News

Reality is set to be reworked across 10 ViacomCBS in 2022, with international formats headlining today’s upfronts.

Endemol Shine Australia will adapt UK programs Hunted and Would I Lie To You? Australia as part of next year’s Network 10 slate, as well as reality series The Bridge for Paramount+.

Warner Bros. will also produce a local version of Showtime docuseries Couples Therapy for the ViacomCBS streamer.

The free-to-air premiere schedule is rounded out by a relaunch of First Dates Australia, which joins returning formats I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, Australian Survivor, MasterChef Australia, The Masked Singer Australia, The Project, Gogglebox Australia and Have You Been Paying Attention?

ViacomCBS Australia and New Zealand senior vice president for content and programming Daniel Monaghan said the “strong, consistent” line-up was designed to maintain the company’s trajectory.

“Over the past 18 months we’ve grown our viewing share and once again...

‘Combat Wombat’.

Like a Photon Creative’s animated family franchise The Tales From Sanctuary City continues to rack up overseas sales, ranking as one of Australia’s most successful exports.

The second film in the trilogy, Combat Wombat, which opened in Australian cinemas last weekend as an alternate content release, has been pre-sold to more than 100 countries by Odin’s Eye Entertainment, with more deals in negotiation.

Directed by Ricard Cussó and produced by Like a Photon’s Nadine Bates and Kristen Souvlis, the Screen Queensland-supported franchise kicked off with The Wishmas Tree. The third title, Daisy Quokka: World’s Scariest Animal, is in post.

“The Tales From Sanctuary City franchise has been amongst our top selling titles over the past 18 months,” Odin’s Eye’s Michael Favelle tells If.

“The confidence that our distribution partners have shown has been phenomenal with several distributors snapping up the complete franchise as...

Frank Woodley.

Many producers fear the Federal Government’s sweeping media reforms will spell the death knell of Australian features, forcing them and some writers and directors to focus on content for streamers or free-to-air broadcasters.

Lowering the Producer Offset for films to 30 per cent from July 2021 will leave a gap of at least 25 per cent of the budgets which most producers will find impossible to fill, according to producer/distributor Sue Maslin.

“The exceptions will be largely foreign-financed films or local films with cast led by foreign actors making the most of Australian financial incentives, cast, crew and locations. That or extremely low budget films with little hope of competing in the cinema market,” the Film Art Media principal tells If.

“I find this summary dismissal of Australian cinema devastating and will be forced to relegate all feature films currently in development to the bottom drawer until we see...

Rebel Wilson is hilarious. This isn't news to anyone. She's best known for her thriving career in Hollywood, starring in romantic comedies like Isn't It Romantic and the Pitch Perfect franchise, but her career as a comedian started long before her debut in Bridesmaids in 2011.

In fact, Wilson was already a household name in Australia by the 2000s, and regularly appeared on one of my favorite improv comedy shows from the time, Thank God You're Here. The premise of the show was simple: a comedian walks blindly into a room of other comedians and has to pick up on the wild scenario unfolding in the room without missing a beat. She was particularly good at keeping a straight face while diving headfirst into weird scenarios. The show was as essential to Australia's early '00s comedy scene as Home and Away is to the world of Aussie soaps.

Fast forward...

Rebel Wilson's latest project, an Amazon series titled Lol: Last One Laughing, already has us cackling into our morning coffees. The six-episode comedy series (which was filmed in 2019) is being touted as a "comedic social experiment" and involves 10 Australian comedians being locked in a house together for a six-hour competition that has no rules. Oh, except one: if they laugh, they're cut.

Each comedian will participate in a series of skits where they can say and do whatever they like, except laugh. If a comedian laughs softly, they'll receive a yellow card violation (just like in football). A second offense will earn the comedian a red card elimination, and they'll be eliminated from the game and miss out on $100,000 cash prize.

If you're not familiar with the Australian comedy scene, you'll just have to trust me when I say that you're in for a treat. With Rebel Wilson as host,...

Tom Long.

Boston-born, Australian-raised actor Tom Long, whose credits include the series East of Everything, SeaChange and Young Lions and the movies The Dish and Two Hands, died from encephalitis on Saturday, aged 51.

Long was forced to quit acting after he collapsed on stage during a performance of the play Coranderrk: We Will Show the Country at the Sydney Opera House in July 2012.

Diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, he underwent chemotherapy, bone marrow transplants and natural therapies to treat the disease.

He was in remission after going to the Us last April for a medical trial in which his T cells were harvested and genetically modified to attack his cancer cells.

Screenwise CEO Denise Roberts said: “He fought the hard fight and was given the all clear. The happiness and relief pulled out from under him. So unfair.”

