FIVE AUSTRALIAN FILMMAKERS SECURE SXSW SLOTS

The South By Southwest Film Festival, the annual indie sector mecca set deep in the heart of Texas, has picked five Australian works amongst its 2021 line-up. The diverse range of films, including three by women directors and two steeped in indigenous culture, will launch March 16 as part of the online roster of official selections.

The Aussie contingent are part of the 75 features in the program, including 57 World Premieres, three International Premieres, four North American Premieres, one U.S. Premiere, and 53 films from first-time filmmakers. In addition to the features line-up, 84 short films will unfold including music videos, five episodic Premieres and six episodic pilots. Highlighting the festival progressive ethos, twenty Virtual Cinema projects will screen and fourteen title design entries will be considered in competition.

The Australian films in the SXSW mix are: 

NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
THE DROVERS WIFE: THE LEGEND OF MOLLY JOHNSON (Director/Screenwriter: Leah Purcell, Producers: Bain Stewart, David Jowsey, Angela Littlejohn, Greer Simpkin, Leah Purcell) A reimagining of Leah Purcell’s acclaimed play and Henry Lawson’s classic short story. A searing Australian western thriller asking the question: how far do you go to protect your loved ones? With Purcell in the lead role, she is joined by Rob Collins, Sam Reid, Jessica De Gouw and Malachi Dower-Roberts. “To be following in the footsteps of the amazing films and filmmakers that have gone before me is humbling,” said Purcell, via a Screen Australia press release. “As an Indigenous Australian woman and filmmaker, I am proud to be sharing a story that literally has mine and my family's DNA all over it and to be able to share our cultural practise as storytellers through film to the world.”

24 BEATS PER SECOND
UNDER THE VOLCANO (Director: Gracie Otto, Screenwriters: Cody Greenwood, Gracie Otto, Ian Shadwell, Producers: Cody Greenwood, Richard Harris) The story of George Martin’s AIR Studios Montserrat and the island that changed music forever, Otto’s documentary features interviews with Sting, Mark Knopfler, Nick Rhodes, Jimmy Buffett, Verdine White, Tony Lommi, Stewart Copeland, Guy Fletcher, Midge Ure, and Roger Glover. Producer Cody Greenwood said, “The festival is universally recognised for its music documentaries, so to have Under The Volcano premiere at this festival is a huge honour. Our whole team worked tremendously hard to pull the film together and I can’t wait for it to be shared with audiences.” (Pictured, above: Andy Summers and Sting in Under The Volcano. Photo credit: Danny Quatrochi)

MIDNIGHT SHORTS
THE MOOGAI (Director/Screenwriter: Jon Bell) An Aboriginal psychological horror, The Moogai is the story of a family terrorized by a child-stealing spirit. In a statement following his selection, Bell said, “The festival pulls from a number of mediums and speaks to multiple disciplines. I think The Moogai will find an audience with the patrons of SXSW because they’re up for the kind of story we’re telling. A story of loss from an Indigenous point of view. There are many similarities between Australian Aboriginal and Native American connection to country and the clash of cultures with the western world that I think it will feel familiar and foreign to American audiences.” After receiving impressive accolades locally, including an AACTA Award 2020 nomination for Best Short Film and winning the Erwin Rado Award for Best Audience Short Film at Melbourne International Film Festival 2020, The Moogai will make it’s international premiere at SXSW. (Pictured, above: Shari Stebbens in The Moogai)

MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION 
JULIA STONE - 'BREAK' (Director/Screenwriter: Jessie Hill) Award-winning Australian folk singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Julia Stone’s latest clip, directed by Jessie Hill. (See the full clip below)

VIRTUAL CINEMA COMPETITION
OF HYBRIDS AND STRINGS (Australia, France, Germany; Director: Lauren Moffat, Producer: Fabbula) Of Hybrids and Strings is a fabulatory immersion into possible human and non-human connectedness. In a forest, at night, one becomes strangely entangled to plants and creatures. Until the forest starts to crystallize…  "With Of Hybrids and Strings, I wanted to create a science-fiction-like experience, but without forcing people into a particular perspective," says Moffat on the film's website. "I wanted to construct a speculative narrative that would shift classic science-fiction themes—such as environmental disorders—by thinking them outside all preconceptions." (World Premiere) (Pictured, above: Moffat's 'Hybrid Flowers' from Of Hybrids and Strings)

Register for SXSW Online 2021: From March 16-20, experience conference sessions and keynotes addresses, music showcases, film screenings, exhibitions, networking events, mentor sessions, professional development, and more, all in a digital setting.

BREAK by Julia Stone; directed by Jessie Hill.

RON HOWARD, BRIAN GRAZER TO MENTOR OZ CREW ON GOLD COAST SHOOT

Screen Queensland has partnered with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s talent development company, Impact Creative Systems, to transform the careers of four Queensland-based screen professionals through a prestigious attachment opportunity on the set of their latest project, Thirteen Lives. The film adaptation of the 2018 Thai boys’ soccer team cave rescue will commence production on the Gold Coast this March.

