News

Amazon Prime Video Anz has released first-look images of Top End Bub, the sequel series to Top End Wedding, Wayne Blair’s 2019 road movie that proved to be a big hit in Australia for Universal Pictures.

The eight-part series is created, executive produced and written by Miranda Tapsell and Joshua Tyler and produced by Goalpost Pictures, and follows on from the events of Top End Wedding. Tapsell also plays Indigenous lawyer Lauren, one of the stars of the franchise.

When we last saw Lauren in Top End Wedding, she had married her British boyfriend Ned (Gwilym Lee) in her hometown of Darwin, despite some hiccups and familial drama along the way. Top End Bub sees Lauren and Ned head back up north when they discover that Lauren’s eight-year-old niece Bub has been orphaned. The couple decide to leave behind their life of comfort down south to look out for Bub,...

Deadloch Unlocked

Production has begun in Darwin, Northern Territory, on season 2 of Prime Video’s Australian comedy series “Deadloch.” Filming will later relocate to Brisbane, Queensland.

The first season saw two very different female detectives thrown together to solve the murder of a man and was set in Tasmania. While the second season sees the return of Kate Box and Madeleine Sami as detectives Dulcie Collins and Eddie Redcliffe, they are joined by Steve Bisley (“The Great Gatsby”), Shari Sebbens (“The Sapphires”), writer Jean Tong (“Heartbreak High”) and in their acting debut role, Genevieve Morris, Byron Coll, Nikki Britton, Anthony J Sharpe, Blake Pavey, Damien Garvey, Ngali Shaw, Bev Killick, Ling Cooper-Tang, Ursula Yovich, Syd Brisbane, Ines English and Lennox Monaghan.

“Deadloch” S2 is created and written by Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan who also serve as executive producers alongside Kevin Whyte and Tanya Phegan from Guesswork Television. Andy Walker is the producer.

Prime Video has announced that the Australian Original The Office will premiere on October 18. The comedy series is the thirteenth version of the global hit juggernaut franchise and has the first-ever female lead in the iconic role, comedian and actor Felicity Ward who plays Hannah Howard, Managing Director of Flinley Craddick.

All eight episodes of The Office Australia will be available on October 18 exclusively on Prime Video in 240 countries and territories worldwide (excluding the U.S.) in the Prime membership.

Prime Video also released a first-look image from the series, which features an ensemble of Australian and New Zealand comedy talent. Starring alongside Felicity Ward is Edith Poor, Steen Raskopoulos, Shari Sebbens, and Josh Thomson.

Jonny Brugh, Susan Ling Young, Raj Labade (Appetite), Lucy Schmidt (The Pledge), Zoe Terakes, Pallavi Sharda (The Twelve), and Claude Jabbour round out the regular cast.

Susie Youssef, Justin Rosniiak, Carlo Ritchie (Mikki vs the World), Rick Donald,...

The Australian edition of “The Office” — the 13th global incarnation of the iconic comedy series — is taking shape, with Prime Video setting a release date and releasing a first-look at its lead, Felicity Ward.

The “Time Bandits” and “Wakefield” star will play Hannah Howard, managing director of packaging company Flinley Craddick and the first female lead of “The Office” franchise. All eight episodes will become available globally on Oct. 18 via Prime Video (excluding the U.S.).

Starring alongside Ward is an ensemble of Australian and New Zealand comedy talent. The cast includes Edith Poor (“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”), Steen Raskopoulos (“The Duchess”), Shari Sebbens (“The Sapphires”), Josh Thomson (“How to Please a Woman”), Jonny Brugh (“Thor: Love and Thunder”), Susan Ling Young (“Reckoning”, “Hungry Ghosts”), Raj Labade (“Appetite”), Lucy Schmidt (“The Pledge”), Zoe Terakes (“Talk to Me”), Pallavi Sharda (“The Twelve”) and Claude Jabbour (“Last King of the Cross”). Meanwhile,...

Their first on-screen romance came in 2019 feature Top End Wedding, and now Miranda Tapsell and Gwilym Lee are getting in the loving mood for a Prime Video Australia series.

The pair are reprising their roles from the local box office hit in Top End Bub, with Tapsell and Top End Wedding co-writer Joshua Tyler penning the scripts. Christian van Vuuren and Shari Sebbens are directing.

Top End Bub will revisit Lauren (Tapsell), a dynamic Indigenous lawyer ticking off life goals in Adelaide, and her baker husband Ned (Lee), who abandon city life for the Top End (where the outback meets the tropics) to raise Lauren’s recently-orphaned eight-year-old niece.

While Lauren and Ned juggle the responsibility of becoming unexpected parents and try to keep their marriage together, Lauren must come to terms with her responsibilities within her culture, as she transforms from an individualist to the linchpin of her family,...

Jessica Mauboy, star of 2013 Australian breakout hit “The Sapphires,” returns to a leading film role for the first time in over a decade in family feature “Windcatcher.”

Directed by Tanith Glynn-Maloney, from a screenplay by Boyd Quakawoot, the film is branded as a Stan Original and will play on the Australia-only streamer from March 28.

