News

Zombies On A Plane: "Flight 543. A regular check-in.

Unbeknownst to them, a passenger is pre-selected and pre-infected with a truly horrific pathogen. Boarding the plane, the virus lies dormant within their body, awaiting to be awakened. Once activated it transforms its unwilling host into a highly intelligent, flesh craving, barely controllable weaponised monster.

Flesh rots, senses heighten but not all goes according to plan...

A plane over the Atlantic..

A monster within..

A new nightmare begins.."

Directed by Craig Rees Written by Carl Rees Full cast to be announced To support the movie's Indiegogo campaign, visit: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/zombies-on-a-plane--3/x/28730030

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Shudder & Rlje Films Move In Together On 'Destroy All Neighbors': "Shudder, AMC Networks’ streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, and Rlje Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, today announced their partnership on the newest Shudder Original Film, Destroy All Neighbors. From music-video and...

Rlje Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, and Shudder, the company’s streaming service for horror, thriller and supernatural content, have acquired the North American rights to “The Reef: Stalked.”

The shark survival tale will be released in theaters, as well as on digital and on-demand platforms on July 29, 2022. It will be available to Shudder subscribers on the same day.

Written and directed by Andrew Traucki as a follow up to his 2010 film, “The Reef,” the sequel stars Teressa Liane (“The Vampire Diaries”), Ann Truong (“Cowboy Bebop”), Saskia Archer (Boshack), Kate Lister (“Clickbait”) and Tim Ross (“Wonderland”).

“Audiences have an insatiable appetite for shark films, which we know first-hand from our incredible experience releasing ‘The Reef’ years ago,” said Mark Ward, chief acquisitions officer of Rlje Films. “We are thrilled to be working with the team again to bring this new terrifying adventure to audiences.”

In “The Reef: Stalked...

Survival thriller aficionado Andrew Traucki has commenced production on his latest project The Reef: Stalked, a sequel to 2010’s The Reef.

Filming began today in Queensland’s Bowen and will continue for six weeks.

Teressa Liane (The Vampire Diaries), Ann Truong Kate Lister and newcomer Saskia Archer make up the cast, playing four friends on a kayaking and diving trip in Papua New Guinea that soon goes sideways.

Much like in the original film, the group must face down a great white shark, with this instalment exploring resilience, recovering from trauma and the strength of female friendship.

“I’m thrilled The Reef: Stalked is in production and back to Bowen where we shot parts of The Reef 11 years ago,” writer/director Traucki said in a statement.

“As a lover of survival tales, there is nothing I enjoy more than storytelling that pits humans against nature and asks the question ‘How would I survive?...

Rlje Films and Shudder continue to add to their already-impressive horror catalogue and have announced the acquisition of North American rights to Martin Wilson's Great White!

"Los Angeles (April 15, 2021) – Rlje Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, and Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, have acquired the North American rights to the horror/action film, Great White from Altitude Film Sales. Rlje Films plans to release the film in theaters this summer with Shudder premiering the film on its platform later in the year.

Written by Michael Boughen (Dying Breed) and directed by Martin Wilson in his feature debut, Great White stars Katrina Bowden, Aaron Jakubenko (“Tidelands”), Kimie Tsukakoshi (Riptide), Tim Kano (“Neighbours”), and Te Kohe Tuhaka.

“We’ve all been afraid to go back into the water since 1975 and Great White is going to keep us out of the water for years to come,...

Rlje Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, and Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, have acquired the North American rights to the horror/action film, Great White from Altitude Film Sales. Rlje Films plans to release the film in theaters this summer with Shudder premiering the film on its platform later in the year.

Written by Michael Boughen (Dying Breed) and directed by Martin Wilson in his feature debut, Great White stars Katrina Bowden, Aaron Jakubenko (“Tidelands”), Kimie Tsukakoshi (Riptide), Tim Kano (“Neighbours”), and Te Kohe Tuhaka.

“We’ve all been afraid to go back into the water since 1975 and Great White is going to keep us out of the water for years to come,” says Mark Ward, Chief Acquisitions Officer at Rlje Films. “There is no better time than the summer to bring this suspenseful and terrifying new film to audiences.”

