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Jonathan Alley’s Love in Bright Landscapes looks back at The Triffids and the rise and untimely demise of frontman, David McComb.

The feature documentary features interviews with Paul Kelly, triple j’s Richard Kingsmill and the late scholar Niall Lucy, as well as never-before-seen family footage and snippets of newly-discovered writing by McComb.

Producers are Danielle Karalus and Tait Brady.

The post ‘Love in Bright Landscapes’ (Trailer) appeared first on If Magazine.

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...

Matthew Walker’s I’m Wanita will make its world premiere at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival next month.

The film, which follows Australia’s self-crowned “Queen of Honky Tonk” Wanita Bahtiyar, will screen as part of the Artscapes strand – a program that features work exploring creativity in the performing and visual arts.

Other Australian films set for the festival this year include Sally Aitken’s Playing with Sharks, to screen as a special presentation; Nays Baghai’s Documentary Australia Foundation Award-winning Descent, to make its North American premiere as part of the World Showcase; and Nel Minchin and Wayne Blair’s Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra, also in the Artscapes strand.

Aitken and producer Bettina Dalton will also appear in a Q&a together with the subject of their film, marine conservationist and photographer Valerie Taylor.

Two Aussie shorts have also been accepted into the festival: Sophie Raymond’s Recorder Queen,...

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...

‘The Furnace.’

Most independent Australian distributors are doing it tough, forced to postpone releases while the exhibition business languishes with Victorian cinemas closed and seating capacity restricted in the rest of the country.

They fear the Federal Government’s media reforms, which will lower the Producer Offset for films to 30 per cent and double the minimum qualifying Australian production expenditure (Qape) threshold for features to $1 million, will lead to fewer narrative features and feature documentaries.

Another concern is that removing the obligation to release films in cinemas will further deplete the number of titles available to distributors next year.

However most are confident the cinema business will rebound from Boxing Day onwards with the launches of Warner Bros’ Wonder Woman 1984, Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods: A New Age and Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2, and that 2021 will be a strong year.

“Business is not what it used to be...

‘The Furnace.’

Most independent Australian distributors are doing it tough, forced to postpone releases while the exhibition business languishes with Victorian cinemas closed and seating capacity restricted in the rest of the country.

They fear the Federal Government’s media reforms, which will lower the Producer Offset for films to 30 per cent and double the minimum qualifying Australian production expenditure (Qape) threshold for features to $1 million, will lead to fewer narrative features and feature documentaries.

Another concern is that removing the obligation to release films in cinemas will further deplete the number of titles available to distributors next year.

However most are confident the cinema business will rebound from Boxing Day onwards with the launches of Warner Bros’ Wonder Woman 1984, Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods: A New Age and Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2, and that 2021 will be a strong year.

“Business is not what it used to be...

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,...

By Glenn Dunks

At least once a year, we do a round-up of some of the music documentaries that are making the rounds. This year there is a particular focus on women in music with a range of titles covering pop (Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl), punk and new wave (The Go-Go’s), rock (Suzy Q) and whatever it is that sits in between all of them (Sisters with Transistors)—and they of course sit alongside names like Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn in Ken Burns' Country Music, which we looked at recently.

I have actually already written about Liam Firmager and Tait Brady’s Aussie-made Suzi Q upon its local Australian release last year. I was impressed by its high energy retelling of the career of the “Devil Gate Drive” and "Can the Can" singer and guitarist Suzi Quatro. A rollicking is simply structured documentary that is...

The bass-playing singer and songwriter, Suzi Quatro, is an icon. Maybe not so much in the U.S. where she is best known for her Happy Days role as Leather Tuscadero, backed up by The Suedes and playing sock hops in middle America. But to the rest of the world, Quatro was the first female face of the rock generation.

Directed by Australian filmmakers Liam Firmager and Tait Brady, the documentary Suzi Q shows Quatro as a true pioneer. She redefined the role of women in rock ‘n roll. There were female singers and musicians before Suzi, but she was the first to break through as lead vocalist who was also just part of the band. Female musicians took note and took notes, if not patterns. In the new documentary, Tina Weymouth of the Talking Heads says Quatro was the reason she chose the bass.

Quatro was a British sensation...

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.

