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People have harbored a deep fascination for werewolves, vampires, witches, and ghosts for ages. While ample series and movies have been made on the supernatural theme, The Originals has managed to satisfy fans’ craving in a way like no other.

A spin-off of The Vampire Diaries, the CW show features the origin and present of the first vampires ever created: the Mikaelson family—Mikael, Finn, Elijah, Kol, Rebekah, and their half-brother and hybrid, Niklaus. While the show features all of the Mikaelson family at different times, it primarily deals with Elijah, Niklaus, and Rebekah.

The Originals | Credit: CW

The show aired from 2013 to 2018, and its five seasons were extremely gripping, exploring the emotional bonds that kept the Mikaelsons together and their battles against various supernatural threats amid constant power struggles. The Originals‘ fan-favorite cast has since embarked on diverse projects, from movies to television series.

So while in 2024, the Mikaelsons...

“House of Gods,” a Matchbox Pictures six-part series, boasting an entirely Arab Australian cast, presents a perspective seldom seen on screen, a Muslim community in Fairfield, Australia.

“You can’t manufacture authenticity. Audiences are so intuitive and adept, they can smell if something is off a mile away. So for us, having actors who understood the idiosyncrasies of Arab/Muslim culture added an intangible layer of soul to the show,” explained Osamah Sami, co-creator and one of the stars of the show.

“We both were raised in a religious setting where culture, traditions and spiritual beliefs govern daily lives. Immigration often reinforces our desire to cling on to our motherland customs even tighter” Shahin Shafaei co-creator shared with Variety. “As storytellers, we have both previously highlighted the lived experiences of our community in film and theater. But with ‘House of Gods’ we found an opportunity to explore this “living organism...

Although Phoebe Tonkin was in the 2012 shark thriller Bait and the high profile 2022 flop Babylon, most viewers probably know her from her work in television: she has been on multiple episodes H2O: Just Add Water, Home and Away, The Secret Circle, The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, Westworld, Safe Harbour, and more. I just finished watching a Netflix series she was in, Boy Swallows Universe, which I thought was pretty great. Now Tonkin has the lead role in a thriller called Night Shift, which just received a VOD and limited theatrical release today, courtesy of Quiver Distribution. To help you figure out whether or not Night Shift is a movie you’d like to see, we have a clip and the film’s trailer embedded above.

Written and directed by Paul China and Benjamin China, a.k.a. The China Brothers, Night Shift has the following synopsis: While working her first...

Boy Swallows Universe star Phoebe Tonkin will executive produce and act in a new Australian crime drama series titled The Dark Lake.

Based on the debut novel by Sarah Bailey, the series will be produced by London- and Sydney-based Brouhaha Entertainment, which also helmed Netflix’s Australia drama Boy Swallows Universe.

The Dark Lake follows a detective, Gemma, as she is forced to confront the secrets of her past when assigned to the murder of her high school nemesis in her small and tight-knit hometown.

Brouhaha was set up by British producer Gabrielle Tana, Australia’s Hopscotch Features founder Troy Lum and The Matrix executive producer Andrew Mason.

The Dark Lake is the first book in the Gemma Woodstock series, with Bailey currently writing the fourth instalment. It won both the 2018 Davitt Award for Best Crime Debut and the 2018 Ned Kelly award for Best First Crime. The two other books...

Phoebe Tonkin is to star in and executive produce a new Australian TV crime drama series, “The Dark Lake,” based on a novel by Sarah Bailey.

The series is to be produced by Brouhaha Entertainment, the Australia-u.K. outfit headed by veteran producers Gabrielle Tana, Troy Lum and Andrew Mason. The company recently delivered Netflix’s Brisbane set “Boy Swallows Universe,” in which Tonkin also stars.

Production and financing details were not disclosed and the series has not revealed a director or a broadcast or streaming partnership.

The story follows Gemma (portrayed by Tonkin) as she is forced to confront the secrets of her past when assigned to the murder of her high school nemesis in her small and tight-knit hometown. Through law enforcement, Gemma anchors herself to the dichotomy of right and wrong, in an effort to redeem her own deeply compromised decisions.

“The series investigates the moral workings...

Spoiler Alert: The following story reveals major plot points from tonight’s episode of Chicago P.D. titled, “Safe Harbour.”

Officer Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) had her work cut out for her in tonight’s episode of NBC’s Chicago P.D. As the only Spanish speaker available to take on a case involving a murdered Venezuelan refugee, Burgess is all in but soon discovers a potential suspect is closer than she realizes.

Although the episode could’ve done a much better job in handling the controversial conversation around immigration—take a drink every time they use the word “illegal”—Burgess captivates in those moments where, instead of judging her fellow humanss, she goes into action while being sensitive to the plight of the refugees using humanity as her preferred weapon.

“Safe Harbour” opens with the slaying of a Venezuelan refugee who was shot to death in a drive-by shooting by an unknown assassin.

Production is underway on “Kangaroo Island,” the feature film debut from Australian director Tim Piper and screenwriter Sally Gifford.

The family relationship drama-comedy centers around a struggling Hollywood actress forced to reunite with her sister as part of her father’s last wishes. It stars Rebecca Breeds, Erik Thomson, Adelaide Clemens and Joel Jackson.

