News

With “Wish You Were Here,” author Renée Carlino provides the blueprint for a romantic drama that could easily be misconstrued as treacly or saccharine. Her novel features a star-crossed love affair, a devastating terminal illness and a young woman caught at a crossroads in her life. Yet instead of fashioning these elements into a mimeographed iteration of “The Fault in Our Stars,” “Dying Young” or pretty much anything from Nicholas Sparks’ oeuvre, director Julia Stiles constructs something fresh. The actor-turned-filmmaker, who co-adapts with Carlino, instills the source material with a clear-eyed sense of emotional authenticity, from its fantastical romanticism to the characters’ delicately-faceted relationship dynamics.

Twentysomething Charlotte (Isabelle Fuhrman) is directionless, waitressing at an unpopular Mexican dive bar with her roommate Helen (Gabby Kono-Abdy). Together the besties are annoyed by the mundanity of their jobs, from fielding ridiculous customer complaints to suffering the indignity of having their service summoned by...

Starring Teresa Palmer and Michiel Huisman, thriller 2:22 comes from director Paul Currie (One Perfect Day, Twentysomething) and is set to debut on in theaters, On Demand, on Amazon Video and iTunes June 30th.

Two planes almost collide after a blinding flash of light paralyses air traffic controller Dylan Branson for a few seconds. Suspended from his job, Dylan starts to notice a repetition of sounds and events in his life at exactly the same time every day. An underlying pattern soon builds, drawing him into New York’s Grand Central Station daily at 2:22 p.m. Now drawn into a complex relationship with a woman, Dylan must figure out a way to break the power of the past and take control of time itself...

Teresa Palmer, Game of Thrones. Michiel Huisman and The Railway Man.s Sam Reid head the cast of 2.22, director Paul Currie.s romantic thriller which starts shooting in Sydney on Monday.

The Dutch-born Huisman plays Dylan, an air traffic controller in New York who nearly causes a fatal mid- air collision at the strike of 2:22.

Forced to go on leave, he meets and falls in love with Palmer.s character Sarah, who coincidentally was one of the passengers on the plane. To his horror Dyan realizes the same patterns in his life are happening every day.

Reid plays Jonas, a high profile New York-based artist who is an ex-boyfriend of Sarah.s. The cast includes Richard Davies as a fellow air traffic controller, John Waters as Dylan.s boss, Maeve Dermody as his ex-girlfriend, Kerry Armstrong and Remy Hii.

.We.re creating a smart, stylized romantic thriller,. Currie tells If.

Screen Nsw is investing $400,000 in 2:22, a psychological thriller from Australian writer-director Paul Currie.

Teresa Palmer will star as a woman who gets involved with a guy who is drawn by a bizarre pattern of events to Central Station every day at 2:22pm and. discovers this is the time and location of a murder 27 years ago..

Currie told If he has pushed back the start of production until early next year while the search continues for the lead male and another key character, the ex-boyfriend of Palmer.s character.

Icon will release in Australia and Good Universe is handling international sales. According to Screen Nsw the production will spend nearly $8.1 million in Nsw. Currie said the budget will be $11 million- $12 million.

In the latest funding round Screen Nsw is also investing $25,000 from the production finance fund and $50,000 from the regional filming fund in Outback ER, Screentime.s 8 x 30. observational documentary series for ABC TV,...

Actor-turned-director Nick Barkla has completed his first project, documentary Inside Fighter, and is developing a feature drama and another doco.

Inside Fighter follows Australian pro boxer Frank LoPorto, who was 33 when he had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to fight Wba world light middleweight champion Austin Trout in El Paso, Texas.

Given just five weeks to prepare for the championship bout as a replacement for a boxer who broke his hand, LoPorto was beaten badly, causing him shame and embarrassment.

The 50-minute film will have its world premiere at the St Tropez Antipodes Film Festival next week after Barkla scored an invite from the festival.s president Bernard Bories, whom he met at Miff this year.

Film Victoria funded the development of the screenplay but Barkla funded 90% of the production from his own pockets.

He.s just sent a copy to the ABC, which gave him a letter of interest early on,...

Producer Steve Jaggi is convinced audiences are hankering for films with positive, joyful themes, an antidote to the dark subjects often favoured by filmmakers.

Putting his money where his mouth is, Jaggi launched The Incubator last year through his Indefatigable Pictures banner to develop and produce life-affirming films.

The first three projects to benefit from that initiative are either completed or in post. All are from first-time filmmakers, part of Jaggi.s plan to help foster the international careers of Australian creatives.

Based on a true story, Skin Deep is the saga of a young woman who is diagnosed with terminal melanoma and meets a stranger who gives her the courage to embrace life. The screenplay is by Monica Zanetti, who had melanoma. Rosie Lourde is the producer and the director is Jonnie Leahy. Zara Zoe plays the protagonist and Zanetti portrays the stranger.

Ambrosia is from 24-year-old writer/ director...

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.s Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer will play the leads in 2:22, a psychological thriller from Australian director Paul Currie.

Walker will play an air traffic controller who is spooked by an ominous pattern of events that repeats itself every day, ending at 2:22 pm.

Palmer is cast as the director of an art gallery who meets Walker's character after being a passenger in a plane which was involved in a near miss with another aircraft. Her life is threatened by these strange events and he must solve the mystery to save her. It's set in an unnamed Us city.

Shooting is due to start in either Melbourne or Sydney in October/November. International sales agent Good Universe is pitching the project to buyers at the Cannes Film Market.

It will be the La-based Currie.s second film as director; his first was One Perfect Day...

