All articles by Sandy George – Page 66
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Ad chief moves to South Australian Film Corp
David Minear, chairman of the Young & Rubicam Adelaide advertising agency, has been appointed chairman of the board of the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC), which recently announced a new strategy aimed at making the state a centre for independent film-making. Film-maker Rolf de Heer has an office at the ...
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Village Roadshow to cut debt via Austereo float
Australian entertainment conglomerate Village Roadshow Ltd (VRL) is expected to raise more than $222.5m (A$400m) from the partial float of its Austereo radio division, part of which will be used to reduce its $406m (A$730m) on and off balance sheet debt. VRL will retain a controlling interest of at least ...
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Davis, Connolly join cast of Man Who Sued God
Judy Davis and Billy Connolly will star alongside Colin Friels, Wendy Hughes, John Howard and Billie Brown in Australian romantic comedy The Man Who Sued God, which begins its nine-week shoot on January 29.The Sydney-based Davis is more often seen in Hollywood films than Australian ones, her last being Children ...
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Palace Films picks up a Silent Partner
Australian distributor Palace Films has acquired all local rights to the low-budget recently-completed Australian slice-of-life comedy Silent Partner. Director-producer Alkinos Tsilimidos is in negotiations with an unnamed international sales agent interested in taking international rights. Daniel Keene adapted the script from his own play about a pair of 40-something down-on-their-luck ...
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Wilkins expands portfolio with NSW arts role
The director general of the New South Wales Cabinet Office, Roger Wilkins, is set to be given the additional role of director general, Ministry for the Arts. The move links the Australian state's most important cultural institutions, including the New South Wales Film and Television Office (NSWFTO), to the state ...
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Oz government picks up $109m from TV sector
The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) has collected $109m (A$196.9m) in commercial broadcasting licence fees from Australia's 48 commercial television services. The sum is calculated as a percentage of a licensees' gross earnings for 1999-2000. The ABA is expected to release the aggregated financial results, including expenditure, revenue and profits, in ...
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Gibson hears what Australians want
What Women Want has given Mel Gibson his biggest ever opening in Australia, the country in which he grew up and which made him a star via the Mad Max movies. The film also scored Roadshow Film Distributors its biggest ever opening and the strongest ever performance in Australia by ...
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Australian films smash local cash records
Hit films led by The Dish, The Wog Boy and Looking For Alibrandi drove Australian films' share of last year's local box-office to more than double 1999's overall cash take, according to research released by the Australian Film Commission (AFC).Local films released theatrically in 2000 took $29.9m, the most local ...
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Australian critics nominate Chopper, The Dish
Chopper and The Dish led the annual awards nominations from the Film Critics Circle of Australia.The two pictures took nine nominations each, including best film and director. Innocence and Looking For Alibrandi will also be competing for best film and director when the awards are presented on February 9 in ...
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Australia goes to Meet The Parents at Christmas
UIP's Meet The Parents has become one of the biggest Christmas hits of the year in Australia after its powerful performance on December 26.The Ben Stiller-Robert De Niro comedy took $700,000 from 256 screens, pushing its seven day gross up to January 1 to $3.9m. December 26 is regarded as ...
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Palace Films makes Deadly investment
Highlighting the shortage of sales agents in Australia, local distributor Palace Films has put up an international distribution guarantee for Aussie rules football drama Deadly, Unna', despite the fact that Beyond Films is handling sales on the film.The move is a first for Palace whose owner-managing director Antonio Zeccola will ...
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Lot 47 to hold New Zealand film fest
US distributor Lot 47 Films, in association with the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC), is staging New York's first ever festival of NZ films for seven days from February 7. The festival promises to include "new, rediscovered and undiscovered" films, eight of which will be US premieres.The opening night will ...
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Adelaide festival commissions series of features
The Adelaide Festival Corporation has commissioned three features and a 50-minute film which will start shooting in Australia early next year, in time to premiere at the Adelaide Festival of Arts in March 2002. It is believed to be the first time that a festival has specifically commissioned films to ...
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Collette options Isabelle to produce, perhaps star
Actress Toni Collette has optioned rights to Isabelle The Navigator, the latest novel from fellow Australian Luke Davies, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. She is expected to produce the film with a friend, short film-maker Sally Chesher. It is not yet known whether she will take the role of ...
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Australia introduces moral rights legislation
Legislation giving moral rights to the principal director, producer and screenwriter of Australian features, television programmes, documentaries and commercials has now passed through both houses of parliament. The new legislation also gives the creators of works reproduced or recorded in these productions, such as music, moral rights over that aspect ...
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AFC launches Oz overseas film fest initiative
The Australian Film Commission (AFC) has developed a do-it-yourself film festival package for the use of diplomatic missions spread across the world. Australia's department of foreign affairs and trade has been heavily involved in the initiative, which is part of a strategy to promote the country abroad through its cultural ...
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Pearce signs on for Blood And Guts
Guy Pearce has signed to star in Australian production Blood And Guts, the directing debut of Scott Roberts, which is set to start shooting in Melbourne on July 30, 2001. The film will mark the second time that Pearce has worked with producer Al Clark, following The Adventures Of Priscilla: ...
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Portman, REP commit to Australian trio
UK-based sales agent Portman Entertainment and Australia's REP Film Distribution have boarded three low-budget features to be shot in Queensland with Chris Brown and Chris Fitchett producing. State government agency, the Pacific Film and Television Commission (PFTC), has provided development funding and will be a significant equity investor.The first into ...
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Oz post sector to apply for infrastructure funding
Australia's post-production industry is applying for some of the $22m (A$40m) put aside by the federal government for the development of an advanced communications infrastructure. The sector hopes to improve performance by securing increased broadband access at better prices.Consultants Malcolm Long and Associates are preparing the submission, due on December ...
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FFC warns film-makers of funding shortage
The Australian Film Finance Corporation (FFC) has warned film-makers that it will only support projects with high levels of finance from other sources over the next six months.The funding body will also insist on attractive recoupment and other terms. This is because a large number of producers successfully sought finance ...