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"Things that I create will hopefully live beyond my life." What kind of legacy will you leave? Will there be anyone to celebrate that legacy, to make sure it leaves a last impression? This wonderful, wholesome short film is a exercise in extending that legacy. Creating Things is a 10-minute short doc made by the brothers Bryan Simpson and Taylor Simpson, telling the story of their dad Roger Simpson - a beautiful artist with a creative mind. "Our friend Peter Lyngso revealed to us that he had filmed an interview with our Dad after his cancer diagnosis a couple years earlier. Upon watching the interview we learned new things about our Dad. It also reaffirmed things about him, most important of which was his passion for creating. This became an excuse to discover and rediscover our Dad's art, photos, and other mementos to create this film. The process has been...

PBS Distribution has snapped up US rights to Halifax: Retribution, to premiere on Amazon Prime Video’s PBS Masterpiece Channel.

Originally commissioned by the Nine Network and produced by Beyond Lonehand, the procedural drama stars Rebecca Gibney and Anthony Lapaglia in a reboot of Halifax F.P.

Original creator and writer Roger Simpson returns as writer, alongside Mac Gudgeon , Peter Gawler and Jan Sardi.

The series sees Gibney reprise her role as forensic psychiatrist Jane Halifax, who returns to work in the field after a two-decade hiatus when a sniper starts terrorising the city and Commander Tom Saracen (Lapaglia) urgently needs her assistance.

Jane comes to realise that the killer’s invisibility to the surveillance cameras and his sophisticated hacking skills hold the clue to what he wants.

Halifax: Retribution was recently nominated in the Best Drama Series category for the prestigious 2020 Aacta Awards, while Rebecca Gibney was nominated for...

One of Australia’s most distinguished screenwriters, Cliff Green (Picnic At Hanging Rock) died on Friday following a long illness. He was 85. Here, Mac Gudgeon and Roger Simpson pay tribute to his life and career.

Cliff Green was a pioneer in Australian screenwriting and a central figure in the Australian Writers’ Guild’s (Awg) early development. His television credits include his celebrated quartet, Marion, inspired by his time as a school teacher in the Mallee, and the sprawling adaptations, Power Without Glory and I Can Jump Puddles. His screenplay for Peter Weir’s Picnic At Hanging Rock remains a landmark in Australia’s film renaissance of the 1970s.

Though one of Australia’s most sought-after writers, Cliff never hesitated to give his time to the guild in an era when the organisation, with only two full-time employees, depended entirely on the efforts of its members and the leadership of its most prominent practitioners.

Anthony Lapaglia and Jessica Marais will star alongside Rebecca Gibney in Australian drama series “Halifax: Retribution.”

The crime thriller follows forensic psychiatrist Jane Halifax and was on Australian free-tv network Nine in the 1990s and early 2000s. It has resurrected the Melbourne-set show, with production getting underway this month, on location.

Other cast for the new miniseries include Jacqueline McKenzie (“Romper Stomper”), Rick Donald (“Wentworth”), Hannah Monson (“Glitch”), Craig Hall (“The Doctor Blake Mysteries”), Mavournee Hazel (“Neighbours”), and Louisa Mignone (“Rake”).

After years on the police frontline, Halifax has carved out a new career as a university professor in the new series. She has to return to the field when a serial sniper starts terrorizing Melbourne, and Halifax finds herself in his sights.

“’Halifax’ has a rich and revered heritage and I am very much looking forward to working opposite the legend that is Rebecca Gibney in this latest iteration,...

Rebecca Gibney, Anthony Lapaglia and Jessica Marais head the cast of crime thriller mini-series “Halifax: Retribution.” The show is the revival of an iconic Australian series that ran on the Nine Network for six seasons from 1994 to 2002, starring Gibney.

In the new show, produced for Nine, Gibney’s forensic psychiatrist character is called back from academia to the police front line when a serial sniper begins attacking Melbourne.

Original creator and writer Roger Simpson returns as writer and producer, alongside executive producer Mikael Borglund and writers Mac Gudgeon (“Killing Time”), Peter Gawler (“Underbelly”) and the Oscar-nominated Jan Sardi (“Shine”).

Production starts next month in Melbourne with Jacqueline McKenzie, Rick Donald, Hannah Monson (“Glitch”), Craig Hall, Mavournee Hazel and Louisa Mignone among the supporting cast.

“Halifax: Retribution” is a Beyond Lonehand Production with major production investment from Screen Australia, in association with Film Victoria. Beyond Distribution is handling international sales of...

Anthony Lapaglia, Jessica Marais.

Anthony Lapaglia and Jessica Marais will co-star with Rebecca Gibney in the Nine Network’s crime thriller miniseries Halifax: Retribution, which will start shooting in Melbourne later this month.

Jacqueline McKenzie, Rick Donald, Hannah Monson, Craig Hall, Mavournee Hazel and Louisa Mignone round out the cast of the Halifax reboot produced by Beyond Lonehand.

Original creator and writer Roger Simpson returns as writer and producer alongside executive producer Mikael Borglund and writers Mac Gudgeon, Peter Gawler and Oscar-nominated Jan Sardi.