Lou Wells (portrayed by Breeds) was set to become Hollywood’s next big thing – but a few years later, she’s hit rock bottom. Broke and aimless, she reluctantly accepts a ticket from her estranged father (Thomson), home to Kangaroo Island for a “family reunion.” When her father’s real agenda unfolds, years of tension resurface, and Lou struggles between continuing to run away from her past or working to repair the damage done.

“Kangaroo Island” is a Pouch Potato Productions production, in conjunction with Piro Inc. Ot has financial support from the South Australian Film...

How does nature mirror our emotions? Prime Video‘s “The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart” utilizes Australia’s well-known landscape to illustrate one person’s fascinating journey. Its story follows a young girl, Alice, struck by a tragic event — her adult life marred by equally dramatic circumstances. Directed by Glendyn Ivin and from the producers of “Big Little Lies,” “Nine Perfect Strangers,” and “Anatomy Of A Scandal,” the project features renowned actress Sigourney Weaver in the role of June Hart, a grandmother reluctantly tasked with becoming the central figure in Alice’s story. Alycia Debnam-Carey portrays the series’ central figure, Alice; “Fear the Walking Dead” fans will instantly recognize the actress from her long run on the series. Asher Keddie, Leah Purcell, Frankie Adams, Alexander England, Charlie Vickers, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Sebastián Zurita, Alyla Browne, and Xavier Samuel also star in the project.

Read More: Sigourney Weaver Says Hollywood’s “Incredible...

A couple weeks ago, the Hulu streaming service unveiled a teaser trailer for their upcoming eight-part psychological thriller series The Clearing, which is set to premiere with two episodes on May 24. With the premiere date now just three weeks away, the streamer has released a full trailer for the show, and you can check it out in the embed above.

Based on the best-selling crime novel In the Clearing by author J.P. Pomare and said to be “inspired by the darkness of real-life cults in Australia and around the world“, The Clearing is an emotional and psychological thriller that follows the nightmares of a cult and a woman who’s forced to face the demons from her past in order to stop the kidnapping and coercion of innocent children in the future. The series burrows under the skin and inside the mind, blurring the lines between past and present, reality...

The upcoming Hulu Original Series “The Clearing,” based on the best-selling crime thriller In The Clearing by author J.P. Pomare, unveiled a first trailer this afternoon that gives a closer look at the cult at the center of the series.

In the new trailer, one character ominously asks a child, “Are you ready for your Clearing?”

Watch it below.

“The Clearing” is created and written by Elise McCredie and Matt Cameron, with co-writer Osamah Sami, and draws inspiration from real-life cults in Australia and around the world. Look for this series to arrive next month, on May 24, 2023.

The eight-episode series is “an emotional and psychological thriller that follows the nightmares of a cult and a woman who’s forced to face the demons from her past in order to stop the kidnapping and coercion of innocent children in the future.”

Teresa Palmer (“Discovery of Witches,” Lights Out), Miranda Otto (Talk to Me,...

The upcoming Hulu Original Series “The Clearing,” based on the best-selling crime thriller In The Clearing by author J.P. Pomare, unveiled a first look teaser today that introduces its cast and nightmarish psychological thrills.

“The Clearing” is created and written by Elise McCredie and Matt Cameron, with co-writer Osamah Sami, and draws inspiration from real-life cults in Australia and around the world. Look for this series to arrive next month, on May 24, 2023.

The eight-episode series is “an emotional and psychological thriller that follows the nightmares of a cult and a woman who’s forced to face the demons from her past in order to stop the kidnapping and coercion of innocent children in the future.”

Teresa Palmer (“Discovery of Witches,” Lights Out), Miranda Otto (Talk to Me, Annabelle: Creation), and Guy Pearce (Prometheus, Ravenous) lead the Australian cast that also includes Hazem Shammas (“Safe Harbour”), Mark Coles-Smith (“Mystery Road”), Kate Mulvany...

Former top Vis exec Laura Abril has been appointed EVP of scripted and global business development at Buendía Estudios, producer of “Veneno,” “Cardo” Season 1 and “Offworld,” in a move which signals the large international ambitions of one of Spain’s key production powerhouses.

Abril will report to Ignacio Corrales, Buendía Estudios CEO.

Rising through the ranks at Viacom from 2009, Abril crowned her career at the studio as the highest-ranking international TV executive in Spain named in 2019 as head of ViacomCBS International Studios (Vis) for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Launched in August 2020, Buendía Estudios has already scored heavily in creative terms, producing a Variety Best International TV Show in 2020 (“Veneno”), 2021 (“Cardo” Season 1) and 2022 (“Offworld”). In volume, in 2022, it produced seven series for streaming services, more than any other production house in Spain, according to a study by Madrid-based consultancy Geca.

Six of these were, however, for either Atresplayer Premium,...

Miranda Otto, Jesse Spence and Guy Pearce are among the high-profile stars featuring on Disney+’s debut slate in Australia and New Zealand.

Announced at an event at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the 2022/23 slate comprises three dramas, four documentaries and two lifestyle/general factual entertainment series. Several are for Disney+’s adult vertical Star.

On the scripted drama front, The Clearing is adapted from Jp Pomare’s novel ‘In the Clearing’ and is inspired by Australian cult The Family and its founder Anne Hamilton-Byrne, one of the few female cult leaders in history.

