News

Toby Nalbandian and Greg Schmidt.

Financing feature films is going to be even harder after the pandemic, prompting Truant Pictures’ Toby Nalbandian and Greg Schmidt to offer some practical advice to genre filmmakers.

In a nutshell: Come up with compelling ideas for contained films on low budgets without sacrificing quality. Try to stick to a budget of $3 million, which could be scaled up to $8 million if Netflix or other international players come on board.

The founders of Animal Logic’s genre film and TV production arm surveyed the state of the industry yesterday in an Australians in Film webinar moderated by Krista Carpenter.

The La-based firm is developing 10 features and two TV series and is in the process of financing four of those projects, Nalbandian tells If.

Schmidt, who learned his craft from horror-master Wes Craven and filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan, offered this advice: “Make the most contained, low budget, compelling film you can,...

Supernatural horror film “Encircled” looks set to go into production in Australia, at a time when almost all other movie shoots are suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Australia’s nationwide lockdown is set to be in place for many more months, but the “Encircled” producers have no intention of breaking the country’s stay-at-home directives. Rather they aim to make use of their team’s visual effects skills, and to reverse part of the film-making process.

The film, about six strangers caught in a protective circle in the aftermath of an occult ritual gone wrong, and an escape through Hell, is scripted by successful Aussie writer duo, Shayne Armstrong and S. P. Krause. It was scheduled to go into pre-production this month. Instead, director Christian Debney will do more pre-visualization than originally intended and start work on the VFX.

“Normally effects are done afterwards, but we can do them first,...

‘Encircled’ concept art.

In a reversal of the traditional production process, the creative team behind supernatural thriller/horror Encircled today started creating the VFX.

That will be followed by casting, script readings and detailed pre-visualisation, all conducted remotely.

“We were scheduled to start pre-production in late April. Despite the Covid-19 shutdown, we are moving ahead with some of the non studio-based elements of the movie,” says producer Ross Howden. “Almost like making the film in reverse, we will start with visual effects.”

VFX guru Christian Debney of Stage 23 is making his feature directing debut on the film scripted by Shayne Armstrong and S.P. Krause.

The plot revolves around six strangers who are caught within a protective circle in the aftermath of an occult ritual gone wrong. With no memory of who they are or how they got there, they quickly discover the only way out is hell.”

ScreenLaunch’s Howden is producing with Michael Robertson,...

‘Inferno.’

Director and co-writer Katherine Chediak Putnam has finished shooting the horror short Inferno and is now developing the project as a feature with Shayne Armstrong as script mentor.

Screen Queensland funded the short, one of four proof-of-concept projects, as part of its remit to give opportunities to new works and new voices.

Co-written by Putnam and Dean Law and produced by Law and Brenton Pinsent, Inferno stars Sam Cotton as Ray Wyatt, who tears down the remains of his burned-out childhood home to try to bury his family’s tragic past – only to find he is tormented by something sinister uncovered in the demolition.

Kieran McGinlay plays 12-year-old Dylan, Ray’s son, who struggles with the distance between the two and wants to know more about his family history, which Ray tries to avoid at any cost.

Karen Bowen is Sylvia, Ray’s mother, with John McNeill as the foreman,...

Truant Pictures development and production executives Toby Nalbandian and Greg Schmidt.

Animal Logic Entertainment’s live-action genre arm Truant Pictures has selected three finalists for its screenplay competition, designed to uncover emerging writing talent in the realms of horror, sci-fi and thriller.

The finalists, chosen from hundreds of submissions, are reported by Truant to “exhibit a unique voice, strong craft and a compelling command of their genre.”

The finalists are:

David Willing & Beth King (Vic) – The Surrogate

When single mother Natalia gives birth despite not being pregnant, she discovers the ghost of a missing child is hell-bent on destroying her family.

Jonathon Green & Anthony O’Connor (Nsw) – Emma After

A ghost girl falls in love with the living boy she’s meant to haunt away.

D.J. McPherson (Vic) – His Name Is Jeremiah

A damaged teen girl from a remote Australian town struggles to adjust when her violent mother is released from jail.

Toby Nalbandian and Greg Schmidt.

Animal Logic Entertainment’s live action genre arm Truant Pictures today launched a screenplay competition designed to discover new talent.

The call-out is for any writers who are Australian citizens or permanent residents and who earned no more than $30,000 from fiction screenwriting in the past 12 months.

The scripts must be in the genres of horror, science fiction and/or thriller.

The winner will receive $5,000 cash, a hot desk for one week at Truant Pictures’ Sydney office and mentorship from Truant’s development and production executives Toby Nalbandian and Greg Schmidt.

Two finalists will each receive $1,000 cash and all three will be read and given notes from one of the three judges: Stuart Beattie, Yolanda Ramke (Cargo) and Zak Hilditch, plus written feedback from La-based ex-pat Aussie script consultant Tim Schildberger.

Entries opened today and can be submitted until September 2, with the winners announced in November.

