News

Last year, when Kevin Spacey was acquitted of the s-xual assault allegations, which came to light in the wake of the #Metoo movement, the actor shared a special thank you to Evan Lowenstein. Lowenstein, who was formerly a part of the ’90s boyband Evan and Jaron, garnered the manager post for the Oscar winner after Spacey fired his previous manager back in 2016.

Since then, the two have grown pretty close, as the actor even went on to deem the singer-turned-manager his best friend and recently became emotional while commending him.

Evan Lowenstein Helped Kevin Spacey Get through the Tumultuous Period Kevin Spacey. | Credit: Pinguino k/Wikimedia Commons.

Appearing on Pierce Morgan Uncensored, his first major television interview in years, Kevin Spacey shed light on his experience of dealing with the hefty allegations. In the interview, the actor stressed the importance of Evan Lowenstein in his life, who was a constant...

New Zealand’s funniest export Jackie Van Beek returns to SXSW atop the cast of “Audrey,” an Australian dark comedy that is headed to SXSW.

Van Beek, whose 2018 “The Breaker Upperers,” was a previous SXSW hit, portrays a forgotten former soap star whose career and life have been derailed by motherhood and suburban boredom. But when an accident puts her 18-year-old child in a coma, the woman takes on her daughter’s identity and gets a second chance at the life she actually wanted.

Other cast also include: Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (“Puberty Blues,” “The Diplomat”), Josephine Blazier (“True History of the Kelly Gang”) and disability advocate and actress Hannah Diviney (“Latecomers”).

“What begins as a light, sex-fuelled comedy about family soon takes a twisted journey into horror as, like a classic Greek tragedy, our protagonists decide that the only way to find happiness is to destroy their firstborn,” says director Natalie Bailey.

Ewen MacIntosh, the Welsh actor who played the accounts department’s Keith Bishop in Ricky Gervais‘ original BBC comedy The Office, has died at the age of 50.

The news was confirmed by Gervais himself in a post on X. “Extremely sad news,” he wrote Wednesday. “The very funny and very lovely Ewen Macintosh, known to many as ‘Big Keith’ from The Office, has passed away. An absolute original. Rip.”

More from TVLineRobin Windsor, Strictly Come Dancing Star, Dead at 44Carl Weathers Super Bowl Spot Adds Tribute in Wake of Actor's Death - WATCHCountry Music Star Toby Keith Dead at 62

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Aussies like to stick together, even when they’re all generally in America, doing American work. See, the new Hulu Original psychological thriller series “The Clearing,” starring Australian actors Teresa Palmer (“Discovery of Witches“), Miranda Otto and Guy Pearce. “The Clearing” will premiere with two episodes on Hulu on May 24, followed by new episodes every Wednesday.

Continue reading ‘‘The Clearing’ Teaser Trailer: Teresa Palmer, Miranda Otto & Guy Pearce Star In A Psychological Thriller Series For Hulu at The Playlist.

Vince Gilligan’s sole script on the 2005 ‘Night Stalker’ reboot is the perfect stepping stone between the writer’s two television universes.

“There are countless stories in the city, about the lives lived here, about how the fates of others intertwine with our own in ways we can never expect or predict.”

The X-Files was one of the most significant cultural touchstones to come out of the 1990s and it forever changed the shape of genre storytelling on television. Breaking Bad and its prequel spin-off series, Better Call Saul, have very much done the same for television in the 2010s and ‘20s, albeit in very different ways. Vince Gilligan is the common factor between these completely unique worlds, but he also wrote a single episode of 2005’s reboot of the totemic supernatural procedural series, Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

If The X-Files is about the pursuit of the truth and Breaking Bad...

Aquarius Films has optioned the film development and production rights to Abdul Karim Hekmat’s acclaimed article “True Love in Nauru,” and aims to produce it as feature film “Paradise.”

“Paradise” is the powerful true story of two men who meet and fall in love in an Australian offshore detention center. Their relationship becomes a life-affirming source of strength as they take on institutional indifference and overcome hopelessness, finally making their way to freedom.

Hekmat’s original article was published in The Monthly, an Australian political and society magazine. Hekmat, who resides in Australia, arrived as a refugee from Afghanistan and spent five months in detention will co-write the screenplay with Roger Monk.

“Paradise” will be co-directed by Rhys Graham and Phoenix Raei, an Australian actor-director of Persian descent. Rae, who will be making his feature directorial debut, has recent performance credits including Netflix series “The Night Agent,” Netflix mini-series “Clickbait,...

