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William Wages’ upcoming film “The Neon Highway,” produced by Stratton Leopold and presented by Mountain Movies, will be theatrically released on March 15, following a Nashville premiere on March 13.

“The Neon Highway” stars Beau Bridges as a country music artist whose star is fading. Other cast members include Rob Mayes, Sandra Lee-Oian Thomas, Sam Hennings, T.J. Power, Brett Gentile, and Ezekiel Bridges. Country artist Pam Tillis plays herself and Curb recording artist Lee Brice plays Lamont Johnson.

The script is co-written by Wages and Phillip Bellury. The film’s description reads, “Twenty years ago, Wayne (Mayes), an aspiring singer/songwriter, was a heartbeat away from making it in Nashville when a car accident derailed his ambitions. Now working a 9-5 job and struggling to support his family, Wayne has a fateful encounter with waning country music great Claude Allen (Bridges) who reignites Claude’s musical dreams.”

The summary continues, “Together they...

To celebrate the casting community and spotlight its members, Casting Society of America (CSA) and IMDbPro are collaborating to present a monthly series of interviews between CSA casting directors and actors about their careers, the casting process, and how IMDbPro helps them advance their careers. This month Jessica Sherman, CSA interviewed TJ Power.

See the full interview.

A record impresario turns a swank LP listening party into a diatribe party. When he stomps on the latest record he planned to launch, Cree (Kayne Lee Harrison) also crushes the dreams of singer Erica Wilson (singer-songwriter Christina Milian stars as the thwarted recording artist). A year earlier, Erica’s boyfriend of four years did some crushing figuratively when he pulled up stakes before their wedding. (Her unused gown gets repurposed for what was supposed to be her breakout pop-music moment.)

We get that backstory when Erica and her bestie Amber (Tymberlee Hill) are sitting outside after the industry debacle and Erica hears strains of Alicia Keys’ soulfully anthemic “No One” being played by a couple of buskers. The Keys tune (the singer is a producer here) was to have been their first-dance-as-newlyweds song. Cue more ugly crying. In the routine if enjoyable “Resort to Love” (on Netflix), there’s...

"OtherLife" is the Australian science fiction thriller directed by Ben C. Lucas, starring Jessica De Gouw, T.J. Power and Thomas Cocquerel, based on the novel "Solitaire" by Kelley Eskridge:

"...the co-founder (De Gouw) of 'Otherlife' develops a form of biological virtual reality. But when her partner (Power), insists she license 'it' for unethical use, she struggles to retain control of her invention with the help of her lover (Cocquerel)...

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Otherlife"...

On tap right now we have the first official images from Ben C. Lucas’ film OtherLife, which had its premiere at the Sydney Film Festival in June. Check ’em out here! Jessica De Gouw, Tj Power, Thomas Cocquerel, and Liam… Continue Reading →

The post First Look at Your OtherLife appeared first on Dread Central.

Jessica Mauboy will star in a new Australian family drama series for the Seven Network, which also unveiled local versions of three entertainment formats including a dating show from the creators of Married at First Sight.

These were among the highlights of Seven.s 2016 slate announced today as director of network programming Angus Ross said, .We are launching more new Australian shows next year than ever before..

Screentime is producing The Secret Daughter, which will star Mauboy as a part-time country pub singer who discovers she may be the daughter of a tycoon who has just died.

That leads to a confrontation with the man.s son and sees her character torn between the worlds of the haves and have-nots.

Screen Australia is investing in the series, which was developed specifically for The Sapphires star and will go into production next year with Greg Haddrick and Bob Campbell as executive producers.

Filming has started in Western Australia on the new Ben C. Lucas science fiction thriller, Other Life,.

The film, starring Jessica De Gouw, Thomas Cocquerel, and Tj Power, will be shot of five weeks, with Entertainment One taking care of the release in Australia and New Zealand.

This is the second feature for Lucas, whose debut, Wasted on the Young, was acquired by Paramount in Australia and nominated for an Aacta Award after a successful festival circuit including Sydney Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Pusan International Film Festival, South By Southwest Film Festival, and Torino Film Festival.

