The concept of death can be confusing at any age. Even adults have a hard time processing this unavoidable part of life. For young people, though, death should be the last thing on their minds. And for a long time, the two main characters of Crazy Fun Park didn’t have to consider their mortality. Best friends Chester and Mapplethorpe were more concerned with finishing their graphic novel and making it to school on time each morning than the possibility of never seeing each other again. Yet in this Australian teen-drama series, death catches these boys completely off guard and puts their friendship to the test.
Death is typically the conclusion of relationships in other stories, but here it’s just the beginning for these two soulmates. Chester and Mapplethorpe (neatly played by Henry Strand and Stacy Clausen) are the embodiment of the word “inseparable.” Drawing from real life, series...
Death is typically the conclusion of relationships in other stories, but here it’s just the beginning for these two soulmates. Chester and Mapplethorpe (neatly played by Henry Strand and Stacy Clausen) are the embodiment of the word “inseparable.” Drawing from real life, series...
- 10/5/2023
- by Paul Lê
- bloody-disgusting.com
Susan Sarandon, playing the U.S. Secretary of State Alaska Adams, gets the better of Bryan Brown, as the Australian prime minister, in a fast-paced verbal duel that represents the first footage from the Sean Penn-produced satirical comedy series “C*A*U*G*H*T.”
An elite team of Aussie soldiers is sent to an island nation to retrieve a secret file that has gone astray. Mistaken for Americans, they are captured by freedom fighters and produce a hostage video that goes viral. When the soldiers achieve celebrity status on social media, they realize that being caught might just be the best thing that could’ve happened to them.
“C*A*U*G*H*T” explores themes of identity, fame, and the absurdity of the viral age. “Why can’t we comedically deconstruct the intellectual ideas that humanity is facing right now?” says Kick Gurry who directs, produces and stars in the six-part series.
An elite team of Aussie soldiers is sent to an island nation to retrieve a secret file that has gone astray. Mistaken for Americans, they are captured by freedom fighters and produce a hostage video that goes viral. When the soldiers achieve celebrity status on social media, they realize that being caught might just be the best thing that could’ve happened to them.
“C*A*U*G*H*T” explores themes of identity, fame, and the absurdity of the viral age. “Why can’t we comedically deconstruct the intellectual ideas that humanity is facing right now?” says Kick Gurry who directs, produces and stars in the six-part series.
- 8/30/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Stan has ordered a trio of original drama series as part of its content boss Cailah Scobie has called “a massive week” for the Australian streamer.
We can reveal Stan has commissioned Bluey producer Ludo Studio to make eight-part road series Thou Shalt Not Steal, and also ordered coastal mystery thriller Exposure and Invisible Boys, a contemporary drama about a closeted gay teenager in small-town Western Australia. A trio of UK-based international distributors have signed on for the shows.
Stan has been working closely with international partners as it builds out its slate, with Deadline in the past year revealing comedy series C*A*U*G*H*T, which stars Sean Penn and Matthew Fox, and epic family drama Prosper, developed with Lionsgate.
“The shows are representative of our entire slate,” Stan Chief Content Officer Scobie said of the new originals in an exclusive interview with Deadline. “We back distinctive voices and tell Australia...
We can reveal Stan has commissioned Bluey producer Ludo Studio to make eight-part road series Thou Shalt Not Steal, and also ordered coastal mystery thriller Exposure and Invisible Boys, a contemporary drama about a closeted gay teenager in small-town Western Australia. A trio of UK-based international distributors have signed on for the shows.
Stan has been working closely with international partners as it builds out its slate, with Deadline in the past year revealing comedy series C*A*U*G*H*T, which stars Sean Penn and Matthew Fox, and epic family drama Prosper, developed with Lionsgate.
“The shows are representative of our entire slate,” Stan Chief Content Officer Scobie said of the new originals in an exclusive interview with Deadline. “We back distinctive voices and tell Australia...
- 8/29/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Nicholas Verso's Crazy Fun Park tells the story of Chester (Henry Strand), an introverted teen who makes the incredible discovery that his recently deceased best friend, Mapplethorpe (Stacey Clausen), is one of a group of ghoulish teens who haunt the abandoned fun park on the edge of town.
The post ‘Crazy Fun Park’ (Trailer) appeared first on If Magazine.
The post ‘Crazy Fun Park’ (Trailer) appeared first on If Magazine.
- 11/28/2022
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
I've loved scary movies since I was a little gay boy growing up in Arizona. I saw my very first at four years old when my babysitter slipped a TV-taped copy of Poltergeist into our VHS player. My mom was horrified when she got home, but not me:
I was Horror-fied.
From old-school classics like Psycho to creature feature camp like Critters to more recent gems like Ti West's X and Bodies Bodies Bodies, I consume all things horror like it's, well, The Stuff (my all-time favorite B-Horror).
Over the years, I've thought a lot about Why horror is my favorite genre. What is it about these films that make me so damn giddy? Why do they make me simultaneously scream, laugh, jump, and clap for the bad guy? Well, I now have a theory.
This past summer, I took in the eclectic crowd at Monsterpalooza, a biannual horror convention in Pasadena,...
I was Horror-fied.
From old-school classics like Psycho to creature feature camp like Critters to more recent gems like Ti West's X and Bodies Bodies Bodies, I consume all things horror like it's, well, The Stuff (my all-time favorite B-Horror).
Over the years, I've thought a lot about Why horror is my favorite genre. What is it about these films that make me so damn giddy? Why do they make me simultaneously scream, laugh, jump, and clap for the bad guy? Well, I now have a theory.
This past summer, I took in the eclectic crowd at Monsterpalooza, a biannual horror convention in Pasadena,...
- 9/28/2022
- by Mike Zara
- DailyDead
Aronofsky Autobiography? After a few weeks of back to back quiet, moody films for our “underrated or underseen” theme, including Oz Perkin’s The Blackcoat’s Daughter for 2015 and Nicholas Verso‘s 2016 tearjerker Boys in the Trees, Trace and I are ready to get bombastic! For 2017, we – along with guests Gabe and Kat from Ghouls Next Door […]
The post The Many Allegories in Aronofsky’s Harrowing ‘mother!’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
The post The Many Allegories in Aronofsky’s Harrowing ‘mother!’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
- 2/21/2022
- by Joe Lipsett
- bloody-disgusting.com
Writer/director Nicholas Verso is teaming up with producer Joanna Werner for ABC Me horror-comedy series Crazy Fun Park, which has begun production in Victoria.
Created by Verso and produced by Werner Film Productions, the 10-episode coming-of-age story follows best friends Chester and Mapplethorpe, a duo so inseparable, not even death can pull them apart.
After Mapplethorpe tragically dies in the town’s abandoned Crazy Fun Park, Chester discovers that his friend is now “living” with the other undead Fun Kids who also met their end at the park. The tragic turn of events means the two teens are forced to redefine their friendship, and as they navigate the already complicated teenage years, they fear their friendship may not be as eternal as they originally imagined.
Verso will direct the series with Adrian Russell Wills, and is also penning the episodes with Magda Wozniak, Craig Irvin, Enoch Mailangi and Fury.
Created by Verso and produced by Werner Film Productions, the 10-episode coming-of-age story follows best friends Chester and Mapplethorpe, a duo so inseparable, not even death can pull them apart.
After Mapplethorpe tragically dies in the town’s abandoned Crazy Fun Park, Chester discovers that his friend is now “living” with the other undead Fun Kids who also met their end at the park. The tragic turn of events means the two teens are forced to redefine their friendship, and as they navigate the already complicated teenage years, they fear their friendship may not be as eternal as they originally imagined.
Verso will direct the series with Adrian Russell Wills, and is also penning the episodes with Magda Wozniak, Craig Irvin, Enoch Mailangi and Fury.
- 11/3/2021
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
The young stars of ABC Me comedy-action series Parent Up have been unveiled as production gets underway in Sydney.
The story follows Yu Na and Min Park, two siblings that crave more excitement in their lives but get more than they bargained for when they discover their once unremarkable parents are actually international spies and have disappeared in suspicious circumstances.
Newcomers Hannah Kim and Ocean Lim will star as Yu Na and Min, respectively, with Lulu Quirk, George Holahan-Cantwell, Alex Kis, and Eduard Geyl on board as their group of friends that unwittingly get caught up in the action.
Danny Kim, Julia Yon, and Nicholas Hope will also star.