The Cannes Film Festival is always chock full of deal reports, and today we’re hearing news about a psychological thriller titled 2:22, being shopped around at the festival by Good Universe. According to Variety, the film has just gained Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter star Benjamin Walker and Warm Bodies actress Teresa Palmer in the leading roles.

Paul Currie (TV’s Twentysomething) is set to direct for his Lightstream Pictures. The script is written by Currie, Nathan Parker (Moon) and newcomer Todd Stein. We don’t know all that much about the story yet, but it sounds like a mix of sci-fi and action in the spirit of films like Source Code and, to a lesser degree, the upcoming Tom Cruise vehicle Edge of Tomorrow. According to Variety:

Walker will portray a man whose life is derailed when an ominous pattern of events repeats itself in exactly the same manner every day,...

Screenwriter and playwright Stephen Sewell makes his directing debut on Embedded, an erotic thriller which he promises will be hard-hitting and controversial.

Shooting started in Sydney on Monday on what is essentially a two-hander, set mostly in a suite at a five-star hotel. The plot follows a battle-weary Australian war correspondent named Frank, who meets a darkly fascinating woman on his way home.

The two retire to his hotel suite where Frank finds his match in a frightening and erotic game of truth or dare that takes both to the edge, and over.

Playing the couple are Los Angeles-based Aussies Nick Barkla (Blind Company, TV.s Rush) and Laura Gordon (Saw V, TV.s Twentysomething). Marcus Johnson plays the hotel porter.

The producer is Steve Jaggi (Circle of Lies) via his Indefatigable Pictures banner. Jaggi tells If that Sewell intends to .push the envelope. with a film that sets out...

A second series of ABC sitcom Twentysomething has received funding from Screen Australia as part of the agency’s Multi-Platform Production Program.

Created and written by Jess Harris, Twentysomething episodes will be directed by Harris and Mika Tran and is produced by Lowdown’s Nicole Minchin of High Wire Films.

The first season aired last year on ABC2. This season will pick up with friends Jess, played by Harris, and Josh, played by Josh Schmidt, returning from abroad as thirtysomething looms.

Twentysomething is among four projects to receive the funding. Included also is an interactive animation for tablets called A Cautionary Tail, an interactive documentary called Ringbalin: River Stories and a serious game called The Voyage.

Screen Australia’ CEO Ruth Harley said: “These four titles join a growing list of dynamic, original Screen Australia–supported projects that capitalise on the changing landscape for content creation. We have both established players...

ABC2 multi-platform comedy twentysomething has been commissioned for a second series while short animated film A Cautionary Tail will be made into an interactive app for tablets.

They are two of four projects to receive funding through Screen Australia's latest Multi-platform Production Program funding round. The other two are: The Voyage, a serious game for the Australian National Maritime Museum, which will give players the chance to captain a convict ship to Van Diemen.s Land in the early 1800s; and Ringbalin, an interactive documentary which will take users on a virtual pilgrimage along the Murray, telling the river.s history through Indigenous eyes.

Screen Australia chief executive Ruth Harley said: .These four titles join a growing list of dynamic, original Screen Australia-supported projects that capitalise on the changing landscape for content creation. We have both established players and new talent collaborating and telling stories through interactive documentary,...

For: Jess Harris, co-creator, writer and star of ABC2’s comedy series Twentysomething

Josh Schmidt (Twentysomething co-creator) and I wanted to get into the industry but we didn’t really know the gap between having an idea and making it a job. We knew about community station Channel 31 because our friend, Ryan Shelton, had done a show on 31 called Radio Karate. We decided to make a series about being in your twenties, struggling and not really knowing what you’re doing with your life.

It took us about two years to finish the six episodes and we didn’t get in contact with Channel 31 until the very end. We called them up and said, “we’ve got six episodes here of a show we would love to air on your channel”. We had to pay an airing fee so we got Rmitv, Rmit University’s media production group, to help...

The Hunter has lead the Aacta Awards with 14 nominations including best film.

The film, by Daniel Nettheim, is also up for best direction, adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound, production design, costume, original music score, and visual effects. Meanwhile, Willem Dafoe, Frances O’Connor, Sam Neill and Morgana Davies are all up for acting awards.

The film has currently made just over $1m at the local box office.

It’s the first year for the re-launched AACTAs, formerly the AFI awards.

The technical awards will be given out at a luncheon on 15 January at the Sydney Opera House, with an evening ceremony for the more ‘public-friendly’ awards held at the Opera House on 31 January.

Running against The Hunter for best film is Red Dog, Mad Bastards, The Eye of the Storm, Snowtown and Oranges and Sunshine.

The Eye of the Storm, was second in the nominations race with 12, of which six are...

ABC2 has four new local programs premieringthroughout September; comedy Twentysomething, film show The Bazura Project, live music show Triple J Presents and documentary night Sunday Best.

Kicking off on ABC2 is Twentysomething, a 6x30minute series that sees two best friends deal with unemployment, eviction, and avoiding real life that the rest of their friends (Jess Harris and Josh Schmidt) are tackling such as finishing university and climbing the corporate ladder, and settling down. It also starts Hamish Blake, Simon Russell and Leah de Niese.

Twentysomething premieres Tuesday 6 September at 9pm.

The Bazura Project is a six-part comedy show written by Shannon Marinko and Lee Zachariah. Presenting their ‘Guide to Sinema’ with an emphasis on the ‘sin’, they’ll explore the six social vices that make films so appealing: Sex, Violence, Money, Profanity, Drugs and Fame. The Bazura Project was formerly broadcast on community TV across Australia.

The Bazura Project premieres Monday 19 September,...