News

Andrew Walsh rehearsing a scene with Will Weatheritt.

Producer Roberto Chuter and writer-director Andrew Walsh are preparing to shoot How Deep is the Ocean, a tragicomic feature about a troubled young woman who is purified by the ocean.

Due to shoot in Melbourne in April and budgeted at about $1 million, the film will star Will Weatheritt, Ryan Bown and Richard Aspel.

The role of the protagonist Eleanor, a mysterious young woman who arrives in Melbourne with the clothes on her back, little money and a past she’d rather forget, will be cast in the next few weeks.

Living in a broken-down boarding house on the outskirts of the city, she works in a series of dead-end jobs.

Weatheritt, whose credits include James Pentecost’s crime comedy Broken Contract, True Story with Hamish & Andy and Utopia, plays Matt, a hopeless romantic and sensitive soul.

After crossing paths with the impulsive and naïve Eleanor,...

Australian indie feature The Hidden Well is gearing up to shoot in Melbourne.

The film will be composed of five chapters, focussing on different characters: a couple trying for a child; another couple looking for connection; a confused young man facing a "cruel proposition"; and a woman searching for her estranged father.

The feature will shoot in and around St. Kilda in August, and has been optioned for worldwide distribution by Media Luna Films in Germany. . .

Theatre director Robert Chuter, who recently directed feature The Dream Children, is helming the project as well as executive producing alongside Christopher Pender.

The film is written by Alex Broun, Angus Brown, Krista Dalby, Jane Miller and Amanda Miha, and produced by Ryan O'Gorman for Fat Kid Films.

It stars Michael Maxwell Loder, Renee Anderson and Jonathan Weir.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/swerve2016/...

The finalists have been announced for the Australian Writers’ Guild awards – or Awgies.

Wish You Were Here is up for best feature film, along with Last Dance and Not Suitable For Children.

The Slap and Underbelly: Razor are up for best TV mini-series.

The short list in full:

Telemovie Original

Beaconsfield – Judi McCrossin

Mabo – Susan Smith

Television Mini-series – Adaptation

The Slap – Emily Ballou, Alice Bell, Brendan Cowell, Kris Mrksa with Cate Shortland

Underbelly: Razor – Peter Gawler, Michaeley O’Brien, Felicity Packard and Jeffrey Truman

Television Mini-series – Original

Only one nomination and the winner will be announced on the night.

Television – Series

Spirited: If You See Her Say Hello – Alice Bell

Offspring: Episode 206 – Michael Lucas

Spirited: Living In Oblivion – Ian Meadows

Spirited: I’ll Close My Eyes – Jacquelin Perske

Television – Serial

Home & Away 5437- Louise Bowes

Home & Away 5391 – Fiona Bozic

Neighbours 6231 (Jim’s Death) – Pete McTighe

Comedy...

The Australian Writers’ Guild has announced the nominations for the 45th annual Awgie Awards. Among the nominated is Michael Lucas for his feature film Not Suitable For Children, Kieran Darcy-Smith for Wish You Were Here, the writing teams behind The Slap and Underbelly: Razor and in the comedy division, the teams behind Laid 2, Agony Uncles and At Home With Julia.

The announcement:

The nominees this year reflect the abundance of high quality screenwriters Australia has produced.

“The Awgies are a unique opportunity to celebrate the writers whose stories have shaped our national culture including feature films, theatre, TV series and serials, mini-series, radio, interactive, animation and children’s programs,” says Awg’s President and Academy Award nominee Jan Sardi. “This rich crop of writers is a sure sign Australia can match it with the best from anywhere in the world when it comes to performance writing, and that’s something to celebrate in this,...

The nominees for this year's Awgie awards include the scribes behind local films such as The Sapphires, The Eye of the Storm, Wish You Were Here and TV programs such as Mabo, Beaconsfield, and Underbelly.

Battling in the feature film adaptation category will be Judy Morris. The Eye of the Storm, starring Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davies, and The Sapphires from Keith Thompson and Tony Briggs. Michael Lucas has also been nominated for his first original feature, Not Suitable for Children while Last Dance by Terence Hammond and David Pulbrook and drama Wish You Were Here, written by Kieran Darcy-Smith and Felicity Price, have also been nominated.

Among television nominees, the team of writers behind The Slap and Underbelly: Razor have been nominated as well as Susan Smith for indigenous telemovie Mabo, and Judi McCrossin for Beaconsfield. Michael Lucas was also nominated for the television series Offspring while three scripts...