News

Exclusive: Superstore star Ben Feldman will lead Australian comedy crime caper Population 11.

Lionsgate, streamer Stan and Phil Lloyd and Trent O’Donnell from No Activity producer Jungle Entertainment have teamed for the 12-part series ahead of a March 14 launch in Australia.

The series, which Jungle produces Entertainment in association with Factor 30 Films, has been quietly shooting in Western Australia’s Kimberley Region. We’ve now got full cast details, a trailer (see below) and first-look images.

Based on true events, the series is based around a man, Hugo, who goes missing from a tiny outback town of only 12 residents. His son, Andy Pruden (Feldman), a suburban Ohio bank teller, has journeyed across the world to visit and is alarmed when he discovers he is missing. Andy teams with another outsider Cassie (Perry Mooney) on a quest to find his father, and the pair find themselves in increasing danger as they...

Melbourne-based Every Cloud Productions has taken a trio of series in development to this week's Screen Forever conference, including a dramedy from previous collaborators Christiaan Van Vuuren and Adele Vuko, as well as projects with 'Wentworth' actor Katrina Milosevic and emerging writer/director Meleesha Bardolia.

The post Every Cloud Productions announces new projects with Christiaan Van Vuuren, Adele Vuko appeared first on If Magazine.

When Foxtel first began to craft with Fremantle Wentworth back in 2011, the hope was it would sit comfortably alongside the service’s premium HBO and BBC dramas.

While based on Reg Watson’s long-running ’80s drama Prisoner, and suitably honouring its legacy, it was not designed to a be remake. The desire was to see a modern reimagining of the characters; one that was ambitious and bold.

“We wanted to make something great for Foxtel and set the bar high. It was all part of our hopes for what we could do in the future,” executive producer and former Foxtel head of drama Penny Win recalls to If.

Originally created by Lara Radulovich and David Hannam, Fremantle Australia CEO Ian Hogg pitched Foxtel director of television Brian Walsh the series over a meal in Cannes.

By December that year, early plotting was underway, with journalist and critics Michael Idato and...

Meet Lauren. She’s freshly divorced, a mother-of-two, and is looking for sex without commitment.

With the help of her best friend, Alex, Lauren creates the “Spreadsheet” – a database of male options, customised to ensure her sushi train of sex rolls around with variety and order amidst the chaos of her life.

Starring Katherine Parkinson, Robbie Magasiva, Stephen Curry, Katrina Milosevic, Ryan Shelton and Kerry Armstrong, Spreadsheet is set to premiere on Paramount+ October 27.

Created and written by Kala Ellis, Spreadsheet is a Northern Pictures production.

Joining Ellis in the writers room were Romina Accurso, Rhys Nicholson and Darren Ashton, who was also the set-up director with Sian Davies.

Spreadsheet has received major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Film Victoria. ITV Studios is handling international distribution.

The post ‘Spreadsheet’ (Trailer) appeared first on If Magazine.

The Freak is having urges she can’t control, and Lou Kelly warns “A lot of people we know will end up dead.”

After almost a decade on the small screen one of Australia’s most successful dramas is coming to an end.

Fremantle’s Wentworth: The Final Sentence stars Leah Purcell as Rita Connors, Pamela Rabe as Joan Ferguson, Kate Atkinson as Vera Bennett, Katrina Milosevic as Boomer, Robbie Magasiva as Will Jackson, Kate Jenkinson as Allie Novak, Bernard Curry as Jake Stewart, Rarriwuy Hick as Ruby Mitchell, Susie Porter as Marie Winter, Kate Box as Lou Kelly, Jane Hall as Ann Reynolds, Zoe Terakes as Reb Keane and Vivienne Awosoga as Judy Bryant.

Supporting cast includes David de Lautour as Dr Greg Miller and Jacquie Brennan as Linda Miles, with guest cast Marta Dusseldorp as Sheila Bausch.

To premiere Tuesday August 24 at 8.30pm on Fox Showcase.

The post...

An ensemble cast that includes Stephen Curry, Robbie Magasiva, Rowan Witt, Katrina Milosevic, Ryan Shelton, Zahra Newman, Tina Bursill and Richard Piper will join English actress Katherine Parkinson in comedy series Spreadsheet, now shooting in Melbourne for Paramount+.

The Northern Pictures production, first announced in May, marks one of the ViacomCBS platform’s first locally commissioned originals.

Created and written by Kala Ellis, it follows Lauren (Parkinson), a divorced mother of two looking for sex without commitment. With the help of best friend Alex (Witt), she develops “Spreadsheet”: a database of sex options, customised to ensure her sushi train of sex rolls around with variety and order amidst the chaos of her life. What Lauren didn’t expect was a slew of needy men, which apparently even a well-managed excel tracker can’t control.

ViacomCBS Anz head of drama and production Rick Maier said: “When you read an idea...

Marta Dusseldorp in ‘Wentworth’ (Photo credit: Sarah Enticknap).

In a world away from A Place to Call Home, Marta Dusseldorp has donned the prison track suit with a guest role in Foxtel’s Wentworth, which resumes shooting this week.