Zak Hilditch and Justin Monjo project “The Haunting of Mary Todd” is among four genre film efforts to be set up at Truant Pictures. Truant is the new genre-specialist production arm of Animal Logic, the Australian digital effects firm.

Truant will “primarily develop and produce the films in collaboration with emerging and established Australian talent. Wherever possible the films will be produced in Australia for a worldwide market,” Animal Logic announced on Tuesday.

Truant Pictures will be headquartered at Animal Logic’s Sydney-based studios and will also operate out of its Los Angeles offices alongside sister company Animal Logic Entertainment, producer of Sony’s recent “Peter Rabbit.” Animal Logic CEO Zareh Nalbandian will produce. Toby Nalbandian and Greg Schmidt will serve as VPs of development and production.

Other projects on Truant’s debut slate include: “Biohackers,” with Stephen McCallum and Michael Kratochvil; “The Galvanist,” with Shayne Armstrong and S.P. Krause; and “The Gooynboon,...

Animal Logic has launched Truant Pictures, a new production company that will act as a subsidiary of the successful Aussie animation outfit with a focus on live-action genre films for the Australian market. Truant will be headquartered at Animal Logic’s Sydney-based studios and also operate out of its Los Angeles offices alongside Animal Logic Entertainment. The plan is to develop and produce the films in collaboration with emerging and established Australian talent, to be produced wherever possible in Australia for a worldwide market.

It already has projects in development including The Haunting of Mary Todd with Zak Hilditch and Justin Monjo, Biohackers with Stephen McCallum and Michael Kratochvil, The Galvanist with Shayne Armstrong and S.P. Krause, and The Gooynboon with Jub Clerc. It now is looking to boost that slate.

Animal Logic’s animation credits include the Lego movie franchise and this year’s Peter Rabbit. The news comes...

Cleverman..

Michael Miller, co-writer of the ABC's Cleverman, has won the $10,000 Australian Writers' Guild's 2016 John Hinde Award for Science Fiction.

The annual award, first presented in 2008, is funded by a bequest from the late film critic John Hinde.

The award has two categories: one for a produced script, won by Miller, and one for an unproduced script, which this year was awarded to Graeme Burfoot for his screenplay, Red to Blue..Both were presented their awards at an industry event held at Brisbane Powerhouse on Wednesday evening..

Miller was awarded the prize for episode five of the Cleverman.s first season, .A Man of Vision.. He said sci-fi is a form that allows a writer to convey things not always so easily said in traditional formats.

.That was definitely part of the logic behind setting Cleverman in the future. It's exciting to think that Cleverman is one of several sci-fi-inspired shows on television at present,...

Michael Rymer.

Australian director Michael Rymer started his career with 1995's Angel Baby, going on to direct features such as Queen of the Damned in 2002 and Face to Face in 2011.

Rymer has also become a prolific director of American television, with credits including Battlestar Galactica, American Horror Story, Longmire, The Killing, Hannibal, The Man in the High Castle and Jessica Jones, for which he recently received a Hugo Award.

The director has been in Los Angeles for most of 2016, pitching a TV show that he hopes to shoot in Melbourne next year: Tremula, based on a feature script written by Queensland writers Shayne Armstrong and Shane Krause.

"Their agent Jean sent me the screenplay of the movie and I liked it a lot," says Rymer. "I just thought it was a good elevated sci-fi piece; very conceptual, very character-driven.".

Rymer describes Tremula, in which a group of international astronauts go...

In honor of upcoming film The Darkness, we’ve put together a list of some of the scariest and down-right horrifying children in film!

When a family’s young son brings home five mystical stones he found on their family’s camping trip to the Grand Canyon, they begin to notice strange things happening in their house. Having awakened dark forces bound to the rocks, the family fights for survival as malicious demons feed off their fears and threaten to destroy them.

From the director of the cult classic, Wolf Creek, Greg McLean, comes the supernatural thriller The Darkness.

The Darkness stars Kevin Bacon, Radha Mitchell, David Mazouz, Lucy Fry, Matt Walsh and Jennifer Morrison. Directed by Greg McLean and written by McLean, Shayne Armstrong and S.P. Krause, the film was produced by Jason Blum, Bianca Martino and Matt Kaplan.

The Darkness will be released on DVD, Blu-Ray and VOD on September 6th.

Stars: Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Morrison, Radha Mitchell, Lucy Fry, David Mazouz, Ming-Na Wen, Tara Lynne Barr | Written by Greg McLean, Shane Krause, Shayne Armstrong | Directed by Greg McLean

Australian filmmaker Greg McLean has been nothing but impressive since bursting onto the scene with Wolf Creek back in 2005, which introduced the horror world to a brand new icon in the form of outback serial killer Mick Taylor. McLean followed up his debut feature with Rogue, one of the very best man-eating crocodile films ever made, and he subsequently brought Mick back in Wolf Creek 2. His latest film is his first one set in America, and this time he’s delving into supernatural suburbia.

Written by McLean, Shane Krause, and Shayne Armstrong, The Darkness centers on the Taylor family: father Peter (Kevin Bacon!), mother Bronny (Radha Mitchell), teenage daughter Stephanie (Lucy Fry) and young son Michael (David Mazouz). While on a...