In Great White,...

Rlje Films and the horror streamer Shudder have acquired the North American rights to “Great White,” a horror film about a killer shark starring “30 Rock” actress Katrina Bowden.

“Great White” is a horror, thriller and supernatural genre film written by Michael Boughen (“Dying Breed”) and directed by Martin Wilson in his feature debut. Rlje Films will release it theatrically this summer, and Shudder will premiere it on its platform later this year.

In “Great White,” a blissful tourist trip turns into a nightmare when five seaplane passengers are stranded miles from shore. In a desperate bid for survival, the group tries to make it to land before they either run out of supplies or are taken by a menacing terror lurking just beneath the surface.

Bowden (“Piranha 3Dd”) stars in “Great White” alongside Aaron Jakubenko (“Tidelands”), Kimie Tsukakoshi (“Riptide”), Tim Kano (“Neighbours”) and Te Kohe Tuhaka.

The producers on “Great White” are Neal Kingston,...

Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has today released the official trailer for the Jaws-inspired thriller Great White ahead of the film’s national release later this year.

Directed by Martin Wilson and shot in Queensland, the film sees a blissful tourist trip to a remote atoll turn into a nightmare for five passengers when their seaplane is destroyed in a freak accident and they are trapped on a raft, 100 miles from shore with man eating sharks lurking beneath the surface.

Starring Katrina Bowden, Aaron Jakubenko, Kimie Tsukakoshi, Tim Kano (Neighbours) and Te Kohe Tuhaka, Great White is produced by Thrills and Spills’ Neal Kingston and Michael Robertson and written by Michael Boughen.

The post ‘Great White’ (Trailer) appeared first on If Magazine.

Isabella Rossellini. (Photo: Wexner Center)

Isabella Rossellini and Jeanie Drynan will topline writer-director Antony J. Bowman’s Arrivederci, due to shoot across central Nsw and southern Greece early next year.

Billed as a “gut-wrenching but ultimately heart-lifting story”, the film will see Drynan star as Izzy Davies, a farmer’s wife who loses her husband to cancer. Knowing that it’s time to hand over the farm to her son and his family, she refuses to consider their plan to move her into a local retirement home.

Following a lifelong desire to go to Greece, she heads off on her “last adventure” and meets Francesca, an Italian opera diva (Rossellini) who will change her life forever.

Drynan (Muriel’s Wedding) also starred in Bowman’s 1999 film Paperback Hero, starring Hugh Jackman.

Arrivederci will be produced by Michael Robertson and Neal Kingston via their Thrills & Spills banner with production services in Greece by Argonauts Productions Sa.

Luke Mitchell with Jessica McNamee.

Luke Mitchell shot Andrew Traucki’s Black Water: Abyss, a survival thriller about five people who are attacked by killer crocodiles, in a purpose-built pool near Brisbane, but it was no picnic.

“The fear factor was real. There were tricky conditions as we were immersed in rising water in the dark with only our headlamps and torches for illumination,” the actor tells If after returning to his home in Los Angeles.

Mitchell readily accepted the role for several reasons. He wanted to “get my hands dirty” after playing Captain John Abraham in The Code, a military legal drama which screens on CBS All Access in the Us and here on 10 All Access.

It was his first ever genre film, it enabled him to come back to his native Queensland, and it was his first chance to work with Jessica McNamee.

“There was minimal dialogue, so...

(L-r) Amali Golden, Luke Mitchell, Jessica McNamee, Benjamin Hoetjes and Anthony Sharpe.

Jessica McNamee and Luke Mitchell are playing an adventure-loving couple who get trapped in a flooded cave and are attacked by killer crocodiles in Andrew Traucki’s survival thriller Black Water: Abyss.

Scripted by Sarah Smith and Ian John Ridley, the sequel to Traucki and David Nerlich’s 2007 horror/thriller Black Water started shooting in South East Queensland today, supported by Screen Queensland.

The Us-based McNamee is Jennifer with Luke Mitchell as Luke.

With close friends Yolanda (Amali Golden) and Viktor (Benjamin Hoetjes) they abseil into newly discovered caves with tour guide Cash (Anthony Sharpe), believing they will be safe from the approaching tropical storm.