Teresa Palmer (A Discovery of Witches), Miranda Otto (The Usual Suspects) and Guy Pearce (Jack Irish) lead the cast, alongside the lies of Hazem Shammas (Safe Harbour), Mark Coles-Smith (Mystery Road), Tom Budge (Bloom).

Written and created by Matt Cameron (Jack Irish) and Elise McCredie (Stateless) alongside co-writer Osamah Sami (Ali’s Wedding), it comes from...

Fremantle Boosts Revenue By 25% For Rtl Group

Hand of God outfit Fremantle increased its revenue by 25% last year to €1.9Bn ($2.1Bn) as owner Rtl Group, the European media conglomerate, recorded a 10% turnover rise to €6.6Bn ($7.3Bn) and a profit boost of 35% to €1.1Bn ($1.2Bn). Rtl this morning said it is making progress on Fremantle’s growth plan, following four acquisitions in the past year including, most recently, the purchase of 70% of respected Italian producer Lux Vide, along with 12 Nent Group production labels. Fremantle put 81 drama productions into production across the year and scored hits with the likes of Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscar-nominated Hand of God for Netflix. The previous year saw a big drop in returns due to the impact of the Coronavirus. The outfit, which has just struck a talent deal with Angelina Jolie, is targeting €3Bn returns by 2025. Overall, Rtl’s revenue was up 10.3% to €6.6Bn, with adjusted...

Universal International Studios has struck a deal with one of the hottest players in Spanish-language programming, Buendía Estudios.

Under the deal, the company, whose recent credits include the hit dramas “Cardo” and “Veneno,” will co-develop and co-produce Spanish-language series with Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group. Formed in 2020, Buendía Estudios is a joint venture between Atresmedia and Telefónica’s Movistar Plus, and incorporates the in-house player formerly known as Atresmedia Studios.

The company, which is led by CEO Ignacio Corrales, told Variety earlier this year that, in addition to producing for Spain and Latin America, it’s looking to develop projects from the region that are global-facing, in the vein of international Spanish-language triumphs like “Money Heist” and “Velvet.” A slate of around 40 projects across various genres and formats is currently in the works.

The Universal International Studios pact will see the two studios partner on a slate of original programming,...

Production has begun in Sydney on the television drama “After the Verdict,” with Michelle Lim Davidson and Tess Haubrich joining the cast.

The six-part series follows four people who have just finished jury duty on a high-profile murder trial. As they return to normal life, they begin to question their verdict and take matters into their own hands, investigating the murder themselves.

The show was created, written and executive produced by Subtext Pictures’ Ellie Beaumont and Drew Proffitt. The completed series will premiere on the 9Network in Australia with Entertainment One (eOne) handling international sales. The production also received major investment from federal body Screen Australia in association with region screen agency Screen Nsw.

Lim Davidson (“The Newsreader”) and Haubrich (“Wolf Creek”) join the previously announced Sullivan Stapleton, Magda Szubanski and Lincoln Younes in the show’s main cast. Other roles go to Virginia Gay (“Judy and Punch”), Emma Diaz...

For Robert Rabiah, Queensland’s Mission Beach is more than just the location where he is filming fish-out-of-water drama Irreverent – it’s also where he began his career.

The actor’s first professional job was appearing alongside Craig McLachlan, Nadine Garner, and Antonio Sabato Jr. in George Miller’s action/adventure mini-series Tribe, which was also based in the coastal town.

Speaking to If, Rabiah said his role in the Matchbox Pictures/NBCUniversal International Studios’ series more than two decades later was a case of his journey coming full circle.

“To come back after all these years feels nostalgic and satisfying,” he said.

In Irreverent, Rabiah plays Farah, a menacing hitman sent by the Chicago Mob to settle the ledger with a criminal mediator (Colin Donnell) who has taken refuge in Far North Queensland and assumed the identity of a church reverend.

Created by Paddy Macrae, the 10-part series also...

Nicole Chamoun will star opposite US actor Thomas Jane in ABC crime drama Troppo, with cameras now rolling in Queensland.

Produced by Beyond Entertainment and Eq Media Group in association with Jane’s production company Renegade Entertainment, the Fnq-set series is created by Yolanda Ramke and based on the novel Crimson Lake by Candice Fox.

Chamoun, best known for her roles in On The Ropes, The Gloaming, Safe Harbour and Romper Stomper, plays Amanda Pharrell, an eccentric Pi with a disturbing criminal past. She begrudgingly recruits disgraced ex-cop Ted Conkaffey (Jane) to investigate the murder of a brilliant research scientist.

As they battle to uncover the truth, and the tightly held secrets of Crimson Lake, their own traumatic pasts are dragged painfully into the present – tearing them apart, as each of them faces their own fight for sanity and survival.

The supporting cast includes David Lyons, Sun Park, Simon Lyndon,...

Melbourne-based private film finance group Elevate Production Finance has hired Shana Levine as head of production investment.

Levine joins other recent recruits in London-based film financier and producer Charles Auty, who is COO, and Brisbane-based entertainment and finance lawyer Ted Cawrey, who is head of legal and business affairs.

Epf MD Craig McMahon said Levine’s appointment would now mean the company could provide “superior end-to-end service to productions”.