Aligned with local on-set skill shortages, the program is now open for applications from emerging screen industry professionals in the areas of costume design, set design, accounting, and assistant directing, to be attached to Thirteen Lives for a period of 12 weeks during production.

Academy Award® winners Brian Grazer and Ron Howard (pictured, above), director on Thirteen Lives, said the philosophy of Impact to discover, cultivate and empower the next generation of creative storytellers worldwide, has been extended to unearth talented production-focused practitioners.

“We’re excited about the potential for Impact to transform careers in areas where the screen industry, in Queensland but also globally, is experiencing particular skill shortages,” said Mr Grazer and Mr Howard, via a  joint statement.

“It’s also a deep part of our philosophy and approach to give back to the locations where we are filming and this program is a great way of providing emerging screen professionals of promise the opportunity to work on a major feature film in their own backyard.”

In addition to these attachment opportunities, Thirteen Lives is estimated to employ more than 275 cast and crew and inject around $45 million into the Queensland economy.

Screen Queensland CEO Kylie Munnich (pictured, right) praised Impact for their commitment to help develop the next wave of screen industry professionals, from a diverse range of disciplines, in the state.

“For every production Screen Queensland supports, attachments are an obligation as part of a proven strategy to grow and diversify the local industry.

“As demand for Queensland as a production location continues to escalate, these kinds of initiatives are vital to creating a viable industry to rival other major screen hubs globally,” Ms Munnich said.

The on-set experiences of the four successful candidates will also be documented as part of a bespoke digital campaign including regular video diaries and social media updates.

For more information and to apply visit https://www.impact-australia.com/crews . Applications close 14 February 2021.

AUSTRALIAN CYBER-THRILLER LONE WOLF TO BOW AT IFFR

The 2021 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) will host the World Premiere of the new Australian film, Lone Wolf, it was announced overnight. Adapted from Joseph Conrad’s classic book The Secret Agent, writer-director Jonathan Ogilvie re-sets the narrative in a near-future Melbourne, where surveillance of the population has reached dangerously intrusive heights. It will bow in the ‘Big Screen Competition’ strand of IFFR, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Starring Hugo Weaving, the thriller is Ogilvie’s first feature since 2008’s The Tender Hook. It arrives after an extensive pre-production period during which the technical aspects of the setting and the innovative approach to contemporary storytelling were streamlined. The production has coined the term ‘cineveillant’ to describe the aesthetic of the film, one steeped in the grammar of surveillance and the societal and psychological implications of being watched.

The IFFR website describes the film as “an exciting political thriller and an emotion-laden drama”. Weaving (pictured, below) plays the Minister of Justice, whose days are spent scouring footage from hidden cameras, phone taps, Skype sessions and security surveillance. His latest focus is an obscure bookstore where a group of environmental activists are meeting in secret. Idealistic Winnie (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) and her boyfriend Conrad (Josh McConville) want to disrupt the G20, but aren’t aware that they are possibly being lured into a trap.

Ogilvie and co-producers Lee Hubber, Adam White and Matt Govoni are taking the anti-establishment message of the film seriously, extending their counter-surveillance stance into the online marketing of the film. Visitors to the official website can click on a world map and identify covert CCTV locations, registering their stand against the digital tracking of society.   

Lone Wolf was produced with the assistance of Screen Australia and the MIFF Premiere Fund, indicating it will likely have its Australian Premiere at the 2021 Melbourne International Film Festival. It is being distributed by Label Distribution in Australia and LevelK Distribution for the rest of the world.

The 2021 IFFR will adopt a two-tiered structure, with the first of its screenings running February 1-7 followed by a second season from June 2-6.

WOMEN DIRECTORS FLY OZ FLAG AT SUNDANCE 2021

The feature documentary Playing with Sharks, virtual reality project Prison X - Chapter 1: The Devil & The Sun and short film GNT will fly the Australian sector flag at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. The iconic event has responded to the COVID pandemic by scheduling both online and theatrical sessions across the US from 28 January to 3 February.

Playing with Sharks, a documentary about iconic Australian diver and filmmaker Valerie Taylor, will make its world premiere in the World Documentary Competition.

“To launch this film at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival is a dream come true,” enthused director Sally Aitken. “Valerie’s daredevil exploits and her astounding underwater archive are a potent mix for any director. That she is still diving and fighting for sharks at the age of 85 shows Valerie’s incredible passion and thirst for adventure remains undiminished. Her life-affirming journey as an unlikely conservationist proves what is possible with our interconnectedness to the natural world, if we allow it.”

PLAYING WITH SHARKS (Dir: Sally Aitken; Prod: Bettina Dalton) Synopsis: Valerie Taylor is a shark fanatic and an Australian icon. A marine maverick who forged her way as a fearless diver, cinematographer and conservationist. She filmed the real sharks for Jaws and famously wore a chain mail suit, using herself as shark bait, in experiments that changed scientific understanding of sharks forever.