As the cave begins to flood and oxygen levels fall, the group find themselves lost, disoriented and trapped and are easy prey for a pack of crocodiles.

Staring into the jaws of death,...

Exclusive: Altitude Film Sales, which previously sold U.S. box office hit 47 Meters Down, has boarded international sales rights to Aussie shark thriller Great White, I can reveal. The company will launch sales this week in Cannes and below I can reveal the movie’s first marketing poster.

Currently in pre-production, filming is set for later this year from director Martin Wilson, whose 2004 TV movie Roll was distributed by ShowTime and Sbs Independent in Australia. Michael Boughen’s (Killer Elite) screenplay charts how a blissful tourist trip quickly turns into a nightmare when five passengers on a seaplane become stranded miles from shore. In a desperate bid for survival the group try to make it to land before they either run out of supplies or are taken by the man-eating sharks lurking just beneath the surface.

The movie is produced by Reef and The Pack producer Michael Robertson and Neal Kingston...

Original film sold into more than 75 countries.

UK outfit Altitude Film Sales has closed a series of deals on its upcoming horror sequel Black Water: Abyss following strong interest in the title at last month’s European Film Market (Efm) in Berlin.

The project has pre-sold to China (Infotainment), Hong Kong (Panorama), India (Mvp), Indonesia (Pt Amero), Italy (Adler), Korea (Korea Screen), Latin America (Cdc), Malaysia and Brunei (Golden Screen), Middle East (Gulf), Portugal (Cinemundo), Spain (Selectavision), Switzerland (Impuls), Taiwan (Cai Chang), Thailand (Mono), Turkey (Atv), Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar (Golden Screen).

Universal Pictures Australia will release in Australia and New Zealand.

The Pack is an Australian horror film. This title is currently at the Afm, where it will seek distribution in several markets. At the Afm, a sales trailer was just released for the film. This extended clip reveals some major plot points as a wild pack of dogs lays waste to a ranch and an isolated family. Produced by Michael Robertson (The Reef) and Kent Smith (The Tree), Lightning Entertainment has partially financed this film venture, which was filmed in Adelaide, South Australia. The full three minute trailer is hosted here. From the synopsis, a family is experiencing financial hardship. Adam is set to lose his ranch, after much of his livestock has mysteriously disappeared. His wife's veterinary business is also suffering. But, Adam is determined to struggle onwards. Then, a celebratory feast is interrupted by a wild pack of dogs. Adam and his family will have to fight just to survive the night.

At the tail end of last week we learned that Lightning Entertainment will be partnering on financing and production for the new horror/thriller The Pack, which is set to start principal photography next month in Australia.

Following up that news is the first piece of poster art for the killer dog flick, which we invite you to take a big ole bite out of!

Nick Robertson is directing the film, being produced by Michael Robertson (The Reef, Black Water, Road Train) and Kent Smith (2:37, The Tree) under their new genre label, Breakout Movies.

The Pack will be the debut theatrical release of Kojo, a leading post-production and special effects company in Australia (The Babadook, Wolf Creek 1 & 2) that bows its new Australian distribution operation with the film. Distribution rights for all territories outside of Australia and New Zealand are being handled by Lightning, which will introduce the film project in Cannes.

We return with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes casting details on The Chair, Camp of the Damned, and Love Sick, trailers for Chimeres and Phantasmagoria, production and distribution news on Australian film, The Pack, and much more:

Exclusive Casting News for The Chair: We’ve been told that Travis Love (Shumpert from The Walking Dead) has been added to the cast of the upcoming horror/thriller, The Chair. Love will play the Commanding Officer in a flashback scene that features Jimmy (Jacob Banser) and Sullivan (Brian Thompson).

Synopsis: “Based off of the Alterna Comics graphic novel of the same name, The Chair follows the story of Richard Sullivan, an innocent man struggling to escape execution on death row. Witnessing the torture and murder of his fellow inmates at the hands of the prison’s sadistic and psychotic Warden,...