Set in a small country town, “Windcatcher” follows the unlikely friendship between Percy Boy, newcomer Keithy Cobb and the spirited Daisy Hawkins, as they band together to take the local school sports day title from a group of grade five bullies. But as Percy Boy trains with the help of his mates, he then discovers his supernatural ability to see lost souls – a gift passed down from his grandfather. Percy Boy must overcome his fears, prove his resilience and become a force to be reckoned with.

Mauboy, who is an iconic figure in Australian entertainment has...

The Melbourne International Film Festival has confirmed that it will provide $202,000 will go to the winner of its Bright Horizons competition for features by first- and second-time directors. Bragging rights to being the richest film competition in the country previously belonged to the smaller CinefestOZ festival in West Australia, which follows later in August.

The Melbourne festival (in cinemas Aug. 3-20) has this year added two significant prizes: the inaugural First Nations Film Creative Award in collaboration with Kearney Group, and the return of the Blackmagic Design Australian Innovation Award, worth $47,500 recognizing an outstanding Australian creative within a film playing in the Melbourne 2023 program.

Winners across long-form awards categories will be announced at Melbourne’s closing night gala on Aug. 19, These will include the juried prizes and the Miff Audience Award.

The First Nations Film Creative Award supports First Nations talent and storytelling with the recipient awarded a $13,500 cash prize and $16,900 worth of financial services.

Prime Video Australia is remaking The Office as a female-led comedy starring stand-up Felicity Ward in the role Ricky Gervais first made famous.

Gervais’ David Brent will become Hannah Howard in the series, with Ward putting her own spin on bad team management at packaging company Flinley Craddick. When she gets news from Head Office that they will be shutting down her branch and making everyone work from home, she goes into survival mode, making promises she can’t keep in order to keep her ‘work family’ together.

Ward is best known as a stand-up and for ABC series Spicks and Specks and The Ronnie Johns Half Hour. She also appeared in Wakefield and The Inbetweeners.

Additional cast includes Edith Poor (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Power of the Dog), Steen Raskopoulos (The Duchess, Feel Good), Shari Sebbens (The Sapphires, Thor: Love and Thunder), Josh Thomson...

Season 2 of the Emmy-winning comedy “Hacks,” the debut of Colin Firth’s true-crime drama “The Staircase” and the streaming return of “The Matrix: Resurrections” all await HBO Max subscribers in May. If you’re looking for something new to watch or wondering what’s on HBO Max this month, not to worry, we’ve got the full rundown.

There are several must-watch new TV shows on both HBO and HBO Max this month, new and returning. Acclaimed Jean Smart comedy “Hacks” returns for Season 2 on May 12. As for the new debuts, May sees the premieres for HBO Max’s “The Staircase” on May 5, starring Colin Firth as Michael Peterson in the true-crime limited series, as well as the HBO premiere of Steven Moffat’s (”Doctor Who”) series adaptation of “The Time Traveler’s Wife” on May 15.

New films this month include the streaming return of “The Matrix: Resurrections” and streaming premieres...

The Walt Disney Company in Australia and New Zealand Tuesday unveiled a slate of nine new Australian original films and series. These represent the company’s biggest wave of local content commissions and acquisitions for Disney+ and will launch on the platform in 2022-23.

The slate includes three scripted drama series: “The Clearing,” “The Artful Dodger,” “Last Days of the Space Age”; four documentary series, “Matildas: The World at Our Feet,” “Shipwreck Hunters Australia,” “Chasing Waves,” “Fearless: The Inside Story of the Aflw”; and two lifestyle and factual general entertainment series “Donna Hay Christmas” and competition format series “What’s Your Toy Story?”

“It was important to us to have that scale to share so we could demonstrate to the marketplace that we are truly serious in this space,” Kylie Watson-Wheeler, senior VP and MD of The Walt Disney Company in Australia and New Zealand told Variety.

She confirmed that...

With movie theaters fully back up and running, HBO Max no longer has any major film releases to point to with its list of new releases for May 2022. That’s alright though as the streamer is leaning into the HBO side of its branding to offer up some fun TV releases.

The biggest HBO Max original this month is undoubtedly the return of Hacks on May 12. The first season of this comedy starred Jean Smart as a venerated Vegas comedy and Hannah Einbinder as her new millennial assistant. The first batch of episodes was excellent and even won an Emmy or two for its troubles and now season 2 will look to keep up the good vibes.

Premiering on May 15, is The Time Traveler’s Wife. This series adaptation of the 2003 novel (which in turn became a a 2009 movie) keeps up with two star-crossed lovers who can never quite make the timing work…...

“We need more Dollys in the world,” is the message of this raucous but hugely enjoyable comedy, which, at the same time, reminds us that there is—and can only be—one Dolly Parton. The 76-year-old country legend is having quite a moment at SXSW this year, arriving at the festival with a concert to promote her new album (and novel) Run, Rose, Run and her online Nft project Dollyverse, while riding a wave of public goodwill after her philanthropic support of the Covid vaccine with a $1 million donation.

Surprisingly, despite its subject’s bona fides as an all-time American icon, Seriously Red hails from Australia, the country that gave us Strictly Ballroom (1992) and The Sapphires (2012). The residual influence of both films can be felt here, but the template has to be P.J. Hogan’s seminal Muriel’s Wedding, which made a star of Toni Collette in 1994. Directed by Gracie Otto,...

