News

Melburnians Penelope Chai and Matteo R. Bernardini have won Australians in Film.s script development program, GatewayLA, with their screenplay Cinderella Must Die.

The Gateway La program aims to develop audience-driven Aussie content for international audiences. A select number of finalists are nominated in a list of screenplays similar to the Us's The Black List and the UK's Brit List.

The inaugural winner of the prize was Yolanda Ramke for her script, Cargo. It has since been turned into a feature film starring Martin Freeman, now in post-production. In February, Netflix acquired the worldwide rights.

Chai and Bernardini will receive $10,000 as well as industry support to develop the script in La., including networking opportunities and one-on-one meetings with established screenwriters and producers..

Cinderella Must Die is described as a reimagining of the original fairytale that challenges the .princess fantasy. and its impact on modern female stereotypes.

Chai and Bernardini said...

Inaugural winner, Cargo, set to launch through Netflix.

Non-profit Australians In Film (AiF) said on Monday the action-adventure has won the 2017 GatewayLA Script Program, the Australian version of The Black List.

AiF President Simonne Overend developed GatewayLA Program in 2015 to give screenwriters the chance to get their script seen by top industry professionals.

Cinderella Must Die by Penelope Chai and Matteo R. Bernardini challenges the princess fantasy and its impact on modern female stereotypes.

“We had a lot of fun working on the script and are so appreciative to Australians In Film for such a wonderful opportunity,” Chai and Bernardini said. “It’s very exciting to think about where it can go from here.

“Fairy tales are a form of propaganda, so the idea behind Cinderella Must Die was to turn the original story completely on its head. Our script depicts the ugly stepsisters as the innocent victims and Cinderella as the villain in the form of...

Scare Campaign, writers-directors Colin and Cameron Cairnes. follow-up to 100 Bloody Acres, was named best film at Monster Fest.

The frightfest produced by Julie Ryan, which stars Ian Meadows, Meegan Warner, Olivia de Jonge and Sigrid Thornton, also collected the prizes for best direction, feature screenplay and sound (Chris Goodes and Steve Burgess).

The plot follows a reality TV prank show, Scare Campaign, which had entertained audiences for five years with a mix of old school scares and hidden camera fun.

Faced with dwindling ratings and competition from a new hard-edged web series, the producers decide to up the ante, taking desperate measures in an abandoned asylum.

The prizes: a crystal monster for best film, green monster for the directors and a Miss Universe-style sash for the script. Monster Fest's Neil Foley hailed a "brilliant new Aussie horror film from two of Australia's most exciting cinema talents, totally deserving of every...

Azio - The Bogan Spy Agency, Crazy Bastards, I'm With Stupid, Fancy Boy, Food for Peasants and Pet Quarantine..judging by some of the titles and synopses , the ABC TV/Screen Australia Fresh Blood initiative will spawn some weird and wonderful comedies.

A mix of puppetry, animation, parodies, improv and absurdist humour, the 25 projects selected will each receive $10,000 to produce three short-form sketches.

The shows will air on ABC.s iView platform this year. ABC controller Brendan Dahill tells If that some may later screen on ABC2 after they premiere on the catch-up service.

The initiative is designed to unearth the next generation of comedy performers and producers. There were 492 applications, many of such a high calibre that the ABC and Screen Australia decided to commission 25, one more than originally planned.

Here are the recipients: Aunty Donna Mark Samual Bonanno, Adrian Dean, Broden Kelly, Zachary Ruane

Mentored by Tim Minchin,...