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Sometimes it’s the things that don’t quite work out that lead us onto the path we’re actually meant to be on.

Director Luke Eve worked with his friend from Aftrs, producer Adam Dolman, and twin brother, writer Glen Dolman, for years on a feature, The Truth About Jack, only to have it fall down at the last hurdle.

It was a devastating moment. However, by that point, the trio had already formed a strong bond, felt they had momentum and wanted to continue to collaborate.

It was then Glen pulled out one of the first scripts he’d ever written, passion project I Met A Girl, a romantic story about a man with schizophrenia who meets the girl of his dreams – who may be just in head.

In the interim, the team also made web series High Life. It starred Odessa Young as a girl with bipolar...

Luke Eve’s romantic drama I Met a Girl will be released as a Netflix Original film in Australia and New Zealand next month after being acquired by the streamer.

Scripted Glen Dolman, the plot follows Devon, a 20-something aspiring musician with schizophrenia, who relies on his older brother Nick to get by. On a downward spiral, Devon is saved by Lucy – a mysterious girl who is just as impulsive and romantic as he is.

When she vanishes, leaving him with a note to ‘meet me in Sydney,’ he sets out on a cross-country journey to find the girl of his dreams… who may just be in his head.

The cast includes Brenton Thwaites, Lily Sullivan, Joel Jackson, Zahra Newman, and Peter Rowsthorn.

I Met a Girl was produced by Adam Dolman and co-produced by Melissa Kelly and Ryan Hodgson, with Timothy White, Tait Brady, Roger Savage, James Norrie, and...

Monica Zanetti’s screenplay of Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt), Ben Lawrence and Beatrix Christian’s Hearts and Bones and Ally Burnham’s Unsound have been nominated for best original feature in the 53rd annual Awgie Awards.

The contenders for the feature film adaptation prize are Thomas M. Wright and Erik Jensen’s Acute Misfortune, Lisa Hoppe’s H is for Happiness, Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps’ Penguin Bloom and C.S. McMullen’s The Other Lamb.

The TV series prize promises to be a close race between episodes of Glen Dolman’s Bloom, Michael Petroni’s Messiah for Netflix, Belinda Chayko’s Stateless, Samantha Strauss’ The End and Pip Karmel’s Total Control.

Timothy Hobart, John Ridley, Jeremy Nguyen, Alan Nguyen and Michele Lee’s Hungry Ghosts will square off against Matthew Cormack and Niki Aken’s The Hunting for best miniseries.

In the TV serial category it must...

Lily Sullivan in ‘I Met a Girl.’

Gravitas Ventures will launch Luke Eve’s romantic drama I Met a Girl in the US as a Premium VOD release on September 11, followed a month later by VOD on a dozen digital platforms.

The original plan was a cinema release for the film starring Brenton Thwaites, Lily Sullivan, Joel Jackson, Peter Rowsthorn and Zahra Newman.

But in light of widespread cinema closures, producer Adam Dolman tells If: “Gravitas wanted to release the film as soon as possible to take advantage of the growth in the VOD business.”

Scripted by Adam’s brother Glen Dolman (Bloom), the plot follows Thwaites’ Devon, a 20-something aspiring musician with schizophrenia, who relies on his older brother Nick (Jackson) to get by. On a downward spiral, Devon is saved by Sullivan’s Lucy – a mysterious girl who is just as impulsive and romantic as he is.

When she vanishes,...

Luke Eve, Karen Eve and Maria Albiñana.

In March, director Luke Eve headed to Spain to marry his fiancé, actor and writer Maria Albiñana. But when the pandemic hit, they had to cancel their wedding two days out from the event.

The pair have since spent the last two months in strict lockdown in their Spanish apartment – together with Eve’s mum, who had travelled from Australia for the wedding.

After dealing with the initial emotion of the situation, Eve and Albiñana released their story had hallmarks of a sitcom.

Eve pitched it to Screen Australia as a heartfelt short-form drama, shot from the apartment via mobile phone, with the trio starring in and producing it together. Each episode would explores the aftermath of cancelling the wedding, and the various stages of the pandemic.

They agency was on board straight away, and the 10 x 8 minute series – titled Cancelled – premieres on Facebook today.

David Taylor and and David Maher.