Since launching in 2017, Elevate has helped fund a number of Australian and international films, including George Miller’s Three Thousand Years Of Longing; Rich Lee’s War Of The Worlds starring Eva Longoria; Liam-Neeson starrer Blacklight; Sophia Banks’ debut feature Black Site; and Film Nation’s Misanthrope, directed by Damián Szifron.

During the height of Covid-19, the company, which is backed by Australian and international institutions and private equity, reassessed its protocols to provide debt funding to productions despite the pandemic.

Exclusive: Phoebe Tonkin, Lamorne Morris, and Madison Hu are set to star in Night Shift, a horror film being directed by brothers Paul and Benjamin China, in their first feature directorial outing. The film hails from Defiant Studios with Eric B. Fleischman and Maurice Fadida producing alongside John Hodges, Bradley Pilz, and Dennis Rainaldi.

Rounding out the cast are Patrick Fischler, Lauren Bowles, and Christopher Denham.

The horror-thriller, written by the China brothers, follows a young woman (Tonkin) working her first night shift at a remote motel as she begins to suspect that she is being followed by a dangerous character from her past. As the night progresses and supernatural events occur, she quickly finds out that nothing is what it appears to be.

Executive producers include Jan McAdoo, Sylvain Gehler, Victor Shapiro, Raphael Swann as well as Kodiak Pictures, which is providing the financing. Production is slated to take...

Leading producers Tony Ayres and Belinda Chayko have assembled an extraordinary Australian cast for Fires, a drama series that presents personal tales from the front lines of the country’s recent catastrophic fire season.

The series, which is now shooting in Victoria state is produced by NBCUniversal -backed Tony Ayres Productions and Matchbox Pictures. Australian Broadcasting Corporation is on board as local broadcaster. International rights are handled by NBCUniversal Global Distribution.

The project is helmed by three leading film directors: Michael Rymer, Ana Kokkinos and Kim Mordaunt.

The ensemble cast includes: Eliza Scanlen, Sam Worthington, Richard Roxburgh, Sullivan Stapleton, Miranda Otto (“Homeland”), Hunter Page-Lochard, Anna Torv, Kate Box, Helana Sawires, Daniel Henshall and Noni Hazlehurst.

They are joined by newcomers Ameshol Ajang, Stacy Clausen and Nyawuda Chuol.

Fires” is structured as an anthology that weaves character studies inspired by true stories into a narrative about the Australian bushfires of 2019-...

Stephen Corvini has partnered with Fremantle Australia and Fremantle-owned Israeli production company Abot Hameiri to develop a passion project based on the story of Melbourne-born Mossad recruit Ben Zygier.

Titled Prisoner X, one of the placeholder names used for Zygier while imprisoned, the eight-part series will follow his journey from suburban Melbourne to the Israeli Defence Force, before joining Mossad.

Described as a character-driven drama, the series will follow Zygier’s dreams of heroism – dreams which tragically disintegrated when he was imprisoned and stripped of his identity. Zygier died in custody in Tel Aviv in 2010 under mysterious circumstances.

Corvini, the producer behind Safe Harbour, Hungry Ghosts and Secret City 2 – Under the Eagle, will EP the co-production under his Live Wires banner. He had previously been developing the project with Keshet International.

Giula Sandler is attached as lead writer, and former ABC Foreign Correspondent reporter Trevor Bormann, who broke the story of Zygier’s death,...

Photo: ‘Penguin Bloom’/Netflix ‘Penguin Bloom’ the newest film from streaming service Netflix and director Glendyn Ivin (‘Safe Harbour’) is as beautiful plot-wise as it is visually. It starts with the narration from debut actor Griffin Murray-Johnston and begins a deeply moving and personal tale. The film opens on a montage of the family celebrating and exploring Thailand, a cheerful prelude for the drama to come. Within the first five minutes, we learn that able-bodied Naomi Watts (‘Mulholland Drive’) falls off a building in a freak accident while her husband, Andrew Lincoln (‘The Walking Dead’) watches. The rest of the story plays out in painstaking detail as Watts’s character struggles to recover while Lincoln tries to hold their family together. It’s a grueling, heart-wrenching tale that highlights the skills of Murray-Johnston, Watts, and Lincoln. Related article: Review: Apple TV Hits the Jackpot Again with Creator Sigal Avin’s...

“Penguin Bloom,” the Toronto International Film Festival player led by Naomi Watts, has been acquired by Netflix in key territories.

The streamer will roll out the film in North America, the U.K., France and select countries in Asia on Jan. 27.

Oscar nominee Watts stars in the real-life survival story of Samantha Bloom, an active and vibrant Australian mom who is paralyzed from the chest down on holiday with her family. Her struggle to forge ahead is helped along by a wounded baby magpie her kids take in, named Penguin.

Glendyn Ivin directs from a script by Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps, based on the book by Bloom’s husband Cameron Bloom and Bradley Trevor Greive.

Andrew Lincoln, Jacki Weaver, Rachel House, Leeanna Walsman, Lisa Hensley, Griffin Murray-Johnston, Felix Cameron and Abe Clifford-Barr co-star.

Ivin directed the short film “Cracker Bag,” which was awarded the Palme d’Or at Cannes,...

Posh frocks, smoldering sexuality and a trail of intriguing but ultimately frustrating clues made for a great mystery back in 1975, when Peter Weir’s “Picnic at Hanging Rock” first appeared on the big screen. The tale of schoolgirl disappearances, deception and voyeurism remains a beacon of Australian cinema and launched Weir’s directing career.