Horror/thriller The Pack is the first film from Breakout Movies, a new genre movie production partnership between VFX and post house Kojo and Prodigy Movies.

Scripted by Evan Randall Green and touted as Straw Dogs meets The Grey, the film is due to start shooting in South Australia next month, backed by the South Australian Film Corp.

It will be the feature directing debut of TV and commercials director Nick Robertson. The producers are Kojo.s Kent Smith and Prodigy.s Michael Robertson.

The plot centres on a farming family on a remote sheep station who are attacked by a pack of wild dogs. Casting is underway for the lead roles of the farming couple and their teenage daughter. International sales agent Lightning Entertainment will pitch the project at the Cannes Film Market.

.Breakout Movies is developing quality action, horror and thriller titles as part of a broader slate...

Lightning Entertainment has come on as financing and production partner on Nick Robertson’s Australia horror The Pack and will introduce in Cannes.

Michael Robertson and Kent Smith produce through their new genre label Breakout Movies and The Pack marks the debut theatrical release of Australian post-production and special effects company Kojo and its new distribution arm.

Lightning will handle world sales excluding Australia and New Zealand on the story of an embattled farmer and devoted family man facing financial ruin whose property is beset by feral dogs.

The producers have targeted a late June start outside Adelaide, South Australia, with the support of the South Australian Film Corporation.

“Lightning’s production investment in The Pack underscores the company’s commitment to the growth of our business and our ability to get involved with the right film projects at their inception,” said Lightning general manager and evp Ken Dubow.

The move project extends Lightning’s longstanding relationship...

Lightning Entertainment has come on as financing and production partner on Nick Robertson’s Australia horror The Pack and will introduce in Cannes.

Michael Robertson and Kent Smith produce through their new genre label Breakout Movies and The Pack marks the debut theatrical release of Australian post-production and special effects company Kojo and its new distribution arm.

Lightning will handle world sales excluding Australia and New Zealand on the story of an embattled farmer and devoted family man facing financial ruin whose property is beset by feral dogs.

The producers have targeted a late June start outside Adelaide, South Australia, with the support of the South Australian Film Corporation.

“Lightning’s production investment in The Pack underscores the company’s commitment to the growth of our business and our ability to get involved with the right film projects at their inception,” said Lightning general manager and evp Ken Dubow.

The move project extends Lightning’s longstanding relationship...

More news coming out of Cannes to end the day upon (just when we thought we were out, they keep pulling us back in) as Lightning Entertainment just announced that they're partnering on financing and production for the new horror/thriller The Pack.

From the Press Release

Lightning Entertainment announced today that it has come aboard as a financing and production partner on The Pack – an Australian horror/thriller being directed by Nick Robertson (“The Runner”) and produced by Michael Robertson (“The Reef,” “Black Water,” “Road Train”) and Kent Smith (“2:37,” “The Tree”) under their new genre label, Breakout Movies. General Manager and Executive VP Ken Dubow states “Lightning’s production investment in The Pack underscores the company’s commitment to the growth of our business and our ability to get involved with the right film projects at their inception.”

The Pack will be the debut theatrical release of Kojo,...

Shane Krause has a refreshingly candid view of the commercial prospects of The Contents, a self-funded supernatural thriller which marks his directing debut.

.If the film turns out to be any good we will get interest. from distributors and sales agents, says Krause, who co-wrote and produced the film with his regular collaborator Shayne Armstrong.

.If it doesn.t it will die the death it deserves to. The amount of money at risk is pitifully small. If it doesn.t work no one gets hurt..

The cast and a small crew worked irregularly on the film for the past six months shooting on locations in Brisbane. It.s 80% completed; still to come are the visual effects elements created by Steve Boyle whose credits include The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Bait 3D, Daybreakers and who.s just worked on Chris Sun.s low budget horror film Charlie.s Farm.

The plot...

This article originally appeared in If Magazine #146 (April-May 2012).

Oscar Wilde famously described a cynic as one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. The Australian film industry knows the value very well but the price . at least in the eyes of the international community . remains questionable.

Producer Michael Robertson, who has carved out a successful niche in recent years making low-budget horror films such as Black Water and Road Train, recalls one experience at last year.s American Film Market.