Take a gander at this preview for Fallout 4: Far Harbor, which will be released on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on May 19th. Also in today’s Horror Highlights: a trailer / release details for Don’t Look in the Basement 2, info on a live digital séance from the team behind The Darkness, Crypt TV’s “One Sentence Scare” Contest, and details and teaser images for Hunting the Legend Part II.

Fallout 4: Far Harbor Gameplay Details and Trailer: “Preview your journey to Far Harbor, the next game on for Fallout 4. Far Harbor docks on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on Thursday, May 19th.

In Far Harbor, a new case from Valentine’s Detective Agency leads you on a search for a young woman and a secret colony of synths. Travel off the coast of Maine to the mysterious island of Far Harbor, where higher levels of radiation have created a more feral world.

Good morning, Daily Deaders, today’s Horror Highlights starts off with a new video from Greg McLean’s The Darkness. In this new clip, Radha Mitchell discovers “what’s in the attic.” Also: a clip and music video for Hardcore Henry and clips as well as a Mondo poster for Darling.

The Darkness: “From the director of the cult classic, Wolf Creek, Greg McLean, comes the supernatural thriller The Darkness, opening nationwide May 13th, 2016. As a family returns home from vacation at the Grand Canyon, they innocently bring home a supernatural force that preys off their own fears and vulnerabilities, threatening to destroy them from within, while consuming their lives with terrifying consequences.

The Darkness stars Kevin Bacon, Radha Mitchell, David Mazouz, Lucy Fry, Matt Walsh and Jennifer Morrison. Directed by Greg McLean and written by McLean, Shayne Armstrong, and S.P. Krause, the film was produced by Jason Blum, Bianca Martino,...

The new clip from Greg McLean’s (Wolf Creek 1 & 2) The Darkness will “surprise” you ahead of the film’s theatrical release on May 13th from Bh Tilt.

“From the director of the cult classic, Wolf Creek, Greg McLean, comes the supernatural thriller The Darkness, opening nationwide May 13th, 2016. As a family returns home from vacation at the Grand Canyon, they innocently bring home a supernatural force that preys off their own fears and vulnerabilities, threatening to destroy them from within, while consuming their lives with terrifying consequences.

The Darkness stars Kevin Bacon, Radha Mitchell, David Mazouz, Lucy Fry, Matt Walsh and Jennifer Morrison. Directed by Greg McLean and written by McLean, Shayne Armstrong and S.P. Krause, the film was produced by Jason Blum, Bianca Martino and Matt Kaplan. The film will be released by Bh Tilt in coordination with High Top Releasing.

For more information:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | #FearTheDarkness”

The...

(l-r) Shane Krause and Shayne Armstrong.

Screen Queensland has unveiled a new genre initiative, incuBAIT, in which four individuals or teams with genre projects will have the opportunity to fast-track their features via a two-day development workshop run by Queensland writers Shayne Armstrong and Shane Krause.

Armstrong and Krause co-wrote Greg McLean's The Darkness, opening in the U.S. in May, as well as 2008's Acolytes and 2012's Bait 3D.

They are currently developing Tremula, a sci-fi TV series for Michael Rymer (Battlestar Galactica, Hannibal) and Theo: A Haunting, a supernatural thriller for Kristian Moliere (The Babadook).

At the end of the workshop, participants will pitch their project to an experienced genre producer and will then use the development plan as a platform to complete a new draft, which will receive further feedback from Armstrong and Krause..

Applicants may be individual writers, writing teams and may or may not have producers attached.

Put your face right up to your phone, iPad, computer monitor and crank up the sound.

Go ahead. We dare you. But don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Now that you’ve been frightened out of your wits and we have your full attention, we can tell you about director Greg McLean’s supernatural thriller The Darkness, opening nationwide Friday May 13th, 2016. McLean helmed the cult classic, Wolf Creek.

As a family returns home from vacation at the Grand Canyon, they innocently bring home a supernatural force that preys off their own fears and vulnerabilities, threatening to destroy them from within, while consuming their lives with terrifying consequences.

The Darkness stars Kevin Bacon, Radha Mitchell, David Mazouz, Lucy Fry, Matt Walsh and Jennifer Morrison. Directed by Greg McLean and written by McLean, Shayne Armstrong and S.P. Krause, the film was produced by Jason Blum, Bianca Martino and Matt Kaplan.

In Greg McLean’s The Darkness, a trip to the Grand Canyon marks the beginning of scary times in the Taylor household, and a new motion poster for the film might have you thinking about stocking up on grout cleaner just in case your bathroom comes under siege by the supernatural.

“From the director of the cult classic, Wolf Creek, Greg McLean, comes the supernatural thriller The Darkness, opening nationwide May 13th, 2016. As a family returns home from vacation at the Grand Canyon, they innocently bring home a supernatural force that preys off their own fears and vulnerabilities, threatening to destroy them from within, while consuming their lives with terrifying consequences.

