leading industry organisations and I look forward...

Remember that one year (2001) when the list-happy AFI (American Film Institute) decided to compete with the Globes and the Oscars in year end prizes? No, that didn't last long. But there's another AFI, The Australian Film Institute, that has been around for a long time and is in no such danger of being a one-off. This year, they're all about the amazing family crime drama Animal Kingdom which they awarded with a record breaking 18 nominations. Sure, the film is in danger of being way overhyped for people who are coming to it late (which is just about everyone given the sorry state of international distribution for dramas of virtually any kind) but for those who can slough off the "omg" raves, I guarantee you'll think it at least an insinuating and well executed crime drama.

AFI Favorites with multiple nominations

Its main competition for the coveted prizes, if you go by nomination counts,...

Movie fans, nerds of all stripes, and aficionados of small, furry-footed hominids, take heed! The cast of director Peter Jackson’s long-awaited, much-delayed, crazily anticipated adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic The Hobbit is finally officially taking shape! As EW predicted, English actor Martin Freeman, best known for his deadpan portrayal of cubicle drone Tim Canterbury in the original BBC version of The Office as well as the films Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Hot Fuzz, will play the Hobbit hero Bilbo Baggins, who is reluctantly recruited by Gandalf the Wizard and a company of Dwarves to join...

The annual Australian Writers' Guild Awards is one night where the talents of the scriptwriters behind our favourite film and television programs are recognised.   At the 2010 awards ceremony held August 20, Australian Writers' Guild President Tim Pye remarked, "Once again the Awgie Awards have shown that every great Australian production starts with an exceptional script."      The Major Awgie and the Awgie for best Feature Film Screenplay (Original) went to David Michôd for his stunning debut film Animal Kingdom. This award joins the slew of accolades and praise Michôd has already received for the crime drama including a prestigious prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

The Australian Writers’ Guild has announced the nominations for the Awgie Awards.

Beneath Hill 60, Lou, Animal Kingdom and the still unreleased Griff the Invisible compete for best original feature screenplay, while Rush dominated the TV series category with three of its episodes going against one of Spirited. Underbelly’s second and third series monopolised the mini-series adaptation category.

The ceremony will take place at Peninsula, Melbourne, on August 20.

The nominees are:

Television: Series

Rush Ep 210 – Armoured Car by David Caesar and Adam Todd Rush Ep 208 – Boy in the Bush by Michelle Offen Spirited – The Man Who Fell To Earth by Jacquelin Perske Rush Ep 222 – Water by Adam Todd

Television: Mini Series Adaptation

Underbelly: The Golden Mile by Peter Gawler, Greg Haddrick, Kris Mrksa and Felicity Packard Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities by Peter Gawler, Greg Haddrick, Kris Mrksa and Felicity Packard

Television: Serial

Home and Away Ep...