.I had a conversation recently where the budget of a picture was sitting at around $2.5 million and the sales agent said to me .you know we could do this film in America for about $1.8 million. . they probably could because the way costs were over there,. he says.

It is an unpalatable view given budgets have been under pressure for a number of years. South Australian Film...

A musical from Red Dog director Kriv Stenders, a feature about the choir of hard knocks directed by Jonathan Teplitzky and an untitled project from Joel and Nash Edgerton are three of 16 features that have received a share of $400,000 in development support from Screen Australia. Of these 16 projects, ten are new additions to the development slate, while the remaining six have been receiving ongoing assistance. Screen Australia.s head of development Martha Coleman said in a statement that the calibre of features was outstanding. .There.s a general acknowledgement from the marketplace that our filmmakers have raised the bar and I think the next wave of films in the coming years will be really interesting..

Synchronicity, which is written by Marissa Goodhill,. produced by Leesa Kahn and Catriona Hughes and has Kriv Stenders attached as director, is a musical set to the songs of Kylie Minogue. It follows 17-year-old Kylie...

Some of Australia’s biggest names in film-making have received funding for new projects in the latest round of Screen Australia’s single-project feature development.

The funding round for script development has supported 16 projects totalling $400,000, ten new projects and six which receive continued support.

Martha Coleman, Screen Australia’s head of development said: “The calibre of feature projects coming to the Development Department is outstanding. There’s a general acknowledgement from the marketplace that our film-makers have raised the bar and I think the next wave of films in the coming years will be really interesting.”

Film-makers include Julia Leigh, the Edgerton brothers, Abe Forsythe and Kriv Stenders.

Julia Leigh is to direct her second film, Disquiet following on from Sleeping Beauty, which won best direction in a feature film at the Australian Director’s Guild Awards on Friday night. The psychological horror will be adapted by Leigh from her book of the same name.

Wolf Creek director Greg McLean has received development support from Screen Australia for a new film set in Vietnam.

McLean’s project Black Echoes is among 13 projects to have been selected in the latest round of funding from the national screen agency.

Set in in the Vietnamese countryside, the film is about a group of tourists who go on an adventure into Viet Cong tunnels more claustrophic and scary than the famous Cu Chi tunnels.

Other projects to receive funding include The Outrageous Barry Rush, directed by Red Dog’s Kriv Stenders, written by Andy Cox and produced by Alan Harris, The Dressmaker by written and directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and produced by Sue Maslin and the sequel to last year’s online hit, The Tunnel, called The Tunnel: Dead End by Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey.

Single-project Development: Feature Development

Addition

Genre Romantic Comedy

Producers Bruna Papandrea, Cristina Pozzan...

A sequel to last year.s successful low-budget horror film The Tunnel is currently in the works.

The sequel . titled The Tunnel: Dead End . received development funding from Screen Australia earlier this month and will pick up the story years down the track. No shoot date has been set for the horror flick.

It.s a sequel creators Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey weren.t planning on. .Initially, we weren.t anticipating doing another Tunnel film but the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the original . as well as our fans clamouring for another on an almost daily basis . made us go back and give it a second thought,. Tedeschi and Harvey, of Distracted Media, said in a joint statement.

.We weren't going to go ahead unless we could find a story we were 100 per cent behind, which we now have, and are thrilled to have the support of Screen Australia.

Arclight Films has announced some new information on two of their films, “Tracey’s Slumba Party” and “Dark Vengeance”. Darclight, Arclight’s horror/sci-fi unit, has picked up the foreign rights to the Australian movie “Tracey’s Slumba Party”, a horror spoof directed by Louise Alston (“Jucy: All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane”). Gary Hamilton, managing director of Darclight, announced that “Tracey’s Slumba Party” would be produced by Michael Robertson (“Road Kill”; “Black Water”; “The Reef”) and Kent Smith (“Martyrs”; “2:37″, “The Tree”) under their new genre banner Croweater Entertainment. Croweater Entertainment is a production alliance between Robertson’s Prodigy Movies and Smith’s producer/distributor Kojo Pictures. Darclight will produce with Croweater. “Darclight are pleased to...