With its list of new releases for January 2022, Amazon Prime Video is keeping things pretty simple. The streaming giant is rolling out a couple of original films, one big TV effort, and a whole host of library content, then calling it a day. And really, that’s all you need!

The two Amazon original films this month are of the family friendly variety. The Tender Bar, based on a memoir of the same name and directed by George Clooney, premieres on Jan. 7. This is followed on Jan. 14 by Hotel Transylvania: Transformania. This is the fourth installment in the animated Hotel Transylvania series, hammering home the fact that if you bring Adam Sandler and Genndy Tartakovsky aboard you project, things are gonna go pretty smoothly.

The one Amazon original TV series this month is As We See It. This project comes from Friday Night Lights head writer Jason Katims and is...

Former Hopscotch Films and eOne colleagues Troy Lum and Jason Hernandez have partnered to launch a new distribution company, Kismet, with a stated commitment to local films and an international slate that includes Palme d’Or winner Titane.

Joining Julia Ducournau’s horror-thriller are other acquisitions from Cannes like Mamoru Hosoda’s sci-fi anime Belle and Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s debut feature, French romance Anaïs in Love.

Kismet titles also include Zach Braff’s A Good Person, starring Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman; Nick Cassavettes’ Cus and Mike; Queen Bees, featuring Ellen Burstyn, Ann-Margret and Christopher Lloyd; Flore Vasseur’s Bigger Than Us, produced by Marion Cotillard; Jean-Albert Lievre’s Whale Nation and Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby, released last weekend.

Lum is the founder of Hopscotch Films and Hopscotch Features, and former managing director of eOne Asia Pacific, while Hernandez is eOne’s former head of theatrical sales Anz.

Joining...

Exclusive: Former eOne Asia Pacific boss Troy Lum is officially launching new Australia-New Zealand distributor Kismet, with a slate of projects including Cannes hits and pre-sale titles.

Kismet is headed by Lum, founder of local indie Hopscotch, and Jason Hernandez, former Head of Theatrical Distribution at eOne Australia and New Zealand.

As previously noted out of Cannes, the company have acquired Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winning horror-thriller Titane (pictured), Japanese animator Mamoru Hosoda’s eye-catching fairytale Belle, and Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s debut feature, the French romance Anaïs In Love. Titane will be the company’s first release in November.

In addition to its festival acquisitions, Kismet’s lineup also includes Zach Braff’s A Good Person, starring Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman; Nick Cassavettes’ Cus And Mike, which tells the story of Mike Tyson’s legendary trainer and manager Cus D’Amato; Kate Dennis’ All That I Am, based...

Actor and director Wayne Blair and producers Rosemary Blight, Kylie du Fresne and Darren Dale are among the Australians that have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

Other invitees include VFX artists Genevieve Camilleri and Matt Everitt, who were nominated for an Oscar this year for their work on Love and Monsters, costume designer Margot Wilson and composer Amanda Brown.

Joining the short film and animation branch is Charles Williams, whose All These Creatures won the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Palme d’Or in 2018.

This year the Oscars body invited 395 new members from 50 countries. Forty-six per cent of all invitees identify as women, while 39 per cent are from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities. More than half (53 per cent) come from outside the United States. Some 25 are Oscar winners, and 89 nominees.

Blair has been invited to join the directing branch, recognising his work in...

The Birrarangga Film Festival will return to Melbourne next month, featuring a line-up of more than 70 narrative features, documentaries, and short films.

Designed to celebrate Indigenous projects from around the world, this year’s festival will screen works from Canada, New Zealand, US, Chile, Greenland, Peru, Russia, Finland, Norway, Solomon Islands and Australia.

The inaugural Birrarangga Film Festival took place two years ago in Melbourne after being developed through the creative partnership of Wurundjeri/Yorta Yorta creative Tony Briggs (The Sapphires) and producer Damienne Pradier of Typecast Entertainment.

For Briggs, who is the festival’s artistic director, the second iteration of the event takes place against a markedly different backdrop than its predecessor.

“So much in the world has changed since our inaugural Birrarangga Film Festival two years ago, including the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, #MeToo and the ongoing global pandemic,” he says.

“We hope the recurring...

The ten Indigenous-led productions due to participate in Bunya Talent Lab LA will each receive development funding and participate in a companion writing program with Netflix.

Originally scheduled for May 2020 in LA, the five-day incubator program was delayed due to travel restrictions but will now take place virtually in early February 2021.

In order for the creatives to maintain momentum and utilise the extra time ahead of the event, Screen Australia’s Indigenous department and Netflix will give each team development funding to further develop their projects with Bunya producers.

As part of the hub, each project will also receive one-on-one international mentorship for their production from Australians in Film (AiF).

A final pitch session to Netflix commissioners in early 2021 will see one of the projects land a formal development deal with Netflix, with Bunya Productions engaged as producers.

Projects include a range of feature film and TV series ideas encompassing comedy,...

‘Normal People’ star Paul Mescal will play the male lead in Benjamin Millepied’s film “Carmen,” a modern-day reimagining of one of the world’s most celebrated operas. Mescal will star opposite Melissa Barrera (“Vida”), who will play the titular role of Carmen.

