In the sixth episode of new NBC sitcom “Young Rock,” based on the real life of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, his father, Rocky Johnson (Joseph Lee Anderson), prepares for and then wrestles in a Battle Royal. The way the match was written, there were 18 performers who would take each other out one, or a few, at a time, leaving Rocky to become the Polynesian Pacific champion. It’s a stunt-heavy sequence that includes performers hitting each other with chairs. Meanwhile Lia (Ana Tuisila) thinks Rocky is going to cross her and leave for a rival wrestling company. So, unbeknownst to Rocky, she changes the outcome at the last minute so that the Iron Sheik (Brett Azar) wins. This results in an emotional realization within the ring for Rocky, as well as an impromptu compromise from both men as to how exactly he will lose.
Jeff Chiang
Co-creator/executive producer
“As far as scripting the scene,...
Jeff Chiang
Co-creator/executive producer
“As far as scripting the scene,...
- 6/21/2021
- by Danielle Turchiano
- Variety Film + TV
Aacta has unveiled the final set of nominees for its upcoming awards, including the craft categories in television and documentary, as well as those up for the VFX, casting and the Best Asian Film awards.
Leading the charge in television is Matchbox Pictures/Dirty Films’ Stateless, which notched another 11 nominations today, taking its overall tally to 18.
Fellow ABC series Mystery Road, produced by Bunya Productions, follows with a total of 14 nominations.
Stateless helmers Emma Freeman and Jocelyn Moorhouse are both nominated for Best Direction in A Television Drama or Comedy. They will vie against Mystery Road‘s Wayne Blair and Warwick Thornton, and Simon Francis, who shot Anne Edmond’s Amazon stand-up special.
Thornton is a double nominee, also garnering recognition for his cinematography on Mystery Road, up against Marden Dean for The Commons; Martin McGrath for Operation Buffalo, and Bonnie Elliott for Stateless.
Nominated in the TV screenplay category...
Leading the charge in television is Matchbox Pictures/Dirty Films’ Stateless, which notched another 11 nominations today, taking its overall tally to 18.
Fellow ABC series Mystery Road, produced by Bunya Productions, follows with a total of 14 nominations.
Stateless helmers Emma Freeman and Jocelyn Moorhouse are both nominated for Best Direction in A Television Drama or Comedy. They will vie against Mystery Road‘s Wayne Blair and Warwick Thornton, and Simon Francis, who shot Anne Edmond’s Amazon stand-up special.
Thornton is a double nominee, also garnering recognition for his cinematography on Mystery Road, up against Marden Dean for The Commons; Martin McGrath for Operation Buffalo, and Bonnie Elliott for Stateless.
Nominated in the TV screenplay category...
- 11/18/2020
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Twenty-seven of Australia’s top cinematographers last night launched a social media campaign aimed at boosting the number of women employed in camera teams and, more broadly, encouraging greater diversity across the screen industry.
Using the hashtag #whoisinyourcrew, the six-week campaign is designed to reach all heads of department as well as directors and producers.
The initiative was conceived by Dop Bonnie Elliott on behalf of the Australian Cinematographers Society’s Diversity Committee, the reconfigured Acs Women’s Advisory Panel.
Appointed to Screen Australia’s Gender Matters task force this year, Elliott has led the way by maintaining gender equity across her own camera teams for the last four years.
“I am keen to empower my fellow cinematographers to help make change in the industry through their hiring practices,” says Elliott, whose recent credits include Stateless, The Furnace, Palm Beach, The Hunting, H is for Happiness and Daina Reid’s upcoming Run Rabbit Run.
Using the hashtag #whoisinyourcrew, the six-week campaign is designed to reach all heads of department as well as directors and producers.
The initiative was conceived by Dop Bonnie Elliott on behalf of the Australian Cinematographers Society’s Diversity Committee, the reconfigured Acs Women’s Advisory Panel.
Appointed to Screen Australia’s Gender Matters task force this year, Elliott has led the way by maintaining gender equity across her own camera teams for the last four years.
“I am keen to empower my fellow cinematographers to help make change in the industry through their hiring practices,” says Elliott, whose recent credits include Stateless, The Furnace, Palm Beach, The Hunting, H is for Happiness and Daina Reid’s upcoming Run Rabbit Run.
- 7/27/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
First Ad Jeremy Grogan, Dop Martin McGrath and camera operator Nicolas Owens on the ‘Wakefield’ set (Photo: Lisa Tomasetti).
The Australian TV drama production sector has virtually ground to a halt with multiple shows suspending shooting last Friday.
Jungle Entertainment and BBC Studios shut down the ABC-commissioned Wakefield, the eight-episode drama set in a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital.
“The limitations we’ve put on our incredible cast and crew over the last two weeks have made shooting more and more difficult and it is now logistically impossible and unsafe to continue,” Jungle CEO Jason Burrows tells If.
“We’re lucky to have partners in the ABC, Screen Australia, Screen Nsw and BBC Studios who have been very supportive. I just hope the government will provide some financial relief to those in need in our team, and the wider industry, while they are out of work.”
Hoodlum Entertainment called a halt...
The Australian TV drama production sector has virtually ground to a halt with multiple shows suspending shooting last Friday.
Jungle Entertainment and BBC Studios shut down the ABC-commissioned Wakefield, the eight-episode drama set in a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital.
“The limitations we’ve put on our incredible cast and crew over the last two weeks have made shooting more and more difficult and it is now logistically impossible and unsafe to continue,” Jungle CEO Jason Burrows tells If.
“We’re lucky to have partners in the ABC, Screen Australia, Screen Nsw and BBC Studios who have been very supportive. I just hope the government will provide some financial relief to those in need in our team, and the wider industry, while they are out of work.”
Hoodlum Entertainment called a halt...
- 3/22/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Jocelyn Moorhouse with Dop Martin McGrath on the ‘Wakefield’ set.
Jocelyn Moorhouse was shooting the ABC’s Stateless when Jungle Entertainment offered her the gig of set-up director of the ABC drama Wakefield.