"People have overlooked her – that's their mistake." Utopia Distribution has unveiled an official Us trailer for a rock doc film called Suzi Q. For four and a half years, Australian filmmakers Liam Firmager and Tait Brady have been working on this feature documentary about legendary rocker Suzi Quatro, inspired by her lengthy career and fearless character, and fueled by a sense that Suzi's trailblazing status wasn't sufficiently recognized by the music industry and contemporary audiences, especially in North America. Along the way, Suzi Q - the film - "has become revisionist history of 'women in rock'n'roll', and an intimate insight into a driven, ageless performer." The documentary is a thrilling look back at her story, then and now, and how she "helped redefine the role of women in rock 'n' roll when she broke out in 1973." A totally rockin' story to tell. Here's the official Us trailer (+ new poster) for Liam Firmager's doc Suzi Q,...

Today, we have a first look at the new rock and roll documentary Suzi Q, which goes behind the music for an in-depth look at groundbreaking icon Suzi Quatro. She is beloved by many, and is still rocking out to this day. But her story has never been told quite like this.

Suzi Quatro has stood the test of time as one of the all-time great rock and rollers to ever grace the stage. She is perhaps best known to some as Leather Tuscadero, having appeared in 7 all-time great episodes of Happy Days. And her poster even hangs in Ash's old bedroom in the series Ash Vs. Evil Dead.

Most recently, she released an all-new double-lp, and one of her songs can be heard on Rob Zombie's 3 From Hell soundtrack. So you know he's a fan. Now comes the must-see documentary for anyone who is even remotely interested...

Debbie Harry, Alice Cooper and more appear in the trailer for Suzi Q, a new film about pioneering female rock star Suzi Quatro, out this summer.

Directed by Liam Firmager, the documentary chronicles Quatro’s career, from her beginnings in Detroit to her breakthrough in 1973. “She was the first, and broke the ice and kicked the doors for us gals,” Cherie Currie says in the opening of the clip. “If people have overlooked her, that’s their fault.”

“A lot of girls had tried to be Suzi Quatro,” Cooper notes.

“Suzi Q,” a documentary about Suzi Quatro, who preceded Joan Jett onto the scene in the early ’70s as a leather-clad rock pioneer, has been picked up for North America by Utopia. The company will give the rock doc a one-night theatrical release July 1, followed by digital and DVD distribution two days later.

A U.S. premiere has been set for the Sonoma International Film Festival on March 29, where Quatro will make an appearance. The film already opened last fall in the UK and Australia, two territories where Quatro, a Detroit native, had her biggest chart successes.

Besides interviewing Quatro herself, filmmakers Liam Firmager and Tait Brady also sought out contemporaries like Alice Cooper and female musicians who felt Quatro’s impact, including Deborah Harry, Joan Jett and Cherie Currie of the Runaways, Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go’s, Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads and Donita Sparks of L7.

“Over...

(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...

Perth, Australia-based production company Legend Media is preparing a slate of three feature films to be produced with partners in China.

The company styles itself as one that recognizes the opportunities for Asian engagement that have fallen to Australia, through geography, trade and culture. The company aims to make use of the bilateral film co-production treaty that came into effect in December 2008 between Australia and China and has been used on average by nearly one film per year.

Operations are headed by Camille Chen, a writer-director-producer with relevant co-production (“Little Sparrows”). The company is backed by mining executive Bronwen Barnes, property developer Paul Lakey, and banking and property executive Darren Cooper.

First up, and aiming to shoot from late January 2020, is “Outback Dragon,” an action-adventure-comedy in the vein of “Lost In Thailand” and “Chinatown Detective,” that is set in gold mining territory around Kalgoorlie, and in Chinese mega-city Shenzhen. Lead...

‘Defend, Conserve, Protect.’

Disney’s The Lion King roared through its second weekend in Australia as the studio smashed its own annual global box office record set in 2016 last weekend.

Meanwhile Defend, Conserve, Protect, Stephen Amis’ feature doc which examines the long-running campaign to stop Japanese fishermen killing whales in the Southern Ocean, opened on seven screens in limited sessions.

Narrated by Dan Aykroyd and produced by Amis, Sea Shepherd Australia MD Jeff Hansen and Sea Shepherd colleague Omar Todd, the film fetched an estimated $7,200 but had already netted $37,000 from about 40 advance screenings and festivals.

The executive producer, Label Distribution’s Tait Brady, is happy with the reviews and media coverage and says the film will play through the end of the year with screenings for activists and community groups, after which he will negotiate ancillary deals.