The Darkness stars Kevin Bacon, Radha Mitchell, David Mazouz, Lucy Fry, Matt Walsh and Jennifer Morrison. Directed by Greg McLean and written by McLean, Shayne Armstrong and S.P. Krause, the film was produced by Jason Blum, Bianca Martino and Matt Kaplan.

A trailer for Greg McLean's The Darkness has arrived thanks to Fandango, and we have it to share with Daily Dead readers below. Do you fear the darkness? Perhaps you should...

"From the director of the cult classic, Wolf Creek, Greg McLean, comes the supernatural thriller The Darkness, opening nationwide May 13th, 2016. As a family returns home from vacation at the Grand Canyon, they innocently bring home a supernatural force that preys off their own fears and vulnerabilities, threatening to destroy them from within, while consuming their lives with terrifying consequences.

The Darkness stars Kevin Bacon, Radha Mitchell, David Mazouz, Lucy Fry, Matt Walsh and Jennifer Morrison. Directed by Greg McLean and written by McLean, Shayne Armstrong and S.P. Krause, the film was produced by Jason Blum, Bianca Martino and Matt Kaplan. The film will be released by Bh Tilt in coordination with High Top Releasing.

For more information:...

.Hollywood studios rarely release theatrical documentaries so Mark Hartley is chuffed to be invited to Los Angeles next month for the premiere of his profile of the 1980s filmmaking machine run by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus.

Warner Bros. is launching Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-igpjqRDgDI&feature=youtu.be) in 17 Us cities on September 18.

Hartley and his producer, Wildbear Entertainment.s Veronica Fury, found an ally in Brett Ratner and James Packer.s RatPac Entertainment, which co-finances films with WB.

Ratner contacted Hartley when he read a story in Variety about Drafthouse Films acquiring the Us rights to the doc.. Subsequently a big piece of the Australian funding fell through when Screen Australia declined to invest in the project (although the agency later put up completion funds).

Drafthouse agreed to step aside, realising that RatPac's investment was the only...

After co-starring with Radha Mitchell in Greg Mclean.s Us supernatural thriller 6 Miranda Drive, Kevin Bacon is set to collaborate again with the director. in true-life drama Jungle. Scripted by Justin Monjo (Rush, Never Tear Us Apart: The Untold Story of Inxs, The Code), Jungle is based on Yossi Ghinsberg.s memoir Lost in the Jungle, which chronicles the young adventurer.s harrowing experiences with two fellow backpackers in Bolivia.

Bacon will play Karl, the Austrian guide who leads Ghinsberg and companions into the heart of the jungle, described by Mclean as a .complex, dangerous and alluring character." Worldwide sales rep Arclight Films announced at the American Film Market that Bacon is in talks to star in the film but did not reveal further cast.

The producers are Dana Lustig and Arclight.s Gary Hamilton, Mike Gabrawy and Mark Lazarus. Shooting is set to begin early next year on location in Australia and Colombia.

The John Hinde Award for Science Fiction presented by the Australian Writers' Guild is broadening its scope this year, including inviting entries from unproduced scripts.

The $10,000 prize will be awarded to the writer of the best produced script and the categories will be expanded to sub-genres and cross genre pieces, including horror-hybrids and post-Apocalyptic works.

Also, this year the writer of the best unproduced script will get to meet with a leading genre producer, with all travel costs covered by the Awg and the Hinde Award.

The purpose of the award bequested by. Australian film critic John Hinde is to encourage, reward and foster creativity in the development and showcasing of science fiction writing for feature film, short film, TV, radio and interactive media.

This year.s award was launched at the Stranger With My Face Horror Film Festival in Hobart on Saturday.

Screenwriting duo Shayne Armstrong and Shane Krause (Acolytes,...

Prolific screenwriter Everett De Roche, who died in Melbourne yesterday, was one of the instigators of the Ozploitation genre movement of the 1970s and 80s.

The Us-born writer, who migrated to Australia with his wife in 1968, was 67. He had battled with cancer for three years. He started as an in-house writer for Crawfords for four years in the 1970s, penning episodes of Homicide, Division 4, Ryan and Matlock Police.

His first feature screenplay was Colin Eggleston.s Long Weekend in 1978. Among his film credits were Richard Franklin.s Patrick (1978), Simon Wincer.s Harlequin (1980), Franklin.s Roadgames (1981), David Hemmings. Race to the Yankee Zephyr (1981), Russell Mulcahy.s Razorback (1984) and Franklin.s Visitors (2003).

In 2008 he and director Jamie Blanks collaborated on a remake of Long Weekend, for which he added two characters, a baby dugong and several scenes. "The basic environmental message works as well today as it did in 1978," he said.

Wolf Creek.s Greg Mclean will make his Us directing debut on 6 Miranda Drive, a supernatural thriller which will star Kevin Bacon and Radha Mitchell.

The low-budget film will be produced by Jason Blum's Blumhouse Productions, which specialises in horror and created the Paranormal Activity, Insidious and Sinister franchises.

Scripted by Mclean, Shane Krause and Shayne Armstrong, the plot will follow a family that unwittingly brings a fear-feeding supernatural force when they return from a Grand Canyon vacation, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Shooting is due to start in March.