The concept was unlike anything she’d ever heard of, centering on the interaction between staff and patients at a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital, leavened with musical numbers and tap dancing, so she was hooked.
Brit Rudi Dharmalingam plays Nik, a gifted psych nurse in the eight-episode show created by Kristen Dunphy, who is the showrunner with Sam Meikle, produced by Shay Spencer and Ally Henville for Jungle Entertainment and BBC Studios.
The sanest person in a pretty crazy place, Nik is confronted by a dark secret from his past when a song gets stuck in his head.
Reuniting with the director after collaborating on the Seven Network’s Wanted, Geraldine Hakewill plays a psychiatrist, with Mandy McElhinney as the head nurse.
Jocelyn Moorhouse was shooting the ABC’s Stateless when Jungle Entertainment offered her the gig of set-up director of the ABC drama Wakefield.
The concept was unlike anything she’d ever heard of, centering on the interaction between staff and patients at a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital, leavened with musical numbers and tap dancing, so she was hooked.
Brit Rudi Dharmalingam plays Nik, a gifted psych nurse in the eight-episode show created by Kristen Dunphy, who is the showrunner with Sam Meikle, produced by Shay Spencer and Ally Henville for Jungle Entertainment and BBC Studios.
The sanest person in a pretty crazy place, Nik is confronted by a dark secret from his past when a song gets stuck in his head.
Reuniting with the director after collaborating on the Seven Network’s Wanted, Geraldine Hakewill plays a psychiatrist, with Mandy McElhinney as the head nurse.
- 3/16/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Murray Forrest.
Murray Forrest has received the Society of Australian Cinema Pioneers’ inaugural Humanitarian Award, recognising his long commitment to the Motion Picture Industry Benevolent Society (Mpibs).
The former head of film processing labs Atlab and Colorfilm, Forrest has served as chairman of the Mpibs, which financially supports industry people who have fallen on hard times, for 24 years.
Announcing the accolade at the society’s annual dinner on Thursday night, Pioneers national president Russell Anderson said the award recognizes outstanding and exceptional service to the cinema industry, in particular charity work, mentoring and community service.
Accepting the award, Forrest recalled meeting Sir Norman Rydge, chairman of Colorfilm’s parent the Greater Union Organisation, 55 years ago, a few months after he had joined the company.
Sir Norman informed the 22-year-old Forrest about the Cinema Pioneers and the Mpibs, where he became a councilor several years before being appointed chairman.
Sir Norman’s son Alan Rydge,...
Murray Forrest has received the Society of Australian Cinema Pioneers’ inaugural Humanitarian Award, recognising his long commitment to the Motion Picture Industry Benevolent Society (Mpibs).
The former head of film processing labs Atlab and Colorfilm, Forrest has served as chairman of the Mpibs, which financially supports industry people who have fallen on hard times, for 24 years.
Announcing the accolade at the society’s annual dinner on Thursday night, Pioneers national president Russell Anderson said the award recognizes outstanding and exceptional service to the cinema industry, in particular charity work, mentoring and community service.
Accepting the award, Forrest recalled meeting Sir Norman Rydge, chairman of Colorfilm’s parent the Greater Union Organisation, 55 years ago, a few months after he had joined the company.
Sir Norman informed the 22-year-old Forrest about the Cinema Pioneers and the Mpibs, where he became a councilor several years before being appointed chairman.
Sir Norman’s son Alan Rydge,...
- 11/28/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Kriv Stenders on the Mumbai set of ‘Jack Irish’ last year (Photo credit: Martin McGrath)
Kriv Stenders has an enviable track record as the director of both Red Dog hits, The Principal, The Pacific: In the wake of Captain Cook with Sam Neill (co-directed with Sally Aitken), The Go-Betweens: Right Here and episodes of Jack Irish, Doctor Doctor and Hunters.
But even he acknowledges it took him 10 years to make his first feature – which he self-funded – and he has had his share of failures.
Currently in post on his Vietnam War movie Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan for producers Martin Walsh and John and Michael Schwarz, Stenders shared his experiences to encourage directors who are struggling to make their first or second features.
He was responding to a ground-breaking study by UK analyst Stephen Follows, reported by If, which shows far fewer directors in Australia get the chance to make their second feature,...
Kriv Stenders has an enviable track record as the director of both Red Dog hits, The Principal, The Pacific: In the wake of Captain Cook with Sam Neill (co-directed with Sally Aitken), The Go-Betweens: Right Here and episodes of Jack Irish, Doctor Doctor and Hunters.
But even he acknowledges it took him 10 years to make his first feature – which he self-funded – and he has had his share of failures.
Currently in post on his Vietnam War movie Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan for producers Martin Walsh and John and Michael Schwarz, Stenders shared his experiences to encourage directors who are struggling to make their first or second features.
He was responding to a ground-breaking study by UK analyst Stephen Follows, reported by If, which shows far fewer directors in Australia get the chance to make their second feature,...
- 2/24/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Xenia Goodwin shooting at the Opera House.
Xenia Goodwin made her acting debut in ABC series.Dance Academy, which ran from 2010-2013. Three years after the show wrapped, Goodwin returned to the role of Tara Webster for a Dance Academy feature shot in Sydney and New York in the middle of last year. She talks to If about reuniting with old friends and commiting to a career as an actor.
Was it strange returning to Dance Academy after so long?
The idea of it was, but once I got back in it was like we never stopped. I guess I felt like I belonged there. It was my life, and I missed it a lot..
How old were you when you started the show?
I was just turning 15. I was quite young, and determined to be a ballet dancer at the time. I.d left school and I was doing that vocationally.
Xenia Goodwin made her acting debut in ABC series.Dance Academy, which ran from 2010-2013. Three years after the show wrapped, Goodwin returned to the role of Tara Webster for a Dance Academy feature shot in Sydney and New York in the middle of last year. She talks to If about reuniting with old friends and commiting to a career as an actor.
Was it strange returning to Dance Academy after so long?