He offered the film to several sales agents but they were wary of the anti-whaling stance.

David Doepel.

Cinema on-demand operator Demand Film aims to raise a seven-figure sum via an equity crowdfunding platform to accelerate its global roll-out and ramp up the volume of releases.

Co-founder and MD David Doepel is confident its 110,000 customers, of whom 40,000 are in Australia, will respond to the opportunity to buy shares in the company which launched in 2014.

Today it invited expressions of interest via Birchal.com but the precise sum it is seeking won’t be revealed until the formal launch of the equity crowdfunding campaign in about three weeks.

Doepel tells If the goal is to raise somewhere between $1 million and $2 million by June 30, which would dilute the stakes held by himself and co-founders Andrew Hazelton and Barbara Connell.

“We will have a smaller slice of a bigger pie as we add more territories and put more money into releasing and marketing films,” he says.

The firm currently operates in seven territories: Australia,...

‘Defend, Conserve, Protect.’

Stephen Amis’ film examining the long-running campaign to stop Japanese fishermen killing whales in the Southern Ocean was named best international feature documentary at the American Documentary Film Festival.

Four years in the making, Defend, Conserve, Protect had its its world premiere at the festival which ran from March 29 – April 4 in Palm Springs, California.

Produced by Amis, Sea Shepherd Australia MD Jeff Hansen and Sea Shepherd colleague Omar Todd, the doc follows a young, passionate and fearless group of Sea Shepherd activists in their battle to defend the Minke whales as well as exploring the global marine activism movement and the importance of the world’s oceans.

“It’s wonderful for the movie to be recognised abroad and of course we are very happy to promote the incredible work of Sea Shepherd and their ocean conservation programs,” Amis, who attended the premiere, tells If.

“The usually non-alarmist...

The Mv Bob Barker in Antarctic waters.

Before, during and after making the comedy The BBQ, director Stephen Amis and executive producer Tait Brady shot a feature documentary on a rather more serious topic: the long-running campaign to stop Japanese fishermen killing whales in the Southern Ocean.

Four years in the making, Defend, Conserve, Protect is having its world premiere this week at the American Documentary Film Festival in Palm Springs, California, attended by Amis.

Made in close collaboration with the Sea Shepherd organisation, the film was shot amidst clashes between the Japanese whaling fleet and Sea Shepherd’s boats.

Produced by Amis, Sea Shepherd Australia MD Jeff Hansen and Sea Shepherd colleague Omar Todd, the doc follows a young, passionate and fearless group of activists in their battle to defend the Minke whales as well as exploring the global marine activism movement and the importance of the world’s oceans.

Suzi Quatro.

Four years in the making, producer Tait Brady and director Liam Firmager are in fine cut of their theatrical feature documentary on rock ‘n’ roll trailblazer Suzi Quatro.

Suzi Q charts the career of the Detroit-born, UK-based singer/songwriter/bassist/bandleader/actor Susan Kay Quatro, hailed as the first female rocker to break through into the mainstream.

“It’s quite personal, an essay on the price of fame,” Brady tells If. “We look at her marriage and divorce, her children and sibling rivalry.”

Film Victoria is an investor in the doc produced by Brady’s The Acme Film Company, which he will release later this year via Label Distribution.

The international sales agent Kew Media began pre-sales at the European Film Market in Berlin, with deals to be announced.

Firmager met Quatro via a mutual connection when she was touring Australia four years ago. She agreed to take...

Julius Amedume’s neo-noir psychological thriller “Rattlesnakes,” rock documentary “Suzi Q” and the elevated horror thriller “Itsy Bitsy” are among the new titles that Kew Media Distribution will be introducing to buyers at Berlin’s European Film Market, which kicks off Thursday.

They join a slate that includes three buzz-worthy documentaries: Rodney Ascher’s “Glitch in the Matrix, Michael Jackson expose “Leaving Neverland,” one of the talking points at Sundance, and Nick Broomfield’s “Marianne & Leonard – Words of Love,” also a hot title in Park City.

Scripted and directed by Amedume, “Rattlesnakes” tells the story of California life guru and family man Robert McQueen. What begins as a typical day of therapy sessions with his clients takes a turn for the worse… He’s expecting to meet a regular client in a rented apartment, but instead he’s ambushed by three masked men and held hostage.

McQueen is accused of...

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...

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...

Brothers’ Nest follows two siblings played by real-life brothers Clayton and Shane Jacobson.