Justine Flynn created the 10-part series, which she wrote with Tiffany Zehnal, Tristram Baumber, Michelle Lim Davidson, Melissa Lee Speyer, Undi Lee, David Park, Alice McCredie-Dando, Sophia Cheung, and Hyun Lee.
The series is produced by Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford of Aquarius Films,...
The story follows Yu Na and Min Park, two siblings that crave more excitement in their lives but get more than they bargained for when they discover their once unremarkable parents are actually international spies and have disappeared in suspicious circumstances.
Newcomers Hannah Kim and Ocean Lim will star as Yu Na and Min, respectively, with Lulu Quirk, George Holahan-Cantwell, Alex Kis, and Eduard Geyl on board as their group of friends that unwittingly get caught up in the action.
Danny Kim, Julia Yon, and Nicholas Hope will also star.
Justine Flynn created the 10-part series, which she wrote with Tiffany Zehnal, Tristram Baumber, Michelle Lim Davidson, Melissa Lee Speyer, Undi Lee, David Park, Alice McCredie-Dando, Sophia Cheung, and Hyun Lee.
The series is produced by Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford of Aquarius Films,...
- 4/7/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Australians in Film (AiF) has announced the 10 ambassadors for its inaugural Untapped professional development program.
Corrie Chen, Jub Clerc, Brooke Goldfinch, Liv Hewson, Julie Kalceff, Gemma Bird Matheson, Daniel Monks, Mitchell Stanley, Nicholas Verso and Steve Vidler will front the selection committee for the initiative, which is supported by Screen Australia and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Geared towards undiscovered and underrepresented members of the Australian screen industry, the program features a series of masterclasses by filmmakers, including Taika Waititi, Alma Ha’rel (Honey Boy), and Warwick Thornton, as well as a four-month development lab with production companies, such as LuckyChap Entertainment, Blossom Films and Made Up Stories.
AiF executive director Peter Ritchie said the ambassadors were “changing the face” of the Australian industry, internationally and at home, with their work.
“We couldn’t be prouder to have supported them in their careers, in some small way, and are so...
Corrie Chen, Jub Clerc, Brooke Goldfinch, Liv Hewson, Julie Kalceff, Gemma Bird Matheson, Daniel Monks, Mitchell Stanley, Nicholas Verso and Steve Vidler will front the selection committee for the initiative, which is supported by Screen Australia and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Geared towards undiscovered and underrepresented members of the Australian screen industry, the program features a series of masterclasses by filmmakers, including Taika Waititi, Alma Ha’rel (Honey Boy), and Warwick Thornton, as well as a four-month development lab with production companies, such as LuckyChap Entertainment, Blossom Films and Made Up Stories.
AiF executive director Peter Ritchie said the ambassadors were “changing the face” of the Australian industry, internationally and at home, with their work.
“We couldn’t be prouder to have supported them in their careers, in some small way, and are so...
- 3/14/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Michael Gudinski, founder and chairman of the Mushroom Group, died overnight at home in Melbourne. He was 68.
One of the key figures in the Australian music industry, Gudinski started Mushroom Records in 1972 at just 20 years old.
Over the decades, the label worked with some the biggest names in Australian music, such as Jimmy Barnes, Kylie Minogue, Archie Roach, Hunters & Collectors, Paul Kelly, The Angels and Yothu Yindi.
The Mushroom Group also grew to become an entertainment empire, with brands across touring, record labels, publishing, merchandising, booking agencies, film and television production and creative services.
Mushroom Pictures, its production and distribution arm, was formed in 1993.
Gudinski was the executive producer on feature films such as Chopper, Horseplay, Gettin’ Square, Wolf Creek, Macbeth, Storm Warning, Cedar Boys, Mad Bastards, Killing Ground and Boys in the Trees, as well as Seven miniseries Molly.
His most recent project was Stan’s eight-part series The Gloaming,...
One of the key figures in the Australian music industry, Gudinski started Mushroom Records in 1972 at just 20 years old.
Over the decades, the label worked with some the biggest names in Australian music, such as Jimmy Barnes, Kylie Minogue, Archie Roach, Hunters & Collectors, Paul Kelly, The Angels and Yothu Yindi.
The Mushroom Group also grew to become an entertainment empire, with brands across touring, record labels, publishing, merchandising, booking agencies, film and television production and creative services.
Mushroom Pictures, its production and distribution arm, was formed in 1993.
Gudinski was the executive producer on feature films such as Chopper, Horseplay, Gettin’ Square, Wolf Creek, Macbeth, Storm Warning, Cedar Boys, Mad Bastards, Killing Ground and Boys in the Trees, as well as Seven miniseries Molly.
His most recent project was Stan’s eight-part series The Gloaming,...
- 3/2/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Stars: Kyana Teresa, Georgia Waters, Verity Marks, Dayo Ade, Saul Elias, Zoe Fish, Muriel Hogue, Lauren Marshall, Max Nelson, Ernie Pitts | Written by Dana Gould | Directed by Nicholas Verso
Dana Gould, stand-up comedian, writer on The Simpsons, and creator of the awesome Stan Against Evil, pens this Christmas-set killer doll film produced by Blue Ribbon Content, the company behind the Banana Splits horror film and Critters Attack!
Toys of Terror sees Zoe, her brother Franklin and their family move into a secluded mansion just before Christmas. While the adults focus on renovating the place, the bored kids find a toy chest hidden in the attic, and are delighted when the toys inside magically come to life. But bizarre events soon begin to take place – events that threaten the family’s lives. As the special day dawns with gifts piled under the tree, the body count rises and the blood starts to flow.
Dana Gould, stand-up comedian, writer on The Simpsons, and creator of the awesome Stan Against Evil, pens this Christmas-set killer doll film produced by Blue Ribbon Content, the company behind the Banana Splits horror film and Critters Attack!
Toys of Terror sees Zoe, her brother Franklin and their family move into a secluded mansion just before Christmas. While the adults focus on renovating the place, the bored kids find a toy chest hidden in the attic, and are delighted when the toys inside magically come to life. But bizarre events soon begin to take place – events that threaten the family’s lives. As the special day dawns with gifts piled under the tree, the body count rises and the blood starts to flow.
- 11/19/2020
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
With Boys in the Trees, director Nicholas Verso spun a coming-of-age tale steeped in dark fantasy and Halloween. The festival favorite captured the ‘90s, but more importantly, it showcased Verso’s sentimentality. That continues with Toys of Terror, a feature written by Stan Against Evil and The Simpsons’ Dana Gould. Gould’s sense of horror-laced humor combined with Verso’s distinct feel for nostalgia-induced sweetness makes […]...
- 10/27/2020
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Nakkiah Lui, Sarah Kern and Tai Hara.
Screen Australia today announced $2.7 million of production funding, going towards two features, one TV drama, one children’s drama and five online projects.
The slate includes the Roache-Turner brothers’ Wyrmwood Apocalypse, sequel to 2014’s Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead; writer/director Sara Kern’s debut feature Vesna; Nakkiah Lui and Gabe Dowrick’s ABC comedy Preppers; and a second season of Komixx Entertainment’s Itch.
Screen Australia head of content Sally Caplan said: “This slate of projects is testament to the breadth of Australian storytellers and what they’re capable of creating when supported. We are committed to elevating the careers of emerging talent and it’s exciting to see the likes of Sara Kern making her feature film debut, Nakkiah Lui creating her first longer form TV series and actor Tai Hara moving into directing with online series Colour Blind.”
“I’m...
Screen Australia today announced $2.7 million of production funding, going towards two features, one TV drama, one children’s drama and five online projects.
The slate includes the Roache-Turner brothers’ Wyrmwood Apocalypse, sequel to 2014’s Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead; writer/director Sara Kern’s debut feature Vesna; Nakkiah Lui and Gabe Dowrick’s ABC comedy Preppers; and a second season of Komixx Entertainment’s Itch.
Screen Australia head of content Sally Caplan said: “This slate of projects is testament to the breadth of Australian storytellers and what they’re capable of creating when supported. We are committed to elevating the careers of emerging talent and it’s exciting to see the likes of Sara Kern making her feature film debut, Nakkiah Lui creating her first longer form TV series and actor Tai Hara moving into directing with online series Colour Blind.”
“I’m...
- 8/26/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
‘Itch’.
With a UK deal with the BBC announced last week, Komixx Entertainments’ Itch has also been picked up in the Us, Finland and New Zealand.