The idea of it was, but once I got back in it was like we never stopped. I guess I felt like I belonged there. It was my life, and I missed it a lot..
How old were you when you started the show?
I was just turning 15. I was quite young, and determined to be a ballet dancer at the time. I.d left school and I was doing that vocationally.
- 4/6/2017
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
Xenia Goodwin.
StudioCanal has dated Dance Academy: The Movie.
The film, directed by Jeffrey Walker and starring Xenia Goodwin, Keiynan Lonsdale, Jordan Rodrigues, Dena Kaplan, Thomas Lacey, Alicia Banit and Tara Morice, will hit Australian cinemas on March 23, 2017.
International sales are being handled by Zdf Enterprises Germany.
The show was created by writer Samantha Strauss (Mary: The Making of a Princess) with producer Joanna Werner (Secret City, Ready For This).
The film.s Ep's are Louise Smith (The Square, The Rage in Placid Lake), Bernadette O.Mahony (Worst Year of My Life Again, Mortified), Vicki O.Neil, Arne Lohmann and Nicole Keebe.
Dop Martin McGrath Acs (Muriel.s Wedding), who shot all 65 episodes of the show.s three seasons, is lensing the feature..
Also on board is production designer Chris Kennedy (The Water Diviner, The Proposition, Cosi), costume designer Tess Schofield (The Water Diviner, The Sapphires, Bootmen), hair and...
StudioCanal has dated Dance Academy: The Movie.
The film, directed by Jeffrey Walker and starring Xenia Goodwin, Keiynan Lonsdale, Jordan Rodrigues, Dena Kaplan, Thomas Lacey, Alicia Banit and Tara Morice, will hit Australian cinemas on March 23, 2017.
International sales are being handled by Zdf Enterprises Germany.
The show was created by writer Samantha Strauss (Mary: The Making of a Princess) with producer Joanna Werner (Secret City, Ready For This).
The film.s Ep's are Louise Smith (The Square, The Rage in Placid Lake), Bernadette O.Mahony (Worst Year of My Life Again, Mortified), Vicki O.Neil, Arne Lohmann and Nicole Keebe.
Dop Martin McGrath Acs (Muriel.s Wedding), who shot all 65 episodes of the show.s three seasons, is lensing the feature..
Also on board is production designer Chris Kennedy (The Water Diviner, The Proposition, Cosi), costume designer Tess Schofield (The Water Diviner, The Sapphires, Bootmen), hair and...
- 6/28/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Xenia Goodwin on the set of Dance Academy: The Movie.
Dance Academy: The Movie has begun shooting in Sydney, almost six years to the day since the premiere of Dance Academy season one in 2010.
The series began with country girl Tara Webster (Xenia Goodwin) travelling to Sydney to audition for a place at the National Academy of Dance, the top ballet school in Australia..
Returning alongside Goodwin in the feature film is Dena Kaplan, Alicia Banit, Thomas Lacey (Winners and Losers), Jordan Rodrigues (The Fosters), Keiynan Lonsdale (Insurgent) and Strictly Ballroom's Tara Morice.
The show was created by writer Samantha Strauss (Mary: The Making of a Princess) with producer Joanna Werner (Secret City, Ready For This).
The film.s Ep's are Louise Smith (The Square, The Rage in Placid Lake), Bernadette O.Mahony (Worst Year of My Life Again, Mortified), Vicki O.Neil, Arne Lohmann and Nicole Keebe,...
Dance Academy: The Movie has begun shooting in Sydney, almost six years to the day since the premiere of Dance Academy season one in 2010.
The series began with country girl Tara Webster (Xenia Goodwin) travelling to Sydney to audition for a place at the National Academy of Dance, the top ballet school in Australia..
Returning alongside Goodwin in the feature film is Dena Kaplan, Alicia Banit, Thomas Lacey (Winners and Losers), Jordan Rodrigues (The Fosters), Keiynan Lonsdale (Insurgent) and Strictly Ballroom's Tara Morice.
The show was created by writer Samantha Strauss (Mary: The Making of a Princess) with producer Joanna Werner (Secret City, Ready For This).
The film.s Ep's are Louise Smith (The Square, The Rage in Placid Lake), Bernadette O.Mahony (Worst Year of My Life Again, Mortified), Vicki O.Neil, Arne Lohmann and Nicole Keebe,...
- 5/30/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Anupam Sharma’s cross cultural Australian comedy unINDIAN, featuring cricket star, Brett Lee and internationally acclaimed Indian actress, Tannishtha Chatterjee, will be screened in the Antipodes Festival at Cannes during Cannes Films Festival this May 2016, then in October 2016 during St Tropez Film Festival (https://issuu.com/michelolivier/docs/cannesantipodes2016__bd_). The film was produced with financial assistance from Screen Australia and Screen Nsw and major investment from Australia India Film Fund.
Opening with a world premiere at Montreal, unINDIAN continued to be screened at number of film festivals throughout Europe and America. The film opened across 70 screens in Australia, with Madman picking up ancilliary sales in Australia. The producers will be selling the film to various territories, particularly India, through their global sales agents, Yellow Affair at Cannes. Speaking from Cannes, Miira Paasillinna and Chris Howard from Yellow Affair said “We are delighted to be selling this warm and funny Australian film.
Opening with a world premiere at Montreal, unINDIAN continued to be screened at number of film festivals throughout Europe and America. The film opened across 70 screens in Australia, with Madman picking up ancilliary sales in Australia. The producers will be selling the film to various territories, particularly India, through their global sales agents, Yellow Affair at Cannes. Speaking from Cannes, Miira Paasillinna and Chris Howard from Yellow Affair said “We are delighted to be selling this warm and funny Australian film.
- 5/12/2016
- by Press Releases
- Bollyspice
Filming is now complete on the highly anticipated Australian feature film unINDIAN. Wrapping last week, the cross-cultural comedy is the first production of the newly established Australia India Film Fund (Aiff).Highlighting the complexities of Indian diaspora and wooing another from a different culture unINDIAN, a film by Anupam Sharma, stars internationally acclaimed actress Tannishtha Chatterjee (Bhopal: A Prayer of Rain, Siddharth, Brick Lane) and Brett Lee in his first lead role.
