Screen Australia has injected almost $17 million into a diverse slate of feature films and TV that is expected to trigger almost $100 million in production.
Feature films receiving funding include: The Grandmothers, The Mule, Patrick and These Final Hours, which involve filmmakers Leigh Whannel, Robert Connolly, Antony I. Ginnane and Paul Currie.
Erotic tale The Grandmothers, produced by Andrew Mason among many others, is based on a story by Doris Lessing about two lifelong friends who fall in love with each other’s teenage sons. Its strong cast includes Naomi Watts, Xavier Samuel, Robin Wright and James Frecheville.
Saw’s Leigh Whannell is back in Australia with a new film which he writes, stars in and co-produces: The Mule. The black comedy, which is also written and produced by Angus Sampson, tells the story of unlikely drug mule Ray Jenkins, from Victoria, who takes on all the authority figures in his life using the only option within his control – holding on.
As reported earlier by IF, Patrick is a re-imagining of the 1970s chiller, while These Final Hours will be written/directed and produced by Zak Hilditch and Liz Kearney respectively.
Other features include The Pappas Brothers and high-concept psychological thriller 2.22, which is set in New York City.
“The high-concept thriller 2:22 is a type of film that rarely gets presented to Screen Australia and will be an international career-launcher for Australian director Paul Currie,” Screen Australia’s chief operating officer Fiona Cameron said in a statement.
Five adult drama investments have been made including biographical telemovie Underground. Following the early life of Julian Assange, it will be written and directed by Connolly while Helen Bowden and Tony Ayres will produce and executive produce, respectively.
Other funding for adult TV drama went to John Edwards’ World Series Cricket and Puberty Blues, as well as two-part ABC series Devil’s Dust and period drama series The Doctor Blake Mysteries.
“Adult television drama continues to move from strength to strength. This compelling mix of quality series and telemovies will continue to provide audiences with engaging and iconic Australian stories,” Cameron said.
Children’s television shows receiving funding from the national agency include Dance Academy Series 3, live-action children’s series In Your Dreams, by producer Noel Price (Seven Network), and comic animation series The Flamin’ Thongs (ABC).
FEATURES
2:22
Lightstream Pictures Pty Ltd
Producer Jackie O’Sullivan
Executive Producers Garrett Kelleher, Bruce Davey, Paul Brooks, Lawrence Inglee
Co-writer/Director/Co-producer Paul Currie
Co-writer Todd Stein
International Sales Gold Circle Films, Lionsgate International
Australian Distributor Icon Productions
Synopsis Dylan Boyd’s life as an air traffic controller is permanently derailed when an ominous pattern of events begins to permeate his life, funnelling him into Grand Central Station every day at 2.22pm. When he falls for a beautiful woman, it seems their lives were meant to intertwine long ago. With a grim fate looming, Dylan must solve the riddle of 2.22 to preserve a love that’s second chance has finally come.
THE GRANDMOTHERS
Hopscotch Features, Ciné-@, Mon Voisin Productions, Gaumont, France 2 Cinéma
Producers Andrew Mason, Philippe Carcassonne, Michel Feller, Dominique Besnehard, Francis Boespflug
Writer Christopher Hampton
Director Anne Fontaine
International Sales Gaumont
Australian Distributor Hopscotch/eOne
Synopsis Nobel Prize for Literature winner Doris Lessing’s beautiful and heart-wrenching story of two lifelong friends who fall in love with each other’s teenage sons. The Grandmothers is an erotic tale of misguided love and a celebration of the enduring nature of female friendship.
THE MULE
The Mule Development Co.
Producer Paul Clarke
Writer/Co-producers Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson
Executive Producer Bruce Kane
Director Tony Mahony
International Sales eOne
Australian Distributor Hopscotch
Synopsis Ray Jenkins, an unlikely drug mule from Sunshine, Victoria, takes on all the authority figures in his life using the only option within his control – holding on!
THE PAPPAS BROTHERS
Pank & Martin
Producers George Pank, Eddie Martin, James Gay-Rees
Executive Producers Jude Troy, Rachel Okine, Paul McGowan
Director Eddie Martin
Editor Chris King
International Sales eOne, Cinetic
Australian Distributor Hopscotch/eOne
Synopsis Blood may be thicker than water but in the case of Tas and Ben Pappas who rose from the western suburbs of Melbourne to become the #1 and #2 skateboarders in the world, it was not sufficient to prevent both brothers from falling into a drug-fuelled spiral to hell from which only one returns.
PATRICK
FG Film Productions (Australia) Pty Ltd in association with Rising Sun Pictures
Producer Antony I Ginnane
Writer Justin King
Director Mark Hartley
International Sales Bankside Films
Australian Distributor Umbrella Entertainment
Synopsis For three years Patrick has been lying mute and immobile, a patient in Dr Roget’s clinic for the comatose. Dr Roget has been discharging increasingly large doses of electricity into Patrick’s brain, hoping for a sign of brain function. When young nurse Kathy starts working at the clinic, Patrick figures out how to utilise all that pent up power with deadly effect. A reimagining of Richard Franklin’s 1970s chiller.
THESE FINAL HOURS
8th In Line Pty Ltd
Producer Liz Kearney
Executive Producer Robert Connolly
Writer/Director Zak Hilditch
International Sales Maze Film Sales, Celluloid Nightmares, XYZ
Australian Distributor Footprint Films
Synopsis A self-obsessed young man makes his way to the party-to-end-all-parties on the last day on Earth, but ends up saving the life of a little girl searching for her father. Their relationship ultimately leads him on the path to redemption.