Krause listed that project among those which he and Armstrong are developing in an. interview with If last month.

Krause and Armstrong.s debut feature was Jon Hewitt.s 2008 horror movie Acolytes and they were among the writing team on Kimble Rendall.s Bait 3D. Their credits also include the children.s series K9 for Network Ten and the...

Kevin Bacon will join actress Radha Mitchell in the forthcoming horror film, 6 Miranda Drive.

Heading into production in Los Angeles in March 2014, the film is the latest project to come from Jason Blum’s pioneering Blumhouse Productions, which has successfully sculpted the business model for high-quality microbudget films tailored for wide release. Since the company was launched in 2000, Blumhouse Productions has delivered a raft of features generating unprecedented profit, including the Paranormal Activity and Insidious franchises.

Australian filmmaker Greg Mclean (Wolf Creek, Rogue) will direct 6 Miranda Drive, in addition to co-writing with Shayne Armstrong and Shane Krause. The story follows a family as they return home from a vacation at the Grand Canyon, unknowingly bringing with them a malevolent supernatural force that feeds on their fears and secrets. Matt Kaplan and Robyn Marshall of Chapter One are set to co-produce.

Radha Mitchell comes to 6 Miranda Drive having most recently been seen in Olympus Has Fallen,...

Shane Krause has a refreshingly candid view of the commercial prospects of The Contents, a self-funded supernatural thriller which marks his directing debut.

.If the film turns out to be any good we will get interest. from distributors and sales agents, says Krause, who co-wrote and produced the film with his regular collaborator Shayne Armstrong.

.If it doesn.t it will die the death it deserves to. The amount of money at risk is pitifully small. If it doesn.t work no one gets hurt..

The cast and a small crew worked irregularly on the film for the past six months shooting on locations in Brisbane. It.s 80% completed; still to come are the visual effects elements created by Steve Boyle whose credits include The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Bait 3D, Daybreakers and who.s just worked on Chris Sun.s low budget horror film Charlie.s Farm.

The plot...

The follow-up to the shark-in-a-flooded -supermarket saga previously known as Bait 2 has been retitled Deep Water.

The switch signals this is a stand-alone horror movie, not a sequel, with killer sharks as the common element, according to the producer, Arclight Films' Gary Hamilton.

Screen Australia is funding the development of the project which is being scripted by Shayne Armstrong and Shane Krause, who were among the writing team on the original.

The plot revolves around a flight from Beijing to Sydney which crashes in the Pacific, pitting an air marshal and a small group of survivors against huge tiger sharks.

The first film, shot in 3D, cost $20 million and earned more than $40 million at cinemas worldwide, including $27 million in China. Hamilton said Screen Australia will see a return on its investment in that film.

The follow-up will be budgeted at more than $25 million with a larger CGI component, said Hamilton,...

The Queensland screenwriters who contributed to surprise international hit film Bait 3D and local horror film Acolytes have taking their first step toward producing their own work with the upcoming release of short film Huge.

The dark satire.has been released under Shayne Armstrong and S.P. Krause.s new production company, Rarer Monsters (which also includes producers Charles Mitchell and Lachlan Madsen) and the duo plan to begin production on their first feature-film, a supernatural-horror feature titled The Contents in 2013.

.Writing and making Huge came about from a combination of the impatience of waiting about for other people to bring our next script to the screen and a dissatisfaction of seeing our scripts sometimes damaged in development and production,. Krause said in a statement. .By taking more control of writing, directing and producing the short, we had something shot in months instead of years. And of course if anything is less than we hoped,...

The Queensland screenwriters behind surprise international hit film Bait 3D and local horror film Acolytes have taking their first step toward producing their own work with the upcoming release of short film Huge.

The dark satire.has been released under Shayne Armstrong and S.P.Krause.s new production company, Rarer Monsters (which also includes producers Charles Mitchell and Lachlan Madsen) and the duo plan to begin production on their first feature-film, a supernatural-horror feature titled The Contents in 2013.

.Writing and making Huge came about from a combination of the impatience of waiting about for other people to bring our next script to the screen and a dissatisfaction of seeing our scripts sometimes damaged in development and production,. Krause said in a statement. .By taking more control of writing, directing and producing the short, we had something shot in months instead of years. And of course if anything is less than we hoped,...

Creating a unique spin on the horrifying shark attack seems to be all but unfathomable. Somehow a crew of screenwriters that consists of John Kim Russell Mulcahy Shayne Armstrong Duncan Kennedy Shane Krause and Justin Monjo made the unfathomable very inyourface and tangible. Bait 3D works on an unbelievable level and it admittedly only works because the story is intriguing enough to distance it from the typical shark flick.