Seen in Indian Traditional outfit, Brett looked like he enjoyed the dramatic and larger than life dance sequence that Indian films are known for. After wrapping up the shoot Tannishtha Chatterjee has returned to India while Brett Lee took to the microphone to commentate for the Icc Cricket World Cup.
Anupam Sharma, producer and director of the film says, “We were all excited prepping up for this final number composed by Salim Sulaiman. Specially because the number has some interesting twists and turns,...
Seen in Indian Traditional outfit, Brett looked like he enjoyed the dramatic and larger than life dance sequence that Indian films are known for. After wrapping up the shoot Tannishtha Chatterjee has returned to India while Brett Lee took to the microphone to commentate for the Icc Cricket World Cup.
Anupam Sharma, producer and director of the film says, “We were all excited prepping up for this final number composed by Salim Sulaiman. Specially because the number has some interesting twists and turns,...
- 4/3/2015
- by Press Releases
- Bollyspice
The first round of Aacta Award winners have been announced today at the 4th Aacta Award Luncheon held at the Star Event Centre in Sydney.
Celebrating screen craft excellence in Australia, 22 awards were presented, recognising the work of screen practitioners working in television, documentary, short fiction film, short animation and feature film.
The Luncheon was hosted by writer/actor/producer/director Adam Zwar, who was also joined throughout the event by a list of distinguished presenters. including Aacta President Geoffrey Rush, David Stratton, Damian Walshe-Howling, Alexandra Schepisi, Charlotte Best and Diana Glenn.
In the feature film category, Predestination took home the most Awards; with Ben Nott Acs taking out the prize for Best Cinematography, Matt Villa Ase winning the award for Best Editing, and Matthew Putland scooping Best Production Design.
Tess Schofield was honoured with the Aacta Award for Best Costume Design for her work on The Water Diviner while...
Celebrating screen craft excellence in Australia, 22 awards were presented, recognising the work of screen practitioners working in television, documentary, short fiction film, short animation and feature film.
The Luncheon was hosted by writer/actor/producer/director Adam Zwar, who was also joined throughout the event by a list of distinguished presenters. including Aacta President Geoffrey Rush, David Stratton, Damian Walshe-Howling, Alexandra Schepisi, Charlotte Best and Diana Glenn.
In the feature film category, Predestination took home the most Awards; with Ben Nott Acs taking out the prize for Best Cinematography, Matt Villa Ase winning the award for Best Editing, and Matthew Putland scooping Best Production Design.
Tess Schofield was honoured with the Aacta Award for Best Costume Design for her work on The Water Diviner while...
- 1/27/2015
- by Emily Blatchford
- IF.com.au
Russell Crowe-Directed Movie Up for Australian Film Award; Crowe Shortlisted Only in Acting Category
Director Russell Crowe Movie up for Best Film: Australian Academy Awards 2015 nominations (photo: Actor-director Russell Crowe in 'The Water Diviner') Aacta Awards: Feature Film Categories Best Film The Babadook Kristina Ceyton and Kristian Moliere Charlie's Country Nils Erik Nielsen, Peter Djigirr and Rolf de Heer Predestination Paddy McDonald, Tim McGahan, Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig The Railway Man Chris Brown, Andy Paterson and Bill Curbishley Tracks Emile Sherman and Iain Canning The Water Diviner Andrew Mason, Keith Rodger and Troy Lum Best Director The Babadook Jennifer Kent Charlie's Country Rolf de Heer Predestination Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig The Rover David Michôd Best Actress Kate Box The Little Death Essie Davis The Babadook Sarah Snook Predestination Mia Wasikowska Tracks Best Actor Russell Crowe The Water Diviner David Gulpilil Charlie's Country Damon Herriman The Little Death Guy Pearce The Rover Best Supporting Actor Patrick Brammall The Little Death Yilmaz Erdogan...
- 12/3/2014
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
A seven-part series set during the turbulent period of the establishment of the penal colony in Sydney in 1788 may seem a stretch for Liverpool-born and based writer Jimmy McGovern.
Yet Banished, which starts shooting in Sydney on Monday, deals with themes the writer has often explored in the UK series he's created in a distinguished 30- year career.
.Jimmy.s stories are about the moral complexities which human beings face when they are in difficult situations,. his producing partner Sita Williams tells If. .He asks the audience: .What would you have done in that situation? Would you have done it any differently?..
David Wenham heads the large Australian/British cast as Governor Arthur Phillip, a pragmatic idealist who hopes to turn the penal colony into a land of opportunity for all. Joseph Milson portrays his nemesis Major Ross, who believes the only chance of survival is to rule with an iron fist.
Yet Banished, which starts shooting in Sydney on Monday, deals with themes the writer has often explored in the UK series he's created in a distinguished 30- year career.
.Jimmy.s stories are about the moral complexities which human beings face when they are in difficult situations,. his producing partner Sita Williams tells If. .He asks the audience: .What would you have done in that situation? Would you have done it any differently?..
David Wenham heads the large Australian/British cast as Governor Arthur Phillip, a pragmatic idealist who hopes to turn the penal colony into a land of opportunity for all. Joseph Milson portrays his nemesis Major Ross, who believes the only chance of survival is to rule with an iron fist.
- 4/4/2014
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
The Australian Cinematographers Society has announced the 2012 award winners for New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.
Held on November 17 at new venue, the Masonic Centre, Sydney, the 2012 Nsw & Act Annual Awards attracted more than 180 members, sponsors and guests.
The 19 different award categories included student cinematography, current affairs, telefeatures, TV drama and mini-series, music videos and features cinema.
The Ross Wood Snr Acs Memorial Judges Award for 2012 Best Entry was awarded to Toby Oliver.for his work on Beaconsfield.
A list of all winners.can be found.below.