Playmaker Media co-founders David Taylor and David Maher reflect on the suspension of the local content quotas, the impact of the overseas talent drain and the key to longevity as the Sony-owned production company marks its 10th anniversary.

Q: Congrats on the 10-year milestone. There have been a lot of peaks and a few troughs?

A: Mostly peaks, thankfully, and valuable lessons learned from the occasional trough. It’s been a wild and varied wide, producing just under 200 hours of scripted drama. Some seismic shifts in the scripted content game along the way have enabled bigger budgets and bolder ideas.

Q: The Scribe Showrunner program which you launched in 2011 with Screen Australia’s support was a game-changing initiative that has been widely emulated. What inspired that idea?

A: Scribe came out of simply wanting to work with the best Australian writers who had the attributes,...

‘The Other Lamb’ panel (top) Krista Carpenter, Catherine S. McMullen, (bottom) Chris Deckard, Stephanie Wilcox.

Responding to the Covid-19 crisis, Australians in Film (AiF) is giving existing members two months free membership and extending that offer to new members.

To help members to stay connected and to support each other, the organisation is running a series of online events including sessions with Bloom creator Glen Dolman and Truant Pictures’ Toby Nalbandian and Greg Schmidt.

AiF executive director Peter Ritchie tells If: “One of AiF’s core values is community. Our strength comes from our members and partners internationally and together we will get through this.

“The staff with the support of the board pivoted very quickly to move our entire programming online. We are having global networking events twice a week with our members in La and Australia, meditation classes with writer Chris Phillips in Byron Bay and our Hollywood...

Lucas Taylor’s Awgie Award-winning multi-linear narrative Eleven Eleven has won the $10,000 2019 John Hinde Award for Excellence in Science-Fiction Writing.

Steve Mitchell’s Cowtown took the prize in the unproduced category at the awards presented at the Australian Writers’ Guild’s inaugural Powerhouse Mixer event at the Powerhouse Museum’s Apollo 11 Exhibition, attended by reps from Screen Australia, Create Nsw, Foxtel, ABC, Sbs, talent agencies and production companies.

Eleven Eleven is a Vr and Ar experience set on a fictional planet that is 11 minutes and 11 seconds away from an extinction-level event. Glen Dolman’s series Bloom was highly commended.

Produced in association with Academy Award®-winning Digital Domain, Eleven Eleven was developed by Walker with the co-creators and producers, Mehrad Noori, Director of Global Programming, NBCUniversal International Networks, and Michael Salmon – Head of Immersive Technologies, NBCUniversal International.

“Science fiction was one of my first loves,” said Taylor. “Ever since George Orwell...

(L-r) Greg McLean, Phoebe Tonkin, Bryan Brown, Glen Dolman.

During filming of Stan’s Bloom in Victoria last year the creator/showrunner Glen Dolman was already hatching ideas for a second series of the supernatural drama.

So when Stan’s Mike Sneesby and Nick Forward ordered another six episodes in April after he pitched an overview Dolman pressed ahead with plans to bring a fresh perspective to the show.

That involved hiring new directors in Greg McLean and Sian Davies (who collaborated on Stan’s The Gloaming), assembling a new team of writers and adding half a dozen fresh faces to the cast, with the assistance of casting director Leigh Pickford.

Joining him in the writers’ room are Giula Sandler, Matt Ford, Tommy Murphy and Catherine S McMullen. Dolman scripted four of the six eps of the first series, which was named Drama Series Production of the Year at last...

Phoebe Tonkin and Bryan Brown.

Jacqueline McKenzie, Gary Sweet, Bella Heathcote, Toby Schmitz, Jackson Heywood, Scott Lee and Ed Oxenbould are new additions to the cast of Stan’s Bloom, the second season of which is now shooting in regional Victoria.

Greg McLean and Sian Davies (who both directed episodes of Stan’s The Gloaming) are directing the six-part supernatural drama created and written by Glen Dolman, produced by Sue Seeary for Playmaker Media. Geoffrey Hall is the Dop.

Jacki Weaver, Bryan Brown, Phoebe Tonkin, Genevieve Morris, John Stanton, Anne Charleston, Terry Norris and Thomas Ersatz are all returning.