ABC Commercial has sold the 10 x 30 children’s series to Us broadcaster Byu Broadcasting, who has secured Ftv, Stv and Svod rights for its family entertainment platform BYUtv, as well as Tvnz and Finnish public broadcaster Yle.
Based on the books from UK television and radio presenter Simon Mayo, Itch follows the follows the adventures of Itchingham Lofte, a science obsessed teenager who pursues the unusual hobby of collecting all the elements on the Periodic Table. When Itch gets his hands on a new, previously unknown element, things start to get interesting.
It stars Samuel Ireland opposite a cast of newcomers including Melanie Wozniak, Charles Russell, Kylah Day, Harry Popple, Henry Mendez and Keala Kern. ABC Commercial launched the series, aimed at 8-to-12 year olds,...
With a UK deal with the BBC announced last week, Komixx Entertainments’ Itch has also been picked up in the Us, Finland and New Zealand.
ABC Commercial has sold the 10 x 30 children’s series to Us broadcaster Byu Broadcasting, who has secured Ftv, Stv and Svod rights for its family entertainment platform BYUtv, as well as Tvnz and Finnish public broadcaster Yle.
Based on the books from UK television and radio presenter Simon Mayo, Itch follows the follows the adventures of Itchingham Lofte, a science obsessed teenager who pursues the unusual hobby of collecting all the elements on the Periodic Table. When Itch gets his hands on a new, previously unknown element, things start to get interesting.
It stars Samuel Ireland opposite a cast of newcomers including Melanie Wozniak, Charles Russell, Kylah Day, Harry Popple, Henry Mendez and Keala Kern. ABC Commercial launched the series, aimed at 8-to-12 year olds,...
- 5/28/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
‘Itch’. (Photo: David Dare Parker)
The BBC has snapped up the UK rights to Komixx Entertainment children’s series Itch, to be broadcast on kids channel Cbbc.
Based on the books from UK television and radio presenter Simon Mayo, the 10 x 30 minute series follows the follows the adventures of Itchingham Lofte, a science obsessed teenager who pursues the unusual hobby of collecting all the elements on the Periodic Table. When Itch gets his hands on a new, previously unknown element, things start to get interesting.
Shot in Albany, Wa, the series is aimed at 8-to-12 year-olds and stars Samuel Ireland opposite a cast of newcomers including Melanie Wozniak, Charles Russell, Kylah Day, Harry Popple, Henry Mendez and Keala Kern. ABC Commercial launched the series at MIPJunior last October.
The scripts were written by Melanie Halsall, Dan Berlinka, Ron Elliott, Heather Wilson, Jessica Brookman and Roger Monk. The series produced by Amanda Morrison,...
The BBC has snapped up the UK rights to Komixx Entertainment children’s series Itch, to be broadcast on kids channel Cbbc.
Based on the books from UK television and radio presenter Simon Mayo, the 10 x 30 minute series follows the follows the adventures of Itchingham Lofte, a science obsessed teenager who pursues the unusual hobby of collecting all the elements on the Periodic Table. When Itch gets his hands on a new, previously unknown element, things start to get interesting.
Shot in Albany, Wa, the series is aimed at 8-to-12 year-olds and stars Samuel Ireland opposite a cast of newcomers including Melanie Wozniak, Charles Russell, Kylah Day, Harry Popple, Henry Mendez and Keala Kern. ABC Commercial launched the series at MIPJunior last October.
The scripts were written by Melanie Halsall, Dan Berlinka, Ron Elliott, Heather Wilson, Jessica Brookman and Roger Monk. The series produced by Amanda Morrison,...
- 5/20/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Toby Nalbandian and Greg Schmidt.
Financing feature films is going to be even harder after the pandemic, prompting Truant Pictures’ Toby Nalbandian and Greg Schmidt to offer some practical advice to genre filmmakers.
In a nutshell: Come up with compelling ideas for contained films on low budgets without sacrificing quality. Try to stick to a budget of $3 million, which could be scaled up to $8 million if Netflix or other international players come on board.
The founders of Animal Logic’s genre film and TV production arm surveyed the state of the industry yesterday in an Australians in Film webinar moderated by Krista Carpenter.
The La-based firm is developing 10 features and two TV series and is in the process of financing four of those projects, Nalbandian tells If.
Schmidt, who learned his craft from horror-master Wes Craven and filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan, offered this advice: “Make the most contained, low budget, compelling film you can,...
Financing feature films is going to be even harder after the pandemic, prompting Truant Pictures’ Toby Nalbandian and Greg Schmidt to offer some practical advice to genre filmmakers.
In a nutshell: Come up with compelling ideas for contained films on low budgets without sacrificing quality. Try to stick to a budget of $3 million, which could be scaled up to $8 million if Netflix or other international players come on board.
The founders of Animal Logic’s genre film and TV production arm surveyed the state of the industry yesterday in an Australians in Film webinar moderated by Krista Carpenter.
The La-based firm is developing 10 features and two TV series and is in the process of financing four of those projects, Nalbandian tells If.
Schmidt, who learned his craft from horror-master Wes Craven and filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan, offered this advice: “Make the most contained, low budget, compelling film you can,...
- 4/16/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Truant Pictures development and production executives Toby Nalbandian and Greg Schmidt.
Animal Logic Entertainment’s live-action genre arm Truant Pictures has selected three finalists for its screenplay competition, designed to uncover emerging writing talent in the realms of horror, sci-fi and thriller.
The finalists, chosen from hundreds of submissions, are reported by Truant to “exhibit a unique voice, strong craft and a compelling command of their genre.”
The finalists are:
David Willing & Beth King (Vic) – The Surrogate
When single mother Natalia gives birth despite not being pregnant, she discovers the ghost of a missing child is hell-bent on destroying her family.
Jonathon Green & Anthony O’Connor (Nsw) – Emma After
A ghost girl falls in love with the living boy she’s meant to haunt away.
D.J. McPherson (Vic) – His Name Is Jeremiah
A damaged teen girl from a remote Australian town struggles to adjust when her violent mother is released from jail.
Animal Logic Entertainment’s live-action genre arm Truant Pictures has selected three finalists for its screenplay competition, designed to uncover emerging writing talent in the realms of horror, sci-fi and thriller.
The finalists, chosen from hundreds of submissions, are reported by Truant to “exhibit a unique voice, strong craft and a compelling command of their genre.”
The finalists are:
David Willing & Beth King (Vic) – The Surrogate
When single mother Natalia gives birth despite not being pregnant, she discovers the ghost of a missing child is hell-bent on destroying her family.
Jonathon Green & Anthony O’Connor (Nsw) – Emma After
A ghost girl falls in love with the living boy she’s meant to haunt away.
D.J. McPherson (Vic) – His Name Is Jeremiah
A damaged teen girl from a remote Australian town struggles to adjust when her violent mother is released from jail.
- 11/17/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
(L-r): Melissa Lee Speyer, Gemma Bird Matheson, Lynette Wallworth.
Screen Australia has put almost $900,000 towards the story development of seven TV dramas, nine online projects, nine features and in an agency first – a podcast.
Podcast Engineering Consciousness, helmed by Emmy Award winner Lynette Wallworth, explores what happens to someone’s consciousness during a near-death experience. The idea is that the podcast will be used as a proof-of-concept for a television drama on the same topic. It will be produced by Bunya Productions’ Sophia Zachariou and Greer Simpkin.
Also on the slate is a live-action feature film from Ludo Studio (Bluey), written and directed by Daley Pearson, and a 10-part fictional TV series about what went on behind the scenes of the iconic Leyland Brothers’ adventures across Australia, created by Daina Reid and produced by Joanna Werner.
This is the first story development round of the year. Screen Australia runs...
Screen Australia has put almost $900,000 towards the story development of seven TV dramas, nine online projects, nine features and in an agency first – a podcast.
Podcast Engineering Consciousness, helmed by Emmy Award winner Lynette Wallworth, explores what happens to someone’s consciousness during a near-death experience. The idea is that the podcast will be used as a proof-of-concept for a television drama on the same topic. It will be produced by Bunya Productions’ Sophia Zachariou and Greer Simpkin.
Also on the slate is a live-action feature film from Ludo Studio (Bluey), written and directed by Daley Pearson, and a 10-part fictional TV series about what went on behind the scenes of the iconic Leyland Brothers’ adventures across Australia, created by Daina Reid and produced by Joanna Werner.
This is the first story development round of the year. Screen Australia runs...