1 - Student Cinematography presented by the Aftrs Bronze Patrick Jaeger "Maquisard" Silver Damian Smith GetUP "It's Time" Gold Tim Barnsley "Inferno" Gold Dimitri Zaunders "Look At Me"
2 - Experimental & Specialised presented by Adept Turnkey & Airview Xtreme Silver Zoe White Gail Sorronda "Oh My Goth" Gold Judd Overton "Door Chair Bed Stair"
3 - John Bowring Acs TV Station Breaks & Promos presented by...
Held on November 17 at new venue, the Masonic Centre, Sydney, the 2012 Nsw & Act Annual Awards attracted more than 180 members, sponsors and guests.
The 19 different award categories included student cinematography, current affairs, telefeatures, TV drama and mini-series, music videos and features cinema.
The Ross Wood Snr Acs Memorial Judges Award for 2012 Best Entry was awarded to Toby Oliver.for his work on Beaconsfield.
A list of all winners.can be found.below.
1 - Student Cinematography presented by the Aftrs Bronze Patrick Jaeger "Maquisard" Silver Damian Smith GetUP "It's Time" Gold Tim Barnsley "Inferno" Gold Dimitri Zaunders "Look At Me"
2 - Experimental & Specialised presented by Adept Turnkey & Airview Xtreme Silver Zoe White Gail Sorronda "Oh My Goth" Gold Judd Overton "Door Chair Bed Stair"
3 - John Bowring Acs TV Station Breaks & Promos presented by...
- 11/18/2012
- by Emily Blatchford
- IF.com.au
The Australian Cinematographers Society has announced the 2012 award winners for New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.
Held on November 17 at new venue, the Masonic Centre, Sydney, the 2012 Nsw & Act Annual Awards attracted more than 180 members, sponsors and guests.
The 19 different award categories included student cinematography, current affairs, telefeatures, TV drama and mini-series, music videos and features cinema.
The Ross Wood Snr Acs Memorial Judges Award for 2012 Best Entry was awarded to Toby Oliver.for his work on Beaconsfield.
A list of all winners.can be found.below.
1 - Student Cinematography presented by the Aftrs Bronze Patrick Jaeger "Maquisard" Silver Damian Smith GetUP "It's Time" Gold Tim Barnsley "Inferno" Gold Dimitri Zaunders "Look At Me"
2 - Experimental & Specialised presented by Adept Turnkey & Airview Xtreme Silver Zoe White Gail Sorronda "Oh My Goth" Gold Judd Overton "Door Chair Bed Stair"
3 - John Bowring Acs TV Station Breaks & Promos presented by...
Held on November 17 at new venue, the Masonic Centre, Sydney, the 2012 Nsw & Act Annual Awards attracted more than 180 members, sponsors and guests.
The 19 different award categories included student cinematography, current affairs, telefeatures, TV drama and mini-series, music videos and features cinema.
The Ross Wood Snr Acs Memorial Judges Award for 2012 Best Entry was awarded to Toby Oliver.for his work on Beaconsfield.
A list of all winners.can be found.below.
1 - Student Cinematography presented by the Aftrs Bronze Patrick Jaeger "Maquisard" Silver Damian Smith GetUP "It's Time" Gold Tim Barnsley "Inferno" Gold Dimitri Zaunders "Look At Me"
2 - Experimental & Specialised presented by Adept Turnkey & Airview Xtreme Silver Zoe White Gail Sorronda "Oh My Goth" Gold Judd Overton "Door Chair Bed Stair"
3 - John Bowring Acs TV Station Breaks & Promos presented by...
- 11/18/2012
- by Emily Blatchford
- IF.com.au
The 1980s is a vivid era in many people.s memories . shoulder pads, big hair, and acid-wash jeans among them. Recapturing that flavour has its own particular challenge when technology adds its own distortions to the prism of memory.
TV1 crime series Killing Time successfully navigated the three-decade journey by taking an unconventional path.
.People don.t tend to shoot drama these days on film and it was a chance to strike out a different look really,. cinematographer Martin McGrath Acs says of his choice to shoot Super 16 rather than digital.
.You.ve got to admit too, in the back of our minds . even though it wasn.t often expressed . was that Underbelly was out there and it.s completely blanketed that genre to a degree. We just tried to clutch for something that would give us a bit of an edge, something visually arresting and something that set it apart.
TV1 crime series Killing Time successfully navigated the three-decade journey by taking an unconventional path.
.People don.t tend to shoot drama these days on film and it was a chance to strike out a different look really,. cinematographer Martin McGrath Acs says of his choice to shoot Super 16 rather than digital.
.You.ve got to admit too, in the back of our minds . even though it wasn.t often expressed . was that Underbelly was out there and it.s completely blanketed that genre to a degree. We just tried to clutch for something that would give us a bit of an edge, something visually arresting and something that set it apart.
- 10/5/2012
- by Brendan Swift
- IF.com.au
This article originally appeared in If Magazine #148 (August-September).
The bar was lowered and now gets even lower. Controversial series Rake, which follows charismatic barrister Cleaver Greene.s legal misadventures, is currently assailing ABC viewers for a second time.
The first series, broadcast on ABC in late-2010, did well. It won lead actor Richard Roxburgh a Silver Logie for Outstanding Actor and the series attracted about 700,000 weeknight viewers, which the ABC considered good for an offbeat drama . enough to commission a second series.
Series two picks up where series one left off says producer (and former solicitor) Ian Collie from Essential Media & Entertainment. The story format is the same, with Cleaver defending a client each week . whom he knows to be guilty . intercut with episodes of his chaotic personal and family life.
The series continues to focus less on legal and police procedural elements than the typical legal drama and more on character and relationships,...
The bar was lowered and now gets even lower. Controversial series Rake, which follows charismatic barrister Cleaver Greene.s legal misadventures, is currently assailing ABC viewers for a second time.
The first series, broadcast on ABC in late-2010, did well. It won lead actor Richard Roxburgh a Silver Logie for Outstanding Actor and the series attracted about 700,000 weeknight viewers, which the ABC considered good for an offbeat drama . enough to commission a second series.