In the first series the residents of a small country town were left reeling after a “fountain of youth” appeared in the wake of a devastating flood. A mysterious plant with luminous berries gave those who consumed it a second chance to return to their prime. The results were miraculous for...

The writers of All Is True, Hotel Mumbai, Relic, Ride Like a Girl and The Favourite have been nominated for best original feature film in the 52nd annual Awgie Awards.

Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears (Deb Cox) and True History of the Kelly Gang (Shaun Grant) are the contenders for the feature film adaptation category.

Andrew Knight scored two nominations, for Ride Like a Girl (shared with Elise McCredie) and for TV series or miniseries for an episode of ABC’s Jack Irish, competing with Bloom (Glen Dolman), Secret City: Under the Eagle (Matt Cameron) and The End (Samantha Strauss).

Ben Elton wrote All is True, John Collee and Anthony Maras wrote Hotel Mumbai, Christian White and Natalie Erika James scripted Relic and Tony McNamara and Deborah Davis collaborated on The Favourite.

In the running for telemovie or miniseries up to four hours are The Cry (Jacquelin Perske...

‘Bloom’ cast and creatives at the Logie Awards.

Stan has commissioned a second season of Bloom from creator Glen Dolman and Playmaker Media.

The miniseries directed by John Curran and Mat King broke the platform’s viewing records when it premiered on New Year’s Day.

Jacki Weaver, Bryan Brown, Phoebe Tonkin, Ryan Corr, Daniel Henshall, Sam Reid, Genevieve Morris, Anne Charleston and John Stanton starred in the supernatural romance-mystery-horror produced by Sue Seeary.

Dolman started writing the second batch of six episodes a couple of months ago. “We have landed on the core idea,” Stan’s chief content officer Nick Forward tells If. “It will have a mix of returning and new characters.”

The characters played by Brown, Corr and Morris were among the survivors of the first series, which has sold widely to international markets including the Us, the UK and Europe by Sony Pictures Television. The UK...

Alison Bell, Kodie Bedford and Niki Aken.

Screen Australia has announced it will support a delegation of 13 creatives to travel to New York in March to attend the Australian International Screen Forum and participate in professional development and networking opportunities.

“There is an increasing appetite for Australian stories in the USA, most recently evident at the Sundance Film Festival where our films were making substantial sales,” said Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason.

“Talent USA is an important opportunity to showcase and promote some of our best creative talent to the North American market and help elevate their projects to be in the best position to compete and be seen internationally.

“Attending the Screen Forum will give these delegates an opportunity to hear from key Us players on latest trends, challenges and opportunities in the current global market. This year the Talent USA delegation will also benefit from the Forum’s ambassadors Deborra-Lee Furness,...

Exclusive: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and DC Universe’s Titans star Brenton Thwaites is leading cast alongside Lily Sullivan in the Australian comedy-drama I Met A Girl, which got underway today.

Thwaites stars as an impulsive musician struggling with schizophrenia who falls for a mysterious woman (Sullivan) who may be all in his head. When she suddenly vanishes, he takes off on a cross-country journey across Australia to find her, forcing his long-suffering brother to try to rescue him. Also cast are Zahra Newman (Wentworth) and Peter Rowsthorn (Kath and Kim).

The project, shooting in Western Australia and New South Wales, is from the creative team behind web series High Life and includes director Luke Eve, writer Glen Dolman and producer Adam Dolman. Pic received production funding from Screen Australia in association with Screenwest and...

‘This is Desmondo Ray!’

Steve Baker’s This is Desmondo Ray!, a live action/animated series about a peculiar man who searches for love in a dark and troubling world, has been voted world champion at the Web Series World Cup.

Produced by Leanne Tonkes and backed by Screen Australia and Screen Queensland, the 6 x 7 minute drama is the second win for an Australian production after Luke Eve and Glen Dolman’s High Life was victorious last year.

The competition run by Mip TV collates results from web festivals around the world and publishes a table of the most awarded web series of the year. Desmondo Ray! was selected for 19 fests, garnered 26 nominations and 25 awards.

There are three Aussie titles in the top 10. Writer-director Blake Fraser and producer Chris Thompson’s dark drama Patricia Moore, a French-Australian co-production, came third with 31 nominations at eight festivals.

Starring Danielle Cormack, Les Hill,...

Glen Dolman.