Otherlife will be produced by Jamie Hilton, Michael Pontin, Janelle Landers, Aidan O.Bryan, Marco Mehlitz,Tommaso Fiacchino, and Bo Hyde. Executive producers include Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Kendal Morgan Rhodes,Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu, and Stephen Boyle.

OtherLife is based on the popular novel, Solitaire, by Kelley Eskridge. The screenplay has...

Lust, Actually: Lawson’s Sexually Charged Debut Struggles with What Women Want

Taking home the audience prize at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival, Australian director Josh Lawson makes some decidedly risqué choices with his debut, The Little Death, which is basically an omnibus of alternative sexual practices rarely explored in the cinematic arena of the heterosexual. Mostly motivated by the complicated and sometimes controversial secret desires of women, the film, taking its name from the French idiom for orgasm, is sometimes refreshingly blunt as it navigates through several scenarios. However, it is just as often silly and unsubstantial, with an undefined purpose setting in as we close with an unseemly end to the common thread.

Maeve (Bojana Novakovic) and her boyfriend Paul (Lawson) set us off on in the circle. She’s getting her feet sucked, but confides after their bout of lovemaking her real fantasy involves being raped. Except she...

This review was originally posted during our coverage of the 2014 Leeds Film Festival.

Australian film has seen as resurgence in the 21st century. Not since the heyday of the 1970s has the antipodean cinema scene enjoyed such a swell in international popularity. For a very long time, the only films to come out of Australia were comedies. These films were representative of Australian cinema to the world at large and determined what kind of movie was considered commercially viable in its home country. This resulted in a rush of Australian comedy films that stuck fast to the rule of diminishing returns. Thank God then that we have had such a great run of Australian films lately and more particularly, the absolutely terrific sex comedy, The Little Death.

A portmanteau film that’s a little reminiscent of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia and the work of Woody Allen, The Little Death is absolutely concerned with sex.

The Little Death Magnolia Pictures Reviewed by: Harvey Karten for Shockya. Databased on Rotten Tomatoes. Grade: C+ Director: Josh Lawson Screenwriter: Josh Lawson Cast: Josh Lawson, Bojana Novakovic, Damon Herriman, Kate Mulvany, Kate Box, Patrick Brammall, Alan Dukes, Lisa McCune, Erin James, T.J. Power, Kim Gyngell, Lachy Hulme Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 5/12/15 Opens: June 26, 2015 As sex comedies go, nothing has come up since 1897 that can match Arthur Schnitzler’s “Reigen,” also known as “La Ronde.” Schitzler’s roundelay of sexual encounters features people from all walks of society both before and after their sexual congress. Granted, Josh Lawson’s “The Little Death” is not trying to approach the [ Read More ]

The post The Little Death Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

When Matt Levett was nominated for this year.s Heath Ledger Scholarship along with 17 other rising talents, the actor didn.t fancy his chances amongst what he described as a .an intimidating. line-up.

So he was both stunned and stoked to win the award presented on Monday night Us time in Los Angeles.

The 2009 Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts (Waapa) graduate says the $US10,000 cash prize will enable him to further his ambitions in Hollywood.

.It will give me the ability to stay longer and give me a foot in the door,. says Levett, who first went to the Us last September/October, when he signed with the Gersh Agency. The runners-up are fellow Waapa graduate Emilie Cocquerel and Lily Sullivan, who each get a round-trip ticket to Los Angeles and a scholarship to attend Masterclasses at Screenwise Film & TV School for actors in Sydney.

On behalf of the judges,...

Rising young actors who.ve appeared in Unbroken, The Water Diviner, Deadline Gallipoli, Anzac Girls and The Code are among the finalists for the 7th annual Heath Ledger Scholarship.

In all 20 are in contention for the prize which includes two round-trip flights to L.A., a two-year scholarship at the Stella Adler Academy, $5,000 worth of visa and immigration services and $10,000 cash.

Presented by Australians in Film, the winner will be announced in Los Angeles on June 1. Two runners up will each receive a round-trip ticket to La and a scholarship to attend masterclasses at Screenwise Film & TV School for actors in Sydney.

Previous recipients were Cody Fern (The Last Time I Saw Richard), James Mackay (The Dressmaker, The Tomorrow People), Anna McGahan (Anzac Girls, House Husbands), Ryan Corr (The Water Diviner, Wolf Creek 2), Bella Heathcote (Dark Shadows, The Rewrite) and Oliver Ackland (Party Tricks, Blinder).