Sales

Kids’ content distributor Federation Kids and Family and Zdf Enterprises have sold all three seasons of hit series “Find Me in Paris” to streamer Disney Plus as part of a worldwide multi-territory deal, while Italian state broadcaster Rai also picked up season 3 following on from its successful run of the first two seasons.

Broadcast in over 80 territories, “Find Me in Paris” (78 x 26’) follows the story of Lena Grisky, a time-travelling ballet dancer from 1905 Russia trapped in modern day Paris, and the many dilemmas she faces finding her place between two worlds. The series has also been a social media hit across all platforms, with the soundtracks registering 18 million streams across all music streaming platforms for 2020/2021 and its YouTube channel recording 46.1 million views to date.

“Find Me in Paris” is produced by David Michel, Zoé Carrera Allaix, and Cecile Lauritano for Cottonwood Media and co-produced with Zdf, Zdf Enterprises, Be-Films...

ITV Studios Strikes Major CBC Content Deal

ITV Studios has struck a major scripted and non-scripted content deal with Canadian network CBC as the London Screenings approaches. The deal includes BBC drama Showtrial from ITV Studios-backed Line of Duty producer World Productions, the second series of Kelsey Munro’s Bump, Paramount+’s Australian comedy Spreadsheet, adult animation Ten Year Old Tom and Swedish procedural Thin Blue Line. On the non-scripted side, CBC has taken British factual titles such as Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs and The Queen Unseen. The Canadian network has also extended its deal to air ITV soap Coronation Street. “This is a top notch list of amazing scripted and factual titles from across the globe,” said Craig Bohland, ITV Studios’ Vice President Sales, Canada. The deal comes as ITV Studios gears up for next week’s London Screenings, which will feature major distributors pitching shows...

In the Aquarius Films and ABC drama Savage River, Jocelyn Moorhouse was offered the kind of mini-series she’d love to watch herself.

The Dressmaker director is an enthusiastic binge watcher of crime mysteries and Scandi-noir – particularly those with great female characters – so the Katherine Langford-led series was right up her alley.

“I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’ve always wanted to do one of these, and here it is.’ It’s dark, brooding and really well plotted,” she tells If.

Now three weeks into pre-production, Savage River was officially announced as part of the ABC’s upfronts today. Production will begin early next year in Melbourne and regional Victoria.

Langford plays Miki Anderson, a young woman who returns to her hometown in rural Victoria after eight years in prison.

She’s determined to finally move on with her life, getting a job in the local meatworks, but the...

Aacta has revealed those in contention for the major film, television and short-form prizes at this year’s awards, with High Ground leading the charge in the film categories and The Newsreader ahead in television.

The nominations follow those revealed for feature documentary in July, with the technical craft categories still to come.

Aacta also announced today that this year’s awards will move from The Star to the Sydney Opera House, with the ceremony to be held December 8.

There has also been a change in broadcast partners from Seven to 10, where the ceremony will air first followed by an encore on Fox Arena on Foxtel, Binge, and Aacta TV.

High Ground has earned eight nominations, including Best Film. Also nominated for the night’s major prize are Nitram, which earned seven nods, The Dry, which has six, as well as The Furnace, Penguin Bloom and Rams.

The Best Indie Film Award,...

NBCUniversal’s Joe Exotic series will carry an Australian flavour that goes beyond its Queensland shoot.

Aussie actors Will McNeill (Rams), Jack Scott (Hardball), Nic English (The Tailings), Benedict Hardie (The Invisible Man), Shereena Clanton (Wentworth), Alexandra Jensen (My Life is Murder), Anthony J. Sharpe (Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears) and Aliandra Calabrese (Perfect Messy Love) have been added to the supporting cast for the production, which is currently filming.

The series will feature English as the titular character’s first husband Brian Rhyne; Scott as Exotic’s political campaign manager Joshua Dial; Calabrese as Lauren Lowe; Jenson as Exotic’s niece Chealsi; Hardie as Agent Thomas; Sharpe as zookeeper Erik Cowie; McNeill as Big Cat Rescue volunteer Tyler; and Clanton as Susan.

It comes after the earlier announcement of fellow Aussie Marlo Kelly as Carole Baskin’s daughter Jamie Murdock.

They join the likes of Kate McKinnon,...

Porchlight Films’ Fisk has triumphed at Series Mania in France, taking out the Best Series Award in the comedy competition.

The legal comedy was one of only seven series chosen for the competition screening, joining Bloods (US), Brigade Mobile (France), Frank of Ireland (Ireland and UK), Hacks (USA), Georges and Ferdinand Tribulations (France), and Starstruck (UK).

