Festivals
A trio of global festival favorites — Pan Nalin‘s “Last Film Show,” Mostofa Sarwar Farooki‘s “No Land’s Man” and Gurvinder Singh‘s “Crescent Night” (“Adh Chanani Raat”) — will open the 11th edition of the Bmo International Film Festival of South Asia (Iffsa), Toronto (Aug. 11-21). The festival is in-person at venues across the Greater Toronto area, featuring 120 features and shorts in 22 languages and some 40 masterclasses, workshops and special events.
Program highlights include “The Orphanage,” “Pedro,” “Once Upon A Time In Calcutta,” “Dug Dug,” “Palyad,” “Shoebox,” “No Ground Beneath the Feet,” “Deep6,” “Gandhi & Company” and “Invisible Demons” and there are world premieres for “Range Road 290” and “Anatomy of a Warrior.” Guests of honor this year are “Halo” actor Shabana Azmi and eminent screenwriter, poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar (“Silsila”) and well-known South Asian industry figures present at the festival include opening film directors Farooki and Singh, filmmakers Anup Singh...
A trio of global festival favorites — Pan Nalin‘s “Last Film Show,” Mostofa Sarwar Farooki‘s “No Land’s Man” and Gurvinder Singh‘s “Crescent Night” (“Adh Chanani Raat”) — will open the 11th edition of the Bmo International Film Festival of South Asia (Iffsa), Toronto (Aug. 11-21). The festival is in-person at venues across the Greater Toronto area, featuring 120 features and shorts in 22 languages and some 40 masterclasses, workshops and special events.
Program highlights include “The Orphanage,” “Pedro,” “Once Upon A Time In Calcutta,” “Dug Dug,” “Palyad,” “Shoebox,” “No Ground Beneath the Feet,” “Deep6,” “Gandhi & Company” and “Invisible Demons” and there are world premieres for “Range Road 290” and “Anatomy of a Warrior.” Guests of honor this year are “Halo” actor Shabana Azmi and eminent screenwriter, poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar (“Silsila”) and well-known South Asian industry figures present at the festival include opening film directors Farooki and Singh, filmmakers Anup Singh...
- 7/19/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Nick Hayden.
The ABC has promoted entertainment manager Nick Hayden, who created the iso-comedy At Home Alone Together, Whovians, Tonightly and the Australia Talks live show, to head of entertainment.
Hayden will drive the entertainment slate including Gruen, Hard Quiz, Mad As Hell, The Weekly, You Can’t Ask That and the upcoming Reputation Rehab.
His appointment completes a restructuring of the content divisions which resulted in the exit of head of entertainment and factual Josie Mason-Campbell.
Last week Jennifer Collins was named the ABC’s inaugural head of factual and culture, leading the development and production across arts, religion, science, education, health, history and social affairs.
Earlier Todd Abbott came on board as head of comedy, a role held by a number of execs in an acting capacity after the departure of Rick Kalowski.
Since joining the ABC in 2016 as an executive producer, entertainment, he developed and produced the Spicks and Specks Reunion Specials,...
The ABC has promoted entertainment manager Nick Hayden, who created the iso-comedy At Home Alone Together, Whovians, Tonightly and the Australia Talks live show, to head of entertainment.
Hayden will drive the entertainment slate including Gruen, Hard Quiz, Mad As Hell, The Weekly, You Can’t Ask That and the upcoming Reputation Rehab.
His appointment completes a restructuring of the content divisions which resulted in the exit of head of entertainment and factual Josie Mason-Campbell.
Last week Jennifer Collins was named the ABC’s inaugural head of factual and culture, leading the development and production across arts, religion, science, education, health, history and social affairs.
Earlier Todd Abbott came on board as head of comedy, a role held by a number of execs in an acting capacity after the departure of Rick Kalowski.
Since joining the ABC in 2016 as an executive producer, entertainment, he developed and produced the Spicks and Specks Reunion Specials,...
- 10/5/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Josie Mason-Campbell.
Josie Mason-Campbell is departing the ABC after three years as head of entertainment and factual amid a management restructure of the content divisions.
Responsibility for entertainment and factual, the genres which are bearing the brunt of the $5 million a year reduction in local commissioning, is being split as part of the measures announced today by ABC MD David Anderson.
The specialist division is being renamed factual and education headed by Aidan Laverty, currently head of specialist.
The drama, comedy and Indigenous unit headed by Sally Riley becomes drama, entertainment and Indigenous, uniting the comedy and entertainment teams.
Michael Carrington, director entertainment and specialist, told If: “Josie has led our entertainment and factual team to great acclaim across award-winning and outstanding programs.