Clayton Jacobson’s dark comedy Brothers’ Nest has been acquired by Australian sales outfit Odin’s Eye Entertainment (Oee) and La-based Guardian Entertainment International (Gei), who have teamed up to manage worldwide sales.

Brothers’ Nest follows two siblings — played by real-life brothers Clayton and Shane Jacobson — who return to their childhood home intending to murder their stepfather.

The film had its world premiere at this year’s SXSW and is slated for a theatrical release in Australia and New Zealand in late Q2 through executive producer Tait Brady’s Label Distribution.

Craig Carter..

One of Australia.s most respected sound designers, Craig Carter, has died in Melbourne.

The multiple AFI award winner had a heart attack last Friday, aged 60. The sound designer, editor, and recordist worked on more than 100 productions in a career spanning 34 years..

He was working with producer Tait Brady on Clayton Jacobson.s film Sibling Rivalry, now three weeks into production..

Brady, who first collaborated with Carter on Craig Monahan.s Healing, told If: .It.s incredibly sad. .Craig was such a great guy, gentle, thoughtful, so good natured and generous. A perfectionist who always went the extra mile and a very smart, sensitive sound designer who was also a musician and had a great musical ear, which fed into his work..

One of his last projects, PACmen, Luke Walker.s documentary on the inside workings of the controversial Political Action Committees which raise millions to support Us political candidates and causes,...

Shane Jacobson in 'Kenny', written and directed by brother Clayton. The two will join forces again on 'Sibling Rivalry'.

The brothers behind Kenny,.Shane and Clayton Jacobson, are set to reunite for a new film, black comedy Sibling Rivalry..

The feature is one of four film projects and seven television dramas supported by Screen Australia in its latest $8.8 million funding round..

The pair will co-star in the film, which revolves around two brothers who, with their mother at death.s door, go to extreme lengths to protect their inheritance.

Clayton will direct the film and produce along with Jason Byrne (Sucker, How to Talk Australians). The script has been penned by Jamie Browne (The Mule, Secret Daughter, Please Like Me), with Tait Brady (The BBQ, Little Acorns, Healing) and Julia Adams (Mako Mermaids,The Day My Butt Went Psycho) executive producing..

Among the other projects funded...

Exclusive: Partners to screen footage of Australian comedy in Cannes.

Veteran distribution and sales executive Richard S. Guardian has brought worldwide sales rights to The BBQ to Cinema Management Group (Cmg).

Guardian will join Edward Noeltner and his team at Cmg as they screen footage and launch sales on the Croisette.

Australia-based Revolution Partners just wrapped production in Melbourne and Albury-Wodonga on the comedy about a suburban everyman with a passion for BBQ who enlists the help of a tyrannical Scottish chef when he is invited to compete in an international contest.

Stephen Amis directs The BBQ and the producers are Tait Brady, Lynne Wilson, Deb Fryers, and Amis. Shane Jacobson and Magda Szubanski star alongside celebrity chef Manu Feildel, comedian Julia Zemiro, and Nicholas Hammond.

Amis co-wrote the screenplay with David Richardson, Serge DeNardo and Angelo Salamanca – the team that collaborated on sci-fi comedy-drama The 25th Reich.

The BBQ is financed with support from Screen Australia...

Shane Jacobson in 'Kenny'..

Shane Jacobson and Magda Szubanski have joined the cast of Stephen Amis. upcoming comedy, The BBQ.

Jacobson will play Darren .Dazza. Cook, described as .a loveable suburban everyman with a long-established belief that his family is related to Captain James Cook..

Dazza has a passion for barbequing, but when he accidentally gives his neighbours food poisoning, his reputation and dignity are on the line. To make amends he seeks tutelage from the tyrannical Scottish chef known simply as .The Butcher., played by Szubanksi. .

Together they enter an international barbecue competition, pitting Dazza.s homespun techniques against the world.s best BBQ chefs.

The Revolution Partners film will also star celebrity-chef Manu Feildel; Julia Zemiro (Rockwiz); and Nicholas Hammond (The Sound of Music). The feature will begin shooting on Feb 6 around Albury-Wodonga, Mitta Mitta, and metro Melbourne.

.The Aussie barbecue is the iconic watering hole that brings all people together,...

Comedy webseries.Little Acorns goes inside the world of that long-suffering breed: the childcare worker.