Glen Dolman has drawn on a painful personal experience in scripting I Met a Girl, an uplifting romantic comedy-drama to be directed by Luke Eve.

Co-funded by Screen Australia, Screenwest, Create Nsw and Soundfirm, the plot will follow Devon, an aspiring musician with schizophrenia who is in love with the mysterious Lucy. When she vanishes, he takes off across the country to find her, forcing his brother to try to rescue him.

“I started writing this more than 10 years ago when I was struggling to process the death of a close friend who had suffered from a serious mental illness,” Dolman tells If.

“In doing research for another project, I met a beautiful couple who both suffered from schizophrenia but were coping and thriving despite their illnesses. They joked about only having one psychotic breakdown at a time.

“In film and TV, we don’t often see positive...

Like A Photon’s Nadine Bates and Kristen Souvlis, pictured with their muppet Violetta, have received funding from Screen Australia for two animated features.

Two animated feature films from Queensland-based production company Like A Photon and Stan/Jungle Entertainment’s No Activity Christmas special are among the recent 12 projects to receive production investment from Screen Australia.

The agency announced today it will inject over $9 million in production funding across five features, five TV dramas and two digital series.

Kristen Souvlis and Nadine Bates’ Like A Photon will produce animated feature Combat Wombat, about a wombat turned unintentional superhero, as well as The Wishmas Tree, which follows a young possum’s misguided wish for a white Wishmas. Both projects will be directed by Ricard Cusso Judson, with Matt Everitt to act as consulting animation director (The Lego Batman Movie) on Combat Wombat.

The creative team behind web series High Life – producer Adam Dolman,...

Ryan Corr and Rachael Taylor in ‘Ladies in Black.’ (Photo: Ben King)

Ryan Corr played a lot of comedic roles earlier in his career before telling his agent, “I don’t want to play the clown all the time.”

Bruce Beresford’s Ladies in Black enabled the actor to show his comedy chops after a raft of dramatic roles in such movies as Stephen McCallum’s upcoming 1%, Mary Magdalene, Hacksaw Ridge, Holding the Man and TV shows Cleverman, Wanted and Love Child.

He plays Rudi, a debonair, cultured immigrant with a dark past from Hungary who is keen to date Australian women and sets his sights on department store worker Fay (Rachael Taylor) in the 1959-set comedy/drama which opens on Thursday.

Rudi has a lot of amusing lines but there is an edge to the character: Beresford wants audiences to question Rudi’s intentions and whether he is trustworthy until late in the narrative.

Australia’s two-time Oscar-nominated actress Jacki Weaver heads the cast of sci-fi series “Bloom.” An original commission for Australian streaming platform Stan, the six-part series is produced by Sony Pictures Television’s Playmaker.

The story takes place a year after a devastating flood has killed five locals in an idyllic country town, and when a mysterious new plant appears. The plant’s phenomenal ability to restore youth is so formidable that attempting to harness it means re-evaluating values. It is a miracle some will kill to keep secret.

With finance from Stan and federal funding body Screen Australia, production is now under way in Victoria state. Sony Pictures Television will distribute outside Australia.

The series is created by Glen Dolman. Production is by Sue Seeary and shot by Aacta-winning cinematographer Geoff Hall. The series is directed by John Curran and Mat King.

The lead cast includes Bryan Brown, Phoebe Tonkin,...

ABC Studios International, the Disney-owned global production unit, is deepening its ties down under with an eight-part series for streaming service Stan.

The division, which is run by former ABC casting chief Keli Lee, is producing crime drama The Gloaming with The Kettering Incident’s Victoria Madden and Boys In The Trees producer John Molloy.

The drama, which will be shot in Tasmania, follows unorthodox, troubled cop Molly McGee, who leading an investigation into the murder of an unidentified woman. To solve the case, Molly has to team up with Alex O’Connell, a man she hasn’t spoken to in twenty years, and they discover that the murder has links to a cold case from the past. What begins as a routine investigation exposes something more insidious, and to catch the killer, Molly and Alex have to face the ghosts of their past.

Australian production companies Sweet Potato Films,...

London-based festival to open with Oh Lucy! with Josh Hartnett.

The 25th Raindance Film Festival (Sept 21 -Oct 2) has revealed the majority of its line-up and jury members.