- 11/11/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
(Top to Bottom L – R) Erin Good, Jane Eakin, Joanna Beveridge, Tel Benjanmin, Warwick Young, Maria Theodorakis, Nicholas Verso, Eddie Diamandi, Victoria Thaine, Henry Inglis, Wade Kimberley Savage, Caro Macdonald, Tamara Whyte, Laura Clelland and Tam Sainsbury.
From more than 100 applications, the Australian Directors’ Guild (Adg) has selected 15 directors to attend Screen Producers Australia’s (Spa) annual conference Screen Forever in Melbourne next month.
These directors will join the Spa’s Ones to Watch undertaking a special program of panel discussions, workshops and networking events. All the directors attending will be presenting the projects they have developed that are ready for production at Spa Connect, the conference’s marketplace.
“This will be the second year we have taken a directors delegation to Spa, and this year we build on last year’s program to ensure the directors are more integrated into the conference program,” said Adg CEO Kingston Anderson. “We...
From more than 100 applications, the Australian Directors’ Guild (Adg) has selected 15 directors to attend Screen Producers Australia’s (Spa) annual conference Screen Forever in Melbourne next month.
These directors will join the Spa’s Ones to Watch undertaking a special program of panel discussions, workshops and networking events. All the directors attending will be presenting the projects they have developed that are ready for production at Spa Connect, the conference’s marketplace.
“This will be the second year we have taken a directors delegation to Spa, and this year we build on last year’s program to ensure the directors are more integrated into the conference program,” said Adg CEO Kingston Anderson. “We...
- 10/24/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Amanda Morrison.
Komixx Entertainment has elevated Asia Pacific MD Amanda Morrison to head of global production.
In her new role, Morrison will remain based in Perth and report directly to group CEO Ed Glauser.
Komixx was founded in London in 2007, where its headquarters remains. Since then it has expanded to Los Angeles, and in 2017, opened an Asia Pacific office based in Perth, which Morrison has led over the last two years.
“Komixx is a dynamic and truly global production company focusing on the iGeneration that is growing up digital. Our shows are currently in production all over the world so I am super excited to take on this new role,” Morrison told If.
For Morrison, working internationally from Australia gives Komixx a unique opportunity to draw from the depth of Australian talent while leveraging established relationships overseas.
The company’s expansion has been propelled by success in the kids and young-adult genre,...
Komixx Entertainment has elevated Asia Pacific MD Amanda Morrison to head of global production.
In her new role, Morrison will remain based in Perth and report directly to group CEO Ed Glauser.
Komixx was founded in London in 2007, where its headquarters remains. Since then it has expanded to Los Angeles, and in 2017, opened an Asia Pacific office based in Perth, which Morrison has led over the last two years.
“Komixx is a dynamic and truly global production company focusing on the iGeneration that is growing up digital. Our shows are currently in production all over the world so I am super excited to take on this new role,” Morrison told If.
For Morrison, working internationally from Australia gives Komixx a unique opportunity to draw from the depth of Australian talent while leveraging established relationships overseas.
The company’s expansion has been propelled by success in the kids and young-adult genre,...
- 9/12/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Toby Wallace.
Toby Wallace’s turn as a small-time drug dealer in Shannon Murphy’s debut feature Babyteeth has won him the Venice Film Festival’s Marcello Mastroianni Award for best young actor.
It is the second year in a row that the prize has been won by an Australian, with last year’s gong going to Baykali Ganambarr for his debut performance in Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale.
In Babyteeth, Wallace stars as Moses, the love interest of Eliza Scanlen’s Milla, a terminally ill teenager. Their relationship is a nightmare for Milla’s parents, played by Ben Mendelsohn and Essie Davis, but Milla teaches those in her orbit how to live like there is nothing to lose.
Produced by Alex White and based on Rita Kalnejais’ Belvoir Theatre play of the same name, the film was critically lauded after its debut in competition at Venice last week.
Variety...
Toby Wallace’s turn as a small-time drug dealer in Shannon Murphy’s debut feature Babyteeth has won him the Venice Film Festival’s Marcello Mastroianni Award for best young actor.
It is the second year in a row that the prize has been won by an Australian, with last year’s gong going to Baykali Ganambarr for his debut performance in Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale.
In Babyteeth, Wallace stars as Moses, the love interest of Eliza Scanlen’s Milla, a terminally ill teenager. Their relationship is a nightmare for Milla’s parents, played by Ben Mendelsohn and Essie Davis, but Milla teaches those in her orbit how to live like there is nothing to lose.
Produced by Alex White and based on Rita Kalnejais’ Belvoir Theatre play of the same name, the film was critically lauded after its debut in competition at Venice last week.
Variety...
- 9/9/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Toby Nalbandian and Greg Schmidt.
Animal Logic Entertainment’s live action genre arm Truant Pictures today launched a screenplay competition designed to discover new talent.
The call-out is for any writers who are Australian citizens or permanent residents and who earned no more than $30,000 from fiction screenwriting in the past 12 months.
The scripts must be in the genres of horror, science fiction and/or thriller.
The winner will receive $5,000 cash, a hot desk for one week at Truant Pictures’ Sydney office and mentorship from Truant’s development and production executives Toby Nalbandian and Greg Schmidt.
Two finalists will each receive $1,000 cash and all three will be read and given notes from one of the three judges: Stuart Beattie, Yolanda Ramke (Cargo) and Zak Hilditch, plus written feedback from La-based ex-pat Aussie script consultant Tim Schildberger.
Entries opened today and can be submitted until September 2, with the winners announced in November.
Animal Logic Entertainment’s live action genre arm Truant Pictures today launched a screenplay competition designed to discover new talent.
The call-out is for any writers who are Australian citizens or permanent residents and who earned no more than $30,000 from fiction screenwriting in the past 12 months.
The scripts must be in the genres of horror, science fiction and/or thriller.
The winner will receive $5,000 cash, a hot desk for one week at Truant Pictures’ Sydney office and mentorship from Truant’s development and production executives Toby Nalbandian and Greg Schmidt.
Two finalists will each receive $1,000 cash and all three will be read and given notes from one of the three judges: Stuart Beattie, Yolanda Ramke (Cargo) and Zak Hilditch, plus written feedback from La-based ex-pat Aussie script consultant Tim Schildberger.
Entries opened today and can be submitted until September 2, with the winners announced in November.
- 6/30/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Libbie Doherty.
Confirmed as head of children’s production at the ABC earlier this month, Libbie Doherty is on the look-out for comedies and factual entertainment programs.
Overseeing a department of 65 people including 25 in Melbourne, she commissions around 380 hours of content annually across ABC Kids and ABC Me as well as overseeing ABC Kids Listen, children’s digital products and third party social media.
Her budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 is unchanged, despite the $84 million funding cut over the next three years. “Our broad commissioning strategy is to present the best of Australian content and the best from the rest of the world,” she tells If in one of her first interviews since her appointment, after acting in the role for a year.
“We are always in the market for comedy. The Inbestigators is self-contained and won’t go to a second season so we definitely have room for comedies.
Confirmed as head of children’s production at the ABC earlier this month, Libbie Doherty is on the look-out for comedies and factual entertainment programs.
Overseeing a department of 65 people including 25 in Melbourne, she commissions around 380 hours of content annually across ABC Kids and ABC Me as well as overseeing ABC Kids Listen, children’s digital products and third party social media.
Her budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 is unchanged, despite the $84 million funding cut over the next three years. “Our broad commissioning strategy is to present the best of Australian content and the best from the rest of the world,” she tells If in one of her first interviews since her appointment, after acting in the role for a year.
“We are always in the market for comedy. The Inbestigators is self-contained and won’t go to a second season so we definitely have room for comedies.
- 6/27/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Warwick Thornton and Sam Neill on the set of ‘Sweet Country’.
Warwick Thornton took home the top gong at last night’s Australian Directors’ Guild (Adg) Awards for outback Western Sweet Country.
It joins a slew of other prizes for the film, which follows an Aboriginal stockman who a kills white station owner in self-defence, including the Venice Film Festival Special Jury Prize, the Toronto International Film Festival Platform Prize, and six Aacta Awards, including Best Film and Best Direction.
Competing against Thornton for Best Direction in a Feature Film (budget $1 million or over) were Joel Edgerton for Boy Erased, Anthony Maras for Hotel Mumbai, and Garth Davis for Mary Magdelene.