“In recent months, she has also been acting head of distribution, guiding our programming and scheduling across multiple channels to bring high-quality content to audiences when and how they want it.
Josie Mason-Campbell is departing the ABC after three years as head of entertainment and factual amid a management restructure of the content divisions.
Responsibility for entertainment and factual, the genres which are bearing the brunt of the $5 million a year reduction in local commissioning, is being split as part of the measures announced today by ABC MD David Anderson.
The specialist division is being renamed factual and education headed by Aidan Laverty, currently head of specialist.
The drama, comedy and Indigenous unit headed by Sally Riley becomes drama, entertainment and Indigenous, uniting the comedy and entertainment teams.
Michael Carrington, director entertainment and specialist, told If: “Josie has led our entertainment and factual team to great acclaim across award-winning and outstanding programs.
“In recent months, she has also been acting head of distribution, guiding our programming and scheduling across multiple channels to bring high-quality content to audiences when and how they want it.
- 6/24/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Ray Martin.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, ABC and Screen Australia have partnered in a comedy initiative designed to culminate in eight-part series, At Home Alone Together.
Dubbed a “lifestyle show for a world in which nobody has a life”, At Home Alone Together will be produced by the ABC and gather comedians and actors to give audiences advice on how they can live their best life in the time of Covid-19.
Hosted by Ray Martin, each half-hour episode will feature regular contributors, including comedians Anne Edmonds, Ryan Shelton, Becky Lucas, Christiaan Van Vuuren and Adele Vuko, who will share their knowledge, inspirations and advice on how to achieve self-improvement during the corona crisis, covering a range of topics, including D.I.Y, wellness, parenting and personal finances.
Martin said: “I’ve worked in journalism for over 50 years, but it’s always been my dream to front a lifestyle show.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, ABC and Screen Australia have partnered in a comedy initiative designed to culminate in eight-part series, At Home Alone Together.
Dubbed a “lifestyle show for a world in which nobody has a life”, At Home Alone Together will be produced by the ABC and gather comedians and actors to give audiences advice on how they can live their best life in the time of Covid-19.
Hosted by Ray Martin, each half-hour episode will feature regular contributors, including comedians Anne Edmonds, Ryan Shelton, Becky Lucas, Christiaan Van Vuuren and Adele Vuko, who will share their knowledge, inspirations and advice on how to achieve self-improvement during the corona crisis, covering a range of topics, including D.I.Y, wellness, parenting and personal finances.
Martin said: “I’ve worked in journalism for over 50 years, but it’s always been my dream to front a lifestyle show.
- 4/29/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
‘Old People’s Home For 4 Year Olds’ (Photo: Nigel Wright).
Endemol Shine Australia’s Old People’s Home For 4 Year Olds took home two prizes from the New York Festivals TV and Film Awards, with other Aussie winners including Northern Pictures/Oxford Scientific Films’ Magical Land of Oz and episodes of Sbs’s Dateline.
Old People’s Home For 4 Year Olds, commissioned by the ABC, scored Gold in the Social Issues documentary category at the awards, in addition to a Silver Award from the United Nations Department of Global Communications, for exemplifying the aims and ideas of the Un.
The series, which won the 2019 Aacta Award for Best Documentary or Factual Program, demonstrates the physical and mental benefits of bringing together the very young and very old in a retirement home.
Magical Land of Oz, produced by Northern Pictures and narrated by Barry Humphries, another ABC commission, won the Gold...
Endemol Shine Australia’s Old People’s Home For 4 Year Olds took home two prizes from the New York Festivals TV and Film Awards, with other Aussie winners including Northern Pictures/Oxford Scientific Films’ Magical Land of Oz and episodes of Sbs’s Dateline.
Old People’s Home For 4 Year Olds, commissioned by the ABC, scored Gold in the Social Issues documentary category at the awards, in addition to a Silver Award from the United Nations Department of Global Communications, for exemplifying the aims and ideas of the Un.
The series, which won the 2019 Aacta Award for Best Documentary or Factual Program, demonstrates the physical and mental benefits of bringing together the very young and very old in a retirement home.
Magical Land of Oz, produced by Northern Pictures and narrated by Barry Humphries, another ABC commission, won the Gold...
- 4/23/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Aaron Pedersen, star of “Mystery Road” and “Goldstone” has begun filming in Australia of factual lifestyle series “Back to Nature.” The show, comprising eight half-hour episodes, is co-hosted with author Holly Ringland (“The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart”).