Mescal replaces “Fifty Shades” star Jamie Dornan, who was previously attached to the role.

“Carmen” will mark the feature debut of Millepied, a former principal dancer from the New York City Ballet who choreographed Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan.”

The adaptation was penned by Oscar-winning screenwriter Alexander Dinelaris Jr (“Birdman”), together with Millepied and Loic Barrère.

Dimitri Rassam is financing and producing via his banner Chapter 2, a Mediawan company, together with Rosemary Blight at Goalpost Pictures, one of Australia’s most dynamic independent film companies. TF1 Studio is co-producing and handling worldwide sales.

The movie will start shooting on Jan. 18 in Australia for seven weeks. Goalpost Pictures will handle the production locally.

November can be a slow month for streaming services. Amazon, however, is entering into 2020’s penultimate month with some steam.

Amazon is really beefing up its TV library in November 2020. Both Community (which arrives on Nov. 8) and Scrubs (Nov. 14) will be added to Amazon Prime this month and in the process complete the streaming trifecta: Netflix, Amazon, Hulu. That’s pretty impressive stuff for both shows. And then on the film side of things, November 1 sees the arrival of The X-Files: I Want to Believe, Twilight, and the Underworld franchise. Somebody didn’t tell Amazon Spooky Season was over and bless them for it.

As for the originals, Alex Rider is the most intriguing TV series here. That is based on the British spy novel series and premieres on Nov. 13 on IMDb TV (which is available to all Prime subscribers). That will be followed by Steve McQueen’s Small Axe series on Nov.

Amazon Prime Video has a whole load of new content coming this November, and the best thing about the large haul is that all tastes are accounted for, so whatever you’re in the mood for, you’ll have a lot of options. From Christmas flicks to action films to some classic sci-fi and horror, subscribers will find much to enjoy from what’s hitting Prime next month.

Take a look at the full list below and scroll down further for our runthrough of the highlights:

Released November 1

28 Days Later (2003)

A Christmas Movie Christmas (2019)

A Christmas Switch (2018)

(2018) (Hallmark Movies Now)

Arizona Whirlwind (1944)

Article 99 (1992)

As Good As It Gets (1997)

Boyz N’ The Hood (1991)

Breathless (1983)

Country Strong (2011)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Dead Poets Society (1989)

Deja Vu (2006)

Did You Hear About The Morgans? (2009)

Firewalker (1986)

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003)

Marrying Father Christmas (2018) (Hallmark...

‘Lion’. (Photo: Mark Rogers)

What’s your favourite Australian film of the last decade?

That’s one of the questions Aacta is putting to the general public over the coming week as voting opens for its new Audience Choice Awards.

In contention for the film award are: Peter Rabbit, Red Dog, The Sapphires, The Great Gatsby, The Water Diviner, The Dressmaker, Lion, Ride Like A Girl and Mad Max: Fury Road.

While many of those nominated correspond to the Academy’s own ‘Best Film’ winners over the past 10 years, there are some notable exclusions – 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge, 2018’s Sweet Country and 2019’s The Nightingale.

The Favourite TV Drama of The Decade category sees each broadcaster score two nods – bar Sbs, who were snubbed. They include 10’s Offspring and Neighbours, ABC’s Mystery Road and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Foxtel’s Top of the Lake and Wentworth, Seven’s Molly and Home and Away,...

Frank Woodley.

Many producers fear the Federal Government’s sweeping media reforms will spell the death knell of Australian features, forcing them and some writers and directors to focus on content for streamers or free-to-air broadcasters.

Lowering the Producer Offset for films to 30 per cent from July 2021 will leave a gap of at least 25 per cent of the budgets which most producers will find impossible to fill, according to producer/distributor Sue Maslin.

“The exceptions will be largely foreign-financed films or local films with cast led by foreign actors making the most of Australian financial incentives, cast, crew and locations. That or extremely low budget films with little hope of competing in the cinema market,” the Film Art Media principal tells If.

“I find this summary dismissal of Australian cinema devastating and will be forced to relegate all feature films currently in development to the bottom drawer until we see...

(L-r) Samantha Collins, Jessie Mangum and Laura Scrivano.

While she was studying at the UK’s National Film and Television School six years ago, Australian-British screenwriter Samantha Collins wrote a screenplay about an Australian woman who goes to London in search of her missing sister.

Collins began developing the psychological drama a couple of years ago with another UK-based Aussie expat, producer Jessie Mangum.

Both women admired the works of London-based Italian-Australian filmmaker Laura Scrivano, particularly her short film Alice which starred Sarah Snook, and invited her to join the project.

Now entitled My Sister Ellie, it’s among 13 projects selected for Attagirl, the feature film development lab for female and non-binary creative teams.

Collins’ screenplay follows an Australian woman who abandons her life for a British winter, determined to bring home her pregnant sister, the surrogate of her unborn child. Clutching at clues trailing from London to the Kent coast,...

Toni Collette.

Toni Collette’s directorial debut, an animated series based on The Sapphires and a Shakespeare-inspired anthology are among the 42 projects to recently share in $1.4 million of development funding from Screen Australia.