Her character Sheila Bausch, a senior figure in the True Path cult, is on remand, charged with the murder of nine people at the cult’s retreat.

Described as highly intelligent, charismatic and manipulative, Sheila worked as the personal secretary for True Path’s founder Dr Mendel (Brian Vriends).

The Fremantle production re-starts after shutting down on March 23, just before a planned hiatus. The show has the advantage of being shot in its own large building in Melbourne, which has the flexibility of moving scenes set in a small cell to a bigger cell.

Executive producer Jo Porter, who is Fremantle’s director of scripted, said: “We have carefully adjusted our...

Sigrid Thornton and John Howard.

Brooke Satchwell, Dan Wyllie, Darren McMullen and Katrina Milosevic have joined the cast of Every Cloud Productions and ITV Studios Australia’s SeaChange, which started production today.

Wayne Blair is the set up director and Lois Randall is producing the Nine Network reboot set 20 years after the ABC series created by Deb Cox and Andrew Knight.

Sigrid Thornton reprises her role as Laura Gibson, who returns to Pearl Bay after the breakup of her marriage and losing her job. Questioning her place in the world she learns that her family and her town need her as much as she needs them.

John Howard returns as the former mayor Bob Jelly with Kerry Armstrong as Heather Jelly, his estranged wife, and Kevin Harrington as local business owner Kev Findlay.

Satchwell is Miranda Gibson, Laura’s daughter. Also new to the cast are Ella Newton, Kate Lister and Alex Tarrant.

Wentworth season 4.

.

Wentworth season 4 is set to make its Australian premiere on May 10.

The show, adapted from Prisoner, which ran on Network Ten from 1979 to 1986, is a FremantleMedia Australia production for Foxtel and has been sold to more than 90 countries.

The story resumes four months after the events seen in the fiery season three finale..

The women of H block are returning to Wentworth Correctional Centre to find a new dynamic is in play which will have immediate ramifications for Bea as Kaz Proctor has established a power base..

On the outside, Franky is trying hard to be a productive member of society..

As always, no-one should underestimate .the Freak..

Notions of love and obsession will underpin the 12 episode season.

Wentworth season 4 stars Danielle Cormack as Bea Smith, Nicole da Silva as Franky Doyle, Pamela Rabe as Joan Ferguson, Kate Atkinson as Vera Bennett, Celia Ireland as Liz Birdsworth, Shareena Clanton as Doreen Anderson,...

Sigrid Thornton has joined the cast of Wentworth Season 4, which will premiere on Foxtel in 2016.

Thornton is the first actress to have starred in the original Prisoner series to join the cast of Wentworth..

However, rather than reprising her previous character Ros Coulson, she enters the prison as Sonia Stevens - a new character partially inspired by one originally played by Tina Bursill.

Thornton plays a wealthy but self-made dynamo behind a cosmetics empire. .

She comes into the prison on remand, suspected of the murder of a missing woman.

Foxtel head of drama Penny Win said the fourth season continued the series. finely-honed evolution as a world class contemporary drama which proudly forges its own path.

.Having Sigrid Thornton sign on to return behind the walls of Wentworth is a casting dream and a wonderful acknowledgement of the work the writing team has put into the creation of Sonia Stevens...

Production started this week on season four of Foxtel and FremantleMedia Australia.s drama Wentworth.

The cast and crew are settling in to a new location and studio in Melbourne.s western suburbs to shoot the 12 episode season.

Wentworth.s S4 cast includes Danielle Cormack (Bea Smith), Pamela Rabe (Joan Ferguson), Kate Atkinson (Vera Bennett), Nicole da Silva (Franky Doyle), Celia Ireland (Liz Birdsworth), Shareena Clanton (Doreen Anderson), Katrina Milosevic (Sue .Boomer. Jenkins), Robbie Magasiva (Will Jackson), Socratis Otto (Maxine Conway), Tammy MacIntosh (Kaz Proctor), and Libby Tanner (Bridget Westfall).

.As the story resumes, Bea and her cell-block mates are returning to Wentworth after the fire and rebuilding of H Block to find a new dynamic in play with a new contender for Top Dog. On the outside, Franky is trying hard to be a productive member of society. As always, no-one should underestimate .the Freak...

.Wentworth is a FremantleMedia Australia...

Between Lines by Kim Lawler is a series of aerial photographs taken in the Kimberley, far north Western Australia. This remote area is embedded with stories of Indigenous and non-Indigenous inhabitants and transitory visitors, and is scarred by multinational companies' resource development. Kim Lawler has lived in this region and her work is strongly influenced by the displacement of its peoples and the competing demands for natural resources. The extraordinary colour and beauty of these landscapes glow in these large scale pigment print photographs.

Elemental, new sculptural work from Joey North, is his second exhibition at fortyfivedownstairs. As in his first show, the works are created from recycled materials gleaned over many years from the beaches and broKen Down wharves of Port Phillip. Large in scale, powerful in impact, these works resonate with memories of their past life and function.

Both exhibitions run until Saturday 10 October

Fringe at fortyfivedownstairs

A...