Prodigy Movies and Kojo Pictures have launched a new genre production alliance, Croweater Entertainment, which will produce horror-musical spoof Tracey's Slumba Party later this year. Arclight Films' horror/sci-fi unit Darclight will co-produce and has picked up foreign rights to the film (outside Australia and New Zealand and the United Kingdom). Croweater Entertainment is led by Prodigy's Michael Robertson (Road Train, Black Water, The Reef) and Kojo's Kent Smith (Martyrs, 2.37, The Tree). Tracey's Slumba Party will be directed by Louise Alston (Jucy, All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane) and will star Kate Geck and Mel Sano from the cult-punk girl group Toxic Lipstick. The film is about a teen girls. sleepover gone-wrong that quickly evolves from manicures...

Arclight Films' Darclight banner has picked up foreign rights to director Louise Alston's next film, a horror musical spoof entitled Tracey's Slumba Party . The film would be produced by Michael Robertson ( The Reef ) and Kent Smith ( Martyrs ) under their new genre banner Croweater Entertainment. The film centers on a teen girls' sleepover gone-wrong that quickly evolves from "manicures and boy talk to murder and mayhem," says Smith. Alston expects to start filming later this year in South Australia with stars Kate Geck and Mel Sano from the cult punk girl group "Toxic Lipstick." Here's a teaser we discovered over at Alston's site that was cooked up to generate buzz with potential investors. Tracey's Slumba Party Taster from Louise on Vimeo...

Four years ago, producer Michael Robertson.s company Prodigy Movies released its first feature, survival thriller Black Water, in which a group of tourists is stalked by crocodiles in northern Australia. Black Water co-writer and director Andrew Traucki.s latest film for Prodigy is The Reef, in which a group of tourists (played by Damien Walshe-Howling, Gyton Grantley, Adrienne Pickering and Zoe Naylor) is stalked by a shark off the coast of Queensland. The progression from killer crocs to killer shark is, perhaps, a perfectly natural one. .It is a natural progression,. admits Robertson. .It.s something Andrew thought about for a while, whether he should follow up with such a similar theme. He.s always felt sharks are a very dangerous...

Andrew Traucki brought a touch of realism to the shark film sub-genre with The Reef, and found himself in uncharted distribution waters.

His first film Black Water starred a dangerous (and very real) crocodile, and his follow up The Reef sees a group of tourists trying to survive the attack of a white shark, but writer/director/producer Andrew Traucki is not afraid to be known as ‘the one who makes movies about lethal animals’.

“At the moment I’m really enjoying working on thrillers regardless of whether they have dangerous animals in them or not. But I’m also working on straight drama, action and

The Reef stars Damian Walshe-Howling, Zoe Naylor, Gyton Grantley, Adrianne Pickering and Kieran Darcy-Smith.

It’s based on a true story that Traucki read years ago.

“There is a great benefit in being a writer/director in that you know that what you write has to translate into film.

Screen Nsw's feature film script workshop, Aurora, has selected five film projects for 2011. The five selected scripts include projects by Oscar-nominated editor Veronika.Jenet; the writer of Looking for Alibrandi, Melena Marchetta; television director Ray Quint; and Black Water producer Michael Robertson. This year.s advisors include the local talent of writer Andrew Bovell (Lantana) and producer Jocelyn Moorhouse (Muriel.s Wedding) while Us producer Anne Carey (The Savages) and British producer Olivia Stewart (Brassed Off) will join them. The program, which began in 2002, has previously led to a number of films being produced including last year's award-winning Animal Kingdom, as well as Little Fish.and Somersault. .The Nsw Government...

Screen Nsw has announced the 2011 participants for the script development workshop Aurora: Dust, Dog Eat Dog, On the Jellicoe Road, Falls Creek and One Hundred and Fifteen.

The selected filmmakers include a new project from Melena Marchetta (writer, Looking for Alibrandi), Michael Robertson (producer, Black Water/Road Train/The Reef) and the debut of editor Veronika Jenet as a producer.