Director: Kimble Rendall. Writers: Shayne Armstrong, Duncan Kennedy, John Kim, Shane Krause, Justin Monjo, and Russell Mulcahy. Cast: Phoebe Tonkin, Xavier Samuel, Julian McMahon, Sharni Vinson, Cariba Heine, Alex Russell, Lincoln Lewis, and Alice Parkinson. Tagline: "Cleanup on aisle 7." Bait 3D joins a long list of killer shark movies. From Jaws (1975) to Deep Blue Sea (1999) and more recently to Open Water 2: Adrift (2006), there have been many reasons to be afraid of the water. With this latest Australian entry into the genre, fans of thrillers can relax because computer enhanced sharks and false looking tsunamis will create very little fear. Really, Bait simply flounders as the shallow characters and weak storyline massage you into apathy. Speaking of storylines, Bait focuses on the plot devices rather than the characters. There are rogue tidal waves, bank robberies, roaming sharks and the threat of electrocution. But, none of these elements create for an.

The Australian Writers’ Guild held its annual awards ceremony on Friday 24 August. The Sapphires and screenwriters Tony Briggs and Keith Thompson won most outstanding script. Michael Lucas won two awards, in the feature film original category for Not Suitable For Children and in the TV series category for an episode of Offspring.

The announcement:

The 45th Annual Australian Writers’ Guild Awgie Awards were held on Friday 24th August at Doltone House in Sydney. The only Australian scriptwriting awards judged solely by writers on the basis of the script recognised a new crop of creative talent bringing Australian stories to our screens and stages.

The best of Australian performance writing across feature films, theatre, television, radio, interactive and animation were celebrated at a star-studded affair at Doltone House in Sydney last night as part of the golden 50-year anniversary of the Australian Writers’ Guild. The awards were hosted by iconic Australian...

The 45th annual Australian Writer.s Guild Awgie Awards, held at Doltone House in Sydney, have honoured local productions including The Sapphires, Not Suitable for Children and The Slap.

Hosted by Roy and Hg.s John Doyle, the event was attended by key industry figures and featured Australian writing talent from across film, theatre, television, radio and animation.

Tony Briggs and Keith Thompson work on The Sapphires earned them an Awgie Award for Most Outstanding Script of 2012 and another for best Feature Film Adaption. Up-and-comer Michael Lucas also collected two awards, for an episode of the television show Offspring and in the Feature Film Original category for Not Suitable For Children.

The teams behind The Slap and The Straits won AWGIEs for Best Mini Series Adaption and Television Mini Series . Original respectively. Brides of Christ and The Leaving of Liverpool scribe Susan Smith cemented her place as a Australian scriptwriting...

The finalists have been announced for the Australian Writers’ Guild awards – or Awgies.

Wish You Were Here is up for best feature film, along with Last Dance and Not Suitable For Children.

The Slap and Underbelly: Razor are up for best TV mini-series.

The short list in full:

Telemovie Original

Beaconsfield – Judi McCrossin

Mabo – Susan Smith

Television Mini-series – Adaptation

The Slap – Emily Ballou, Alice Bell, Brendan Cowell, Kris Mrksa with Cate Shortland

Underbelly: Razor – Peter Gawler, Michaeley O’Brien, Felicity Packard and Jeffrey Truman

Television Mini-series – Original

Only one nomination and the winner will be announced on the night.

Television – Series

Spirited: If You See Her Say Hello – Alice Bell

Offspring: Episode 206 – Michael Lucas

Spirited: Living In Oblivion – Ian Meadows

Spirited: I’ll Close My Eyes – Jacquelin Perske

Television – Serial

Home & Away 5437- Louise Bowes

Home & Away 5391 – Fiona Bozic

Neighbours 6231 (Jim’s Death) – Pete McTighe

Comedy...

The nominees for this year's Awgie awards include the scribes behind local films such as The Sapphires, The Eye of the Storm, Wish You Were Here and TV programs such as Mabo, Beaconsfield, and Underbelly.

Battling in the feature film adaptation category will be Judy Morris. The Eye of the Storm, starring Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davies, and The Sapphires from Keith Thompson and Tony Briggs. Michael Lucas has also been nominated for his first original feature, Not Suitable for Children while Last Dance by Terence Hammond and David Pulbrook and drama Wish You Were Here, written by Kieran Darcy-Smith and Felicity Price, have also been nominated.

Among television nominees, the team of writers behind The Slap and Underbelly: Razor have been nominated as well as Susan Smith for indigenous telemovie Mabo, and Judi McCrossin for Beaconsfield. Michael Lucas was also nominated for the television series Offspring while three scripts...

A musical from Red Dog director Kriv Stenders, a feature about the choir of hard knocks directed by Jonathan Teplitzky and an untitled project from Joel and Nash Edgerton are three of 16 features that have received a share of $400,000 in development support from Screen Australia. Of these 16 projects, ten are new additions to the development slate, while the remaining six have been receiving ongoing assistance. Screen Australia.s head of development Martha Coleman said in a statement that the calibre of features was outstanding. .There.s a general acknowledgement from the marketplace that our filmmakers have raised the bar and I think the next wave of films in the coming years will be really interesting..

Synchronicity, which is written by Marissa Goodhill,. produced by Leesa Kahn and Catriona Hughes and has Kriv Stenders attached as director, is a musical set to the songs of Kylie Minogue. It follows 17-year-old Kylie...