The slate, which includes 14 features, eight online projects and 20 TV dramas, marks the final development funding Screen Australia awarded in the 2019-20 financial year.

These projects come from both the existing Premium and Generate development funds. Generate Fund is for lower budget projects with an emphasis on new and emerging talent, or experienced talent wanting to take creative risks. The Premium Fund is for higher budget projects of ambition and scale from successful screen content makers.

The agency reports receiving over 534 applications across both funds, up 41 per cent on the 378 application received in 2018-19.

Screen Australia’s Head of Development Nerida Moore said, “While this has been a turbulent, challenging time for many in the industry, it hasn’t stopped the drive,...

London-based sales agent WestEnd Films has closed a North American deal with Jeff Sackman and Berry Meyerowitz’s company Aqute Media for “I Am Woman,” the biopic about Australian singer Helen Reddy.

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival as the opening film of the Special Presentations section. The film also recently opened the Athena Film Festival, where director Unjoo Moon received the Athena Breakthrough Award, a prize sponsored by Netflix designed to elevate first- or second-time female filmmakers.

In addition to North America, rights have gone to Metropolitan (France), Nos (Portugal), Inopia (Spain), Videovision (South Africa), Front Row (Middle East), Bliss Media (China), Scene & Sound (South Korea), Ale Kino+ (Poland), Vti (Ex-Yugoslavia), Cineplex (Taiwan), Golden A Entertainment (Thailand) and Cinesky (airlines).

Transmission Films will release the film in Australia and New Zealand later this year on around 200 prints.

Milan Records, an imprint of Sony Music Masterworks,...

A new wave of Australian drama series has shined a light on Indigenous cultures, with Aboriginal-led productions reshaping the domestic market while finding a global platform for Indigenous stories.

What that might mean for Indigenous Australians was the focus of “Mainstream, Genre and Indigenous Perspectives: New Wave Australian Series,” a panel that took place Tuesday during the Berlinale Series Market, moderated by Jenny Cooney, executive vice president of Bunya Productions.

The panel featured Wayne Blair, director of “Mystery Road 2,” which premiered this week in Berlin; Darren Dale, co-creator and producer of “Total Control”; and Tony Briggs, actor (“Cleverman”) and creator and producer of “The Warriors.”

“Total Control” is a six-part drama series about a female senator, played by Aboriginal actress Deborah Mailman, caught up in the rough-and-tumble world of Australian politics. Blair held the series up as an example of the new possibilities for Indigenous creators. “Even to see an...

Wamg has your free passes to the St. Louis advance screening of The Invisible Man!

Enter for your chance to win two free passes to the St. Louis advance screening of The Invisible Man. The theatrical sneak preview will be on February 25 at 7pm.

Answer the Following:

Who directed the 1933 classic?Who is the author of the Sci-Fi novel?Who starred in the 1933 film?

Leave your name, answers and email address in our comments section below.

This film is rated R.

No purchase necessary.

The horror film will be released by Universal Pictures in cinemas and on IMAX on February 28.

What you can’t see can hurt you. Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss stars in a terrifying modern tale of obsession inspired by Universal’s classic monster character.

Jason Blum, our current-day master of the horror genre, produces The Invisible Man for his Blumhouse Productions. The Invisible Man is directed and executive produced by Leigh Whannell,...

Okay, the IMAX poster for Blumhouse Productions’ The Invisible Man is pretty cool. The rated R horror film will be released by Universal Pictures in cinemas and on IMAX on February 28.

What you can’t see can hurt you. Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss stars in a terrifying modern tale of obsession inspired by Universal’s classic monster character.

Here’s a look at the brand new trailer giving an unnerving glimpse into the upcoming thriller.

Jason Blum, our current-day master of the horror genre, produces The Invisible Man for his Blumhouse Productions. The Invisible Man is directed and executive produced by Leigh Whannell, from his screenplay and screen story. Whannell is one of the original conceivers of the Saw franchise who most recently directed Upgrade and Insidious: Chapter 3. Benjamin Wallfisch is the film’s composer.

Trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with a wealthy and brilliant scientist, Cecilia Kass (Moss...

In addition to a new teaser trailer for A Quiet Place Part II, horror fans watching the Super Bowl were treated to a new look at Leigh Whannell's The Invisible Man ahead of its release later this month from Universal.

A Blumhouse production, The Invisible Man is slated for a February 28th release from Universal. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more updates on the latest entry to the classic Universal Monsters lineup, and watch the new Super Bowl spot below:

"What you can’t see can hurt you. Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss stars in a terrifying modern tale of obsession inspired by Universal’s classic monster character.

Trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with a wealthy and brilliant scientist, Cecilia Kass (Moss) escapes in the dead of night and disappears into hiding, aided by her sister, their childhood friend and his teenage daughter.

But when Cecilia’s abusive...

Miranda Tapsell and Nakkiah Lui in ‘Get Krack!n’ (Photo credit: ABC).

The nine creative teams comprising 13 individuals who will take part in the inaugural Bunya Talent Indigenous Hub in Los Angeles in March were announced today.

Presented in association with Netflix Australia and Screen Australia’s Indigenous Department, the five-day talent incubator is aimed at mid-career Indigenous writers, showrunners, directors and producers.

