All articles by Sandy George – Page 23
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News
Reality check needed on film finance procedures and projections
It is not meaningful or helpful to assert that Canada or a particular US state is more attractive than South Africa, the UK, or any other popular location, that’s according to two Australians whose business it is to assist producers to secure financial incentives across the world.‘Circumstances, including financing plans, ...
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UK tops local fare down underbut Aussie releases less discriminate
UK films earned more than twice as much as Australian films in Australian cinemas in 2008 according to figures released today. The 40 Australian films contributing to the overall 2008 local share sold US$23.3 million (A$35.5m) worth of tickets and represented 3.8 per cent of the total annual box office ...
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NewsIn Focus: Sundance opener Mary And Max
Sundance opener Mary And Max’s director Adam Elliot : debut feature, yet he is far from a novice
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2008 a record breaking year for Australian box-office
Australians spent $672m (A$946m) on going to the movies in 2008, making it the second best year on record in revenue terms. The figures released today by the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia (MPDAA) show a six per cent year on year increase from 2007. They are also four ...
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News
Ausfilm to promote Oz technical talent at US event
Marketing body Ausfilm is going against tradition and promoting Australians who work behind the scenes in filmmaking as part of G’Day USA, the annual promotion that officially starts next week in Los Angeles and involves a range of industries. Ausfilm has previously concentrated on attracting offshore films to Australia by ...
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News
Coleman and Matthews get top jobs at Screen Australia
Martha Coleman, who recently returned to Australia after seven years working in the UK film industry, has been appointed head of development at Screen Australia and will work from the Sydney headquarters. A second senior appointment was also announced today: Melbourne-based Ross Matthews, an eight-year veteran of the now defunct ...
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News
Australian theatre director Gale Edwards to make her first feature
Accomplished theatre director Gale Edwards, winner of an International Emmy for her filmed version of the Broadway revival of Jesus Christ Superstar, is to direct her first feature film. The film, A Heartbeat Away, was one of four financed by Screen Australia. The others are: Being Dead, Lantana director Ray ...
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News
Adelaide film festival unveils jury and local premieres
Laurence Kardish, a senior film curator at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), will preside over the jury at the Adelaide Film Festival (AFF), which opens in South Australia on February 19. His fellow jurors are Japanese director Naomi Kawase, festival directors Bill Gosden (New Zealand) and Hannah McGill ...
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News
Australia records a boom in numbers of productions
A record-breaking 41 films went into production in Australia in the 12 months up to June 30, according to statistics released today by Screen Australia. This wasmore productionsthan in any other annual period for at least 20 years.Cameras rolled on five international co-productions, 29 wholly Australianproductionsand seven foreign films.- Five ...
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First Australia-Iran film My Tehran For Sale will premiere in Adelaide
With the participation of Bahman Ghobadi (A Time For Drunken Horses), the first collaboration between Australia and Iran My Tehran For Sale will make its world premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) in February.The film is also the first feature produced by Julie Ryan since collaborating with director Rolf ...
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Features
Production - Australia-India collaborations - The empire strikes back
Producers Jim McElroy (Picnic At Hanging Rock) and John Winter (Rabbit-Proof Fence) are among the Australians heading to Film Bazaar in Goa as part of a delegation organised by the Screen Producers Association of Australia (Spaa). Both have well-developed projects suited to joint venturing with India."There has always been a ...
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News
NZ award-winning producers to partner with Bavaria Film
New Zealand producers Rachel Gardner and Philip Smith of Great Southern Film and Television have been crowned New Zealand's Independent Producers of the Year. The duo are developing a slate of eight features with the most advanced being Scott Reynolds' Falling Angels and writer/director Anthony McCarten's Death Of A Superhero, ...
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News
Oz director Alston to expand Brisbane into a trilogy
Australian director Louise Alston is set to make two more low-budget romantic comedies, following her debut film All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane, which is being released in Denmark through Sunrise Film Distribution. Cameras will roll on January 7 on Jucy, the second of the films, with Alston again directing ...
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News
Australian government secures production of Happy Feet 2 in Sydney
Tax assistance secures production of Happy Feet 2 in Sydney through Dr.D, director George Miller's joint venture with Omnilab media. Happy Feet 2 is in production in Sydney, Omnilab Media confirmed today following a statement from the New South Wales (NSW) Government to that effect.The NSW Minister for State Development, ...
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News
Australian government helps secure production of Happy Feet 2 in Sydney
Tax assistance secures production of Happy Feet 2 in Sydney through Dr.D, director George Miller's joint venture with Omnilab media. Happy Feet 2 is in production in Sydney, Omnilab Media confirmed today following a statement from the New South Wales (NSW) Government to that effect.The NSW Minister for State Development, ...
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Features
Production - The names to watch
Many of Australia's most promising directors do not get enough opportunity to practise their craft on the big screen unless they head for Hollywood, as Andrew Dominik (Chopper, The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford) and Rowan Woods (The Boys, Little Fish, Winged Creatures) have both recently ...
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Features
Production - Buzz projects - In from the outback
BALIBODir: Robert Connolly. Scr: Connolly, David WilliamsonNow in post-production, the buzz from this project centres around fine performances from Anthony LaPaglia and Oscar Isaac. The drama is about the disappearance of five Western journalists in East Timor in 1975. Producer John Maynard describes Balibo as both a political thriller - ...
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News
In Focus: Australia opens for film business (Part 2)
For the last few years the best Australian films have been personal and dark, limiting audience appeal, while those that have aspired to hit the mainstream have tended to miss the mark at the box office. But there is a palpable sense of excitement about a new crop of films ...
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News
Men's Group takes best feature at Australia's Inside Film Awards
Men's Group , a little-seen drama about a group of troubled men who meet regularly to talk through their problems, has won best feature at Australia's annual IF (Inside Film) Awards. The producer, John L. Simpson and director Michael Joy, also won the prize for best script, and Grant Dodwell ...
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News
Screen Australia to review what constitutes an experienced producer
Screen Australia has been forced to revisit its plans to strongly favour experienced producers when it hands out development finance. The move is a result of increasing industry dissatisfaction over the agency's definition of experience. As a result, the agency has decided to re-examine that part of its guidelines.Speaking exclusively ...