The 2011 edition of Aurora includes a project from South Australia. The advisors will be Us producer Anne Carey (The American, Towelhead and The Savages); writer Andrew Bovell ( Lantana, Blessed, Head On and Edge of Darkness; producer/director/writer Jocelyn Moorhouse (How to Make an American Quilt, Peter Pan, A Thousand Acres, Proof and Muriel’s Wedding); and British producer Olivia Stewart (Brassed Off and Velvet Goldmine).

Former Aurora projects include Animal Kingdom, Somersault, Little Fish, Black Balloon, Prime Mover and Accidents Happen, and the upcoming Burning Man and Say Nothing.

According to Prodigy Movies producer Michael Robertson, his company will continue to make genre-based lower budget films even though Road Train failed at the box office.

“Road Train did not perform at the box office and will now go out as a DVD in March next year, but the reason I am pursuing genre-based lower budget storylines is that they do sell overseas, and I have the track record of Black Water, Road Train (aka Road Kill in the United States) and the soon-to-be-released The Reef to show for this,” Robertson told Encore.

Road Train was released in South Australia on October 21. It received positive reviews, but it didn’t succeed at the box office.

“This is a contrary reaction to the film’s achievements overseas as per the sales it has obtained, including the most recent one to Korea at the American Film Market. The 30+ countries that have all...

A total of six Australian feature films and one short will be heading to the 15th Pusan International Film Festival, which will be held from October 7 to 15.

***

World Cinema

Dreamland

Production Company: Bunya Productions

Producer: David Jowsey

Director/Writer: Ivan Sen

Sales: Bunya Productions

Australian Distributor: PackScreen in association with Bunya Productions

Cast: Daniel Roberts, Tasma Walton

Synopsis: Dan Freeman, an obsessive UFO hunter, roams the Nevada desert around the border of Area 51 searching the skies for contact. But alone in the desert he awakens to a bigger mystery.

Oranges and Sunshine

Production Companies: See-Saw Films & Sixteen Films

Producers: Emile Sherman, Camilla Bray, Iain Canning

Director: Jim Loach

Writer: Rona Munro

Sales: Icon Entertainment

Australian Distributor: Icon Film Distribution

Cast: Emily Watson, David Wenham, Hugo Weaving

Synopsis: The story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker who uncovered one of the most significant social scandals in recent times: the organised deportation of children from the UK.

Ben C. Lucas’ Wasted on the Young is one of seven Australian films selected to screen at the Pusan International Film Festival in Korea next month. Young will be screened in the world cinema category along with Jim Loach’s Oranges and Sunshine, and Ivan Sen’s Dreamland.

Belinda Chayko’s Lou will screen in the flash forward section and The Kiss directed by Ashley Page, will be shown in the wide angle – short film showcase category.

Patrick Hughes’ Red Hill and Andrew Traucki’s The Reef have been selected to show in the midnight passion program – a diverse genre category, that recognises entertainment value.

Screen Australia’s Head of Production Investment Ross Matthews said: “It’s great to see such an exciting line-up of Australian films screening at Pusan, which has established itself as one of Asia’s most dynamic film events.”

Wasted on the Young tells the story...

The latest Aussie thriller from Prodigy Movies, Road Train aka Road Kill, has been picked up for distribution here in the States via Lightning Entertainment to be part of the Fangoria FrightFest, and we've got a still and the trailer to scare up some interest.

FrightFest was spawned from a partnership with Lightning Media and Fangoria to distribute independent horror films via DVD, Video on Demand, and Digital Download. Joining Road Kill will be such titles as Pig Hunt, Fragile, Grimm Love, Dark House, Hunger, The Haunting, and The Tomb.

From the Press Release

Road Train, the debut feature film of director Dean Francis, will be released in the USA under the title Road Kill after scoring a massive Us release with the genre-film juggernaut Fangoria.

Fangoria, in partnership with distributor Lightning Media, will begin a unique, multi-tiered film distribution program called Fangoria FrightFest. This exclusive series will consist of eight new feature films,...