Written, co-directed, and starring comedian Kitty Flanagan, the ABC-ordered comedy follows Helen Tudor-Fisk (Flanagan), a previously a high-end contracts solicitor who finds herself in the low rent world of wills and probate when she takes the job at Gruber & Gruber, following a humiliating marriage breakdown and professional fall from grace.

Speaking about the win, Flanagan said it was pleasing to see the program resonate globally.

“I’m absolutely thrilled, especially when you look at the competition, we were certainly the scrappy underdog in the fight,” she said.

“It’s incredibly satisfying to learn that...

Ahead of its screening in competition at France’s Series Mania today, co-producer and distributor About Premium Content (Apc) has inked a series of international sales for Aquarius Films’ The Unusual Suspects across Europe, North America and New Zealand.

The title has sold to Hulu for the US, Bell Media for Canada, streaming service Rialto in New Zealand, Ocs in France, Filmin in Spain, AMC Networks International Southern Europe in Spain and Portugal, and Streamz and Proximus in Belgium.

Originally commissioned by Sbs, The Unusual Suspects is a female-led heist caper starring Miranda Otto, Aina Dumlao and Michelle Vergara Moore.

When a $16 million necklace is taken from self-made businesswoman Roxanne Waters’ (Vergara Moore) home in an elaborate heist, the ensuing police investigation exposes cracks in Eastern Sydney’s sparkling façade. With the stakes higher than ever, can the masterminds stop themselves from turning on each other, or will they discover...

The popular Australian heist series, The Unusual Suspects, is stealing its way into America via Hulu. I have high hopes the show will be better than the horrible pun I just wrote. Women Can Steal Things Too, Maybe? The four-episode series appears to be in the vein of Oceans 8…maybe? According to Variety, women from different […]

The post Heist Series ‘The Unusual Suspects’ Coming to Hulu appeared first on /Film.

Hulu has acquired U.S. rights to “The Unusual Suspects,” an English-language heist series starring Miranda Otto (“Homeland”), Aina Dumlao (“Ballers”) and Michelle Vergara Moore (“Condor”), which will compete at Series Mania in Lille.

The Australian series is represented in international markets by the Paris-based co-production and distribution banner About Premium Content (Apc), and was produced by Aquarius Films’ Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford for Sbs Australia.

Created and co-written by Jessica Redenbach (“Spirited”), “The Unusual Suspects” revolves around women from different walks of life who come together following the elaborate heist of a $16 million necklace which belonged to a self-made businesswoman. The ensuing police investigation exposes cracks in Eastern Sydney’s sparkling façade and provides an insight into the immigrant experience in the region.

“‘The Unusual Suspects’ is a fun, female-led drama series which has found an ideal home stateside with our partners at Hulu,” said Laurent Boissel and Emmanuelle Guilbart,...

Hugo Weaving heads the diverse cast of “Love Me,” a romantic drama series that is now in production in Melbourne, Australia.

The show explores modern love as experienced by different family members at different stages of life. It is adapted from the Swedish series “Älska Mig,” created by Josephine Bornebusch.

To be presented as a six-part series with 43-minute episodes, the show is directed by celebrated Australian director Emma Freeman with lead writer Alison Bell, and writers Leon Ford, Adele Vuko and Blake Ayshford.

“Love Me” is a Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia production in association with Aquarius Films for the Foxtel Group’s streaming service Binge. Major production investment came from Screen Australia in association with Film Victoria.

Binge is an SVOD service launched in May last year by Foxtel, the News Corp. Australia and Telstra-owned pay-tv service in Australia. It offers on-demand and live entertainment across the lifestyle,...

Rarriwuy Hick leads the ensemble cast of Bunya Productions’ drama True Colours (formerly Copping It Black), now shooting in the Northern Territory’s Macdonnell Ranges for Sbs and Nitv.

The four-part series stems from an original concept from Arrernte singer-songwriter Warren H. Williams, who also stars, and co-creator, writer and director Erica Glynn.

Hick plays Detective Toni Alma, assigned to investigate a suspicious car accident in Perdar Theendar, the Indigenous community she left as a child and has had little to do with over the years. The beauty of Indigenous art and the sometimes-devious practices in the global art market take the detective on an epic hunt for a killer.

Starring alongside Hick are Luke Arnold, Erroll Shand, Emilie de Ravin, Trisha Morton-Thomas, Ben Oxenbould and Miranda Otto.

The series will also include a range of fresh faces such as Kumalie Riley, Kurt Abbott, Sabella Turner, Natalie Peperill, Warren ‘Wazza’ Williams,...

Yet another Jungle Entertainment series is headed Stateside – this time drama Wakefield, with Showtime snapping up the US rights.

