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Louise Smith has been appointed to work within the ABC’s drama, entertainment, and Indigenous content division as an executive producer.

The producer has more than 20 years’ experience across features and TV, including the ABC telemovie Riot, Nash Edgerton’s The Square, and Tony McNamara’s The Rage in Placid Lake.

She was also an EP on Dance Academy: The Movie written by Samantha Strauss and directed by Jeffrey Walker.

More recently, Smith produced the 10-part drama series The End for Foxtel, Sky UK, and Showtime, which was created by Strauss.

She said she was drawn to the quality of the shows broadcast on the ABC.

“Working across the drama, comedy and Indigenous slate at our national broadcaster will allow me the opportunity tell world-class stories and collaborate with the best producers, writers and directors in Australia,” she said.

“I am excited for the chance to discover and develop diverse...

Samantha Strauss.

Following on from their collaboration on Foxtel/Sky UK’s The End, writer and producer Samantha Strauss and See-Saw Films have formed a joint venture in production company Picking Scabs.

The partnership will develop projects for Strauss to write and produce in both Australia and overseas, with Strauss to work closely with See-Saw producer and EP Rachel Gardner on the slate.

“We want to tell stories that are a bit itchy and a lot addictive; that dig below the scab and broken skin and investigate all sorts of wounds that haven’t healed properly,” said Strauss.

“Let them bleed, weep and breathe. The opportunity to tell more of these stories, with the brilliantly supportive and talented See-Saw family, fills my writer heart with glee.”

Gardner said: “Samantha is a rare talent, one that is able to marry her immense artistic gifts with a keen understanding of the business,...

Iain Canning and Emile Sherman’s See-Saw Films has teamed up with three-time Australian Writers Guild award-winner Samantha Strauss to set up a joint venture production company. Picking Scabs will be based in Australia and develop projects for Strauss to write and produce with See-Saw Films in both Australia and worldwide.

See-Saw and Strauss recently worked together on dark comedy series “The End,” which Strauss created and wrote. The show is a co-production between Sky UK and Foxtel Australia, that is executive produced by Strauss and See-Saw’s Rachel Gardner, Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, alongside Sherman and Canning. Starring Harriet Walter (“Succession”) and Frances O’Connor (“The Missing”), it is directed by Jessica M. Thompson and Jonathan Brough and will air in the U.S. on Showtime from 2021.

See-Saw’s producer/executive producer Gardner will work closely with Strauss on the Picking Scabs development slate.

“We want to tell stories that...

Ann Dowd and Jeffrey Walker on the set of ‘Lambs of God’ (Photo credit: Mark Rogers).

When director Jeffrey Walker was sent Sarah Lambert’s scripts for the first two episodes of Lambs of God, he replied he’d have to take the job so he could read episode three.

That was in jest – but he could not resist the challenge to direct Lingo Pictures’ comedic drama commissioned by Foxtel, which is unlike any show he had ever directed in the past 15 years.

The four hour miniseries adapted from Marele Day’s novel “treads a fine line between dark comedy, fantasy, fairytale and thriller,” he tells If.

“It definitely pushes the boundaries of expectations and lives in its own space. The scripts were completely unpredictable, from page to page.”

Walker, Lambert and Lingo Pictures’ Jason Stephens attended the world premiere of the first two episodes at the Series Mania festival...

Terry Norris and Julia Blake.

Julia Blake and Terry Norris last night received the 2018 Equity Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony at the Arts Centre Melbourne.

The award presented by Foxtel recognises the couple’s careers spanning more than five decades and their support of Equity campaigns, particularly the battle for Australian stories on screens and stages.

Previous recipients include Peter Carroll, the late Bob Hornery, Maggie Dence, Ron Haddrick, Jill Perryman, Kevan Johnston, Toni Lamond, Grant Page, Anne Phelan and Noeline Brown.

Equity president Chloe Dallimore described the husband and wife duo as an incredibly popular choice among Equity voters, stating: “Julia and Terry are deeply respected luminaries in our industry. What shines through most is their unswerving commitment to support others, especially our younger performers.

“Their tireless lobbying and campaigning efforts means that many of the working conditions we enjoy today are thanks to their hard work. We...

Frances O’Connor.

Frances O’Connor and Harriet Walter will star in The End, a 10-part drama co-commissioned by Foxtel and Sky UK.

As first reported by If, See-Saw Films will produce the series created and written by Samantha Strauss, with shooting starting next month on the Gold Coast, supported by Screen Queensland.

The set-up director is the Us-based Aussie Jessica M. Thompson, who made her feature directing debut with The Light of the Moon, which had its world premiere at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival in 2017, where it won the audience award for best narrative feature and was acquired by Amazon Video Direct. Jonathan Brough (Rosehaven) will also direct.

Produced by Louise Smith and Carol Hughes, the series will air on Foxtel’s rebranded Fox Showcase, Sky Atlantic and streaming service Now TV in the UK and Ireland next year. Endeavor is handling the rights in the rest of the world.

'Jasper Jones', released in March, is the third highest grossing Aussie film this year..

There was a lull in Australian films released theatrically in June so the total grosses for local titles this year have.only ticked up to $42.95 million.

Even so, that is a vast improvement on the paltry 2016 calendar year total of $24.1 million.