The series is a new exploration of Australia’s hugely varied landscapes, geographies and local stories. Filming is expected to take in: ancient rainforests of Gondwana in the South East of Queensland; the high Country of the Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales; the volcanic landscape of the Macedon Ranges, Victoria and Larapuna; and the Bay of Fires, on Tasmania’s North East Coast.
The producers pitch the series as combining “gorgeous flowing cinematography, immersive soundscapes, and compelling emotional stories (which) will help the audience connect and reconnect with nature in a way they never have before.”
“Back To Nature” is a Media Stockade and Threshold Pictures production with international rights sales handled by Escapade Media.
The series is a new exploration of Australia’s hugely varied landscapes, geographies and local stories. Filming is expected to take in: ancient rainforests of Gondwana in the South East of Queensland; the high Country of the Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales; the volcanic landscape of the Macedon Ranges, Victoria and Larapuna; and the Bay of Fires, on Tasmania’s North East Coast.
The producers pitch the series as combining “gorgeous flowing cinematography, immersive soundscapes, and compelling emotional stories (which) will help the audience connect and reconnect with nature in a way they never have before.”
“Back To Nature” is a Media Stockade and Threshold Pictures production with international rights sales handled by Escapade Media.
- 3/16/2020
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
‘Stateless.’
The ABC today released its 72-page 2020-2022 content plan, essentially a restatement of its core values and goals which also stresses the need to engage with new and younger audiences.
The broadcaster lists its priorities over the next three years as being relevant to all Australians; delivering distinctive, public benefit content that engages mass audiences, builds national conversations and creates meaningful change; increasing the diversity of content and the people making it; and to push boundaries and take risks.
Typifying the spirit of the content plan, Sally Riley, head of drama, comedy and Indigenous, says: “In all our content we first and foremost want to entertain and surprise audiences, but it’s really important to me and my team that we engage them emotionally – that’s how you change hearts and minds. We are constantly looking for ways to defy expectations of our content and the ABC”.
The in-house...
The ABC today released its 72-page 2020-2022 content plan, essentially a restatement of its core values and goals which also stresses the need to engage with new and younger audiences.
The broadcaster lists its priorities over the next three years as being relevant to all Australians; delivering distinctive, public benefit content that engages mass audiences, builds national conversations and creates meaningful change; increasing the diversity of content and the people making it; and to push boundaries and take risks.
Typifying the spirit of the content plan, Sally Riley, head of drama, comedy and Indigenous, says: “In all our content we first and foremost want to entertain and surprise audiences, but it’s really important to me and my team that we engage them emotionally – that’s how you change hearts and minds. We are constantly looking for ways to defy expectations of our content and the ABC”.
The in-house...
- 12/11/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
‘Miriam Margolyes: Almost Australian’.
The ABC and Screen Australia have announced funding for three original documentary projects: Dark Emu, Gun Ringer, and Miriam Margolyes: Almost Australian.
Blackfella Films’ Dark Emu is based the book by the same name from Bruce Pascoe, and will take audiences on a journey across Australia to present a very different history of our nation and the First Australians. The series is financed with Screen Nsw and Film Victoria, and written by Pascoe (Black Chook), and Jacob Hickey (First Contact), directed by Erica Glynn (She Who Must Be Loved) and produced by Darren Dale (First Australians) and Belinda Mravicic (Black Chook).
Screen Australia head of Indigenous Penny Smallacombe said: “Dark Emu promises to be one of the most important documentary series the Indigenous Department has funded. It’s a chance to challenge the myth of pre-colonial Indigenous Australians being just hunter gatherers. We have sophisticated...
The ABC and Screen Australia have announced funding for three original documentary projects: Dark Emu, Gun Ringer, and Miriam Margolyes: Almost Australian.
Blackfella Films’ Dark Emu is based the book by the same name from Bruce Pascoe, and will take audiences on a journey across Australia to present a very different history of our nation and the First Australians. The series is financed with Screen Nsw and Film Victoria, and written by Pascoe (Black Chook), and Jacob Hickey (First Contact), directed by Erica Glynn (She Who Must Be Loved) and produced by Darren Dale (First Australians) and Belinda Mravicic (Black Chook).
Screen Australia head of Indigenous Penny Smallacombe said: “Dark Emu promises to be one of the most important documentary series the Indigenous Department has funded. It’s a chance to challenge the myth of pre-colonial Indigenous Australians being just hunter gatherers. We have sophisticated...
- 10/16/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
‘Why Are You Like This‘.
Comedy Why Are You Like This, one of four pilots supported through Screen Australia and the ABC’s Fresh Blood initiative, has been greenlit for a six-part series.