It’s the second Australian acquisition by the ViacomCBS-owned premium network of late, having also picked up See-Saw Films’ The End last September.

Created by Kristen Dunphy and originally commissioned by the ABC, Wakefield explores the fine line between sanity and madness through the perspectives of staff and patients at a psychiatric facility.

The cast is lead by Brit Rudi Dharmalingham, a gifted nurse, who is the sanest person in what is a pretty crazy place. But when a song gets stuck in his head, a dark secret from his past begins to intrude into his present.

The ensemble also includes Mandy McElhinney, Geraldine Hakewill, Harriet Dyer, Ryan Corr, Sam Simmons and Felicity Ward.

Sam Meikle is a showrunner with Dunphy, and both wrote alongside Joan Sauers and Cathy Strickland. Series...

Series Mania has announced its line-up ahead of the television festival taking place in Lille, France, on August 26-September 2.

World Productions’ BBC series Vigil will get its international premiere at the gathering. Starring Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie, it tells the fictional story of how the disappearance of a Scottish fishing trawler and a death on-board a Trident nuclear submarine create conflict between the police, the Royal Navy, and intelligence services.

Series in the international competition include Kamikaze, HBO Max’s first Danish original, and Anna, a Sky Studios original in which a 13-year-old girl contends with a viral contagion that kills off all adults in Sicily. Hagai Levi, co-creator of Golden Globe-winning The Affair, chairs the international jury.

Series Mania will host guests of honor including Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, Dexter showrunner Clyde Philipps, and The Good Fight actress Audra McDonald. Other premieres include Season 5 of Netflix’s Money Heist.

There will be a strong Australian contingent at Series Mania in France this year, including Jungle Entertainment’s Wakefield, Aquarius Films’ The Unusual Suspects, Porchlight Films’ Fisk and Lazy Susan Films’ Iggy & Ace.

2020 saw the international TV festival initially forced to cancel outright before moving industry meetings and networking online. This year it returns, after two postponements, as an in-person event in Lille August 26 to September 3, with an accompanying special digital program.

Series Mania Forum, the industry arm of Series Mania, is set for August 30 – September 1.

Dramas Wakefield, commissioned by the ABC, and The Unusual Suspects, by Sbs, will each compete in the Panorama section.

ABC-ordered comedy Fisk, written, directed by and starring Kitty Flanagan, will be shown in the comedy strand, while Iggy and Ace, an upcoming short-form drama series for Sbs On Demand, will make its world premiere in the web series competitive section.

Two other Australian shows...

In 1997 in a Bondi café, David Barda and Stephen Jenner met with a group of other young film buffs to plan a magazine that would go on to become a mouthpiece for a new generation of indie filmmakers.

Now that humble publication has made it to 200 issues!

Yes, If is getting old, and as you can see from our cover above, we’ve had a few facelifts along the way.

From our grassroots beginnings, we’ve grown into what we are today. We like to think of ourselves as much an industry network as a mag, and that’s happened only with your encouragement.

We’ve been proud to be your mouthpiece and mirror, as well as your occasional critic and sometime support group. Every so often it’s felt thankless, but at other times we’ve felt like we’ve been at the coalface.

Most of all, we’re...

Aquarius Films’ Sydney-set heist caper The Unusual Suspects will premiere June 3 at 8:30pm on Sbs and Sbs On Demand, with all episodes available to stream at the same time of the premiere.

When a $16 million necklace is taken from a self-made businesswoman’s home, the ensuing police investigation exposes cracks in Eastern Sydney’s sparkling façade. With the stakes higher than ever, can the masterminds stop themselves from turning on each other, or will they discover a friendship worth more than diamonds?

Aina Dumlao, Miranda Otto and Michelle Vergara Moore headline the ensemble cast, alongside Peter O’Brien, Toby Leonard Moore, Matt Day, Lena Cruz, Susana Downes, Ari Boyland, Heather Mitchell, James Lugton, Renee Lim, Susie Porter, Sandy Gore, Megan Smart and Andrea Demetriades. Miguel Castro, Darcey O’Brien, Emma Cleland, Liam Cleland, Blake Santos, Avery Santos and Danielle David will also appear in their first major television roles.

The series...

Aquarius Films and Anonymous Content will partner to produce dystopian sci-fi crime thriller The Subjugate, based on the novel of the same name by Amanda Bridgeman.

Planned as a long-format series, The Subjugate is set in 2040 and follows a number of murders that send shockwaves through the religious community of Bountiful, which has turned its back on technology and the modern world. The obvious suspects are ‘The Subjugates’, violent offenders who are transformed into town servants, known as Serenes at the Solme Complex.