The series, which stars Rachel Griffiths, is written and directed by actors Trudy Hellier and Maria Theodorakis and funded by Screen Australia.

Hellier has appeared in the likes of The Death and Life of Otto Bloom and The Doctor Blake Mysteries, and previously wrote four episodes of TV series Lowdown. Theodorakis' credits include The Castle, Walking on Water and Holding the Man..

Little Acorns consists of nine 3-5 minute episodes, available online from September 1..

.We wanted to celebrate the world's unsung heroines, but ultimately we wanted to make a show about women behaving badly,. said Theodorakis.

.These are women we all know but rarely see on our screens. They are bold, fearless, contradictory and ridiculously funny,. said Hellier.

.We are tired of seeing women in stereotypical roles; men are having all the fun and we...

Exclusive: Projects involving Damian Jones and Versailles breakout star George Blagden also pitched at Edinburgh’s first works in progress event.

The Edinburgh International Film Festival (June 15-26) hosted its first works in progress event on Sunday, presenting seven British features still in production.

Films were looking for a combination of sales company representation, festival interest and final finance.

Between pitches were meetings and networking with industry representatives from Protagonist, Metrodome, Carnaby, Stray Dogs, Film4, Studiocanal, Lionsgate, Soda and Creative England.

Festival representatives attended from Tallinn Black Nights and International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Holly Daniel, Edinburgh’s head of industry and talent development, told Screen: “It’s something we’ve wanted to do for a while now. There’s a gap across the UK for films looking for the final piece of the puzzle…Given all our work with emerging talent already, that put us in a good position to provide that platform.”

“We are very...

Twilight.s Kellan Lutz must like working in Australia as he has just joined the cast of Nest, writer-director Kimble Rendall.s 3D sci-fi thriller which will start production in Queensland this month.

That.s his second Australian gig: last month he starred in Shane Abbess. futuristic sci-fi thriller SFv1 as a drifter who teams up with military contractor Kane (Daniel MacPherson), to rescue Kane.s daughter (Teagan Croft) amid an impending global crisis.

Lutz and Kelsey Grammer (Cheers, Frasier) join the previously announced Li Bingbing in the Chinese/Australian co-production which centres on a group of scientists who discover a well-preserved mummified Emperor from 200 BC China. The plot follows the scientists as they encounter a swarm of man-eating funnel web spiders in an ancient labyrinth and strive to discover the secret behind the insects. power and intelligence.

Kellan plays Ridley, an international first responder and guide on their mission,...

Li Bingbing will play the lead in Nest, writer-director Kimble Rendall.s 3D sci-fi thriller which will start production in Queensland next month.

Li will also serve as one of the producers on the Chinese/Australian co-production, which centres on a group of scientists who discover a well-preserved mummified Emperor from 200 BC China.

The plot follows the scientists as they encounter a swarm of man-eating funnel web spiders in an ancient labyrinth and strive to discover the secret behind the insects. power and intelligence.

The actress. credits include Transformers: Age of Extinction, Resident Evil: Retribution and Zhongkui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal, which grossed $80 million in China this year.

Darclight, the genre label of Gary Hamilton.s Arclight Films, is co-producing Nest with Beijing-based Loongs United Investment Company Ltd., which distributed Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and the Jason Statham starrer Redemption in China.

Hamilton tells If that Li will play a scientist named Jia.

Backing also allocated to China-Australia co-production The Nest.

Investment from Screen Australia means filming is set to go ahead on A Few Less Men, the sequel to 2011 ensemble comedy A Few Best Men.

At the same board meeting, the government agency also backed Kimble Rendall’s The Nest, a China-Australia co-production to be primarily made in Australia.

Arclight Films International will represent both films.

A Few Less Men will see Xavier Samuel, Kris Marshall and Kevin Bishop return to their roles as hapless friends, who become stranded in the Australian bush with a friend’s body after their plane makes a forced landing.

It is understood that Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect), who played Daphne in the first film, will not reprise her role.

A Few Best Men screenwriter Dean Craig (Death At A Funeral) will return to pen the sequel, although he will not direct as previously reported.

Peter Templeman will take on directing duties, marking his second...

Kimble Rendall.s 3D action adventure The Nest, a sequel to A Few Best Men and a TV drama starring Rebecca Gibney are being co-funded by Screen Australia.

The agency is investing $3.19 million in the three projects, a remarkable economic multiplier as the combined budgets are $38.4 million.