The Adg Awards were held at Sydney’s City Recital Hall, with presenters including Rachel Griffiths, Claudia Karvan, Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward.
This year also saw the guild divide the feature film category for the first time, introducing...
Warwick Thornton took home the top gong at last night’s Australian Directors’ Guild (Adg) Awards for outback Western Sweet Country.
It joins a slew of other prizes for the film, which follows an Aboriginal stockman who a kills white station owner in self-defence, including the Venice Film Festival Special Jury Prize, the Toronto International Film Festival Platform Prize, and six Aacta Awards, including Best Film and Best Direction.
Competing against Thornton for Best Direction in a Feature Film (budget $1 million or over) were Joel Edgerton for Boy Erased, Anthony Maras for Hotel Mumbai, and Garth Davis for Mary Magdelene.
The Adg Awards were held at Sydney’s City Recital Hall, with presenters including Rachel Griffiths, Claudia Karvan, Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward.
This year also saw the guild divide the feature film category for the first time, introducing...
- 5/7/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Nicholas Verso (l) and Samuel Ireland on the ‘Itch’ set (Photo credit: David Dare Parker).
Nicholas Verso has worked with children so often since his 2016 debut feature Boys in the Trees the writer-director says it’s a blessing whenever an adult appears on set.
Not that he is complaining: Verso has relished nurturing young talent in Matchbox Pictures’ Nowhere Boys, Magpie Pictures’ Grace Beside Me, Aquarius Films’ The Unlisted and the ABC Me-commissioned action-adventure Itch.
However he looks forward to getting into adult territory with horror movie The Ice Cream Man, The Lairdbalor adapted from Kathleen Kaufman’s dark fantasy novel, and psychological thriller Sleep to Dream.
In addition he is developing with producer Joanna Werner Crazy Fun Park, a TV series set in an abandoned amusement park populated by the corpses of kids who died there. That isn’t as dark as it sounds, he explains, observing: “It’s...
Nicholas Verso has worked with children so often since his 2016 debut feature Boys in the Trees the writer-director says it’s a blessing whenever an adult appears on set.
Not that he is complaining: Verso has relished nurturing young talent in Matchbox Pictures’ Nowhere Boys, Magpie Pictures’ Grace Beside Me, Aquarius Films’ The Unlisted and the ABC Me-commissioned action-adventure Itch.
However he looks forward to getting into adult territory with horror movie The Ice Cream Man, The Lairdbalor adapted from Kathleen Kaufman’s dark fantasy novel, and psychological thriller Sleep to Dream.
In addition he is developing with producer Joanna Werner Crazy Fun Park, a TV series set in an abandoned amusement park populated by the corpses of kids who died there. That isn’t as dark as it sounds, he explains, observing: “It’s...
- 4/15/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Sophie Hyde, Rachel Perkins.
Warwick Thornton, Garth Davis, Joel Edgerton and Anthony Maras have been nominated for best direction in a feature film budgeted at $1 million or more in the 2019 Australian Directors’ Guild Awards.
So Sweet Country, Mary Magdalene, Boy Erased and Hotel Mumbai will compete in the awards to be announced on Monday May 6 at the City Recital Hall in Sydney.
In the new category of best direction in a feature budgeted below $1 million, the nominees are Christopher Kay (Just Between Us), Donna McRae (Lost Gully Road), Dustin Feneley (Stray) and Jason Perini (Chasing Comets).
The nominees for best direction in a TV or SVoD drama series episode are Rachel Perkins (Mystery Road series 1), Nash Edgerton (Mr Inbetween series 1), Tony Krawitz and Emma Freeman.
Jeffrey Walker (Riot), Daina Reid and Shannon Murphy (On The Ropes) have been nominated for best direction in a TV or SVoD miniseries and telefeature.
Warwick Thornton, Garth Davis, Joel Edgerton and Anthony Maras have been nominated for best direction in a feature film budgeted at $1 million or more in the 2019 Australian Directors’ Guild Awards.
So Sweet Country, Mary Magdalene, Boy Erased and Hotel Mumbai will compete in the awards to be announced on Monday May 6 at the City Recital Hall in Sydney.
In the new category of best direction in a feature budgeted below $1 million, the nominees are Christopher Kay (Just Between Us), Donna McRae (Lost Gully Road), Dustin Feneley (Stray) and Jason Perini (Chasing Comets).
The nominees for best direction in a TV or SVoD drama series episode are Rachel Perkins (Mystery Road series 1), Nash Edgerton (Mr Inbetween series 1), Tony Krawitz and Emma Freeman.
Jeffrey Walker (Riot), Daina Reid and Shannon Murphy (On The Ropes) have been nominated for best direction in a TV or SVoD miniseries and telefeature.
- 4/8/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Young adult, action-adventure TV series “Itch” has begun shooting in Western Australia through indie film and TV producer Komixx Entertainment. The show, to be delivered next year, will be broadcast in Australia by ABC Me, part of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and distributed worldwide by ABC Commercial.
The 10-part series is a TV adaptation of former BBC 2 Radio broadcaster Simon Mayo’s best-selling teen novel of the same name, after Komixx acquired the rights in 2013. “Itch” tells the tale of a science obsessed teenager who discovers a new chemical element with extraordinary powers and is forced to go on the run to protect it from a sinister organization which wants it for its own ends.
It was developed for television by Komixx’s head of development, Melanie Halsall and writer Dan Berlinka. Other writing credits go to Ron Elliott, Heather Wilson, Jessica Brookman and Roger Monk. The producers are Amanda Morrison...
The 10-part series is a TV adaptation of former BBC 2 Radio broadcaster Simon Mayo’s best-selling teen novel of the same name, after Komixx acquired the rights in 2013. “Itch” tells the tale of a science obsessed teenager who discovers a new chemical element with extraordinary powers and is forced to go on the run to protect it from a sinister organization which wants it for its own ends.
It was developed for television by Komixx’s head of development, Melanie Halsall and writer Dan Berlinka. Other writing credits go to Ron Elliott, Heather Wilson, Jessica Brookman and Roger Monk. The producers are Amanda Morrison...
- 2/25/2019
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Charles Russell, Samuel Ireland, Melanie Wozniak and Kylah Day in ‘Itch’ (Photo credit – Nic Duncan).
When BBC announcer Simon Mayo wrote a short story for Joe, his then 10-year-old son, he had no agent or publisher and he could not imagine the book turning into a TV series set halfway across the world in Australia.
Mayo’s tome Itch was published in 2012 and optioned the following year by Komixx Entertainment, the film and TV production company with headquarters in London and offices in Los Angeles.
Melanie Halsall, Komixx’s head of development, laboured for years on the project, which chronicles the adventures of Itchingham Lofte, a science-obsessed teenager who pursues the unusual and sometimes dangerous hobby of collecting all the elements on the periodic table.
When he discovers a new element with extraordinary powers he is forced to go on the run to protect it from sinister organisations who want it for their own ends.
When BBC announcer Simon Mayo wrote a short story for Joe, his then 10-year-old son, he had no agent or publisher and he could not imagine the book turning into a TV series set halfway across the world in Australia.
Mayo’s tome Itch was published in 2012 and optioned the following year by Komixx Entertainment, the film and TV production company with headquarters in London and offices in Los Angeles.
Melanie Halsall, Komixx’s head of development, laboured for years on the project, which chronicles the adventures of Itchingham Lofte, a science-obsessed teenager who pursues the unusual and sometimes dangerous hobby of collecting all the elements on the periodic table.
When he discovers a new element with extraordinary powers he is forced to go on the run to protect it from sinister organisations who want it for their own ends.
- 2/25/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Tegan Higginbotham.
Screen Australia is providing more than $400,000 in story development funding for 16 projects including feature films, television and online series, featuring such talent as Bruna Papandrea, Nick Verso, Priscilla Cameron, Lisa Shaunessy, Anthony Mullins, Kodie Bedford and Tegan Higginbotham.
The slate includes The Agency, a musical comedy about moral corruption in the advertising industry, comedic horror Gnomes centered on grudge-bearing garden gnomes in a fictional regional town, and the feature Misfit, which looks at a woman who suffers from an identity disorder.
Eleven projects were funded through the Generate fund, two via the Premium fund and three through the legacy development program which has been discontinued.
Head of development Nerida Moore said: “The new development guidelines have now been in action for five months. We drastically reduced eligibility barriers and will now fund projects for any screen platform. We’ve had a fantastic response from the industry and the...