But these days, those narrative qualities are being explored in greater depth on the small screen by top screenwriting and directing talent. “Picnic at Hanging Rock” has itself returned as a new TV miniseries piloted by FremantleMedia and picked up by Amazon for the U.S. and the BBC for Britain. Pay-channel Foxtel has it in Australia – where the novel of the same title is a classic of Australian literature – and sees the show as a subscriptions magnet.

“Picnic,” which opens the Berlinale’s TV strand Monday, is the highest-profile Australian project in Berlin this year.

Universal Studio Group chair Pearlena Igbokwe on Tuesday revealed the latest tweaks to the structure of the group that comprises Universal Television, Ucp and NBCUniversal International Studios, saying that the International Formats Group has joined the fold to be overseen by JoAnn Alfano, whose role has been expanded.

As part of the tweaks, Formats boss Enrique Guillen, EVP Commercial Strategy and International Development, will be reporting to Alfano, who will now oversee Current Programming for both Universal Television and Ucp. She will now hold the title of EVP Scripted Current Series and Head of International Business Development, Usg.

Usg still is searching for a new international president following the recent exit of Jeff Wachtel.

Alfano, the veteran Lifetime and Brillstein exec, had been EVP Scripted Programming at NBCUniversal International Studios before returning to the domestic side in 2018 as EVP Current Series and New Business Development for Universal Television. In her new role,...

JoAnn Alfano is set to lead current programming for the both Universal Television and Universal Content Productions.

The announcement was made Tuesday by Pearlena Igbokwe, chairperson of Universal Studio Group, in a letter to staff obtained by Variety. In addition, Alfano will add the International Formats Group to her purview, with the group being folded into Usg. Her new title will be executive vice president of scripted current series and head of international business development for Usg. She will report to Igbokwe for formats and international business development and Ucp president Dawn Olmstead and the yet to be named president of Universal Television for current series.

“JoAnn is well respected across the industry and we are lucky to have someone who brings such a wealth of experience to this newly created role,” Igbokwe wrote.

Enrique Guillen, executive vice president of commercial strategy and international development, will now be reporting to Alfano.

Long-time NBCUniversal executive Jeff Wachtel has left the company, Variety has confirmed. He most recently served as president of NBCUniversal International Studios.

Variety understands that Wachtel’s departure follows some issues pertaining to respect in the workplace, after which it was agreed that Wachtel would leave the company. It’s believed a search for his replacement is underway.

Wachtel served for nearly two decades at NBCUniversal, crossing the pond to London in 2018 to oversee NBCU International’s portfolio of production companies and manage the development of formats and content partnerships for the Peacock. Replacing Michael Edelstein as head of the business’s international TV strategy, Wachtel’s arrival in the U.K. was met with much fanfare, and he became a regular face at local conferences like the Royal Television Society events.

His production bona fides won him the respect of the local production community, and his passion for scripted...

(L-r) Jason Lee, an unidentified extra and Frank Lotito on the set of ‘Growing Up Smith.’

Actor Robert Rabiah is frustrated with the lack of on-screen representation of Australia’s diverse communities despite some recent TV shows and movies that are more reflective of race, gender, class and colour.

That prompted Rabiah to create AussieWood, a TV comedy which follows the daily life of casting agent Steve “Aussie” Wood, a high-achieving, slightly neurotic and affable rogue who is trying to do the best he can in a pandemic-ridden world.

Rabiah pitched his idea to director/producer Frank Lotito, who wholeheartedly agreed and will helm a half-hour pilot with a top name cast.

“I wanted to challenge all that mythologising about who can carry a show or who can lead a film or who can play which role and why,” the actor whose credits include Below, Secret City, Safe Harbour and Ali’s Wedding tells If.

Tony Ayres Productions (Tap) is developing The Fires, a six-part anthology series drawing on the experiences of those directly affected by the Australian megafires of last summer.

The company, which has an exclusive deal with NBCUniversal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group, has ABC already on board with the series in Australia.

The creative team includes Tony Ayres, Andrea Denholm and Liz Watts. The writing team, led by International Emmy Award-winning showrunner/writer Belinda Chayko includes Jacquelin Perske (The Cry), Mirrah Foulkes (Judy and Punch), Steven McGregor (Mystery Road) and Anya Beyersdorf.

The Fires is a serialized anthology inspired by the stories of the people who survived last summer’s catastrophic fire season and continue to endure the aftermath. Each episode is based around character studies...

Fleetwood Mac will release a massive box set documenting the band’s early years, out September 4th on Rhino.

Fleetwood Mac 1969-1974 will consist of eight CDs, beginning with their third album, 1969’s Then Play On. The lineup shifted quite a bit in these years, most notably when founding guitarist Peter Green left in 1970.

The collection also includes the studio albums Kiln House (1970), Future Games (1971), Bare Trees (1972), Penguin (1973), Mystery to Me (1973) and Heroes Are Hard to Find (1974) — all with bonus tracks.

The eighth CD in the set, Live From the...

Michael Dorman and Jessica de Gouw in ‘The Secrets She Keeps.’