An official Australian/Chinese co-production, The Nest tells of the discovery of a well-preserved mummified Emperor from 200 BC China, which unleashes a 2,000 year-old nightmare.

Arclight Films, which produced Rendall.s Chinese hit Bait 3D, is producing through Gary Hamilton, Ying Ye and Mark Lazarus with a Chinese partner yet to be identified.

Shooting in Australia and China is due to start in the fourth quarter with an international cast. Tait Brady.s Label is the Australian distributor.

Rendall has been developing the script since he finished Bait. "I was researching Chinese history," he tells If today on the line from Beijing.. "The Nest...

Writer-director Craig Monahan will get the chance to screen his film Healing to key industry figures in Los Angeles and New York after winning the Australian Directors Guild.s Finders Award.

In partnership with the Directors Guild of America Finders series, the Adg selects one Australian feature film which is yet to secure Us distribution and is entered into the Adg Awards.

Monahan will accompany the film when it.s screened later in the year for distributors, managers and agents in La and NY.

Adg CEO Kingston Anderson said, .The Adg selects a film that is submitted to the Awards that does not have Us distribution and would provide the director with an opportunity to showcase their work. Healing and its director Craig Monahan fit perfectly for the Finders Award."

Produced by Tait Brady and Monahan.s Pointblank Pictures and co-scripted by the director and Alison Nisselle, the drama starring Don Hany,...

It took scriptwriter Alison Nisselle and director/co-writer Craig Monahan 10 years to make Healing, a redemptive drama which opens in Australian cinemas on May 8.

Nisselle is hoping her next project, a feature on Julia Gillard, will happen rather more quickly.

But she tells If it will take at least two years to complete her research and finish the script on the former Prime Minister.s reign and ousting by Kevin Rudd.

It was announced last year that Rachel Griffiths will play Gillard in Stalking Julia, based partly on Kerry-Anne Walsh's book The Stalking of Julia Gillard. Wtfn.s Richard Keddie is the producer and Emma Freeman (Puberty Blues, Offspring and the Bob Hawke telemovie Hawke) is attached to direct.

Nisselle got the idea for Healing after reading a Philippa Hawker story in The Age about a rehabilitation program caring for wounded eagles, falcons and owls run by the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary and Prisons Victoria.

After 15 years of impressive. work in Australian films and TV series, Don Hany has the chance to make a name for himself in the Us.

Meanwhile young Aussie actress Natasha Bassett has scored a role in a Fox network comedy pilot, Here.s Your Damn Family.

Hany, who starred in The Broken Shore, Serangoon Road, Devils Dust and Offspring, has landed the lead role in Warriors, the pilot for a Us drama series.

Hany will play George Mann, a trauma surgeon for a Us military hospital inspired by the Walter Reed Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Caring for injured servicemen takes its toll on Hany.s character. The pilot was written by Chris Keyser (Party of Five, Sisters) and will be produced by Mandeville TV and ABC Studios for the ABC network.

Bassett, whose credits include Mental, Rake, Wild Boys and the Oz-shot NBC series Camp, will play a...

Director Craig Monahan.s first film in 10 years is an intelligent and satisfying drama.

That.s according to the first reviews for Healing, which is screening at the European Film Market in Berlin.

Don Hany, Hugo Weaving, Xavier Samuel and Anthony Hayes star in the film scripted by Monahan (who last directed Peaches in 2004) and Alison Nisselle, inspired by a real-life alliance between the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary and Prisons Victoria.

.A group of conflicted men, prisoners and inmates discover the majesty of great birds . and through them, the cleansing power of redemption . in the deeply felt outdoor drama Healing,. said Variety's Eddie Cockrell.

.The first film in a decade from director and co-writer Craig Monahan, whose 1998 psychological thriller The Interview remains an uncommonly smart genre piece, this equally intelligent and satisfying item will prove therapeutic to distribs on the hunt for quality fare..

Hany plays Viktor, a crim of Iranian...

Irish filmmaker Sophie Fiennes. The Perverts Guide To Ideology and Australian writer-director Michael Bond.s debut film Passengers have been acquired by Tait Brady.s boutique distribution company Label.

Fiennes. documentary follows Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek on a tour through the labyrinths of popular culture including the films The Sound of Music, Taxi Driver, Titanic and The Dark Knight, plus TV ad campaigns and music.