The international premiere of Atsuko Hirayanagi’s Oh Lucy! (USA), starring Josh Hartnett, is the opening night film of the London-based event. The closing night film will be announced later this month.

The competition jury includes ex-bifa director Johanna Von Fischer, Spanish producer Rosa Bosch and actors Jamie Campbell Bower (Twilight), Jack O’Connell (Unbroken), Sean Bean (Game Of Thrones), Christopher Eccleston (Dr Who), Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting), Celia Imrie (Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Training Day), Nicholas Lyndhurst (Only Fools and Horses), Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Hotel Rwanda), Josh Whitehouse (Northern Soul), Neil Marshall (Game Of Thrones) and Rachel Portman (Chocolat).

They will preside over awards for a competition line-up that features the European premiere of Koichiro Miki’s Noise and the world premiere of Evald Johnson’s High & Outside: A Baseball...

Hounds of Love..

In a David and Goliath battle, the screenplays for Ben Young.s debut feature Hounds of Love and Mel Gibson.s Hacksaw Ridge will compete for the original feature film prize at this year.s Awgie Awards.

That pits a low-budgeted film scripted by Young, which has grossed $125,000 in three weeks at six Australian cinemas, against the $US40 million WW2 drama written by Andrew Knight with Robert Schenkkan, which has amassed $US175.3 million worldwide.

There is only one nomination for the feature film adaptation category so the winner almost certainly will be Luke Davies for Lion, based on Saroo Brierley.s memoir.

The 50th Annual Awgie Awards presented by the Australian Writers. Guild will be handed out in Sydney on Friday August 25.

Individual category winners will be eligible for the Major Award, given to the most outstanding script of the year. Past winners have included the writers...

Odessa Young in 'High Life.'

Director Luke Eve.s web series High Life has been sold to Us streaming service Fullscreen.

It marks another Australian acquisition for Fullscreen, which also picked up The Katering Show.

High Life was written by Glen Dolman (Hawke, Mystery of a Hansom Cab), and produced by Eve (Low Life, Australian Summer) with Adam Dolman. British comedian and mental health advocate Stephen Fry was the executive producer with Gina Carter. It was backed by Screen Australia's multiplatform fund..

.The team and I are delighted that High Life has found a home with Fullscreen in the USA,. Eve said.

.Fullscreen is a perfect fit for the project and we are excited to get the word out about the series. They have been extremely supportive of myself, Glen Dolman and Adam Dolman as filmmakers and share our passion for telling engaging stories..

High Life is a...

Eighteen film and TV screenplays have been shortlisted for the inaugural Gateway La Script Development Program launched by Australians in Film (AiF).

The winner will get a cash prize to facilitate development of the script, a flight to Los Angeles, meetings with producers and executives and table reads.

AiF will announce the winner and runners-up, who will form an .Aussie List., determined by a panel of expert judges, and the value of the cash, in a month.

The projects were selected from more than 500 scripts submitted to the L.A.-based Australian entertainment industry guild. The program aims to provide Australians living and working in the Us with more opportunities for support and resources and to help Australian projects secure exposure to the best networks in the business.

"We're incredibly proud of the projects coming out of Australia and thrilled to be able to offer writers an opportunity to showcase...

John Stevenson, the Academy Award-nominated director behind Kung Fu Panda, has found his next project.

Stevenson will direct Unified Pictures’ first CG-animated feature, which is inspired by the story of Noah’s Ark. According to a press release, “The animated comedy adventure is inspired by the classic tale, but tells the story from the point of view of the animals. The story follows an outcast aardvark by the name of Gilbert, who becomes the reluctant leader of a ragtag group of misfit animals that need to be led to the mighty ark before the impending flood. Along their journey, they...

Unified Pictures has hired Ku Fu Panda director John Stevenson to make its first CGI feature.

Noah’s Ark is in pre-production and earmarked for completion in 2016. Stevenson will direct from a script by Philip Lazebnik, whose credits include The Prince Of Egypt, Mulan and Pocahontas, and Glen Dolman.

The story will tell the Biblical tale from the point of view of the animals and centres on an outcast aardvark who becomes the reluctant leader of a motley crew of imperilled misfits.

Executive producers are Cecil Kramer and Stevenson are overseeing production with Unified Pictures’ Kurt Rauer and president Keith Kjarval.