When Lingo Pictures’ The Secrets She Keeps premieres on BBC1 at 9pm on July 6, it will mark a milestone as the first Australian-produced TV drama to screen in primetime on the BBC’s flagship channel – at least in recent memory.

The BBC acquired the UK rights to the psychological thriller commissioned by Network 10, starring Laura Carmichael, Jessica de Gouw, Michael Dorman and Ryan Corr, in February but did not disclose the channel or timeslot.

According to Screen Australia’s records, the only other Australian drama to air on primetime on BBC1 was The Cry, a UK co-production.

Five Bedrooms and A Place to Call Home screened during the daytime on the channel. Picnic At Hanging Rock was on BBC2, Romper Stomper on BBC3 and Mystery Road, Safe Harbour and The Slap on BBC4.

Delighted with the prestige slot,...

(L-r): Russel Howcroft and Chris Oliver-Taylor.

Australian Film Television and Radio School (Aftrs) council chair Russel Howcroft has been re-appointed for a second three-year term, while Fremantle Asia-Pacific CEO Chris Oliver-Taylor has joined the council.

Howcroft, recently announced as the new co-host of 3Aw’s Breakfast program with Ross Stephenson, has an extensive industry resume that spans executive general manager of Network Ten, founding chair Think TV, inaugural chief creative officer at PwC Australia, as well as chairman of the Advertising Federation of Australia and CEO of leading advertising agency George Patterson Y&r. He has been a regular panellist on Cjz’s Gruen.

Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP said: “I am delighted that Russel Howcroft is continuing as Chair of Aftrs. Mr Howcroft has significant creative industry experience and in his role as Chair he is making a valuable contribution...

Antonio Sabato Jr and Robert Rabiah.

Antonio Sabato Jr. was one of the few American actors who supported Donald Trump in the 2016 election and soon found he was virtually blacklisted in Hollywood.

His agents and manager deserted him and work dried up so after a 30-year-career he decided to move to Florida and get a job in construction.

Now he plans a comeback, producing, co-writing, directing and starring in Trail Blazers, a Western about a band of brothers who were once outlaws and decide to turn their back on their old ways to fulfill their father’s dying wish.

Safe Harbour and Secret City star Robert Rabiah, who has been a mate of Sabato since they worked in Crawford Productions’ Queensland-shot series Tribe in 1999, will play Gabriel, his younger brother.

The brothers take refuge near a small town in Utah and quickly lock horns with the local Sheriff and his deputies.

Glendyn Ivin (Photo credit: Stephen MaCallum).

While Glendyn Ivin was directing a Tvc in Melbourne over four days last week he felt the mood shift among the crew as the coronavirus deepened.

“I could feel the energy drop and the doubt set in. Jobs were being cancelled and schedules emptying by the minute,” the director of The Cry, Safe Harbour and Gallipoli tells If.

“Perhaps like most people working in the film and television industry as I come towards the end of a production I always start to wonder if it will be my last. Maybe my luck is up and my phone will never ring again.

“I doubt any of us have found ourselves in this industry with job security as a priority. We live from job to job and it’s overall a wonderful thing.

“But this feels different. This is a random, enforced time of doubt and...

Ben Lawrence, Meg O’Connell and Mithila Gupta.

Screen Australia has selected 11 creatives to travel to New York in April as part of the Talent USA: New York delegation, where they will attend the Australian International Screen Forum.

The program is designed give Australian creators an opportunity to learn on the ground in the Us, and provides networking and professional opportunities.

Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason said: “To achieve success in this global industry it is imperative we help Australian talent establish and foster creative and business relationships in the Us – the largest English speaking market for screen content. This group were chosen because they are at the point in their careers where they can really take advantage of the opportunity and leverage these connections for their upcoming projects.”

Australian International Screen Forum co-founder and executive director Michael Kelleher said, “We are excited to showcase the 2020 Talent USA delegation to a New York industry audience.

Stephen Corvini.

Prolific drama producer Stephen Corvini is back in the independent sector after leaving Matchbox Pictures, his base for the past four and a half years.

Corvini, who plans to operate under the banner Live Wires, is developing several projects including a noir crime series created by Eddie Baroo and a drama based on the true story of a Melbourne man who was recruited by Mossad, the Israeli secret service.

As a producer and drama development executive at Matchbox Pictures he produced the upcoming Hungry Ghosts for Sbs, Safe Harbour for Sbs and Hulu, Secret City 2 – Under the Eagle for Foxtel and Netflix, telemovie Oddlands, a collaboration with Back to Back Theatre for the ABC and the Adelaide Film Festival, and Hyde & Seek for the Nine Network.

Earlier in his career he produced the telemovie Schapelle for Nine, Better Man for Sbs and Devil’s Dust for the ABC,...

Ewen Leslie and Emma Booth filming The Gloaming (Photo credit: Stan).

For Vicki Madden, Blake Ayshford, Glendyn Ivin and no doubt myriad other content creators, the challenge is to find unique Australian stories which resonate internationally and can cut through the worldwide glut of English-language drama.

More broadly, Madden calls for more respect for writers from some producers and networks, telling If: “At times there is too much interference and the stories become bland and impersonal.”

Ayshford welcomes increasing collaboration between experienced writers and newer voices and predicts: “I think the next few years could be transformational for our industry and usher in a new generation of voices and stories.”

Ivin is excited by the competition from streaming services but wonders how many consumers can afford to spend more than $100 a month to subscribe to multiple platforms.