Series two picks up where series one left off says producer (and former solicitor) Ian Collie from Essential Media & Entertainment. The story format is the same, with Cleaver defending a client each week . whom he knows to be guilty . intercut with episodes of his chaotic personal and family life.
The series continues to focus less on legal and police procedural elements than the typical legal drama and more on character and relationships,...
- 9/21/2012
- by Peter Lavelle
- IF.com.au
On the set of the ABC’s new teen dance drama, Dance Academy, Laine Lister discovered that a love of ballet, weak ankles and chance meetings combine to create a very sweet series.
If you believe in fate, then the uncanny development of ABC teen drama Dance Academy is absolutely a case for it, according to producer Joanna Werner.
It began five years ago when Melbourne-based Werner relocated to the Gold Coast to produce children’s television program H2O: Just Add Water.
Enjoying a pre-shoot tipple, Werner met Sam Strauss – who was working in the casting department of H20 at the time – and the two instantly hit it off. Hours later Strauss quizzed Werner about her dream job.
“I said I’d make a show about a girl from the country who gets into the elite dance school; a teen drama. She thought I was joking,” says Werner laughing as she recalls the fateful conversation.
If you believe in fate, then the uncanny development of ABC teen drama Dance Academy is absolutely a case for it, according to producer Joanna Werner.
It began five years ago when Melbourne-based Werner relocated to the Gold Coast to produce children’s television program H2O: Just Add Water.
Enjoying a pre-shoot tipple, Werner met Sam Strauss – who was working in the casting department of H20 at the time – and the two instantly hit it off. Hours later Strauss quizzed Werner about her dream job.
“I said I’d make a show about a girl from the country who gets into the elite dance school; a teen drama. She thought I was joking,” says Werner laughing as she recalls the fateful conversation.
- 6/8/2010
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
EastEnders producers have introduced a limit on the number of speaking parts in each episode. The Daily Mail reports that because of budget cuts, only 16 characters will appear in each instalment of the soap. A source said: "To keep within budget we've been working to an average of 16 actors per show. It's a bid to save costs." However, Equity spokesman Martin McGrath said: "Equity would argue that it is not wise to cut back on the quality of a programme and if this measure has an impact on the quality of the programme, we would be concerned. "The BBC should not be seeking to achieve the shortest-term (more)...
- 10/18/2009
- by By Catriona Wightman
- Digital Spy
Creepy and promising at first, "In the Winter Dark" is ultimately a misfire, despite rugged lead performances by the down-to-earth cast, including Oscar nominee Brenda Blethyn.
The small, character-driven, but muddled Australian pyscho-thriller unspooled recently at the Palm Springs Film Festival.
Director James Bogle stresses the gloomy moods of the four leads with little subtlety, while the whole murky scenario swings on foggy details and the possible madness of one or more of the backwoods characters.
Ida (Blethyn) and Maurice (Ray Barrett) still work the family farm, but he's old and paranoid, and maybe cracking up. Their gloomy neighbor Jacob (Richard Roxburgh), helpful but gruff, is an escapee from civilization.
One night another couple in the quiet valley fights, and freaked-out Ronnie (Miranda Otto) wanders into Jacob's life. Together, they bond with Ida and Maurice, particularly when it appears a strange animal is attacking local livestock at night.
Screenwriters Bogle and Peter Rasmussen like to show dead animals and other nasty things, with Maurice emerging as a tortured soul. Someone is destined to become his victim in increasingly alcohol-soaked confrontations with an unseen menace. Savvy moviegoers may make some sense of the bummer finale, but overall it plays as indecisive and cowardly enigmatic after putting an audience through endless unpleasantnesses.
Blethyn is restrained as likable Ida, who has an emotional girls-will-be-girls evening with Ronnie. Overall, veterans Barrett and Blethyn are solid, despite the often leaden material. Otto plays the most exotic character and constantly steals the attention from lackluster Roxburgh.
IN THE WINTER DARK
Southern Star A R.B. Films production
Director: James Bogle
Producer: Rosemary Blight
Screenwriters: James Bogle, Peter Rasmussen
Director of photography: Martin McGrath
Production designer: Nicholas McCallum
Editor: Suresh Ayyar
Costume designer: Wendy Cork
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ida: Brenda Blethyn
Maurice: Ray Barrett
Ronnie: Miranda Otto
Jacob: Richard Roxburgh
Running time -- 92 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The small, character-driven, but muddled Australian pyscho-thriller unspooled recently at the Palm Springs Film Festival.
Director James Bogle stresses the gloomy moods of the four leads with little subtlety, while the whole murky scenario swings on foggy details and the possible madness of one or more of the backwoods characters.
Ida (Blethyn) and Maurice (Ray Barrett) still work the family farm, but he's old and paranoid, and maybe cracking up. Their gloomy neighbor Jacob (Richard Roxburgh), helpful but gruff, is an escapee from civilization.
One night another couple in the quiet valley fights, and freaked-out Ronnie (Miranda Otto) wanders into Jacob's life. Together, they bond with Ida and Maurice, particularly when it appears a strange animal is attacking local livestock at night.
Screenwriters Bogle and Peter Rasmussen like to show dead animals and other nasty things, with Maurice emerging as a tortured soul. Someone is destined to become his victim in increasingly alcohol-soaked confrontations with an unseen menace. Savvy moviegoers may make some sense of the bummer finale, but overall it plays as indecisive and cowardly enigmatic after putting an audience through endless unpleasantnesses.
Blethyn is restrained as likable Ida, who has an emotional girls-will-be-girls evening with Ronnie. Overall, veterans Barrett and Blethyn are solid, despite the often leaden material. Otto plays the most exotic character and constantly steals the attention from lackluster Roxburgh.
