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Here Out West, which opens Sydney Film Festival tomorrow evening, is an anthology feature in which a baby being kidnapped from a hospital sets off a series of events that brings complete strangers together over a single day.

The project is the result of Co-Curious’ Behind Closed Doors initiative, a two year development program designed to connect new voices to experienced talent, backed by Screen Australia and Screen Nsw.

The script was written by eight emerging writers from Western Sydney, Nisrine Amine, Bina Bhattacharya, Matias Bolla, Claire Cao, Arka Das, Dee Dogan, Vonne Patiag and Tien Tran, and the film directed by Ana Kokkinos, Leah Purcell, Julie Kalceff, Fadia Abboud and Lucy Gaffy.

Newcomers Khoi Trinh, Jaime Ureta and De Lovan Zandy star alongside Das, Geneviève Lemon, Rahel Romahn and Leah Vandenberg.

Annabel Davis from Co-Curious and Bree-Anne Sykes produce the film, alongside Emerald Productions’ Sheila Jayadev. Blake Ayshford, Lyn Norfor...

Exclusive: Eliza Taylor, who starred as the lead on the CW series The 100 for seven seasons, has signed with Verve for representation and lined up her next project.

Taylor got her start on the star-making Australian series Neighbours and will return to her native country for her next project It Only Takes A Night. In addition to playing the lead in the feature, Taylor will also serve as executive producer for the first time on the project.

The film follows four best friends on a girl’s night out, who end up on a path none of them expected and find out it really does only take one night to change your life.

While the film will be set in London, it will actually be shot in Perth, Australia, taking advantage of the countries lack of Covid-19 closures as well as placing Australian talent in front of and behind the camera.

Perth’s cobblestone streets and heritage buildings will form the London setting for Callan Durlik’s directorial debut It Only Takes A Night.

Set to begin shooting in early May, the romantic comedy follows four best friends on a girl’s night out who end up learning to own their worth, redefine their destinies, and support each other despite their differences.

Eliza Taylor leads a cast that includes George Pullar, Sana’a Shaik, Arielle Carver-o’Neill, Charles Grounds, and Jaime Ureta, with Western Australian Academy of Performing Art’s (Waapa) Ana Ika making her feature debut.

Having penned the script, Durlik will also produce the privately-financed film with Josh Horneman of Rookies Ambush (The Naked Wanderer), Megan Wynn of Wynn Media (The Invisible Man), and Kara Pisconeri of Star Shadow Media.

Taylor, who is also onboard as an executive producer, said the project appealed to her on multiple levels.

“I am so...

The arrival of Hollywood superstars and government money for tentpole movies have grabbed headlines in Australia. But independent film productions are also moving ahead in post-covid Australia.

Production will start next month in Perth, Western Australia on “It Only Takes A Night,” a film that is both a romantic comedy and a female empowerment movie. A first feature for writer-director Callan Durlik, the film follows four best friends on a girl’s night out, and end up on a path none expected.

Eliza Taylor (“The 100”) takes the starring role at the top of an ensemble cast that also includes George Pullar, Sana’a Shaik (“2067,” Netflix’s upcoming “Dive Club”), Arielle Carver-o’Neill (“Ash vs Evil Dead”), Charles Grounds and Jaime Ureta and local actor Ana Ika making her feature debut. Production is by Durlik and Josh Horneman of Rookies Ambush (“The Naked Wanderer”), Megan Wynn of Wynn Media (“The Invisible Man...

Ana Kokkinos, Leah Purcell, Julie Kalceff, Fadia Abboud and Lucy Gaffy will helm anthology feature drama Here Out West, penned by eight emerging writers and now shooting in Sydney.

The project is the result of Co-Curious’ Behind Closed Doors initiative, a two year development program designed to connect new voices to experienced talent, backed by Screen Australia and Screen Nsw.

Nisrine Amine, Bina Bhattacharya, Matias Bolla, Claire Cao, Arka Das, Dee Dogan, Vonne Patiag and Tien Tran are the scribes in question, having written a work follows the desperate kidnapping of a baby from hospital; an act that sets off a chain of events that bring together complete strangers over the course of one dramatic day.

Newcomers Khoi Trinh, Jaime Ureta and De Lovan Zandy will star alongside Das, Geneviève Lemon, Rahel Romahn and Leah Vandenberg.

Selected via a competitive application process, the eight writers worked with writer-producer Blake Ayshford...