All articles by Sandy George – Page 33
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Becker on board for animated Mary & Max
Becker International hassigned on to handle worldwide sales on the planned animated feature Mary & Max from Oscar winner AdamElliot.The writer/director won anAcademy Award in 2004 for his short film HarvieKrumpet. His new project is backed by Becker alongside Australiandistributor and sister company, Dendy Films.Becker head Iain Canningwill be talking ...
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Suburban Mayhem leads Australian nominations
Suburban Mayhem led the Australian Film Institute Award nominations with nods in 12categories, but was passed over for a best film nomination. The film about an audaciousteenager had its world premiere in Un Certain Regard in Cannes in May, closed the Melbourne International FilmFestival, and finally opens to the Australian ...
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Look Both Ways actor to direct Ten Empty
It has been on the verge ofgoing ahead several times but now cameras are definitely going to roll on Ten Empty, the feature film directorialdebut of actor Anthony Hayes, who played the estranged father of two childrenin Look Both Ways. The film got the go-aheadfrom the Australian Film Commission's IndiVision ...
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Dendy has Consideration for Aus/NZ
Dendy Films has securedAustralian and New Zealand rights to the comedy For Your Consideration from sales agent Fortissimo Films. Dendy joint general managersRichard Payten and Andrew Mackie, who describe themselves as longtime fans ofdirector Christopher Guest and his regular ensemble of collaborators, plan torelease the film early next year.Guest again ...
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Australia's award season kicks off
Australia's award season kicked off this week withnominations announced for both the Inside Film Awards and the Film CriticsCircle of Australia Awards. The people's choice IF Awards revealedtheir nominations on Oct 4. The three films up for best film are: Kenny, a low-budget, privately financeddocumentary-style drama made by debut director ...
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Icon and Lionsgate projects backed in latest FFC round
A vampire filmbacked by Lionsgate, a drama marking Icon's biggest commitment to an Australianfilm, and the first co-production with China are among five Australian films that havesecured financing in the latest round from Film Finance Corporation Australia.Twinwriter-directors Michael and Peter Spierig, who sold their low-budgetself-financed horror film Undead toLionsgate, have ...
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Meek to replace Ikin at Film Finance Corp
Producer Scott Meek, whorelocated from the UK to Australia in 2004 to join ABC TV, is to replace Bridget Ikinat Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC). Ikin and Tait Brady were thefirst people employed to choose which films seeking FFC finance through theevaluation door should get the go-ahead. Both of them ...
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Revolver takes UK rights to Wright's contemporary Macbeth
Revolver Entertainment has taken UK rights toGeoffrey Wright's new adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth, set in contemporary Melbourne.The deal was signed with sales company Arclight after Macbeth's recent world premiere in theVanguard section at the Toronto International Film Festival. It comes on theeve of its 30-screen release in Australian cinemas tomorrow ...
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Australia mulls 40% tax rebate for producers
The Australian government ismulling a 40% tax rebate for producers, as a means to boost local production, aproposal which has secured the backing of the Film Finance CorporationAustralia (FFC).The government is currentlyreviewing its direct and indirect support of the film industry and the FFC madeits submission public this week thereby ...
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King Of The Mountain to go ahead despite Brock's death
The filmmakers behind King Of The Mountain, which was set tobe the acting debut of Australia's best-known racing car driver Peter Brock, who diedin an accident on the track last Friday, have said that the project willcontinue.Executive producer Tom Kennedysaid the $2.3m (A$3m) action drama will be financed by sponsors ...
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Australian Film Commission's script lab chooses eight projects
Director Fred Schepisi will be one of the mentors at SP*RK, theAustralian Film Commission's script lab, and eight projects have been chosen toparticipate.They include An Imaginary Life, an adaptation ofDavid Malouf's novel of the same name being producedby Penny Chapman, a former head of drama at national broadcaster the ABC, ...
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Melbourne audiences praise Thank You For Smoking
Thank You For Smoking, which releasesin Australia this week, wasthe most popular film among Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF)audiences.Director Jason Reitman and his long-time producing partner Daniel Dubieckiwere guests of the event with Dubiecki, whose father is Australian, exploringAustralian opportunities while in the country. The top five MIFF films according ...
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Potter holds off Pirates to win Australian award
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has been presented with the Gold Award for the biggest revenue earner of the last 12 months at the Australian International Movie Convention. But if it had been a week or two later it would have been usurped by Pirates of the Caribbean: ...
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Australia debates merits of digital cinema
Australian exhibitors weretold today that if they want to stay in business they have ten years to find away to make the transition to digital. "I do not know exactly howlong you can keep running 35mm prints of major movies but suggest that within10, 12 or 15 years they will ...
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Australians on board for mockumentaries
Australia is not known forfeature-length mockumentaries but Palace has justsigned on for Razzle Dazzle - A Journey Into Dance, while Madman next week releases Kenny, which is getting rave reviewsfrom some critics for its humour and loveable nature.Both productions are shot in fly-on-the-wall style. Razzle Dazzle is set in the ...
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Jindabyne gets off to strong start on home turf
Ray Lawrence's Jindabyne hashad the biggest opening week for any Australian film so far this year grossing$928,000 (A$1.2m) from 65 screens. The film, which was released on July 20, also had the biggest openingamong local films on less than 100 screens since Muriel's Wedding in September 1994. Distributor Roadshow has ...
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Melbourne film festival opens with Thalluri's 2:37
The mystery film that openedJames Hewison's sixth and final Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF)tonight turned out to be writer/director Murali K Thalluri's 2:37, which screened in Un Certain Regard at Cannes.Hewison wanted audiences tohave the rare experience of going to a film they knew nothing about, an ideathat was sparked ...
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Unfinished Sky secures FFC backing
Peter Duncan's romanticthriller Unfinished Sky, about afarmer and an Afghani illegal immigrant who fall in love, is one of threefeatures to receive production finance from Film Finance Corporation Australia this week. Australian actor WilliamMcInnes (Look Both Ways) will playthe farmer and Dutch actress Monic Hendrickx has been cast as the ...
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Moore replaces Hewison at Melbourne film festival
Richard Moore will be thenext programmer of the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), replacingJames Hewison as executive director from September.Moore co-programmed 'Real Life on Film', a documentaryfestival held at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne in February as part of the cultural programme of the2006 Commonwealth ...
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New producers' alliance formed in Australia
After a couple of years oftrying, the two organisations representing Australian producers officiallyformed an alliance this week, just in time for the upcoming review intogovernment film financing.The Screen Producers'Association of Australia (SPAA) and Independent Producers' Initiative (IPI)have joined together to form the Independent Feature Film Producers ofAustralia Alliance (IFPAA).The new ...