Actor Peter James Finlay, who worked with Long on Coranderrk,...

Amazon has announced a series of 10 stand-up specials featuring Australian comedians to premiere exclusively on Prime Video in early 2020.

Set to be filmed this month at the Coopers Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne, the specials will feature performances by Lano & Woodley, Zoë Coombs Marr, Judith Lucy, Tommy Little, Anne Edmonds, Tom Walker, Celia Pacquola, Dilruk Jayasinha, Alice Fraser and Tom Gleeson. See details of each below.

“Amazon’s comedy series and stand-up specials have excited our customers around the world, and we’re looking forward to welcoming this talented group of Australian comedians to the Prime Video family,” said James Farrell, Head of International Originals for Amazon Studios.

Here are details about the specials and the comics, per Amazon:

Joy

Tom Gleeson

Gold Logie winner. Chief celebrity interrogator. Host of the highest-rated Australian quiz show on TV. All-round hard man (especially in Cairns). There’s not much Tom Gleeson didn’t...

Sweet, silly, charming. A true story about an unlikely canine-assisted project to protect endangered birds, goofily fictionalized to engage kids. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

So this really happened: about 10 years ago, a farmer in Australia trained one of his Maremma sheepdogs, which had been guarding chickens, to instead protect a colony of endangered penguins that was being decimated by foxes. It was a huge success, and the colony is now thriving. I suspect some aspects of the true story have been embellished for the delightful Oddball and the Penguins — “a fairy tale that really happened” — but that first dog really was called Oddball, and that farmer really is actually named Swampy Marsh. Here, in the town of Warrnambook on Australia’s southeastern coast, Swampy (Shane Jacobson: The Dressmaker) and his gradeschooler granddaughter, Olivia...

Now shooting in Melbourne and country Victoria, the comedy Oddball is breaking all the rules which say you should never work with children, animals, birds and on or near water.

.You name the risk, we.re taking it,. Wtfn.s Richard Keddie, who is producing with Steve Kearney and Sheila Hanahan Taylor, tells If.

Based on a true story, the film stars Shane Jacobson as Swampy Marsh, an eccentric chicken farmer who, helped by his granddaughter, trains his mischievous dog Oddball to protect a wild penguin sanctuary from fox attacks.

Saran Snook plays Swampy.s daughter Emily, a single mother, with Coco Gillies as her daughter and Alan Tudyk as an American tourism consultant who is hired to help the town get back on its feet.

Richard Davies is a local conservationist, Deborah Mailman is the mayor, Frank Woodley is a dogcatcher and Meeko, a maremma, is Oddball.

Animal trainer...

Shane Jacobson, Saran Snook, Alan Tudyk, Deborah Mailman and a dog named Meeko head the cast of Oddball, a comedy which starts shooting in Melbourne and country Victoria on Monday.

Based on a true story, the film features Jacobson as Swampy Marsh, an eccentric chicken farmer who, helped by his granddaughter, trains his mischievous dog Oddball to protect a wild penguin sanctuary from fox attacks.

In the process he reunites his family and saves their seaside town.

The director is Stuart McDonald (Summer Heights High, Super Fun Night), replacing the originally announced Clayton Jacobson who left the project a couple of week ago.

The cast includes Sarah Snook (These Final Hours, Not Suitable For Children), Alan Tudyk (I, Robot, Serenity, Frozen, Knocked Up), Coco Gillies (Maya the Bee Movie), Richard Davies (Offspring, Howzat! Kerry Packer.s War), Deborah Mailman (The Sapphires, Bran Nue Dae, Offspring), Frank Woodley (Kath & Kimderella, The...

Russell Crowe has been announced as the new Aacta host after a conflicting La schedule forced original host Hugh Sheridan to pull out.

The second annual Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards will see Crowe headline an impressive line-up of presenters, including Aacta president Geoffery Rush and Aacta ambassador Cate Blanchett.

The awards, to be held on January 30 at The Star Event Centre, will see more than 1000 Australian film and television performers and practitioners in attendance.

In addition to the Aacta Awards in Sydney, Crowe will also host the Aacta International Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday, which Sheridan will now also attend.

"The Australian Academy is making its mark in the States, and I'm equally as honoured to represent the Australian industry in L.A. as host of Aacta's International Awards, as I am to return home to celebrate the success of my peers at the 2nd Aacta Awards Ceremony in Sydney,...

Hit musical drama The Sapphires has scored 12 nominations at the 2012 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta) Awards including in the coveted best feature film category.

The Sapphires, which follows four indigenous singers during the Vietnam war, has grossed more than $14 million in Australia to become the biggest local film of the year.