Created and written by Naomi Higgins, Humyara Mahbub and Aunty Donna’s Mark Samual Bonanno, Why Are You Like This follows best friends Mia and Penny as they navigate their 20s in Melbourne, along with Penny’s dramatic and aloof housemate, Austin. Guided by their own modern day moral code, they confront complex social issues in an outrage driven world, leaving a path of destruction in their wake.
Screen Australia and the ABC’s ongoing Fresh Blood initiative is designed to uncover a new generation of comedic talent. Why Are You Like This was one of four pilots produced thanks to the program in 2018, alongside Michael Cusack’s Aacta-nominated Koala Man, Becky Lucas and Cameron James’ Be...
Comedy Why Are You Like This, one of four pilots supported through Screen Australia and the ABC’s Fresh Blood initiative, has been greenlit for a six-part series.
Created and written by Naomi Higgins, Humyara Mahbub and Aunty Donna’s Mark Samual Bonanno, Why Are You Like This follows best friends Mia and Penny as they navigate their 20s in Melbourne, along with Penny’s dramatic and aloof housemate, Austin. Guided by their own modern day moral code, they confront complex social issues in an outrage driven world, leaving a path of destruction in their wake.
Screen Australia and the ABC’s ongoing Fresh Blood initiative is designed to uncover a new generation of comedic talent. Why Are You Like This was one of four pilots produced thanks to the program in 2018, alongside Michael Cusack’s Aacta-nominated Koala Man, Becky Lucas and Cameron James’ Be...
- 9/24/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
‘Firestarter – The Story of Bangarra’.
The ABC has added feature documentaries The Australian Dream, Firestarter – The Story of Bangarra and natural history and science series Australia Remastered to its slate.
An official Australian-uk co-production between Good Thing Productions and Passion Pictures, The Australian Dream, written by Stan Grant and directed by Dan Gordon, chronicles the national conversation that took place after former Sydney Swans captain Adam Goodes was racially vilified during an Afl match.
Producer Nick Batzias said: “Good Thing are thrilled to be working with Passion Pictures UK producing The Australian Dream. In collaborating with Adam Goodes, director Dan Gordon, writer Stan Grant and a host of contributors, we have the best opportunity to not only tell Adam’s story accurately, but to generate important conversations about Australia’s past, present and future in the context of an international feature documentary.”
The film has received principal production investment from...
The ABC has added feature documentaries The Australian Dream, Firestarter – The Story of Bangarra and natural history and science series Australia Remastered to its slate.
An official Australian-uk co-production between Good Thing Productions and Passion Pictures, The Australian Dream, written by Stan Grant and directed by Dan Gordon, chronicles the national conversation that took place after former Sydney Swans captain Adam Goodes was racially vilified during an Afl match.
Producer Nick Batzias said: “Good Thing are thrilled to be working with Passion Pictures UK producing The Australian Dream. In collaborating with Adam Goodes, director Dan Gordon, writer Stan Grant and a host of contributors, we have the best opportunity to not only tell Adam’s story accurately, but to generate important conversations about Australia’s past, present and future in the context of an international feature documentary.”
The film has received principal production investment from...
- 3/4/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Steve Bibb.
Steve Bibb has departed after four years as head of factual at the ABC, where he oversaw an impressive slate which included War on Waste, Employable Me, Anh’s Brush With Fame, Stargazing Live, Back in Time for Dinner and Hawke: The Larrikin and the Leader.
Previously executive producer of factual at Cjz, at the ABC Bibb succeeded Phil Craig, who returned to the UK as chief creative officer for Discovery Networks International and is now head of factual for Electric Pictures.
He tells If he is likely to return to making programs with an independent production company but staying in commissioning is also an option in Australia or overseas and he is in talks with a number of people.
There will not be an immediate replacement at the ABC as the day-to-day running of productions will continue to be overseen by the factual team led by Josie Mason-Campbell,...
Steve Bibb has departed after four years as head of factual at the ABC, where he oversaw an impressive slate which included War on Waste, Employable Me, Anh’s Brush With Fame, Stargazing Live, Back in Time for Dinner and Hawke: The Larrikin and the Leader.
Previously executive producer of factual at Cjz, at the ABC Bibb succeeded Phil Craig, who returned to the UK as chief creative officer for Discovery Networks International and is now head of factual for Electric Pictures.
He tells If he is likely to return to making programs with an independent production company but staying in commissioning is also an option in Australia or overseas and he is in talks with a number of people.
There will not be an immediate replacement at the ABC as the day-to-day running of productions will continue to be overseen by the factual team led by Josie Mason-Campbell,...
- 1/20/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.