“John Stevenson is among the finest storytellers and animation filmmakers in the business and brings with him a wealth of experience, said Kjarval.

“His unique ability to personalise this global story with tremendous heart and humour is sure to make this an inspiring film for all ages.”

Stevenson added: “As soon as Kurt and Keith approached...

John Stevenson has boarded Noah's Ark. Stevenson, who was nominated for an Oscar for directing Kung Fu Panda, will helm Unified Pictures' animated adventure comedy. The film is described as a reworking of the biblical tale from the animals' point of view, following an outcast aardvark named Gilbert who must leads a ragtag group of creatures to the ark in time to escape the flood. Philip Lazebnik and Glen Dolman wrote the script. The film is currently in pre-production and is set for completion in 2016. It is being overseen by executive producers Cecil Kramer and Stevenson with Unified co-founders Kurt Rauer and Keith Kjarval. Noah's Ark

read more...

If you’re an independent film company looking to make the first leap into producing a CG-animated feature, you’re going to want to find an experienced director to make it. Such is the case with Unified Pictures, which has hired DreamWorks Animation veteran John Stevenson to tackle a comedy version of the Noah’s Ark story.While Darren Aronofsky brought the Biblical tale to the screen with doomy dramatic style this year, Unified is looking to instead focus on the animals’ adventures. Our hero is an outcast aardvark named Gilbert, who has greatness thrust upon him when he becomes the reluctant leader of a group of rag-tag animals who must get to the Ark before the flood arrives. As they make their perilous journey across the land, they learn to work together, and Gilbert, surrounded by pairs, figures out that one doesn’t have to be the loneliest number.

UK producer Kevin Loader joins comedy drama B Model, to be directed by actor Rachel Griffiths.

Now that it is likely to be set up as a UK/Australian co-production, prolific UK producer Kevin Loader (In the Loop, Hyde Park on Hudson, Le Week-End) has become part of the team behind the comedy drama B Model, to be directed by actor Rachel Griffiths.

Griffiths has directed two shorts, Roundabout and Tulip and this will be her first feature – providing the money can be raised.

Australian producer Louise Smith was reluctant to provide details of the project precisely because it is yet to be financed. The current draft of the script is being written by Samantha Stauss, co-creator of the series Dance Academy.

B Model is included in a list of 18 features that Screen Australia has injected a total of Us$500,000 worth of development money into in the last four months.

One of the...

Screen Australia today announced nearly $535,000 in development funding for 18 features including projects set in Canada, inner-city Berlin, Mexico City, Vietnam, the Middle East and medieval England.

The genres range from family and musical to comedy, drama, thriller, sci-fi and action. The funding will support eight new projects as well as further assistance for 10 titles.

Through its Talent Escalator programs, the agency is placing three producers in professional posts to improve their direct industry experience and supporting short film director Nicholas Verso in the next stage of his professional development.

Screen Australia.s Head of Production Sally Caplan said, .In this round it is encouraging to see such a great range of Australian stories receive support from filmmakers at different levels, some with international creative partners and several with international focus.

"We are also pleased to be able to support emerging local talent with international placements that will increase our industry...

Screen Australia has committed more than $450,000 in development funding across 19 feature films.

Of the 19 projects, six are new to Screen Australia.s developmental slate, while the other 13 will continue to receive support.

The new projects include the drama script Clive, about a privileged man whose life is transformed after a serious accident, and Em, a comedic take on Jane Austen.s classic Emma.

Clive comes from writer/director Natasha Pincus, producer Bridget Ikin and executive producer John Maynard.

Em will be set in 1950s rural Australia and comes from writer Matthew Dabner, director Kate Riedl and producers Karen Radzyner and Anna Vincent.

Psychological thriller Lonely Girl will also receive developmental support. Written by Lynne Vincent McCarthy and produced by Samantha Jennings, the project was also supported through Screen Australia.s Springboard Program.

The crime drama My Country, written by Sam Meikle and Serhat Caradee and produced by Matthew Dabner, will also receive funding.

Over $450 000 in funding will be spread across 19 feature films following an announcement from Screen Australia today.

Of the 19 projects, six are new to Screen Australia.s developmental slate, while the other 13 will continue to receive support.