Screen Australia is providing more than $400,000 in story development funding for 16 projects including feature films, television and online series, featuring such talent as Bruna Papandrea, Nick Verso, Priscilla Cameron, Lisa Shaunessy, Anthony Mullins, Kodie Bedford and Tegan Higginbotham.
The slate includes The Agency, a musical comedy about moral corruption in the advertising industry, comedic horror Gnomes centered on grudge-bearing garden gnomes in a fictional regional town, and the feature Misfit, which looks at a woman who suffers from an identity disorder.
Eleven projects were funded through the Generate fund, two via the Premium fund and three through the legacy development program which has been discontinued.
Head of development Nerida Moore said: “The new development guidelines have now been in action for five months. We drastically reduced eligibility barriers and will now fund projects for any screen platform. We’ve had a fantastic response from the industry and the...
- 11/21/2018
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Each year Variety’s New Leaders feature profiles the most prominent up-and-comers in the entertainment business. To determine this year’s worthies, Variety looked across disciplines, from television, digital, music and film, to law and finance, as well as content creators. They were proposed by their bosses and peers who have worked with them and seen their rise. All are age 40 or under, and Variety has measured them by the progress of their career trajectories: do they take calculated risks? How fast have they risen in their companies? Are they innovative and employ solutions to problems that are creative? As part of the salute to the qualities that keep the town humming, filmmaker/producer Travis Knight, who founded Laika Studios and is also being honored with Variety’s Creative Leadership Award. The New Leaders, Variety’s 10 Asis finishing up the anticipated “Bumblebee” for Paramount, as well as Variety‘s 10 Assistants...
- 10/17/2018
- by Variety Staff
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Kathleen Kaufman’s dark fantasy novel The Lairdbalor has been optioned by Echo Lake Entertainment with Aussie Nicholas Verso (Boys in the Trees) has been attached to direct. The novel from Turner Publishing follows the journey of a boy who desperately tries to escape a nightmare shadow world with strange creatures, fears, and his own personal—and very real—nightmare, the Lairdbalor. The book crosses over genres of folklore, horror, fantasy, and magical realism and examines the early origins of anxiety and fear for children growing up in a world in which they don’t conform. The producers are currently circling writers to adapt for the big screen.
Echo Lake’s Dave Brown is producing with John Powers Middleton and Alex Foster from The Middleton Media Group. Helena Vilaplana is the exec producer.
“We are passionate about bringing this haunting vision of psychological development to the screen” said Brown.
Echo Lake’s Dave Brown is producing with John Powers Middleton and Alex Foster from The Middleton Media Group. Helena Vilaplana is the exec producer.
“We are passionate about bringing this haunting vision of psychological development to the screen” said Brown.
- 6/5/2018
- by Anita Busch
- Deadline Film + TV
Hnn | Horrornews.net
Award winning director and artist Nicholas Verso (Boys in the Trees, The Last Time I Saw Richard) has signed on to direct the high concept horror feature film The Ice Cream Man, it was announced today by Covert Media’s CEO Paul Hanson (Ophelia, Naked) who is producing the film alongside Broken Road Productions’ Todd Garner …
The post Director Nicholas Verso To Capture Horror Project The Ice Cream Man For Covert Media And Broken Road Productions first appeared on Hnn | Horrornews.net...
Award winning director and artist Nicholas Verso (Boys in the Trees, The Last Time I Saw Richard) has signed on to direct the high concept horror feature film The Ice Cream Man, it was announced today by Covert Media’s CEO Paul Hanson (Ophelia, Naked) who is producing the film alongside Broken Road Productions’ Todd Garner …
The post Director Nicholas Verso To Capture Horror Project The Ice Cream Man For Covert Media And Broken Road Productions first appeared on Hnn | Horrornews.net...
- 3/16/2018
- by Horrornews.net
- Horror News
Indie horror director Nicholas Verso will tackle the new feature The Ice Cream Man for Covert Media and Broken Road Productions.
The high-concept horror project from writers Justin Powell and David Charbonier follows two brothers who are terrorized by a sinister being.
Covert's Paul Hanson will produce alongside Todd Garner and Ryan Lewis[/link] of Broken Road. Covert’s Elissa Friedman, Media Content Capital’s Sasha Shapiro and Anton Lessine and Broken Road’s Sean Robins will executive produce.
Covert, which was at this year's Sundance Film Festival with the Hamlet reimagining Ophelia, will fully finance Ice Cream Man and will handle worldwide sales on the...
The high-concept horror project from writers Justin Powell and David Charbonier follows two brothers who are terrorized by a sinister being.
Covert's Paul Hanson will produce alongside Todd Garner and Ryan Lewis[/link] of Broken Road. Covert’s Elissa Friedman, Media Content Capital’s Sasha Shapiro and Anton Lessine and Broken Road’s Sean Robins will executive produce.
Covert, which was at this year's Sundance Film Festival with the Hamlet reimagining Ophelia, will fully finance Ice Cream Man and will handle worldwide sales on the...
- 3/8/2018
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“’Tis the night, the night of the grave’s delight.” So begins Nicholas Verso’s latest feature film, a phantasmal, surreal poem set during one youth’s Halloween night. Viewers who recall his remarkable short film The Last Time I Saw Richard will anticipate the dreamlike atmosphere and dark fantasy at play here, but this story goes beyond fable. Verso evokes an immersive spirit realm through which emerges a tale of lost youth, lost hope, and a boy seeking to reclaim his soul.
The film begins with Corey celebrating a final Halloween with his reckless high school companions. When their crude antics become too much for him, he wanders the night alone, eventually running into Jonah, his long-lost childhood friend. Jonah convinces him to enter the imaginary world that they created in their youth, and leads him on a journey through their old haunts—a creepy mansion, night-shrouded school halls—but the farther they go,...
The film begins with Corey celebrating a final Halloween with his reckless high school companions. When their crude antics become too much for him, he wanders the night alone, eventually running into Jonah, his long-lost childhood friend. Jonah convinces him to enter the imaginary world that they created in their youth, and leads him on a journey through their old haunts—a creepy mansion, night-shrouded school halls—but the farther they go,...
- 10/20/2017
- by Ben Larned
- DailyDead
Coming-of-age films with a ‘genre’ twist were all the rage in 2016. From Slash’s delightfully off-kilter fusing of softcore eroticism and sci-fi fantasy to Teenage Cocktail’s high school romance that flirted with thriller conventions and the graphic strand of realism that provided shocks in Raw and chills in urban horror-drama The Transfiguration, young protagonists were prime and center amid peril and dread, plenty of which was emanating from within, borne of specific fears or confusions. With Super Dark Times on the horizon, this rich vein of true-to-life horror and angst has hardly run dry. Cast in the same mold yet curiously eluding (or eschewing) the genre fest circuit in 2016 was Nicholas Verso’s debut Boys in the Trees. Leave it to Overlook to bring the...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 5/1/2017
- Screen Anarchy
Oregon’s newest film festival offers up a world premiere and a whole lot of other goodies.‘Boys in the Trees’ features clowns on the bikes.
The Timberline Lodge located at Mt. Hood, Oregon is set to be home for The Overlook Film Festival — a brand-new horror film festival stuffed with 39 films (22 features and 17 shorts from 16 countries). Naturally this is the perfect setting for horror hounds to gather as the Timberline was famously used as the exterior setting in Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, The Shining.
The festival is scheduled to kick off in a little over a week on April 27th (and run through the 30th) and we now know that the Opening Night Selection will be the world premiere of Stephanie, the new supernatural thriller from director Akiva Goldsman and Blumhouse Productions. Stephanie was written by the dynamic duo of Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski and stars Frank Grillo, Anna Torv...
The Timberline Lodge located at Mt. Hood, Oregon is set to be home for The Overlook Film Festival — a brand-new horror film festival stuffed with 39 films (22 features and 17 shorts from 16 countries). Naturally this is the perfect setting for horror hounds to gather as the Timberline was famously used as the exterior setting in Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, The Shining.
The festival is scheduled to kick off in a little over a week on April 27th (and run through the 30th) and we now know that the Opening Night Selection will be the world premiere of Stephanie, the new supernatural thriller from director Akiva Goldsman and Blumhouse Productions. Stephanie was written by the dynamic duo of Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski and stars Frank Grillo, Anna Torv...