IN THE WINTER DARK
Southern Star A R.B. Films production
Director: James Bogle
Producer: Rosemary Blight
Screenwriters: James Bogle, Peter Rasmussen
Director of photography: Martin McGrath
Production designer: Nicholas McCallum
Editor: Suresh Ayyar
Costume designer: Wendy Cork
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ida: Brenda Blethyn
Maurice: Ray Barrett
Ronnie: Miranda Otto
Jacob: Richard Roxburgh
Running time -- 92 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"The Sound of One Hand Clapping", a backward-looking melodrama about the daughter of an Eastern European immigrant to Australia, is soaked with tears, dramatic revelations, past trauma and sugary-sweet orchestral music. If an audience of die-hard, teary-eyed melodrama fans can make it through the confused first half-hour, they may like the humorless remainder, but a broader audience will lose interest quickly.
The film screened recently at the Berlin Film Festival.
First-time director-screenwriter Richard Flanagan's own story is an interesting one: He wrote the script but could not set up a production. He turned the story into a novel that got so much attention before its publication, Flanagan was able to set up the picture and even direct it. The book and film will be released almost simultaneously in Australia.
Though his directorial debut is a technically handsome piece of craftsmanship with stunning images and colors (especially because of cameraman Martin McGrath and production designer Bryce Perrin), Flanagan gets in his own way with a script that makes too many novel-like jumps and does not pay enough attention to its characters.
We're not sure who the main character is at first: Flanagan builds up the narrative as a series of jumps between three or four different time periods and between characters and locations we can identify only later.
Finally, we figure out that the story is about Sonja (Kerry Fox), a pregnant woman who wants an abortion because her relationship with her father is less-than-happy and because her mother abandoned her when she was 3.
That's about all that happens in the present: The rest of the film is backstory, backstory and more backstory. Sonja at 3 is abandoned by her mother (Melita Jurisic); a slightly older Sonja is nearly abandoned by her father after they move to Australia, but he relents and makes a happy life for them for a while. But Sonja ruins his chance for happiness when she comes between him and his potential bride, and he beats a teenage Sonja when he is drunk.
Meanwhile, Sonja suspects that there is a deep, dark secret in the way her mother abandoned her, and she is right. When finally revealed, the secret is not spectacular as we hope, but it is satisfying. In fact, Flanagan likes this secret so much, he uses it as the film's climax, even though it happened in the distant past.
The purpose of all this confusing time-jumping is to put the mother-abandons-child scene, which comes first chronologically, at the end. Otherwise, there would be no climax.
Fox ("Angel at My Table") may be the star, but her acting talents are confined to the few present-time scenes. Her only jobs are to wonder whether she really wants an abortion and to ask about her mother's dark secret.
More than anyone, it is Kristof Kaczmarek as Sonja's father who turns in a moving, accomplished performance as the immigrant who tries to make a new life in a new world but fails because he cannot drive the old world and the love he lost there out of his heart. His is a tragic, poetic character. One can't help thinking that his story, handled in a neater, more engaging way, could have been a powerful one.
THE SOUND OF ONE HAND CLAPPING
Director-screenwriter: Richard Flanagan
Producer: Rolf De Heer
Co-producers: David Lightfoot, Deborah Cox, Stephen Thomas
Camera: Martin McGrath
Production designer: Bryce Perrin
Editors: John Scott, Tania Nehme
Music: Cezary Skubiszewksi
Costume designer: Aphrodite Kondos
Casting: Elly Bradbury
Color/stereo
Cast:
Sonja: Kerry Fox
Bojan: Kristof Kaczmarek
Sonja (age 8): Rosie Flanagan
Jenja: Evelyn Krape
Maria: Melita Jurisic
Picotti: Jacek Koman
Running time -- 93 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The film screened recently at the Berlin Film Festival.
First-time director-screenwriter Richard Flanagan's own story is an interesting one: He wrote the script but could not set up a production. He turned the story into a novel that got so much attention before its publication, Flanagan was able to set up the picture and even direct it. The book and film will be released almost simultaneously in Australia.
Though his directorial debut is a technically handsome piece of craftsmanship with stunning images and colors (especially because of cameraman Martin McGrath and production designer Bryce Perrin), Flanagan gets in his own way with a script that makes too many novel-like jumps and does not pay enough attention to its characters.
We're not sure who the main character is at first: Flanagan builds up the narrative as a series of jumps between three or four different time periods and between characters and locations we can identify only later.
Finally, we figure out that the story is about Sonja (Kerry Fox), a pregnant woman who wants an abortion because her relationship with her father is less-than-happy and because her mother abandoned her when she was 3.
That's about all that happens in the present: The rest of the film is backstory, backstory and more backstory. Sonja at 3 is abandoned by her mother (Melita Jurisic); a slightly older Sonja is nearly abandoned by her father after they move to Australia, but he relents and makes a happy life for them for a while. But Sonja ruins his chance for happiness when she comes between him and his potential bride, and he beats a teenage Sonja when he is drunk.
Meanwhile, Sonja suspects that there is a deep, dark secret in the way her mother abandoned her, and she is right. When finally revealed, the secret is not spectacular as we hope, but it is satisfying. In fact, Flanagan likes this secret so much, he uses it as the film's climax, even though it happened in the distant past.
The purpose of all this confusing time-jumping is to put the mother-abandons-child scene, which comes first chronologically, at the end. Otherwise, there would be no climax.
Fox ("Angel at My Table") may be the star, but her acting talents are confined to the few present-time scenes. Her only jobs are to wonder whether she really wants an abortion and to ask about her mother's dark secret.
More than anyone, it is Kristof Kaczmarek as Sonja's father who turns in a moving, accomplished performance as the immigrant who tries to make a new life in a new world but fails because he cannot drive the old world and the love he lost there out of his heart. His is a tragic, poetic character. One can't help thinking that his story, handled in a neater, more engaging way, could have been a powerful one.
THE SOUND OF ONE HAND CLAPPING
Director-screenwriter: Richard Flanagan
Producer: Rolf De Heer
Co-producers: David Lightfoot, Deborah Cox, Stephen Thomas
Camera: Martin McGrath
Production designer: Bryce Perrin
Editors: John Scott, Tania Nehme
Music: Cezary Skubiszewksi
Costume designer: Aphrodite Kondos
Casting: Elly Bradbury
Color/stereo
Cast:
Sonja: Kerry Fox
Bojan: Kristof Kaczmarek
Sonja (age 8): Rosie Flanagan
Jenja: Evelyn Krape
Maria: Melita Jurisic
Picotti: Jacek Koman
Running time -- 93 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/23/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In a superb, award-winning performance, Judy Davis plays an Australian Communist who admits she "can't relax." Thankfully, like her, this film's nervous energy rarely flags.