However Ivin, the director of The Cry, Safe Harbour and Penguin Bloom, the...

Sue Masters.

After five years as Sbs’s head of scripted, Sue Masters is set to depart the broadcaster to pursue independent drama development.

Having led the drama commissioning team, Masters leaves a legacy that includes the International Emmy Award-winning Safe Harbour, Sbs’s most successful drama ever, The Hunting, Robbie Hood, Sunshine, The Principal, The Family Law, Deep Water, Dead Lucky, On The Ropes, and the upcoming Hungry Ghosts.

Until recruitment for the position commences in 2020, Amanda Duthie has joined Sbs as acting head of drama. Most recently Duthie was the head of production and development and studios at the South Australian Film Corporation, and prior to that was the creative director/CEO of the Adelaide Film Festival and head of arts & entertainment at ABC.

Masters will continue to work across some Sbs initiatives, including The R.I.D.E Feature Film Fund, a feature film project and partnership with Screen Queensland,...

Australia’s Safe Harbour named best TV movie/mini-series.

UK crime thriller McMafia was named best drama series at the 47th International Emmy Awards ceremony in New York on Monday (25) evening.

Australia’s Safe Harbour won the best TV movie/mini-series award and programmes from Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Turkey and the Us were among winners of another nine Emmys presented during the ceremony staged by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Other winners include Haluk Bilgier, who took the Emmy for best performance by an actor for his role in Turkish drama series Şahsiyet (Persona), and Marina Gera,...

‘Safe Harbour’.

Matchbox Pictures drama Safe Harbour has won the International Emmy Award for Best TV Movie/Miniseries.

The four-part psychological thriller beat out fellow nominees Lust Stories (India), Se Eu Fechar Os Olhos Agora [If I Close My Eyes Now] (Brazil) and Trezor (Hungary).

First commissioned by Sbs, Safe Harbour follows a group of Aussie friends who come across a broken-down boat full of desperate asylum-seekers while on a yachting holiday. The Australians decide to tow the refugees, but the next morning the boat is gone. Years later they meet some of the refugees again and learn the truth: someone cut the rope between the boats and, as a result, seven people died.

Safe Harbour was scripted by Belinda Chayko (who also served as the showrunner), Matt Cameron and Phil Enchelmaier; directed by Glendyn Ivin; produced by Stephen Corvini, and stars Ewen Leslie, Phoebe Tonkin, Jacqueline McKenzie, Leeanna Walsman, Joel Jackson, Nicole Chamoun, Hazem Shammas and Robert Rabiah.

U.K. series “McMafia” earned the International Emmy Award for drama at the 47th annual ceremony recognizing programs from outside the U.S.

BBC’s “McMafia,” which also aired on AMC, was the final winner tonight at the Hilton New York where the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ kudos were handed out at a dinner gala hosted by “Daily Show” correspondent Ronny Chieng.

Australia’s “Safe Harbour” won for movie/miniseries. The thriller about a disturbing trip to Indonesia for a group of friends from Brisbane beat out nominees from Brazil, India and Hungary. Matchbox Pictures’ produced the series for Australia’s Sbs. “Safe Harbour” was picked in the U.S. by Hulu.

The comedy prize went to Netflix’s Brazilian program “Especial de Natal Porta dos Fundos (The Last Hangover),” a Biblical spoof starring popular comedian Fábio Porchat.

Haluk Bilginer of Turkey’s “Şahsiyet (Persona)” won for best performance by an actor.

Awards While Radhika Apte is nominated for Best Performance By An Actress for 'Lust Stories', the anthology is also competing in the TV Movie/Miniseries category.Tnm StaffThe International Emmy Awards announced its nominees on Thursday and there’s some great news for Indian entertainment as well, with a total of four nominations, including one for Best Performance By An Actress. Netflix India’s original Sacred Games, which recently released its second season has received an International Emmy nomination for Season 1 in the category of Drama Series. Lust Stories, another Netflix miniseries, got a nomination in the TV movie/miniseries category; and for her work in the same, Radhika Apte has been nominated for the Best Performance By An Actress. Amazon Prime’s The Remix-India has been nominated for the International Emmy for Non-Scripted Entertainment. Sacred Games directors Anurag Kashyap, Neeraj Ghaywan and Vikramaditya Motwane, The Remix host...

‘Wrong Kind of Black’.

Matchbox Pictures’ Safe Harbour, Princess Pictures’ Wrong Kind of Black and Synchronicity Films/December Media’s The Cry have received nominations for International Emmy Awards.

Safe Harbour, produced by Matchbox Pictures, has been nominated in the Best TV Movie/Mini-Series category. Broadcast on Sbs, the asylum seeker drama series was directed by Glendyn Ivin and showrun by writer and producer Belinda Chayko, also featuring writers Phil Enchelmaier and Matt Cameron. It was produced by Stephen Corvini and includes executive producers Sue Masters, Debbie Lee and Chayko.

The ABC iview-commissioned Wrong Kind of Black, from Princess Pictures, has been nominated for best Short Form Series. Based on the life and stories of Indigenous writer, poet and educator Boori Monty Pryor, the four-part series was directed by Catriona McKenzie, written by Pryor and produced by Kelly West and Melanie Brunt. Princess Pictures’ Emma Fitzsimons and Andrea Denholm were executive producers.