- 4/20/2017
- by Chris Coffel
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
The newly formed Overlook Film Festival has announced it inaugural year programming lineup, including 37 films (20 features and 17 short films from 16 countries), along with a bevy of location-appropriate genre-themed parties, interactive events, and live experiences. This year, the festival will also fete director Roger Corman with their Master of Horror Award. The award “was established to honor a living legend who has contributed lasting innovations to the genre throughout a long career, inspiring new filmmakers for years to come.”
The fest is styled a 4-day celebration of horror that runs from April 24 – 30 at the historic Timberline Lodge located in Mt. Hood, Oregon, featured in Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” as the location of the infamous Overlook Hotel. The new festival comes from some of the same minds behind the now-defunct Stanley Film Festival, a similar horror-themed gathering based in a hotel in Estes Park, Colorado that inspired Stephen King to write his 1977 “Shining” novel.
The fest is styled a 4-day celebration of horror that runs from April 24 – 30 at the historic Timberline Lodge located in Mt. Hood, Oregon, featured in Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” as the location of the infamous Overlook Hotel. The new festival comes from some of the same minds behind the now-defunct Stanley Film Festival, a similar horror-themed gathering based in a hotel in Estes Park, Colorado that inspired Stephen King to write his 1977 “Shining” novel.
- 4/11/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Leah Purcell at Sydney's Belvoir Theatre. (Photo credit: Anthony Johnson).
Projects from the likes of Jocelyn Moorhouse, Leah Purcell, Vicki Madden, Rachel Perkins, Luke Davies, Sophie Hyde, Nicholas Verso, Abe Forsythe, Craig Silvey and Corrie Chen have received development funding from Screen Australia.
.This round of development funding reflects the vibrancy of the story landscape in Australia with thrillers and romance, crime and comedies, sports dramas and musicals,. said Screen Australia's Senior Development Manager Nerida Moore..
.We have projects from both seasoned storytellers and an exciting group of up-and-coming talents. And we are also seeing a greater mix of platforms from traditional features and high-end television to the ever-growing online drama and narrative Vr spaces..
Among the projects funded, which include 24 features, five online series and two "high-end" television projects, are:
Tasmanian-set gothic crime show The Gloaming, created and written by The Kettering Incident's Vicki Madden, who will produce...
Projects from the likes of Jocelyn Moorhouse, Leah Purcell, Vicki Madden, Rachel Perkins, Luke Davies, Sophie Hyde, Nicholas Verso, Abe Forsythe, Craig Silvey and Corrie Chen have received development funding from Screen Australia.
.This round of development funding reflects the vibrancy of the story landscape in Australia with thrillers and romance, crime and comedies, sports dramas and musicals,. said Screen Australia's Senior Development Manager Nerida Moore..
.We have projects from both seasoned storytellers and an exciting group of up-and-coming talents. And we are also seeing a greater mix of platforms from traditional features and high-end television to the ever-growing online drama and narrative Vr spaces..
Among the projects funded, which include 24 features, five online series and two "high-end" television projects, are:
Tasmanian-set gothic crime show The Gloaming, created and written by The Kettering Incident's Vicki Madden, who will produce...
- 2/13/2017
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
Australian born director and screenwriter Nicholas Verso has signed with Echo Lake Entertainment. His recent directorial debut feature Boys In The Trees screened at this year's Venice and Toronto Film Festival and won Best Narrative Feature at the Austin Film Festival. The coming-of-age film, which recently opened in Australian theaters, is set on Halloween night in 1997 and stars Toby Wallace and Gulliver McGrath as two former friends who reconnect and go on a surreal…...
- 11/2/2016
- Deadline
The Santa Monica-based sales, production and financing company has boarded international rights to Mushroom Pictures’ coming-of-age horror film following its world premiere in Venice Horizons.
Toby Wallace, Gulliver McGrath and Mitzi Ruhlmann star in the Australian director Nicholas Verso’s debut about teenage friends who embark on a precarious all-night trek on Halloween.
Mushroom’s John Molloy produced Boys In The Trees and released the film theatrically in Australia. The company’s production credits include the iconic Australian drama Chopper.
“Nicholas Verso has made a stylish, smart and frightening film which perfectly captures the feat that lurks in our imagination,” said Myriad president Kirk D’Amico. “We are very proud to be able to bring this extraordinary film to international distributors.”
Myriad senior vice-president of marketing and acquisitions Audrey Delaney negotiated international sales rights with Mushroom’s Molloy and Bethany Jones.
The company’s slate roster includes Penelope Cruz in The Queen Of Spain directed by [link...
Toby Wallace, Gulliver McGrath and Mitzi Ruhlmann star in the Australian director Nicholas Verso’s debut about teenage friends who embark on a precarious all-night trek on Halloween.
Mushroom’s John Molloy produced Boys In The Trees and released the film theatrically in Australia. The company’s production credits include the iconic Australian drama Chopper.
“Nicholas Verso has made a stylish, smart and frightening film which perfectly captures the feat that lurks in our imagination,” said Myriad president Kirk D’Amico. “We are very proud to be able to bring this extraordinary film to international distributors.”
Myriad senior vice-president of marketing and acquisitions Audrey Delaney negotiated international sales rights with Mushroom’s Molloy and Bethany Jones.
The company’s slate roster includes Penelope Cruz in The Queen Of Spain directed by [link...
- 10/25/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
At its best, Nicholas Verso’s tale of estranged teens feels like an attempt to reinvent The Babadook by way of Heartbreak High
Boys in the Trees is no walk in the park; more like a stroll home on a dark spooky night. That’s the literal journey undertaken in the debut feature film of writer/director Nicholas Verso, a tale of two estranged teenage buddies walking the streets and creeping each other out at Halloween circa 1997. Underneath the bonnet, it’s a film exploring childhood regret: in particular, how petty schoolyard games can fracture friendships.
Corey (Toby Wallace) hangs out with the cool boys. They swig vodka straight from the bottle, check porn sites (on rather slow dial-up connections), hang out at the skate park and pash girls. Ringleader Jango (Justin Holborow) is the leader of the pack: a self-entitled and violent sleazeball who considers himself something of a demigod.
Boys in the Trees is no walk in the park; more like a stroll home on a dark spooky night. That’s the literal journey undertaken in the debut feature film of writer/director Nicholas Verso, a tale of two estranged teenage buddies walking the streets and creeping each other out at Halloween circa 1997. Underneath the bonnet, it’s a film exploring childhood regret: in particular, how petty schoolyard games can fracture friendships.
Corey (Toby Wallace) hangs out with the cool boys. They swig vodka straight from the bottle, check porn sites (on rather slow dial-up connections), hang out at the skate park and pash girls. Ringleader Jango (Justin Holborow) is the leader of the pack: a self-entitled and violent sleazeball who considers himself something of a demigod.
- 10/19/2016
- by Luke Buckmaster
- The Guardian - Film News
Boys in the Trees.
Nicholas Verso.s Boys in the Trees has won the award for Best Narrative Feature at the Austin Film Festival. "I first attended the Austin Film Festival back in 2013 to attend the Writers Conference clutching my own script, desperately wanting to turn it into a film,. said Verso on accepting the award. .So it was incredibly exciting to return to Austin, not just for the Us premiere but to also receive this award.. Being acknowledged among their industry greats and emerging talents that have given me so much inspiration is truly an honour. .I especially wanted to thank John August and Craig Mazin at Scriptnotes for their wise tips and wisecracks at my accent as well as Rick Dugdale and Dan Petrie Jnr at Enderby Entertainment for their ongoing support and introducing me to this festival.. . The film.s producer, Mushroom Pictures. John Molloy said the...
Nicholas Verso.s Boys in the Trees has won the award for Best Narrative Feature at the Austin Film Festival. "I first attended the Austin Film Festival back in 2013 to attend the Writers Conference clutching my own script, desperately wanting to turn it into a film,. said Verso on accepting the award. .So it was incredibly exciting to return to Austin, not just for the Us premiere but to also receive this award.. Being acknowledged among their industry greats and emerging talents that have given me so much inspiration is truly an honour. .I especially wanted to thank John August and Craig Mazin at Scriptnotes for their wise tips and wisecracks at my accent as well as Rick Dugdale and Dan Petrie Jnr at Enderby Entertainment for their ongoing support and introducing me to this festival.. . The film.s producer, Mushroom Pictures. John Molloy said the...