The finalists were selected...

The Little Death is a film that has been trying to tease out information for a while now, and we finally get a Red Band Trailer so we know exactly where things are going.

Where things are going, apparently, is straight to the oddest corners of the world of sexuality, and deep into the mind of writer/director Josh Lawson.

Check it out above, and don’t miss this one on June 26th.

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

The Little Death

Written and Directed by Josh Lawson

Staring Josh Lawson, Bojana Novakovic, Damon Herriman, Kate Mulvany, Kate Box, Patrick Brammall, Alan Dukes, Lisa McCune, Erin James, Tj Power, Kim Gyngell and Lachy Hulme

The Little Death, which marks the arrival of Australian writer-director Josh Lawson, is both an edgy sex comedy and a warm-hearted depiction of the secret lives of five suburban couples living in Sydney. Lawson’s searing and...

SXSW 2015 Film Review

complete coverage of the SXSW Film Festival 2015

The Overnight

Director/Screenwriter: Patrick Brice

Two families meet at the park and set up a playdate that has unexpected outcomes for all. Cast: Adam Scott, Jason Schwartzman, Taylor Schilling, Judith Godrèche. (film synopsis from sxsw.com)

Overall

It’s hilarious. The boundaries of bromance, marriage, friendship and even penis comedy are pushed to a very funny limit with this film. It’s great to see Schilling doing great work outside of “Orange is the New Black.”

Final Score: 8/10

Manglehorn

Director: David Gordon Green, Screenwriter: Paul Logan

Reclusive small town locksmith, A.J. Manglehorn, who has never recovered from his losing his true love embarks on a new tenuous relationship with a local woman he meets at the bank. Cast: Al Pacino, Holly Hunter, Harmony Korine, Chris Messina. (U.S. Premiere)

(film synopsis from sxsw.com)

Overall

You probably...

The Little Death

Written and directed by Josh Lawson

Australia, 2014

The Little Death is an Australian comedy concerning five hetero couples (or potential couple in one case), whose relationships become defined by their fetishes. Though the lives of some of these characters intertwine through the setup of them living in the same neighbourhood, the film is more anthology feature than network narrative in that the stories basically act as shorts that we jump in and out of for 95 minutes – and one of them runs uninterrupted for the final 20. Writer-director Josh Lawson even introduces each plot thread with a title card akin to what you might find in a more traditional anthology feature. This isn’t so much The ABCs of Sex, but the title of recent Argentinean anthology Wild Tales wouldn’t be out of place if re-applied to The Little Death.

Lawson definitely tries to be wild, anyway. His...

Josh Lawson.s feature film The Little Death as well as two short films and an online documentary will be showcased at the 22nd South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas, next month.

The Little Death is a sex comedy dealing with a number of different couples who are each grappling with different problems in their relationships and sex lives. Having premiered internationally at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, The Little Death will screen in the Narrative Spotlight category at SXSW.

Yianni Warnock.s short film Happy with Bear (produced by Charles Williams) will enjoy its world premiere at the festival screening in the Narrative Shorts section. Running at six minutes, 28 seconds, Happy with Bear explores the loneliness of a Singaporean exchange student and her attempts to find solace by posting fictional images of herself online.

Also in the Narrative Shorts section is Australian...

South by Southwest, the multi-faceted film, music and technology festival held annually in Austin, TX will feature such upcoming films as Paul Feig’s Spy, David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn, Alex Gibney’s documentary Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, and Ondi Timoner’s Russell Brand profile Brand: A Second Coming as headliners in this year’s film festival lineup.

SXSW runs from March 13 to 21 in Austin and is now in its 22nd year. Variety has details of the 145 films and 100 world premieres bowing at this year’s festival. Brand, as previously reported, will be the festival’s opening night film.

Other notable titles on the list are the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard, a rough cut of Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck, the directorial debut of 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland, Ex Machina, and a new comedy by Michael Showalter, Hello, My Name is Doris.

On the small screen,...