The new projects include the drama script Clive, about a privileged man whose life is transformed after a serious accident, and Em, a comedic take on Jane Austen.s classic Emma.

Clive comes from writer/director Natasha Pincus, producer Bridget Ikin and executive producer John Maynard.

Em will be set in 1950s rural Australia and comes from writer Matthew Dabner, director Kate Riedl and producers Karen Radzyner and Anna Vincent.

.Pyschological thriller Lonely Girl will also receive developmental support. Written by Lynne Vincent McCarthy and produced by Samantha Jennings, the project was also supported through Screen Australia.s Springboard Program.

The crime drama My Country, written by Sam Meikle and Serhat Caradee and produced by Matthew Dabner,...

Brendan Cowell

Writer and actor Brendan Cowell will make his feature film directorial debut with the adaptation of his play Ruben Guthrie - the story of a wild-boy agency creative who burns himself out.

Cowell’s project is among 19 films to receive a cut of the $450,000 development support from Screen Australia.

Cowell has teamed up with Yael Bergman, producer of I Love You Too, which starred Cowell, and executive producers Laura Waters and Andrea Denholm.

The film’s synopsis reads: “By day, 29-year-old Ruben Guthrie is the wunderkind creative at one of Sydney’s hottest boutique ad agencies; by night, he is one of Sydney’s most notorious party boys until he jumps off a hotel roof into a wading pool and nearly kills himself. Over the next 12 months, Ruben tries to build a life around AA, cups of tea, inner growth and sex with a reformed addict. His friends,...

Ten’s Modern Family topped key advertising demographics in Sunday night’s ratings although the network quickly lost its audience when The New Normal followed.

Modern Family rated 1.034m and was sixth in total viewers. It was the number one show for the evening across the 16-39, 18-49 and 25-54 demographics.

But The New Normal, also a Us family comedy, averaged just 536,000.

Ten’s thriller Homeland then recovered slightly, averaging a total of 618,000 viewers. It was second in its 8.30pm time slot in 16-39 and 18-49 and third in 25-54.

According to preliminary overnight metro ratings from OzTAM, Nine’s 60 Minutes at 7.30pm averaged 1.155m viewers. It was third in the night for total viewers, fourth in 16-39 and third in 18-49 and 25-54.

Seven’s Border Security – Australia’s Front Line, also at 7.30pm, rated 945,000 in total viewers. It was 12th in 16-39, 10th in 18-49 and 9th in...

Kat Stewart

Shaun Micallef

A new FremantleMedia Australia production is one of four new television dramas receiving support from Screen Australia.

Produced by Andy Walker and Jason Stephens with Stephens executive producing, the 13-part, hour series Mr & Mrs Murder will air on Ten.

A murder mystery series, Mr & Mrs Murder follows Nicole and Charlie, a married couple who run an extreme cleaning business, specialising in crime scenes, solving the crimes before the police.

The synopsis reads “Armed with wit, smarts and the invisibility that cleaning brings, the duo solve the crimes the cops can’t in a murder mystery with a smile.”

Shaun Micallef of Talkin ‘Bout Your Generation and Newstopia co-created the series with Stephens.

Stephens told Encore: “We’ve found a tone that is not absurd at all, its quite grounded and real.”

Stephens said Micallef, who will play Charlie, alongside Kat Stewart of Offspring and Tangled as Nicole,...

Screen Australia has invested $5.6 million across four TV projects, including a comedy series for Nine, an ABC telemovie and two shows for Network Ten.

Nine's House Husbands tells the story of four modern Australian families through the eyes of stay at home dads. The ten-part series is produced by Sue Seeary and Drew Proffitt and will be directed by Geoff Bennett and Shirley Barrett. The show's stable of seven writers includes Griff the Invisible screenwriter Leon Ford.

After being commissioned by the ABC last October, Essential Media & Entertainment's adaptation of Peter Temple's novel The Broken Shore has also received funding. The adaptation is written by Andrew Knight, directed by Jeffrey Walker and produced by Ian Collie. It follows big-city detective Joe Cashin as he discovers that all may not be as it appears in a quiet coastal town.

FremantleMedia is producing Mr & Mrs Murder for Ten. The 13-part series...

Filming has today started on a new 19th century mystery tele-movie for the ABC in Melbourne.