The follow-up to Fiennes. The Perverts Guide To Cinema, the film premiered at the Sydney Festival, is screening at this week.s Revelation Film Festival in Perth and is booked into the Melbourne International Film Festival.

The Hollywood Reporter hailed the doc as a .riveting and often hilarious demonstration of the Slovenian philosopher.s uncanny ability to turn movies inside out and accepted notions on their head..

Brady is showing the film to exhibitors with a view to launching the film in a limited number...

Xavier Samuel Set For Australian Drama ‘Healing’ The Twilight Saga: Eclipse’s Xavier Samuel will co-star with Hugo Weaving and Don Hany in Healing, writer-director Craig Monahan’s drama which starts shooting in Victoria on February 18. Samuel, who’ll next be seen in Catherine Hardwicke’s thriller Plush, plays a young, vulnerable prisoner who gets involved in a rehabilitation program involving treating injured birds at a low-security prison farm run by Weaving’s Senior Officer Perry. Hany plays a long-term crim who has almost given up on life. The cast includes Jane Menelaus, Anthony Hayes, Mark Leonard Winter, Robert Taylor and Justine Clark. The producers are Tait Brady and Monahan’s PointBlank Pictures. Monahan co-wrote the script with Alison Nisselle. Andrew Lesnie is the Dop. Lightning Entertainment consultant Richard Guardian is pitching the project to buyers at Berlin’s European Film Market. – Don Groves Dueling Miniseries On Australian Billionaire Gina...

.Australian feature Healing, starring Hugo Weaving, Don Hany and Xavier Samuel, is set to start shooting in Victoria on February 18.

The tale of redemption is inspired by a true story, writer-director-producer Craig Monahan said in a statement. .The script is inspired by true events and the powerful connection forged by humans with birds and animals..

Healing follows Viktor Khadem (Don Hany in his first major feature role), who has spent 16 years in prison and has almost given up on life. For his final 18 months, he is sentenced to a low-security, pre-release prison farm, where senior officer Matt Perry (Hugo Weaving) has established a unique program to rehabilitate broken men by giving them the responsibility for the rehabilitation of injured eagles, falcons and owls. Against all odds, Matt takes on Viktor as his number one test case, introducing him to Yasmine, a majestic Wedge-tailed Eagle, revealing a new path of inspiration and hope.

Screen Australia says it has not mismanaged its finances by spending its annual production funding in just six months - a state of affairs which it says reflects the strength of the local film industry.

The government screen agency revealed in mid-December 2012 that it had spent its entire annual $42 million drama production allocation due to the unprecedented number of quality feature film and television projects seeking support. The shock announcement was reminiscent of the agency's abrupt decision to cut its investment cap in 2009 while several films were mid-financed. That decision.threw several major Australian productions into dissaray including The Tree and the biggest box office hit of.2010, Tomorrow When the War Began (Omnilab Media had to increase its investment at the last minute to ensure production).

Overspending on such a scale has never occurred before, even going back to the era of Screen Australia.s predecessor funding arm, the Film Finance Corporation.

Australian comedy The Wedding Party will have a limited Us theatrical run after securing a deal with Mousetrap Films.

The small Us release, set for 2013, will be through Mousetrap.s recently launched Film Festival Flix program . an innovative method of bringing film festival favourites without a distribution deal to a wider audience.

Film Festival Flix . a .mini-festival. . is held in cinemas on one-night, once-a-month, in more than 25 cinemas in more than 15 cities. Three films are screened (a documentary, a signature feature, and a late night genre picture); a short Q&A is held with the filmmakers; and DVDs of the film are available to buy on-site. The film is also distributed simultaneously on other platforms such as VOD, in-store retailers and on TV/cable.

Australian drama Face to Face, directed by Michael Rymer, was also released in similar fashion in the Us through Film Festival Flix.

The Wedding Party, which...

Screen Australia has committed almost $700,000 in development support across 23 feature projects.

Fifteen new projects have been added to Screen Australia.s development slate, while eight teams will receive continued support to develop their projects.

Two Australian filmmakers will also be supported to undertake overseas internships: producer Ma.ara Bobby Romia will work for six months with Screentime Group in New Zealand and director Ariel Martin-Merrells will work under the mentorship of director James Foley in Los Angeles for five months.

Screen Australia.s head of development Martha Coleman said in a statement: .Following a now well-established tradition, the development slate announced today includes a diverse range of compelling stories from both established and emerging filmmakers. The high calibre of screenplays coming through our door backs up positive feedback we are getting from the domestic and international marketplace and I.m looking forward to seeing the best of these projects make...