Sent from the city to investigate the crimes, two homicide detectives are met with open hostility. Everyone has a motive and the frustrated detectives begin to crack under the pressure. As their mutual mistrust builds, they set out on parallel investigations.

Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford will produce for Aquarius Films and Luke Rivett and Ryan Cunningham for Anonymous Content. The producers are currently in talks with...

Aquarius Films has acquired development and production rights to dystopian sci-fi thriller novel The Subjugate and is teaming with Anonymous Content to produce a TV adaptation.

Written by award winner Amanda Bridgeman, the Subjugates book series is set in 2040, watching as a series of murders sends shockwaves through the religious community of Bountiful. Heading to the city to investigate the crimes are two homicide detectives, who are met with little other than open hostility. While the obvious suspects are “The Subjugates”—violent offenders who are turned into town servants, known as Serenes—unsettling wrinkles in the case emerge, as the detectives set out on parallel investigations.

Aquarius Films founders Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford will produce the long-format series, along with Luke Rivett and Ryan Cunningham of Anonymous Content.

“The Subjugate explores topical themes of rehabilitation, recidivism and advancing technology in a captivating near-future science fiction thriller and is perfect...

Aquarius Films and Dollhouse Pictures will jointly develop and produce The Geography of Friendship, a 6 x 1 hour limited series based on Sally Piper’s novel by the same name.

To be adapted by Giula Sandler, the story follows three female school friends in past and present timeframes. When a hike celebrating the end of school culminates in a violent confrontation, the trio go their separate ways and remain estranged until decades later when they reunite to retrace their steps, seeking closure, connection and redemption.

Piper’s novel was shortlisted for the 2019 Australian Book Industry Awards and published by University of Queensland Press and by Legend Press in the UK.

Aquarius’ Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford will produce, alongside Dollhouse’s Jessica Carrera with Rose Byrne executive producing. Gracie Otto is attached to direct, and writer Krew Boylan, Aquarius and Dollhouse will round out the development and production team with further attachments.

In today’s Global Bulletin, Warner Bros. announces several local versions of Nippon TV’s “Mute It!”, “Ugly Betty” gets a Ukrainian makeover, Twickenham Film Studios plans a facelift of its own, Australia’s Stan hires Amanda Duthie and beIN Sports gets Ligue 2 soccer in France.

Format

Warner Bros. International Television Production has struck a deal with Japan’s Nippon TV to produce multiple local versions of Nippon TV’s studio-based comedy show “Mute it!”. The show involves 12 players, including one celebrity, attempting to pass through themed rooms and crazy obstacles without making a sound above 50 decibels.

Wbitvp has acquired the rights to produce local versions in all territories where it has a production company, including the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany and the Nordics. Sales in the rest of the world, including Asia and LatAm, continue to be handled by Nippon TV. Warner’s first local version...

Amanda Duthie will depart Sbs this week, where she has been acting as head of scripted since late 2019.

If understands Duthie will join Stan, though the streamer is yet to publicly confirm the role.

Duthie joins the Nine-owned platform as it ramps up its local commissions, having recently announced an ambitious plan to invest in more than 30 productions per year within five years.

On Stan’s upcoming slate is a second season of Roadshow Rough Diamond’s hit series Bump; Anthony Hayes’ feature film Gold, starring Zac Efron; Every Cloud Productions series Eden, and BBC co-production The Tourist, about to shoot in South Australia with stars Jamie Dornan, Danielle Macdonald, Shalom Brune-Franklin and Hugo Weaving.

While at Sbs, Duthie helped to steer its largest ever drama slate, including Goalpost Pictures’ New Gold Mountain and Aquarius Films’ The Unusual Suspects.

A spokesperson for the broadcaster told If: “Amanda has made...

Sbs unveiled its largest ever local drama slate at its upfronts today, including a new four-part crime series from Bunya Productions and Caama, Copping it Black, to be directed by Erica Glynn and Steven McGregor.

Next year will also see the broadcaster air a hefty roster of local unscripted projects, including the seven one-off docs produced via the Australia Uncovered initiative, and landmark factual series covering off on topics such as domestic violence, adult literacy, disability, ageism and obesity.

Goalpost’s gold rush drama New Gold Mountain, delayed due to Covid-19, is now underway in Victoria, with Yoson An, Alyssa Sutherland, Christopher James Baker, Dan Spielman, and Mabel Li toplining the cast.

Set in the Bendigo Goldfields in 1855, it follows the charismatic headman of the Chinese mining camp who suddenly finds himself struggling to maintain the fragile harmony between Chinese and European diggers and authorities when a murdered European woman...