No high-profile Aussie title is confirmed to open in the next few months so the 2017 scorecard may not go far beyond $50 million.—.unless there are one or two breakouts or more films are added to the slate.

Umbrella Entertainment is launching Descent into the Maelstrom, a documentary about the Australian band Radio Birdman from brothers Mark and Jonathan Sequeira, on July 20.

Madman is releasing Jeffrey Walker.s comedy Ali.s Wedding in August and Jen Peedom.s documentary Mountain in September, while Transmission has dated Karina Holden.s marine doco Blue for October.

'Lion' leads this year's Aussie films, and now ranks as the fifth highest grossing Australian film of all time..

The Australian films released theatrically so far this year have grossed $42.6 million.—.nearly double the meagre 2016 calendar year total of $24.1 million.

The resurgence for Australian cinema has been led by Garth Davis. Lion (Transmission), the stand-out with $29.5 million.

Launched on Boxing Day 2016, Kriv Stenders. Red Dog :True Blue has earned $5.8 million this year, not a terrible result for Roadshow Films but below industry expectations.

Rachel Perkins. Jasper Jones (Madman) brought in $2.66 million and Jeffrey Walker.s Dance Academy: The Movie (StudioCanal) made $2.1 million.

None of the other 37 films tracked by the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia (which includes holdovers from previous years) has cracked $1 million.

However the market share for Aussie films this year will be a marked improvement on 2016.s 1.9 per cent, which was a sharp...

'Dance Academy' star Xenia Goodwin shooting in New York (courtesy Werner Film Holdings).

Screenwriter Samantha Strauss makes her feature debut this month with Dance Academy, based on the show she created with producer Joanna Werner in 2010..

Earlier feature scripts went nowhere, the writer tells If. "I.d written a film before that had a young female protagonist and that was incredibly difficult to get up. We were told at the time that it.s not a market for Australia."

But the support of StudioCanal and the show's German partner Zdf made a Dance Academy feature possible, and Strauss is thrilled with the result.

"Everything I.ve ever worked on, you just hate everything you.ve ever written and every moment is awful and you can.t imagine what it looks like," she said..

"This is the first experience where. no I shouldn.t say that (laughs). But when we saw the rough cut,...

L-r: Brett Dwyer, Lemac National Rentals Manager, Tim Jordin, Brisbane Rentals Manager and Sue Greenshields, Managing Director.

Jeanette Taylor is the owner of Videocraft Australia, which grew out of a TV repair business in the early 70.s. Since then, Taylor has divided her time between five children and the business — which has become quite the family affair, with one son and one daughter in executive roles. Sue Greenshields, Managing Director at Lemac, studied economics at Monash, where she made a film — titled A Woman.s Place — in 1978. Marrying that expertise, she joined Lemac in 1982 and has seen the company go from two staff to 40 over four decades, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

You originally dabbled in production, is that right?

Taylor: Video camera and recorder sales and rentals were the foundations of Videocraft, but production was also a strong part of the business for some years..

Greenshields: We...

L-r: Brett Dwyer, Lemac National Rentals Manager, Tim Jordin, Brisbane Rentals Manager and Sue Greenshields, Managing Director.

Jeanette Taylor is the owner of Videocraft Australia, which grew out of a TV repair business in the early 70.s. Since then, Taylor has divided her time between five children and the business — which has become quite the family affair, with one son and one daughter in executive roles. Sue Greenshields, Managing Director at Lemac, studied economics at Monash, where she made a film — titled A Woman.s Place — in 1978. Marrying that expertise, she joined Lemac in 1982 and has seen the company go from two staff to 40 over four decades, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

You originally dabbled in production, is that right?

Taylor: Video camera and recorder sales and rentals were the foundations of Videocraft, but production was also a strong part of the business for some years..

Greenshields: We...

Keiynan Lonsdale in WB's The Flash.

Young Australian actor Keiynan Lonsdale started dancing when he was four years old..

After an episode of All Saints as a teenager and a stint performing in Fame the musical after high school, he landed an audition for the gig that was to be his big break: the second season of the ABC's unlikely international hit, Dance Academy.

"It was a good transition for me to go from dancing to acting, because I knew from Fame that I didn't want to be a dancer anymore. I wanted to focus on acting and music.".

The series provided his first real screen role ("I'd had one-liners before, [and] I was an extra a lot") then wrapped up for good after three seasons when Lonsdale was just 20.

As is now the norm, many of the young cast hotfooted it straight to La.

"When we were finishing season three,...

Miranda Otto on set of Dance Academy: The Movie at Sydney Opera House. (Photo: Simon Cardwell). Miranda Otto (The Lord of The Rings, The Daughter, The Thin Red Line, Homeland) has joined the cast of Dance Academy: The Movie, which is currently shooting in Sydney before production moves to New York.

Otto will star in the role of artistic director of the National Ballet Company, Madeline Moncur, responsible for the new direction of the Company and choreographing its new works.

She joins previously announced cast members including Xenia Goodwin, Dena Kaplan, Thomas Lacey, Jordan Rodrigues, Alicia Banit, Keiynan Lonsdale, Tara Morice and Nic Westaway.

.Miranda Otto is one of my favourite actors on the planet. I can think of no greater artistic director — she is glitteringly beautiful, formidable but also brings a wonderful humanity to this key role,. said creator and writer Samantha Strauss.

Otto already has some connections with Dance Academy and its cast.