The 13 will develop and pitch their projects and attend meetings and presentations by executives from Netflix and other industry practitioners.

The feature film and TV series ideas encompass comedy, drama and the supernatural. The event will take place at Charlie’s, Australians in Film’s hub for business, project development and networking for the Australian screen community in La.

At the end of the incubator, one participant’s work will be selected to proceed to further development with Bunya Productions as producers, receiving up to $20,000 in further development...

"When you're hurting', where do you go lookin'?" Samuel Goldwyn Film has released an official Us trailer for indie romantic comedy Top End Wedding, an Australian film that premiered at last year's Sundance Film Festival. This "heartwarming, feel-good comedy" is set against the spectacular natural beauty of the Northern Territory. The story follows a newly engaged couple, Lauren and Ned. They are in love, and they have just ten days to find her mother who has gone Awol somewhere in the remote far north of Australia, in order to reunite her parents and pull off their dream wedding. Starring Miranda Tapsell (from The Sapphires) & Gwilym Lee (from Bohemian Rhapsody) as the two lovers, plus Huw Higginson, Ursula Yovich, Elaine Crombie, Shari Sebbens, Kerry Fox, and Dalara Williams. Looks charming and fun. Here's the official Us trailer (+ poster) for Wayne Blair's Top End Wedding, direct from YouTube: You can...

Australian comedy “Top End Wedding” has been acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films for the U.S. market. The deal was announced by producer Goalpost Pictures Australia.

The film had its premiere at the Sundance festival in the U.S. in January this year. Samuel Goldwyn says that it will release the film on multiple digital platforms from early 2020.

“’Top End Wedding’ is a delightfully fun romantic comedy that also showcases the breathtaking beauty of Australia. We can’t wait to share this special film to Us audiences,” said Meg Longo of Samuel Goldwyn in a prepared statement.

In the past year, Samuel Goldwyn has also picked up international titles including “Stray Dolls” and “Mr. Jones,” which debuted in competition in Berlin.

Directed by Wayne Blair, “Wedding” is the story of a successful Sydney lawyer and her fiancé who have just 10 days to find her mother, who has gone Awol somewhere in the Northern Territory.

What you can’t see can hurt you. Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss stars in a terrifying modern tale of obsession inspired by Universal’s classic monster character.

Here’s a first look at the brand new trailer for The Invisible Man.

Trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with a wealthy and brilliant scientist, Cecilia Kass (Moss) escapes in the dead of night and disappears into hiding, aided by her sister, their childhood friend and his teenage daughter.

But when Cecilia’s abusive ex commits suicide and leaves her a generous portion of his vast fortune, Cecilia suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of eerie coincidences turns lethal, threatening the lives of those she loves, Cecilia’s sanity begins to unravel as she desperately tries to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.

Jason Blum, our current-day master of the horror genre, produces The Invisible Man...

"What you can't see can hurt you." One day after the first official images were revealed from the film, the first trailer for The Invisible Man has now been unveiled, giving us a deeper look into Leigh Whannell’s modern take on the classic Universal monster.

A Blumhouse production, The Invisible Man is slated for a February 28th release from Universal:

"What you can’t see can hurt you. Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss stars in a terrifying modern tale of obsession inspired by Universal’s classic monster character.

Trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with a wealthy and brilliant scientist, Cecilia Kass (Moss) escapes in the dead of night and disappears into hiding, aided by her sister, their childhood friend and his teenage daughter.

But when Cecilia’s abusive ex commits suicide and leaves her a generous portion of his vast fortune, Cecilia suspects his death was a hoax. As...

Variety has been given the first-look image of Tilda Cobham-Hervey and Evan Peters in “I Am Woman,” which open the Special Presentations section in Toronto Film Festival next week. The film tells the inspiring story of Helen Reddy, the writer and singer of the song “I Am Woman,” which became the anthem for the women’s movement in the 1970s.

Cobham-Hervey plays Reddy, a women of fearless ambition and passion, who overcomes male prejudice to become the international singing star she always dreamed of being. Peters is Helen’s manager and husband Jeff Wald. Danielle Macdonald features as the rock journalist Lilian Roxon and Helen’s friend.

“I Am Woman” is directed by Unjoo Moon (“The Zen of Bennett”), and produced by Goalpost Pictures’ Rosemary Blight, and is written by Emma Jensen (“Mary Shelley”). WestEnd is handling world sales.

The writers of All Is True, Hotel Mumbai, Relic, Ride Like a Girl and The Favourite have been nominated for best original feature film in the 52nd annual Awgie Awards.

Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears (Deb Cox) and True History of the Kelly Gang (Shaun Grant) are the contenders for the feature film adaptation category.

Andrew Knight scored two nominations, for Ride Like a Girl (shared with Elise McCredie) and for TV series or miniseries for an episode of ABC’s Jack Irish, competing with Bloom (Glen Dolman), Secret City: Under the Eagle (Matt Cameron) and The End (Samantha Strauss).

Ben Elton wrote All is True, John Collee and Anthony Maras wrote Hotel Mumbai, Christian White and Natalie Erika James scripted Relic and Tony McNamara and Deborah Davis collaborated on The Favourite.