The feature debut of writer-director Peter Duncan, Miramax's "Children of the Revolution" is a deliciously cracked, one-of-a-kind comedy-satire about a strong-willed woman who unexpectedly ends the life of Josef Stalin and then comes to regret perpetuating his legacy.
Prospects in the cutthroat marketplace -- despite a cheeky print advertising campaign that's attention-getting but does not always do the film justice -- are modest at best. The presence of Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush and Sam Neill in the cast will help, but video and cable are more likely venues for this clever concoction.
At times resembling a "mock documentary," but most memorable when it takes one inside the heads and homes of Down Under revolutionaries, "Children" zeroes in on those international party members who clung to their beliefs even in the face of overwhelming evidence that Stalin murdered millions.
The set-up is swift and amusing, with fiery Joan (Davis) trying to stir up the working class in Sydney and writing letters to Stalin for advice and inspiration. One of her comrades is the affable Welch (Rush), who longs to romance her and does not pretend to endorse her every tactic or conviction. Also keeping an eye on her is a spy for the government (Neill).
In a goofy sequence, her letters to Stalin are read by adjuncts and then by the Big Man himself F. Murray Abraham), who we are told has quit smoking and is more cranky than usual. The all-powerful leader of the proletarian revolution invites her to Moscow for official party reasons, but he really wants a date.
Joan goes on the trip and is shadowed by Neill's character, who reveals he's with the KGB. She's wined and dined by Stalin and they end up in bed. Presumably in the throes of lovemaking, Stalin dies and Joan is devastated. Aroused, Nine makes a pre-emptive strike and Joan sleeps with him too before heading home.
The film continues to zoom through the next several decades as pregnant Joan marries Welch. Uncertainty about the father of the child is dispelled when the youngster, named Joe, takes delight in criminal pursuits and going to jail. As a young man, Joe (Richard Roxburgh) falls for a pretty policewoman (Rachel Griffiths), but his dark nature comes to the surface when he's sent to prison on serious charges.
Eventually Joe becomes the head of a super-union of law enforcement agencies and creates an alternative government with the goal of achieving Joan Long's dreamed-of revolution.
Davis dominates when she's on screen, but Roxburgh ("Oscar and Lucinda") is also terrific. Director Duncan skillfully uses old footage, still photos, on-screen graphics and eclectic music on the soundtrack - from Cole Porter to Sergei Prokofiev.
CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION
Miramax Films
Writer-director Peter Duncan
Producer Tristram Miall
Director of photography Martin McGrath
Production designer Roger Ford
Costume designer Terry Ryan
Music Nigel Westlake
Editor Simon Martin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Joan Judy Davis
Joe Richard Roxburgh
Nine Sam Neill
Welch Geoffrey Rush
Anna Rachel Griffiths
Stalin F. Murray Abraham
Running time -- 102 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
The feature debut of writer-director Peter Duncan, Miramax's "Children of the Revolution" is a deliciously cracked, one-of-a-kind comedy-satire about a strong-willed woman who unexpectedly ends the life of Josef Stalin and then comes to regret perpetuating his legacy.
Prospects in the cutthroat marketplace -- despite a cheeky print advertising campaign that's attention-getting but does not always do the film justice -- are modest at best. The presence of Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush and Sam Neill in the cast will help, but video and cable are more likely venues for this clever concoction.
At times resembling a "mock documentary," but most memorable when it takes one inside the heads and homes of Down Under revolutionaries, "Children" zeroes in on those international party members who clung to their beliefs even in the face of overwhelming evidence that Stalin murdered millions.
The set-up is swift and amusing, with fiery Joan (Davis) trying to stir up the working class in Sydney and writing letters to Stalin for advice and inspiration. One of her comrades is the affable Welch (Rush), who longs to romance her and does not pretend to endorse her every tactic or conviction. Also keeping an eye on her is a spy for the government (Neill).
In a goofy sequence, her letters to Stalin are read by adjuncts and then by the Big Man himself F. Murray Abraham), who we are told has quit smoking and is more cranky than usual. The all-powerful leader of the proletarian revolution invites her to Moscow for official party reasons, but he really wants a date.
Joan goes on the trip and is shadowed by Neill's character, who reveals he's with the KGB. She's wined and dined by Stalin and they end up in bed. Presumably in the throes of lovemaking, Stalin dies and Joan is devastated. Aroused, Nine makes a pre-emptive strike and Joan sleeps with him too before heading home.
The film continues to zoom through the next several decades as pregnant Joan marries Welch. Uncertainty about the father of the child is dispelled when the youngster, named Joe, takes delight in criminal pursuits and going to jail. As a young man, Joe (Richard Roxburgh) falls for a pretty policewoman (Rachel Griffiths), but his dark nature comes to the surface when he's sent to prison on serious charges.
Eventually Joe becomes the head of a super-union of law enforcement agencies and creates an alternative government with the goal of achieving Joan Long's dreamed-of revolution.
Davis dominates when she's on screen, but Roxburgh ("Oscar and Lucinda") is also terrific. Director Duncan skillfully uses old footage, still photos, on-screen graphics and eclectic music on the soundtrack - from Cole Porter to Sergei Prokofiev.
CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION
Miramax Films
Writer-director Peter Duncan
Producer Tristram Miall
Director of photography Martin McGrath
Production designer Roger Ford
Costume designer Terry Ryan
Music Nigel Westlake
Editor Simon Martin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Joan Judy Davis
Joe Richard Roxburgh
Nine Sam Neill
Welch Geoffrey Rush
Anna Rachel Griffiths
Stalin F. Murray Abraham
Running time -- 102 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
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