Some of Australia’s biggest names in film-making have received funding for new projects in the latest round of Screen Australia’s single-project feature development.

The funding round for script development has supported 16 projects totalling $400,000, ten new projects and six which receive continued support.

Martha Coleman, Screen Australia’s head of development said: “The calibre of feature projects coming to the Development Department is outstanding. There’s a general acknowledgement from the marketplace that our film-makers have raised the bar and I think the next wave of films in the coming years will be really interesting.”

Film-makers include Julia Leigh, the Edgerton brothers, Abe Forsythe and Kriv Stenders.

Julia Leigh is to direct her second film, Disquiet following on from Sleeping Beauty, which won best direction in a feature film at the Australian Director’s Guild Awards on Friday night. The psychological horror will be adapted by Leigh from her book of the same name.

Anchor Bay have picked up Us distribution rights for Kimble Rendall's ('Cut') new Aussie-set tiger shark thriller 'Bait'. The 3D feature has been kicking around for a while now and is set for a domestic theatrical release in Australia on 6 September. No word currently on a UK release or indeed the Us date but we can imagine it'll be around a similar time for both. Russell Mulcahy ('Resident Evil: Extinction') and John Kim provided the script which has been touched up, tweaked and added to by the likes of Duncan Kennedy ('Deep Blue Sea'), Shayne Armstrong, Shane Krause and Justin Monjo. 'Bait' stars Julian McMahon ('Nip/Tuck'), Xavier Samuel ('The Twilight Saga: Eclipse') and a trio of Antipodean actresses; Alice Parkinson ('Sanctum'), Phoebe Tonkin ('The Secret Circle') and the gorgeous Sharni Vinson -below...

Wolf Creek director Greg McLean has received development support from Screen Australia for a new film set in Vietnam.

McLean’s project Black Echoes is among 13 projects to have been selected in the latest round of funding from the national screen agency.

Set in in the Vietnamese countryside, the film is about a group of tourists who go on an adventure into Viet Cong tunnels more claustrophic and scary than the famous Cu Chi tunnels.

Other projects to receive funding include The Outrageous Barry Rush, directed by Red Dog’s Kriv Stenders, written by Andy Cox and produced by Alan Harris, The Dressmaker by written and directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and produced by Sue Maslin and the sequel to last year’s online hit, The Tunnel, called The Tunnel: Dead End by Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey.

Single-project Development: Feature Development

Addition

Genre Romantic Comedy

Producers Bruna Papandrea, Cristina Pozzan...

A sequel to last year.s successful low-budget horror film The Tunnel is currently in the works.

The sequel . titled The Tunnel: Dead End . received development funding from Screen Australia earlier this month and will pick up the story years down the track. No shoot date has been set for the horror flick.

It.s a sequel creators Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey weren.t planning on. .Initially, we weren.t anticipating doing another Tunnel film but the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the original . as well as our fans clamouring for another on an almost daily basis . made us go back and give it a second thought,. Tedeschi and Harvey, of Distracted Media, said in a joint statement.

.We weren't going to go ahead unless we could find a story we were 100 per cent behind, which we now have, and are thrilled to have the support of Screen Australia.

Writers Andrew Connell and Gordon Napier's Till Death Do Us Die script has.taken out top honours at the inaugural Australian Writers. Guild Terror Australis Horror Script Competition. The script, about a groom who is forced to battle supernatural forces when a cursed wedding ring unleashes an ancient evil upon his bride, was chosen from 130 entries. It will now be read by genre producers Chris Brown (Daybreakers, The Proposition), David Lightfoot (Wolf Creek, Rogue), Josh Reed (Primal) and Andrew Traucki (Black Water, The Reef). The two writers have also won a micro-mentorship with Shayne Armstrong and Shane Krause (Acolytes). Kraken by Rick Kalowski (story by Rick Kalowski and Andrew Jones) was highly commended by the judges. Also on the finalists' shortlist...

Writers Andrew Connell and Gordon Napier's Till Death Do Us Die script has.taken out top honours at the inaugural Australian Writers. Guild Terror Australis Horror Script Competition. The script, about a groom who is forced to battle supernatural forces when a cursed wedding ring unleashes an ancient evil upon his bride, was chosen from 130 entries. It will now be read by genre producers Chris Brown (Daybreakers, The Proposition), David Lightfoot (Wolf Creek, Rogue), Josh Reed (Primal) and Andrew Traucki (Black Water, The Reef). The two writers have also won a micro-mentorship with Shayne Armstrong and Shane Krause (Acolytes). Kraken by Rick Kalowski (story by Rick Kalowski and Andrew Jones) was highly commended by the judges. Also on the finalists' shortlist...