- 10/18/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
John Molloy is the head of production at Mushroom Pictures, working out of the company's Melbourne office. After boffo success with 'Molly' earlier in the year, he's now gearing up for the release of his latest project as producer: Nicholas Verso's fantasy-tinged teen drama 'Boys in the Trees'.
When did you meet the director, Nicholas Verso? I know you produced his short..
That was the first time we worked together, on The Last Time I Saw Richard (2014), but I'd seen some of Nicholas's short films before that. Nic and I started working on Boys in the Trees and then decided to make The Last Time I Saw Richard as a way of helping us put the feature together. A proof of our relationship and also showing Nicholas' style, so that when we were out talking about the feature we had something very concrete that people could hold on to.
When did you meet the director, Nicholas Verso? I know you produced his short..
That was the first time we worked together, on The Last Time I Saw Richard (2014), but I'd seen some of Nicholas's short films before that. Nic and I started working on Boys in the Trees and then decided to make The Last Time I Saw Richard as a way of helping us put the feature together. A proof of our relationship and also showing Nicholas' style, so that when we were out talking about the feature we had something very concrete that people could hold on to.
- 9/30/2016
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
Kate Croser. Producer Kate Croser has been appointed to the South Australian Film Corporation (Safc) board.
Croser.s first feature film, Granaz Moussavi.s My Tehran For Sale, was the winner of the 2009 If Independent Spirit Award.
In 2010, Croser was the recipient of Screen Australia.s inaugural producer internship at Film4, and went on to produce Anthony Maras. The Palace, the winner of the 2012 Aacta award for Best Short Film.
In television, Croser produced two seasons of Danger 5 for Sbs, nominated for Aacta Best TV Comedy for each season.
Along with Sandy Cameron, Croser founded Hedone Productions in 2012. Hedone produced The Infinite Man, the feature film debut of writer/director Hugh Sullivan. Croser also produced the documentary film Michelle.s Story with writer/director Meryl Tankard, winner of the Audience Award at the 2015 Adelaide Film Festival. Most recently, Croser co-produced Mushroom's.Boys in the Trees, the first feature film from writer-director Nicholas Verso.
Croser.s first feature film, Granaz Moussavi.s My Tehran For Sale, was the winner of the 2009 If Independent Spirit Award.
In 2010, Croser was the recipient of Screen Australia.s inaugural producer internship at Film4, and went on to produce Anthony Maras. The Palace, the winner of the 2012 Aacta award for Best Short Film.
In television, Croser produced two seasons of Danger 5 for Sbs, nominated for Aacta Best TV Comedy for each season.
Along with Sandy Cameron, Croser founded Hedone Productions in 2012. Hedone produced The Infinite Man, the feature film debut of writer/director Hugh Sullivan. Croser also produced the documentary film Michelle.s Story with writer/director Meryl Tankard, winner of the Audience Award at the 2015 Adelaide Film Festival. Most recently, Croser co-produced Mushroom's.Boys in the Trees, the first feature film from writer-director Nicholas Verso.
- 9/29/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
When a few hundred films stop by the 41st Toronto International Film Festival, it’s certainly impossible to cover everything, but we were able to catch over 120 features — and, with that, it’s time to conclude our experience, following the festival’s own award winners. We’ve rounded up our top 20 films seen during the festival, followed by a list of the complete coverage.
Stay tuned over the next months (or years) as we bring updates on films as they make their way to screens. Note that we didn’t include films screened at other festivals in our “best of” round-up, but you can see Venice, Cannes, Berlin, and Sundance wrap-ups at those links, which feature some of the most-praised films of the festival, including La La Land, Arrival, Manchester by the Sea, Certain Women, Elle, Things to Come, Nocturnal Animals, and many more.
One can also click here for...
Stay tuned over the next months (or years) as we bring updates on films as they make their way to screens. Note that we didn’t include films screened at other festivals in our “best of” round-up, but you can see Venice, Cannes, Berlin, and Sundance wrap-ups at those links, which feature some of the most-praised films of the festival, including La La Land, Arrival, Manchester by the Sea, Certain Women, Elle, Things to Come, Nocturnal Animals, and many more.
One can also click here for...
- 9/19/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
We’ve all lost friends whether from naturally parting ways or an avoidable blow-up proving petty in hindsight. Age advances and tastes evolve — we don’t often think much of the phenomenon because they find peers more attuned to who they’ve become just like you. But sometimes the severed relationship carries with it pangs of guilt. Maybe the fracture was triggered by lame excuses like the concept of survival of the fittest, you joining your oppressors in order to stop being oppressed. Perhaps you cut loose the person you once said you’d do anything for in a way that transforms them into your enemy. And as graduation approaches with a clean break from the immaturity you’ve grown to resent, that guilt eats away at your conscience in search of relief.
This is the state in which we meet Corey (Toby Wallace) on Halloween 1997. His crossroads between present...
This is the state in which we meet Corey (Toby Wallace) on Halloween 1997. His crossroads between present...
- 9/14/2016
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Adolescence is a time when friendships are especially malleable. People grow apart quickly, they develop and mature at different rates, and sometimes your best friend can become your worst enemy in just a few short years. Australian director Nicholas Verso’s debut film innately understands this idea. “Boys in the Trees” follows two former friends who meet up and trek together one Halloween night. They soon descend into old nightmares and relive past traumas.
Read More: Tiff Reveals First Slate of 2016 Titles, Including ‘Magnificent Seven,’ ‘American Honey,’ ‘La La Land’ and ‘Birth of A Nation’
Corey (Toby Wallace) and Jonah (Gulliver McGrath) were friends when they were little, but then they soon grew apart. Jonah became a pariah and Corey joined a bullying skater gang who torment Jonah constantly. On Halloween night 1997, Corey encounters Jonah and, feeling guilty about the near-constant harassment, agrees to walk him back to house. What...
Read More: Tiff Reveals First Slate of 2016 Titles, Including ‘Magnificent Seven,’ ‘American Honey,’ ‘La La Land’ and ‘Birth of A Nation’
Corey (Toby Wallace) and Jonah (Gulliver McGrath) were friends when they were little, but then they soon grew apart. Jonah became a pariah and Corey joined a bullying skater gang who torment Jonah constantly. On Halloween night 1997, Corey encounters Jonah and, feeling guilty about the near-constant harassment, agrees to walk him back to house. What...
- 9/1/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
Boys in the Trees.
Tiff's Discovery program is where first and second time feature directors from around the world can strut their stuff.
.Toronto audiences first found Christopher Nolan, Lynne Ramsay and Steve McQueen in our Discovery section,. said the Artistic Director of Tiff, Cameron Bailey. .We can't wait to introduce a new generation of vibrant, original voices in cinema..
This year the Discovery line-up includes two Aussie titles: Joe Cinque.s Consolation, directed by Sotiris Dounoukos, and Boys in the Trees, directed by Nicholas Verso.
Joe Cinque.s Consolation, which.Titan View will release in cinemas across Australia on October 13, comes to Tiff after premiering at this month's Melbourne International Film Festival.
Based on Helen Garner's book about the headline-grabbing 1997 murder case, the drama chronicles how the romantic relationship between two Australian law students turns deadly.
The film's selection marks Dounoukos. return to the festival. In 2014, he was...
Tiff's Discovery program is where first and second time feature directors from around the world can strut their stuff.
.Toronto audiences first found Christopher Nolan, Lynne Ramsay and Steve McQueen in our Discovery section,. said the Artistic Director of Tiff, Cameron Bailey. .We can't wait to introduce a new generation of vibrant, original voices in cinema..
This year the Discovery line-up includes two Aussie titles: Joe Cinque.s Consolation, directed by Sotiris Dounoukos, and Boys in the Trees, directed by Nicholas Verso.
Joe Cinque.s Consolation, which.Titan View will release in cinemas across Australia on October 13, comes to Tiff after premiering at this month's Melbourne International Film Festival.
Based on Helen Garner's book about the headline-grabbing 1997 murder case, the drama chronicles how the romantic relationship between two Australian law students turns deadly.
The film's selection marks Dounoukos. return to the festival. In 2014, he was...
- 8/23/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Programmers at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) announced that Isabelle Huppert, Kunle Afolayan and Genevieve Nnaji and Mark Wahlberg will be among the eight participants in the In Conversation With… series.
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
- 8/23/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Programmers at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) announced that Isabelle Huppert, Kunle Afolayan and Genevieve Nnaji and Mark Wahlberg will be among the eight participants in the In Conversation With… series.
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
- 8/23/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
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