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#1 Cloudstreet
If this house built for Showcase’s production of Cloudstreet is any indication, the miniseries being produced by Screentime looks like it will be one to watch.
Filming for the six part series has been underway in Perth, with this house created by set designer Herbert Pinter built at the old Sunset Hospital site in Dalkeith.
Appearing in the screen adaptation of Tim Winton’s novel are Essie Davis (The Silence, The Girl With The Pearl Earring, After The Deluge, The Matrix) as Dolly Pickles with Stephen Curry (30 Seconds, The King) as her husband …
Cast announced for Cloudstreet
Showtime Australia and Screentime have announced its cast for the Cloudstreet miniseries, to be adapted from Tim Winton’s novel about two Perth working class families from the 1940s – 1960s.
It includes Essie Davis (The Silence, The Girl With The Pearl Earring, After The Deluge, The Matrix) as Dolly Pickles with Stephen Curry (30 Seconds, The King) as her husband Sam Pickles, and Emma Booth (Underbelly 3, Clubland) as their daughter Rose.
They will be joined by Kerry Fox (Bright Star, Shallow Grave, An Angel At My Table) as Oriel Lamb, Geoff Morell …
FremantleMedia Australia appointments
FremantleMedia Australia has announced two external appointments and three internal promotions as part of a new management structure.
Jason Stephens (The King, Choir of Hard Knocks, Triple Zero Heroes, Newstopia, Killing Time) has been elevated from Director of Development to Creative Director. Focussing on new business opportunities and creative partnerships, he will continue to develop new formats.
As Director of Television Content, Cathie Scott (MasterChef, Big Brother, So You Think You Can Dance, The Biggest Loser) will oversee factual and entertainment programs. For the past 6 years Scott has been an executive producer …
Vale: Monica Maughan
Respected actress Monica Maughan, best known for her television work in Prisoner, has died in Melbourne.
She also won an AFI and Logie award for her work in The Damnation Of Harvey McHugh, played Nana Scott to a young Graham Kennedy in The King, and appeared in numerous Australian productions including The Librarians, MDA, Blue Heelers, Crackerjack, Halifax FP, The Genie from Down Under, The Gillies Report, The Flying Doctors, Come in Spinner, Coln Carpenter, The Box, Matlock Police and Homicide.
Her performance in Nightmares and Dreamscapes “Crouch End” aired on Wednesday …
Pay TV more than just Killing Time
Killing Time, next year’s 10 part drama on the life of disgraced Melbourne lawyer Andrew Fraser (pictured), will be the biggest undertaking yet by TV1.
Re-telling the life of a high-flying lawyer who came crashing to earth with cocaine addiction, being disbarred and imprisoned, the story will be produced by FremantleMedia. Executive Producer Jason Stephens told TV Tonight he was looking forward to working with the Pay TV channel again, after their successful union for the Graham Kennedy telemovie, The King.
“In terms of trust they give you room …
Killing Time drama series for TV1
TV1 and FremantleMedia Australia are joining forces for Killing Time, a new 10 part crime drama series based on the true story of disgraced lawyer Andrew Fraser.
In a statement, FMA said, “The series follows the story of Andrew Fraser’s rise from small time lawyer to successfully defending the most infamous criminals this country has ever seen, and then his ultimate downfall and imprisonment for five years in maximum security. His clients included Dennis Allen, Jimmy Krakouer, Alan Bond and those accused of the Walsh Street murders.
“At the top of his game, …
Matt Saville to direct Cloudstreet
Director Matthew Saville will direct Cloudstreet for the Showcase Channel.
The 6 hour miniseries about two working class Australian families in Perth, 1943, will be adapted by its author Tim Winton and writer Ellen Fontana and produced by Screentime.
Saville’s credits include Tangle, The King, The Surgeon, The Secret Life of Us, We Can Be Heroes and the feature film Noise.
Screentime’s Des Monaghan said “We are delighted to have Matt on board for this incredibly important production of Tim Winton’s iconic novel. We are all aware of everyone’s high expectations and we …
The Slap: ABC announces new drama series
The ABC has announced a new 8 part drama series after greenlighting The Slap, based on the novel by Christos Tsiolkas.
Matchbox Pictures picked up the rights to the novel in May.
The story by Tsiolkas (Loaded), is triggered when a man slaps a child at a suburban barbeque. This event, told from the point of view of 8 people, ricochets through a group of family and friends, dividing and changing them.
The book has won the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize, the Australian Book Industry Book of the Year award, the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, …
ABC gets the Lowdown on Adam Zwar
The ABC will produce a new 8 part comedy, Lowdown, starring and co-created by actor / writer Adam Zwar (Wilfred).
Zwar, who has just completed a second season of Wilfred for SBS, told TV Tonight, “I created it with Amanda Brotchie, an AFI Award winning filmmaker. It’s based very loosely on my career as a celebrity profile writer for a Sunday newspaper.”
Joining Zwar in the cast are Paul Denny (Love of Lionel’s Life, Wilfred, Hawke), Beth Buchanan (Hey Dad, The King) and Dailan Evans (Eagle and Evans, Mark Loves Sharon.)
During his time …
Seven in Killing Time crime drama
The Age has reported that Channel Seven is developing a true-crime drama about Melbourne’s criminal underworld.
The project, tentatively titled Killing Time, will be based on a book by Melbourne criminal lawyer Andrew Fraser, Court in the Middle: A True Story of Cocaine, Police, Corruption and Prison.
It deals with Fraser’s fall from grace and his time defending such high-profile clients as Jason Moran, Lewis Moran and Victor Pierce.
Fraser was a high profile Melbourne based lawyer imprisoned in 2001 for being knowingly concerned with the importation of a commercial quantity of cocaine. In …
Grim diagnosis for Young Doctors revival
The Young Doctors, promised for 2008, will be lucky to see the light of day in 2009. At least on the Nine Network.
Under development by FremantleMedia, the show was originally produced by the Grundy Organisation for Nine from 1976-1983. FremantleMedia, which acquired Grundy in later years, put the idea to Nine in 2007 when the network was interested in having a local show in the style of Grey’s Anatomy.
The contemporary version was being developed by the writers of The King.
Nine’s interest in the show was confirmed when it appeared on a …
Local push for Kennedy statue
Stephen Curry, who played Graham Kennedy in telemovie The King, has backed a local council candidate’s pledge to commission a sculptor to honour the television star.
Curry says a current 20cm plaque outside Kennedy’s childhood home in Melbourne’s Balaclava, was not a big enough tribute for the king of television. He said the plaque was almost hidden behind a fence and the branches.
“(The house) is a huge part of Melbourne’s history,” Curry said. “It would be disappointing to see his memory disappear in the wave of development.”
Local candidate Rachel Powning said a …