The Water Diviner and The Babadook share top film honours and ABC’s The Code is the biggest TV winner. All the red carpet glitz, gossip and gongs from Sydney

Water Diviner and Babadook tie, but at least they’re AussieAactas red carpet: the stars arrive – in pictures

8.58pm Aest

The big winners? The Water Diviner and The Babadook for film, and The Code for its multiple awards in the telly categories.

Plenty more to celebrate and debate in the coming days. We’ll be back on Friday with the best quotes and pictures. Not to mention our weekly film column that sees Luke Buckmaster re-watching the cult classics of Australian cinema, week in week out, for your reading/viewing pleasure.

8.39pm Aest

And, breathe, we’re almost there. Cate and Debs are back on stage to lead into the final and biggest gong of the night: the award for...

Director Russell Crowe Movie up for Best Film: Australian Academy Awards 2015 nominations (photo: Actor-director Russell Crowe in 'The Water Diviner') Aacta Awards: Feature Film Categories Best Film The Babadook Kristina Ceyton and Kristian Moliere Charlie's Country Nils Erik Nielsen, Peter Djigirr and Rolf de Heer Predestination Paddy McDonald, Tim McGahan, Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig The Railway Man Chris Brown, Andy Paterson and Bill Curbishley Tracks Emile Sherman and Iain Canning The Water Diviner Andrew Mason, Keith Rodger and Troy Lum Best Director The Babadook Jennifer Kent Charlie's Country Rolf de Heer Predestination Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig The Rover David Michôd Best Actress Kate Box The Little Death Essie Davis The Babadook Sarah Snook Predestination Mia Wasikowska Tracks Best Actor Russell Crowe The Water Diviner David Gulpilil Charlie's Country Damon Herriman The Little Death Guy Pearce The Rover Best Supporting Actor Patrick Brammall The Little Death Yilmaz Erdogan...

Indie filmmakers have more funding options than they've ever had in the past, giving movie ideas, which may not have commercial studio appeal, the chance to still be made. In today's Indie Beat, I thought I'd highlight The Martial Arts Kid, which is taking to Kickstarter to fund the flick (already boasting a cast of major martial artists). Come inside to learn more!

Here at Cinelinx we like to talk about all aspects of filmmaking and movie news. To that end, we have Indie Beat where we highlight some of the latest news, trailers, and PR releases from the indie filmmaker scene. So if you're an independent filmmaker and want some coverage on our site, be sure to drop us a line at jordan@cinelinx.com .

Like all Kickstarters, there are various pledge levels which will snag you different rewards, so if you want to donate to the film be...

Shooting started in Sydney today on The Little Death, the debut film from Ticket to Ride, a low-budget production and financing offshoot of See Pictures. Jamie Hilton and Michael Petroni.

Marking the feature directing and screenwriting debut of Us-based actor Josh Lawson, the comedy explores the lives of five seemingly normal couples and their five eccentric desires.

The ensemble cast includes Lisa McCune, Bojana Novakovic, Damon Herriman, Kate Mulvany, Kim Gyngell, Kate Box, Alan Dukes, Patrick Brammall, Tj Power, Tasneem Roc, Josh Lawson and his brother Ben Lawson, Lachy Hulme and newcomer Erin James. .It.s a comedy that looks at sex in a very contemporary way, it.s daring but it has a heart,. said Lawson. .I am so thrilled to work with such a talented cast of actors, and we have a great team behind us. Directing has always been a priority for me and I.m really...

Rating: 2/5

Writer: Ben C. Lucas

Director: Ben C. Lucas

Cast: Oliver Ackland, Adelaide Clemens, Alex Russell, T.J. Power

Studio: Paramount

In Ben C. Lucas’ feature debut, the Australian writer and director attempts to add to the recent deluge of strong, serious Aussie thrillers, but his prep school-set flick never reaches beyond anything that’s gone before it. Wasted On The Young introduces us to two very different stepbrothers, geeky cute Darren (Oliver Ackland) and big man on campus Zack (Alex Russell). The boys have nothing in common besides their mutual membership on their upscale high school’s swim team and the looming, tricked out mansion they live in with no parental supervision. When Zack throws a roaring party, things spiral out of control amidst a haze of driving techno beats, flowing booze, and piles of cocaine. Darren, usually content to hide out in his room playing video games during Zack’s epic parties,...