The story of Rupert Murdoch’s rise to become the world’s biggest media mogul looks set to become an Australian TV telemovie,

Screen Australia has provided funding development for the work which is being written by Bob Ellis and Stephen Ramsay.

The announcement comes days after Southern Star’s production of Howzat, the story of how Australian media mogul Kerry Packer took on the cricket establishment delivered the Nine Network with 2m+ ratings.

The series has the working title of The News of the World.

The British Sunday tabloid the telemovie is named after was closed by Murdoch last year in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.

Bob Ellis wrote the Australian journalism drama Newsfront and most recently ABC’s Infamous Victory: Ben Chifley’s Battle for Coal while Stephen Ramsey wrote and directed The Baby Boomers Picture Show and Flashbacks.

Ellis told Mumbrella: “What we have...

Don Groves is a Deadline contributor based in Sydney Hugo Weaving and Don Hany will star in Healing, an Australian drama about a sympathetic prison warden and his efforts to rehabilitate an Iranian-born prisoner, one of four features agency Screen Australia agreed to co-finance at its board meeting today. The other films that secured Screen Australia investment are Aim High in Creation, a hybrid documentary-drama celebrating “the cinematic genius” of the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, from writer/director Anna Broinowski and producer Lizzette Atkins; and the previously announced The Rover, a futuristic Western from Animal Kingdom writer/director David Michôd, starring Robert Pattinson and Guy Pearce; and Felony, which will star Joel Edgerton as a decorated cop who knocks down a young cyclist while driving home after celebrating a drug bust, scripted by Edgerton and directed by Mathew Saville. Healing will be directed by Craig Monahan, who co-scripted with Alison Nisselle.

David Michod

David Michod’s new film has received funding from Screen Australia, as part of almost $20m of investment from the screen agency.

The investment is expected to trigger $100m worth of production across four feature films, five TV dramas and three children’s dramas.

The Rover is written and directed by Michod, with a story by Michod and Joel Edgerton.

The film has cast Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson in the lead roles.

Michod will also produce the film alongside his Animal Kingdom producing partner Liz Watts for Porchlight Films and David Linde, Ep on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for his Lava Bear Films.

The film will be distributed by Village Roadshow with international sales by FilmNation.

The Rover, set in the Australian desert in the dangerous near-future sees Eric, a man who has lost almost everything in life, have his car stolen by a gang of criminals.

Screen Australia will invest almost $20 million across 12 screen projects including futuristic Western The Rover, starring Robert Pattinson and Guy Pearce.

The film is the latest collaboration between producer Liz Watts and writer-director David Michôd, following the success of their crime-thriller Animal Kingdom in 2010. FilmNation Entertainment acquired the majority of worldwide rights to The Rover at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year while Village Roadshow will distribute the film in Australia.

Screen Australia has also backed three other feature films: drama Felony, written by Joel Edgerton and directed by Matthew Saville (Noise); Healing, a redemptive prison drama starring Don Hany (East West 101) and Hugo Weaving; and Aim High in Creation, a hybrid documentary-drama about the late Kim Jong-il from writer/director Anna Broinowski (Forbidden Lie$).

Screen Australia chief executive Ruth Harley said the four Australian features have huge potential. "The Rover is a powerful, well-crafted script from a talented team with an impressive cast,...

Short film fest, The St Kilda Film Festival has announced its award nominees across 18 categories. Winners will be announced on Sunday 27 May

The announcement:

Now in its 29th year the St Kilda Film Festival’s (Skff) Top 100 competition recognises and awards local filmmakers of all levels of experience who excel in creative and craft and who show potential for growth within the industry.

From an increasingly competitive field of entrants, 62 nominees are in the running for 18 prestigious awards and their share of $40,000 of cash and in-kind prizes, with the winner of the Best Film being awarded $10,000 cash.

The nominations for the 2012 Best Short Film include: At The Formal (Directed by Andrew Kavanagh & Produced by Ramona Telecican). Peekaboo (Directed by Damien Power & Produced by Joe Weatherstone) The Palace (Directed by Anthony Maras & Produced by Anthony Maras, Kate Croser, Andros Achilleos) and Transmission (Directed by Zak Hilditch & Produced by Liz Kearney)

Nominees...