Writers Andrew Connell and Gordon Napier's Till Death Do Us Die script has.taken out top honours at the inaugural Australian Writers. Guild Terror Australis Horror Script Competition. The script, about a groom who is forced to battle supernatural forces when a cursed wedding ring unleashes an ancient evil upon his bride, was chosen from 130 entries. It will now be read by genre producers Chris Brown (Daybreakers, The Proposition), David Lightfoot (Wolf Creek, Rogue), Josh Reed (Primal) and Andrew Traucki (Black Water, The Reef). The two writers have also won a micro-mentorship with Shayne Armstrong and Shane Krause (Acolytes). Kraken by Rick Kalowski (story by Rick Kalowski and Andrew Jones) was highly commended by the judges. Also on the finalists' shortlist...

The Australian Writers’ Guild has celebrated Halloween by launching the Terror Australis Horror Script Competition.

Seeking the best unproduced horror feature script in Australia, the Australis Horror Script Competition is looking for the next Saw, Undead or Wolf Creek.

The winning writer will receive an audience with, and script read by, producers Chris Brown (Daybreakers, The Proposition), David Lightfoot (Wolf Creek, Rogue), Josh Reed (Primal) and Andrew Traucki (Black Water, The Reef) as well as a micro-mentorship from Shayne Armstrong and Shane Krause (Acolytes).

The Awg welcome all horror-related sub-genres; slasher films, vampire scripts, zombie flicks, thrillers, horror-westerns, you name it.

The competition closes Friday 18 November.

For more information, visit awg.com.au...

Australian co-writer Shayne Armstrong and co-writer/director S.P. Krause are so busy, they divide their work between  two companies: Armstrong Krause (for writing gigs) and Rarer Monsters (producing assignments). Yesterday Krause told us about their violent ghost opus 18 (see here), and today we get the skinny from partner Armstrong on a clutch of other ambitious scare pictures, including Bait 3D and the latest from the director of Wolf Creek! ...

You won’t find the genre’s busiest screenwriting duo typing away in some bungalow in Malibu, but in a quiet town in Australia. Meet co-writer Shayne Armstrong and co-writer/director S.P. Krause, whose debut effort 18 (see exclusive pics here), marks just the tip of a deadly iceberg filled with upcoming fright flicks from this Aussie duo. Part one of our chat with the boys (pictured below; Krause on left) looks at the their haunted house movie 18, while in part two tomorrow the filmmakers spill the beans on 6 Miranda Drive—their movie for Wolf Creek director Greg McLean and Lionsgate—and several other upcoming projects. All accompanied by exclusive pics and artwork, natch.

Who’s the ghost with the most? The new Aussie haunted house chiller 18 may actually be a contender. Fango scared up some exclusive pics (many of the gnarly-lookin’ spooks themelves!) from the film, which comes from Acolytes screenwriters Shayne Armstrong and S.P. Krause (the latter also making his directorial debut on the film) and features makeup FX by Daybreakers Fango Chainsaw nominee Steven Boyle. The producers describe 18 as "The Orphanage meets Paranormal Activity."...

The writing team behind 3D shark film Bait are among the filmmakers who have reeled in Screen Australia finance to help develop their projects. Writers Shayne Armstrong and Shane Krause will work with producers Michael Robertson and Murray Pope on two new genre films: Black Echoes and A Murder Of Crows. Other features gaining development support include Jan Sardi-penned, character-driven drama Remarkable Creatures, .ensemble comedy. Siblings and Chris Cudlipp film Worm. A total of $162,000 has been given for the development of the five projects. Also announced today (Friday) was the national agency.s support behind the production of three short films through the Springboard Program . which is designed to act as .calling cards. to feature...

Screen Australia has invested on the development of features Remarkable Creatures (written by Jan Sardi), A Murder of Crows, Black Echoes, Sibling and Worms.

The investment round includes three short films from the Springboard Program, meant to act as ‘calling cards’ to feature film proposals.

The features in development are:

Black Echoes

Producers Michael Robertson, Murray Pope

Writers Shayne Armstrong, Shane Krause

A group of international tourists are taken off the beaten path to an isolated village deep in the Vietnamese countryside. They are promised a Viet Cong tunnel crawl experience that makes the famous Cu Chi Tunnels seem like a playground… Tighter, more claustrophobic, scarier – they get their money’s worth and then some.

A Murder of Crows

Producers Murray Pope, Michael Robertson

Writers Shayne Armstrong, Shane Krause

Director Nick Robertson

Lost love brought him there, cold-blooded murder kept him there, now dark vengeance takes flight.

Remarkable Creatures

Producer...

Though great whites usually get all the love in movies about killer sharks, director Russell Mulcahy is looking to remind audiences that tiger sharks are pretty nasty mothers, too, in his new flick Bait 3D.

Bloody Disgusting just landed the first bit of casting news for the project. According to the site Aussie local Jesse Spencer has been signed on for a role in the bloody thriller penned by Mulcahy, Shane Krause, and Shayne Armstrong.

Check out the rather insane plot crunch below, and look for more soon.

Synopsis

In a sleepy coastal resort community, shoppers at an underground supermarket find themselves terrorized by a crazed bandit when the unimaginable occurs.

A monstrous freak tsunami swallows the town.

Now trapped inside a flooded supermarket with an armed maniac and rushing water threatening to entomb them all in a watery grave, the imprisoned band of survivors discover they're not alone. The...