Brazil and the U.K. lead the pack in this year’s International Emmy Awards nominations, which span 21 countries across 11 categories.

Titles and talent from Britain and Brazil will vie with other hopefuls for the trophy in five categories: drama, best performance by an actor, best performance by an actress, arts programming and documentary. Brazilian shows also won a three further nods in the comedy, short-form series and movie/miniseries categories, while a British program scored a nomination for non-scripted entertainment.

Other countries with more than one nod include Germany, Australia, Belgium, Argentina, Hungary and India.

“The diversity, geographic spread and quality of this year’s nominees is a testament to the increasing wealth of outstanding television being created on a global scale,” Bruce L. Paisner, president and CEO of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, said Thursday. “We congratulate the nominees for their outstanding achievements.”

The International Academy...

Netflix is teaming with The Slap and Glitch’s Tony Ayres and super-producer David Heyman on thriller Clickbait. The eight-episode series is created by Ayres and is an NBCUniversal International Studios production. Shooting will take place in Melbourne.

Ayres will also showrun and executive produce the character-based drama via his Tony Ayres Productions, which is backed by Oz’s Matchbox Pictures (of which Ayres is co-founder) and NBCU International Studios. Matchbox and Tap are producing with Heyman’s Heyday Television for Netflix.

Clickbait explores the ways in which our most dangerous and uncontrolled impulses are fueled in the age of social media, and reveals the ever widening fractures we find between our virtual and real life personas.

Christian White is co-creator, co-producer and writer. Brad Anderson (The Sinner) is lead director.

Heyman, whose Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood is currently enjoying hot August nights at the global box office,...

Matt Cameron.

For years as a screenwriter Matt Cameron had to get accustomed to a common response from some producers when he handed in scripts.

“Thanks for the script,” he was often told. “Bye-bye, we will let you know when it’s on air.”

That has changed significantly in the past few years as writers are increasingly employed as showrunners or producers, actively involved through to completion.

“The change has been quite swift and profound,” he tells If. “There are still some old school producers who are really hanging on to the past because the old structure suited them well. They liked going to Mipcom each year and not have writers in the room for key meetings.

“The best producers we have in this country, and there’s lots, have really embraced the international approach, which is that it makes no sense not to have the writer in the room...

Rebecca Gibney, Anthony Lapaglia and Jessica Marais head the cast of crime thriller mini-series “Halifax: Retribution.” The show is the revival of an iconic Australian series that ran on the Nine Network for six seasons from 1994 to 2002, starring Gibney.

In the new show, produced for Nine, Gibney’s forensic psychiatrist character is called back from academia to the police front line when a serial sniper begins attacking Melbourne.

Original creator and writer Roger Simpson returns as writer and producer, alongside executive producer Mikael Borglund and writers Mac Gudgeon (“Killing Time”), Peter Gawler (“Underbelly”) and the Oscar-nominated Jan Sardi (“Shine”).

Production starts next month in Melbourne with Jacqueline McKenzie, Rick Donald, Hannah Monson (“Glitch”), Craig Hall, Mavournee Hazel and Louisa Mignone among the supporting cast.

“Halifax: Retribution” is a Beyond Lonehand Production with major production investment from Screen Australia, in association with Film Victoria. Beyond Distribution is handling international sales of...

Bryan Brown and Clare Bowen.

After appearing in all six seasons of Us musical drama Nashville, Clare Bowen has returned to Australia to star alongside Bryan Brown in Sbs’s Hungry Ghosts.

Matchbox Pictures’ four-part character-driven ghost story based on an original idea by Timothy Hobart explores three generations of Vietnamese Australian families, all haunted by the traumatic events of war.

Four weeks into a seven week shoot, the Shawn Seet-directed series opens on the eve of the Hungry Ghost Festival in Melbourne when a vengeful spirit is unleashed, wreaking havoc across the Vietnamese Australian community.

The large ensemble cast also features Catherine Davies, Justine Clarke, Ryan Corr, Ferdinand Hoang, Gareth Yuen, Jillian Nguyen, Hoa Xuande, Suzy Wrong, Gary Sweet and Susie Porter.

Brown plays Neil Stockton, a photographer famous for his collection of Vietnam War photographs which are featured in an exhibition that has ripple effects.

Bowen, who...

Ewen Leslie and Emma Booth.

Emma Booth and Ewen Leslie are playing detectives and former lovers who investigate the brutal murder of an unidentified woman in The Gloaming.

Aaron Pedersen, Rena Owen, Matt Testro and newcomer Josephine Blazier are co-starring in the eight-part drama commissioned by Stan and Disney’s ABC Studios International, which is now shooting in Tasmania.

In her follow-up to The Kettering Incident, Sweet Potato Films’ Vicki Madden is the creator/showrunner, teaming up with Fiona McConaghy and 2 Jons’ John Molloy and Jon Adgemis. Michael Rymer is the set-up director, working with Greg McLean and Sian Davies.

“The plot combines crime, Gothic and the supernatural, a space in which Australia does not do a lot,” Madden tells If.

“Stan and ABC Studios International’s Keli Lee are very collaborative. They are giving me the freedom to tell the story which taps into Tasmania’s convict history.”

Booth plays unconventional Detective Molly McGee.