Gudgeon and Sardi both worked with Simpson on Halifax f.p., which ran for seven seasons on Nine and ended in 2002. Rebecca Gibney reprises her role as forensic psychiatrist Jane Halifax, who has carved out a new career as a university professor.

When a serial sniper starts terrorising Melbourne, she is lured back into the field to help the police task force find the killer. As...

Rebecca Gibney in ‘Halifax f.p.’

Rebecca Gibney will return to the Nine Network next year as forensic psychiatrist Jane Halifax in the miniseries Halifax: Retribution, which looks at the character 20 years after the original series.

Roger Simpson, who created and was the lead writer on Halifax f.p., which ran for seven seasons and ended in 2002, returns as writer and producer, together with writers Mac Gudgeon and Jan Sardi, who both worked on the series.

Produced by Beyond Lonehand, a Jv between Beyond and Simpson, with Mikael Borglund as executive producer, the new version will see Halifax hunting for a killer who is terrorising an entire city, potentially putting herself and her family in danger. Beyond Distribution has the worldwide sales rights outside Australia/Nz.

“I’ve had people asking me for years if we could bring Jane Halifax back,” Gibney told 9Honey Celebrity. “I loved the character – Roger...

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...

The next in a string of ‘ripped from the headlines’ drama series, Bikie Wars was shot on location in Sydney’s west in just 42 days. Georgina Pearson is transported back to the ‘80s on the set of Ten’s new crime mini-series.

Behind an unassuming roller door on a quiet street in Sydney’s inner west, director Peter Andrikidis is recreating history. Encore is on the set of Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms, a period drama of sorts, completed in a six-week shoot plagued by non-stop rain.

Stepping inside the makeshift sound stage transports you back to the 1980s. Six motorbikes guard the entrance while an old Holden sedan, riddled with bullet holes, is out the back. This may not be the original 1984 headquarters of bikie gangs the Bandidos or the Comancheros depicted in the series, but it certainly feels like it could be.

Based on the book Brothers in Arms...

Screentime and Network Ten have announced more names to their six part series Brothers in Arms.

Alongside actors already announced Callan Mulvey, Anthony Hayes and Damian Walshe-Howling, will be Susie Porter (East West 101, Sisters of War), Todd Lasance (Cloudstreet, Crownies), Luke Ford (Red Dog, Animal Kingdom) and Luke Hemsworth.

About the about the Milperra bikie war in 1984 between rival gangs, the Bandidos and the Comancheros Brothers in Arms will be directed by Peter Andrikidis who has also worked on The Straits, Killing Time and Underbelly and written by Greg Haddrick (Crownies, Underbelly, Mda), Roger Simpson (Halifax Fp, Stingers) and Jo Martino (Winners & Losers, Satisfaction).

Screentime are the production company behind the Underbelly and Crownies.

Ten executive producer Rick Maier said: “There is obviously a great responsibility to tell a story like this truthfully, respectfully and with conviction – so we felt very privileged to see this outstanding ensemble come together.

Red Dog, Oranges and Sunshine, Face to Face and The Eye of the Storm have received nominations for Best Feature Film at this year’s If Awards.

Red Dog won the most nominations, appearing in nine categories, with Oranges and Sunshine nominated in eight and Face to Face in six categories.

Nominated in the Best Direction category is Michael Rymer for Face to Face, Kriv Stenders for Red Dog and Justin Kurzel for Snowtown while Best Script nominees are Michael Rymer for Face to Face, Rona Munro for Oranges and Sunshine and Daniel Taplitz for Red Dog.

Best Documentary nominees are Mrs Carey’s Concert directed by Bob Connolly, I Am Eleven directed by Genevieve Bailey and Orchids: My Intersex Adventure directed by Phoebe Hart.

With its strong ensemble cast the Face to Face actors are up against David Wenham for Oranges and Sunshine, Josh Lucas for Red Dog and...

Another drama series featuring one of the country.s .most heinous criminal events. has been commissioned by Channel Ten. From the makers of Nine's Underbelly comes six-part miniseries Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms, which will focus on the leadup to the 1984 .Milperra Massacre. between two rival bikie gangs. Seven people were killed in the Father.s Day massacre, including a 14-year-old innocent female bystander. Creatives for the Screentime production include writer/executive producer Greg Haddrick (Underbelly, Cloudstreet) and writer/series producer Roger Simpson (Satisfaction, Stingers). .The Milperra Massacre is a unique moment in our history and in many ways marks a time when the culture of bikie gangs began a period of fundamental...

Cannes -- FremantleMedia Enterprises has signed a series of first-look deals with prominent U.S. and international producers and creatives, including L.A.-based Winkler Films and Landscape Entertainment, "Smallville" producer Mike Tollin, famed Brit writer-producer Paul Abbott ("State of Play") and Aussie writer-producer Roger Simpson ("Satisfaction").

The agreements, announced Monday at Miptv in Cannes by Fme chief exec David Ellender, come on the heels of a similar first-look partnership with David Thompson's Origin shingle and development deals with writers like Michael Hirst ("The Tudors").

The agreements are part of Fme's strategy to boost its drama slate. At Miptv this year, the company is pushing the second series of its flagship drama "Merlin," produced by Shine Television and BBC One.