The Mystery of a Hansom Cab is produced by Burberry Entertainment by producer Margot McDonald with direction from Underbelly director Shawn Seet.

It has been adapted from the Fergus Hume novel of the same name by Glen Dolman, who wrote the screenplay of Bob Hawke biopic Hawke.

Cast includes Offspring’s John Waters, Beaconsfield‘s Shane Jacobson, Underbelly Razor‘s Chelsie Preston Crayford and Anna McGahan as well as Helen Morse of The Eye of the Storm and Oliver Ackland of The Slap.

Ewan Burnett, CEO of Burberry Entertainment said: “We are thrilled to be making this stunning period piece, which exquisitely depicts Melbourne in the midst of a 19th century population and economic boom.”

Carole Sklan, head of ABC TV Fiction said: “We’re delighted to be bringing this compelling Australian murder mystery to ABC TV.

Filming has commenced in Melbourne on ABC telemovie The Mystery of a Hansom Cab.

The Burberry Entertainment production. is an adaptation of the 1886 novel of the same name by Fergus Hume.

The story follows the consequences of a fateful night when two men get into a hansom cab, but only one comes out alive. The book, which was last adapted for the screen in 1926, is often described as the first international crime blockbuster.

The cast includes Shane Jacobson (Beaconsfield), Anna McGahan (Underbelly: Razor), Helen Morse (The Eye of the Storm), Oliver Ackland (The Slap) and John Waters (Offspring).

"We are thrilled to be making this stunning period piece which exquisitely depicts Melbourne in the midst of a 19th century population and economic boom," said Burberry Entertainment chief executive Ewan Burnett in a statement.

The telemovie is written by Glen Dolman, produced by Margot McDonald and directed by Shawn Seet.

Shooting...

Nominations for the 2011 Nsw Premier.s Literary Award were announced yesterday. including the $30,000 Script Writing Award. The award has been offered since 1990, and past recipients include Baz Luhrmann (Strictly Ballroom), Rolf de Heer (Bad Boy Bubby) and Chris Lilley (We Can Be Heroes). This year.s script writing award nominees include Shirley Barrett for South Solitary (Macgowan Films), Glen Dolman for telemovie Hawke (The Film Company), Michael Miller for The Hero.s Standard (Knapman Wyld TV, Sbs), John Misto for telemovie Sisters of War (Sisters of War Pty Ltd), Debra Oswald for TV series Offspring (Southern Star Entertainment) and Samantha Strauss for Dance Academy, Episode 13: Family (Werner Film Productions). Last year.s winners were Jane...

The shortlist for the 2011 Nsw Premier’s Literary Awards has been announced, and the script category includes South Solitary, Hawke, The Hero’s Standard, Sisters of War, Offspring and Dance Academy.

The winner, to be announced on May 16, will receive $30,000. The script nominees are:

Shirley Barrett, South Solitary (Macgowan Films) Glen Dolman, Hawke (The Film Company) Michael Miller, The Hero’s Standard (Knapman Wyld TV, Sbs) John Misto, Sisters of War (Sisters of War Pty Ltd) Debra Oswald, Offspring (Southern Star Entertainment) Samantha Strauss, Dance Academy, Episode 13: Family (Werner Film Productions)...

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,...

Animal Kingdom received 18 nominations for this year’s Australian Film Institute Awards, followed by Beneath Hill 60 (12), Bright Star (11), Tomorrow, When the War Began (8), The Tree, Bran Nue Dae (7 each) and The Boys Are Back (4)

The Best Film category will see Animal Kingdom competing against Beneath Hill 60, Bright Star, Bran Nue Dae, The Tree and Tomorrow, When the War Began.

Australia’s top rated drama productions – Packed to the Rafters and Underbellly: The Golden Mile – were both absent from the main Television categories (except for Underbelly‘s two acting nods).

The winners will be revealed on December 10 (Industry Awards) and 11 (main Awards Ceremony) in Melbourne.

This is the full list of nominees:

AFI Members’ Choice Award

Animal Kingdom. Liz Watts. Beneath Hill 60. Bill Leimbach. Bran Nue Dae. Robyn Kershaw, Graeme Isaac. Bright Star. Jan Chapman, Caroline Hewitt. The Boys Are Back. Greg Brenman, Tim White. Tomorrow When The War Began.