Three other films will be also be vying for the best feature film award: Burning Man (10 nominations in total), Lore (eight nominations in total) and Wish You Were Here (eight nominations in total) at the main Aacta ceremony, which will be held on January 30, 2013, at The Star Event Centre. Last year's event was held at the iconic Sydney Opera House.

P.J. Hogan's Mental also scored eight nominations including Best Lead Actress (Toni Collette), Best Supporting Actor (Liev Schreiber) Best Young Actor (Lily Sullivan) and Best Supporting Actress for Rebecca Gibney and Deborah Mailman.

Not Suitable for Children...

The Sapphires has led the Academy of Australian Cinema and Television Arts Awards nominations being nominated in 12 categories.

Awards will be handed out over two events, with an awards luncheon, focused on craft categories on Monday January 28 and the main event on January 30. Both events will be held at the Star Event Centre, the first public events for the venue.

The Sapphires, distributed by Hopscotch/eOne has been nominated for Best Film, Best Direction and best adapted screenplay as well as Best Lead Actor and Actress for Chris O’Dowd and Deborah Mailman, and Best Supporting Actress for Jessica Mauboy.

Burning Man was not far behind on 10 nominations including best film and best direction as well as best lead actor for Matthre Goode and Best Supporting Actress for Essie Davis.

Three more films, Lore, Mental and Wish You Were Here received eight nominations while Not Suitable For Children received four.

The ABC is getting physical and there.s one man for the job: popular Aussie comedian Frank Woodley.

One half of the lovable duo Lano and Woodley, Frank is back with a new, entirely-physical show, simply titled Woodley.

Drawing on childhood loves such as The Goodies and Get Smart . not to mention comedians like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton . Frank is taking a unique approach for 2012: all jokes are visual. There.s very little dialogue.

"It's something that I.ve had this sort of weird obsession with for my entire performing career really," the Melbourne comedian explains of his love for physical humour.

.A lot of these ideas would.ve been things that maybe Lano and Woodley would.ve moved towards as well . so in some ways it.s something I.ve been thinking about for five years and in some ways it.s stuff I.ve been working on for 25 years.

The ABC is getting physical and there.s one man for the job: popular Aussie comedian Frank Woodley. One half of the lovable duo Lano and Woodley, Frank is back with a new, entirely-physical show, simply titled Woodley. Drawing on childhood loves such as The Goodies and Get Smart . not to mention comedians like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton . Frank is taking a unique approach for 2012: all jokes are visual. There.s very little dialogue. "It's something that I.ve had this sort of weird obsession with for my entire performing career really," the Melbourne comedian explains of his love for physical humour. .A lot of these ideas would.ve been things that maybe Lano and Woodley would.ve moved towards as well ....

Film Victoria will invest $1,389,871 on three documentaries, three TV series and two features.

Beneficiaries include an apocalyptic film produced by Antony Ginnane, a factual/fiction hybried by Amiel Courtin-Wilson, and a mini-series produced by Nicole Minchin (The Wedding Party, Lowdown).

The projects are:

Features

Last Dance, Fg Film Productions: Antony I Ginnane, Producer; Terence Hammond, Writer; David Pulbrook, Director. Past and present collide in this fiction feature, when holocaust survivor Ulah Lippmann is held hostage by Sadiq Mohammed, a Palestinian terrorist on the run after a Melbourne bombing.

Hail, Flood Projects: Michael Cody, Producer; Amiel Courtin-Wilson, Producer/Writer/Director. This hybrid factual/fiction feature explores the darkness that befalls a man who has the love of his life ripped away from him.

TV

Woodley, Bucket Tree: Simon Wright and Andy Walker, Producers; Frank Woodley, Writer/Producer. A visual comedy mini-series about a hapless 40-year-old divorcee who shares custody of his...

Eif director Jonathan Mills may mourn media confusion over the city's different festivals – but it's just this colourful, companionable diversity that makes Edinburgh so unique

I was talking to a well-established arts broadcaster when, at mention of the Edinburgh Fringe, he turned to me with an innocent expression and said: "What's the Edinburgh Fringe?" At the time, I thought him poorly informed for a well-established arts broadcaster. But now I realise: it's all of us who are to blame! According to Edinburgh International festival supremo Jonathan Mills, speaking this week in the Stage, the media don't "help us articulate to the extent that [they] ought to the differences between the [Edinburgh] festivals". Some people know the Fringe; others only know some generic "Edinburgh festival" – and journalists are "very lazy" in pointing out the difference, says Mills.

It's hard, at least from his spliced-and-diced comments in the Stage, to know precisely what point Mills is making.