In the running for telemovie or miniseries up to four hours are The Cry (Jacquelin Perske...

‘Young Mob Questioning Treaty’.

Four shorts supported by Nitv and Film Victoria – What If, Unceded, Young Mob Questioning Treaty, and Treaty Now? – will screen on Nitv this weekend as part of the channel’s Naidoc Week line-up.

The Treaty initiative, from Film Victoria and Nitv, supported Indigenous Victorian filmmakers to create an original short film about what Treaty means to them and their local community, and links in with the theme of this year’s Naidoc Week, Voice.Treaty.Truth.

What If, from writer-director Daniel King, brings five Victorian community members together to contemplate ‘what if’ a Treaty was signed in 1788, when the first British ships arrived in Botany Bay.

In Unceded, by musician and filmmaker Robbie Bundle (Keeping Harmony: The Earth Songlines & Mixing It Up), three Aboriginal men meet in a recording studio to discuss what a Treaty is all about and record a song titled ‘Unceded’.

Tarneen Onus...

‘H is for Happiness’.

Seven films supported by the Melbourne International Film Festival (Miff) Premiere Fund will make their premiere at this year’s iteration, including Maziar Lahooti’s Below and Paul Ireland’s Measure for Measure.

The Premiere Fund provides minority co-financing to new Australian quality theatrical (narrative and documentary) feature films that then premiere at Miff, and over its history, has invested in more than 70 projects.

The seven films include:

Director John Sheedy’s H is for Happiness, which as previously announced, will form the festival’s Family Gala. The film tells the story of a relentlessly optimistic and hilariously forthright girl who hatches a variety of outlandish schemes to make her fractured family happy again. This charming adaptation of award-winning novel My Life as an Alphabet stars Miriam Margolyes (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries), Emma Booth (Hounds of Love), Richard Roxburgh (Rake), Deborah Mailman (The Sapphires) and...

Writer-director Imogen Thomas’ debut feature “Emu Runner” has and probably will play in designated family-themed strands of film festivals, and given its story of a 9-year-old Aboriginal girl who deals with grief in the wake of her mother’s death by bonding with a lone female representative of Australia’s largest native bird species, this programming strategy is to be expected. Yet adult audiences who bypass this serene and finely-detailed coming-of-age tale do so at their own risk, as Thomas has made a deep, rich meditation on family, community, country and racial tensions that strides well beyond its girl-meets-bird logline. Flightless the Dromaius novaehollandiae may be, but “Emu Runner” soars.

In the isolated New South Wales town of Brewarinna, some 500 miles northwest of Sydney, 8-year-old Ngemba girl Gemma lives with her parents Jay Jay, who hauls trash for a living, and Darlene (Maurial Spearim), as well as older brother Ecka...

Tracey Rigney (Photo credit: Michelle Grace Hunder).

Growing up in western Victoria, Tracey Rigney, a member of the Wotjobaluk and Ngarrindjeri peoples, rarely saw black faces on television apart from David Gulpilil and Ernie Dingo.

Today the writer-director, who started out as a playwright with Belonging and How Blak R U? in 2002, is among the screen industry’s fast-rising Indigenous storytellers.

Currently she is crafting ideas for one of eight shorts which will comprise the anthology feature Cook 2020: Our Right of Reply, jointly commissioned by Screen Australia and the New Zealand Film Commission.

When there was a call-out for applications initially she decided not to apply, given the demands on her time and energy as the mother of a two-and-a-half year-old girl.

A producer friend told her she had some good ideas and encouraged her to give it a go. “I applied not thinking I would get anywhere,” she tells If.

Miranda Tapsell and Ross Noble head the English-language voice cast.

Australian sales outfit Odin’s Eye Entertainment has sold animated feature The Wishmas Tree to multiple international territories led by Germany (Splendid), Poland (Kino Swiat), the former Yugoslavia (Blitz), Vietnam (Xx), Bulgaria (Tandem), Ukraine (Ufd), Israel (Filmhouse), and the Middle East (Phoenicia). Xx is releasing the film wide in Australia and New Zealand this November.

The Wishmas Tree is produced by animation house Lie A Photon and is the first feature in a planned franchise called Tales From The Sanctuary City.

It is set in a self-contained universe called Sanctuary City a diverse natural landscape,...

Tony Briggs on the set of his short ‘Elders.’

After Tony Briggs spent a year playing Pete Baxter in Neighbours, his screen debut, he discovered the producers had debated whether to identify his character as Indigenous.

He was not aware of those discussions and was very pleased when he found out another actor on the serial had advised the producers that wasn’t necessary.

That was in 1988. Since then he has played numerous characters whose nationality was not mentioned in Rosehaven, Rake, Cleverman, The Warriors (which he co-created with Robert Connolly), Seven Types of Ambiguity, Nowhere Boys and Wentworth, alternating with multiple stage roles.

The creator of The Sapphires is serving as the artistic director of the inaugural Birrarangga Film Festival, a celebration of Indigenous filmmakers from around the world, which will be staged at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image from April 26 – 29.

He is gratified to see more...

‘Top End Wedding.’

The disappearance of eOne from the theatrical distribution landscape in Australia/New Zealand is being lamented by exhibitors, producers, former staffers and even rival distributors.