Fango just spent some time on the set of The Reef, the new film by Andrew Traucki (the Australian filmmaker who co-directed and co-scripted 2007’s exceptional killer-crocodile flick Black Water) and came back with a couple of exclusive pics, which you can see below. Traucki, a longtime surfer who couldn’t stay away from the water if he tried, is once again investigating the theme of large predatory animal interactions with humans, but is wading into much deeper here.

And if you’d like to share the experiences of the cast and crew of The Reef (which we first reported on here), you can join them live when they stream on-line in real time from the location in Hervey Bay, Queensland this Wednesday, November 4 if you’re U.S./UK-based and Thursday, Nov. 5 for Australians. Check out the film’s official website to sign up, and also read a production blog and other info.

Fango’s Australian correspondent Michael Helms sent along casting and other details on two new projects getting ready to roll there, both of which showcase nature gone amok. The more horrific of the two is The Reef, the latest from Andrew Traucki, who co-wrote and co-directed (with David Nerlich) the killer-crocodile flick Black Water.

Reteaming Traucki with Black Water producer Michael Robertson, The Reef stars Aussie actors Damian Walshe-Howling, Zoe Naylor, Gyton Grantley, Adrienne Pickering and Kieran Darcy-Smith in the story of a group of friends whose boat capsizes on a jaunt to the Great Barrier Reef. Deciding to attempt a swim to the distant shore, they find themselves being stalked by a great white shark intent on making meals out of them. The $3.5 million (Australian) film is set to begin a five-week shoot October 12 in Queensland’s Hervey Bay; additional live shark footage will be captured in South Australia.

Lightning Entertainment has boarded and will executive produce Prodigy Movies' psychological thriller The Reef, which comes from Australian writer/director Andrew Traucki. Michael Robertson, who worked with Traucki on the filmmaker’s directorial debut - the low budget horror flick Black Water, is on board to produce Reef, which is based on true events of survival on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The flick revolves around a group of friends whose sailing trip through the Great Barrier Reef turns tragic when their boat capsizes, leaving them stranded and stalked by an 18-foot rogue great white shark hunting outside its normal habitat, and targeting the survivors one at a time. Casting is currently underway. The film is set to start principal photography in March.

Though very few got up and shouted about the greatness of Black Water (DVD review) when it was released a few months back, the reviews were pretty even across the board, at least the ones I read. So now director Andrew Traucki is reteaming with producer Michael Robertson to bring us The Reef, and THR reports that Lightning Entertainment has just signed on to executive produce as well.

The film will follow a group of friends sailing through the Great Barrier Reef whose boat capsizes, leaving them stranded and pursued by an 18-foot great white shark, hunting outside his normal habitat, taking down the friends one at a time.

It seems like any sort of survivalist horror film that takes place in Australia has to be based on a true story in one form or another, and The Reef is no exception. Shooting will kick into gear this March, so...

Brit producers Paul Cowan and Chris Wheeldon of Territorial Film Developments have pacted with Oz producer Michael Robertson (ProdigyMovies) to make supernatural thriller Road Train. The Duel-style Road Train is about a group of youngsters menaced by a driverless road train in the Australian outback. First-timer Dean Francis is set to direct from a screenplay by Clive Hopkins. The project is backed by the Australian Film Commissions IndiVision Production Fund, which supports first-time feature directors. Production outfits Tfd and ProdigyMovies re-team after a successful collaboration on last years Black Water, a film about three young people whose fishing trip goes horribly wrong when their boat is attacked by crocodiles in the mangrove swamps of Northern Australia.

For a brief moment, when tech stocks were at their bubbliest, MP3.com was worth $2.5 billion. That was on July 21, 1999 -- Day 1 for MP3.com as a publicly traded company, and its shares went for north of $100 apiece. "It was a helluva day", said Steve Sheiner, a founding executive of the company. "For the flash of a second, I was a pretty rich guy." Today, what's left of MP3.com's physical assets, including arcade-style video games, exercise equipment and furniture, go to auction. Sheiner joined MP3.com in 1998, about a year after it was launched by Michael Robertson as a play on online music. He helped take the company public and, though unable to attend the staff's IPO party because he was on a plane headed to a sales meeting, Sheiner had a half-million reasons to celebrate: stock options at 11 cents apiece.