The demise of the distributor known for its sharp commercial tastes marks the end of an era dating back to 2002 with the founding of Hopscotch Films by Troy Lum, Frank Cox and Sandie Don.

Despite the parent company’s assurances, eOne’s exit almost certainly means there is one less avenue for Australian producers seeking finance and distribution.

Goalpost Pictures’ Rosemary Blight, who collaborated with the firm on Wayne Blair’s The Sapphires and Blair’s upcoming Top End Wedding, describes eOne’s withdrawal from the Australian market as a great loss.

“From the days of Hopscotch to transforming into eOne, Sandie Don, Troy Lum and their incredible team have bought passion and intelligence to the distribution landscape,” she tells If.

“Australian...

Sgaawaay K’uuna (Edge of the Knife)

The inaugural Birrarangga Film Festival, a celebration of Indigenous filmmakers from around the world, will be staged at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image from April 26 – 29.

Curated by writer/actor Tony Briggs, the event will focus on films that explore the curatorial themes of ‘humanity through family and culture’ as well as honouring the history of the First Peoples’ cultural practices.

The program will feature more than 40 new features and short films, opening with the Australian premiere of the Canadian film Sgaawaay K’uuna (Edge of the Knife), the first film made by the Haida Gwaii community in their own language.

Co-directed by Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown, it recounts the story of the Gagiixiid or wildman set in the mid-nineteenth century, shot with community actors and many of the crew drawn from local communities.

Respected elder Aunty Zeta Briggs Thomson has...

‘Escape and Evasion’.

The Gold Coast Film Festival will open in early April with the Australian premiere of Damon Gameau’s 2040, and close with the world premiere of Storm Ashwood’s war film Escape and Evasion.

Good Thing Productions’ 2040 comes to the festival from its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it screened as part of the Kplus section of the Generation program. Gameau will walk the red carpet, and the screening will be followed by a Q&A.

Escape and Evasion, produced by Blake Northfield for Bronte Pictures, was filmed on the Gold Coast in the Currumbin Valley. It explores the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on a lone surviving soldier.

The Gold Coast Film Festival will this year screen some 107 films over 12 days, with three world premieres and 10 Australian premieres.

Among the other world premieres are Caitlin Farrugia and Michael Jones’ comedy drama Maybe Tomorrow,...

(L-r) Shari Sebbens, Calen Tassone, Siria Kickett and Marcus Graham in ‘The Heights’ (Photo: Ben King)

When Shari Sebbens graduated from Nida and Waapa she expected her fair complexion would mean she would be cast mostly as white characters in shows about Indigenous people.

Happily she was wrong. After making her screen debut in Wayne Blair’s 2012 hit The Sapphires she starred in a bunch of series including Redfern Now, The Gods of Wheat Street, 8Mmm Aboriginal Radio and Black Comedy, all true to her cultural identity.

“I think The Sapphires confused the hell out of everybody as they thought, ‘She looks white but she says she’s Aboriginal,’ she tells If. “It’s something our community has known since colonisation: our people come in very different shades. I call it the Fifty Shades of Black.”

The actress will next be seen in the Matchbox Pictures/For Pete’s Sake Productions 30-episode drama serial The Heights,...

The “top end” in “Top End Wedding” refers to the remote Northern Territory of Down Under, where things are done a little differently from what its young townies from bottom-end Adelaide are used to. For all its vibrant indigenous details, however, almost everything else about Wayne Blair’s amiable second feature adheres to universal wedding-comedy formula. The story of an interracial couple encountering the bride-to-be’s estranged Aboriginal roots as they plan a shambolic last-minute wedding, “Top End Wedding” strains for broad farce in its tonally yo-yoing first half, before relaxing into a gentler, more poignant tale of familial bonding as the forestalled but inevitable nuptials approach.

Less snappy and less consistent than Blair’s similarly cheery, culture-crossing domestic smash “The Sapphires,” his latest is unlikely to match that film’s success locally or internationally. Still, it’s easy, attractive comfort viewing that the Northern Territory tourist bureau may as...

In his enjoyable 2012 debut feature, The Sapphires, Wayne Blair showed such strong commercial instincts in folding together a story of Aboriginal Australians with crowd-pleasing uplift that even the most formulaic elements drew a smile. The director strives for similar buoyancy but lands on shakier ground with his latest, Top End Wedding. The uneven road-trip rom-com exposes its contrivances by straining for laughs while slapping on desperate music cues through the insistently broad early action before finally settling down and finding genuine heart in the second half, as the theme of reconnecting with home, family and ancestral roots emerges.

Due for domestic ...

In his enjoyable 2012 debut feature, The Sapphires, Wayne Blair showed such strong commercial instincts in folding together a story of Aboriginal Australians with crowd-pleasing uplift that even the most formulaic elements drew a smile. The director strives for similar buoyancy but lands on shakier ground with his latest, Top End Wedding. The uneven road-trip rom-com exposes its contrivances by straining for laughs while slapping on desperate music cues through the insistently broad early action before finally settling down and finding genuine heart in the second half, as the theme of reconnecting with home, family and ancestral roots emerges.

Due for domestic ...