Virtual reality animation Prison X – Chapter 1: The Devil & The Sun will make its world premiere in the New Frontier section which showcases emerging media storytelling, multimedia installations, performances, and films across fiction, nonfiction and hybrid projects. The project takes viewers on a mythological journey inside a Neo-Andean underworld, where The Jaguaress greets you at the gateway between theater and reality and casts you as Inti, a young man imprisoned after his first job as a drug mule..

“As a storyteller, Virtual Reality gave me the tools and technological capacity to push my imagination to a further degree,” said Quechua filmmaker Violeta Ayala. “But it takes a community to make a film, and I'm very proud that the team behind Prison X represents the Australia that we see on the streets.” The production utilised the talents of Bolivian-Australian, Ghanaian-Australian and Filipino-Australian creatives.

PRISON X – THE DEVIL & THE SUN (Writ/Dir: Violeta Ayala; Prods: Violeta Ayala, Dan Fallshaw, Roly Elias) Synopsis: A virtual reality project where heavy doors open up and suck you in as a world of magical realism swirls around you, where you have to hang onto your soul so the devil doesn't take it away.

Animated short film GNT (pictured, top), which won the Yoram Gross Animation prize at Sydney Film Festival 2020, follows one woman’s outrageous mission to conquer social media and upstage her friends. Creators Sara Hirner and Rosemary Vasquez-Brown said, “We put so much love into this chaotic four minutes, and feel especially humbled that it will be shown at Sundance. We hope it makes you giggle, or at the very least, question your choices on social media.”

GNT (Writ/Dirs: Sara Hirner, Rosemary Vasquez-Brown; Prods: Sara Hirner, Rosemary Vasquez-Brown) Synopsis: An animation that follows Glenn, a woman on an unwholesome mission to conquer her clique and social media at large.

“Congratulations to these teams, this selection is an incredible accomplishment,” said Screen Australia’s CEO Graeme Mason. “These projects each have a distinctive Australian voice and demonstrate the breadth and ingenuity of our industry on the world stage. It’s fantastic to have three projects representing Australia all helmed by female directors in this year’s program.” Screen Australia were principal production investors on Playing with Sharks and Prison X – Chapter 1: The Devil & The Sun, in association with Screen NSW. GNT was created as a graduation project out of University of Technology Sydney.

R.I.P. HUGH KEAYS-BYRNE

Actor Hugh Keays-Byrne, a towering presence in Australia’s acting community and iconic genre cinema figure, has passed away in hospital overnight, aged 73. Destined to be forever remembered as ‘The Toecutter’ in the 1979 action classic Mad Max, Keays-Byrne reunited with director Dr George Miller 36 years later to play ‘Immortan Joe’ in the blockbuster reboot, Mad Max: Fury Road. It would be his final film role.

Born in Srinigar, India in 1947 to British parents, Keays-Byrne acted extensively on the London stage in his formative years, working with the Royal Shakespeare Company on productions of  As You Like It, Hamlet, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing and Troilus and Cressida. A RSC tour of Australia performing in A Midsummer’s Night Dream led to the actor relocating here, his classically trained credentials providing entry into the burgeoning film and television sector.

The imposing physicality and enigmatic screen presence for which he would garner a legion of fans was evident in his big screen debut as ‘Toad’ in the late Sandy Harbutt’s motorbike-gang classic, Stone (1974; pictured, right), a role which caught the eye of director Brian Trenchard-Smith, who cast him in the action opus, The Man From Hong Kong (1975). This was a prolific period for the actor, with television work in the made-for-small-screen movies Essington (1974) and Polly My Love (1975) and the popular historical series Ben Hall (1975) and Rush (1976), for which he won a Best Actor Logie award.

Recognised as an invaluable ensemble player, support parts began to mount; Keays-Byrne supplied vivid character work in Phillipe Mora’s Mad Dog Morgan (1976), John Duigan’s The Trespassers (1976), Carl Schultz’s Blue Fin (1978) and Simon Wincer’s Shapshot (1979). With the industry hungry for local content, TV-movie production was at an unprecedented high, demand that the actor benefitted from with compelling turns in Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1977), Say You Want Me (1977), The Death Train (1978) and The Tichborne Affair (1978).

His star-making role came when he provided the villainous ying to young NIDA graduate Mel Gibson’s heroic yang in Miller’s low-budget, high-octane Mad Max. In a fearlessly crafted performance that perfectly conveys the anarchy and brutality of the post-apocalyptic setting, Keays-Byrne’s ‘Toecutter’ is one of Australian film’s most enduring figures; his left-field interpretation of psychotic villainy has ensured lines such as “Jessie, Jessie, Jessie, you've not got a sense of humor,” and “What a wonderful philosophy you have” will live forever. The performance earned Keays-Byrne a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the1979  Australian Film Institute Awards.

Hugh Keays-Byrne remained loyal to the sector that embraced him as a young English actor, staying in Australia and working steadily throughout the 1980s in such films as ian Barry’s  The Chain Reaction (1980; pictured, right, with Steve Bisley), Jonathan Dawson’s Ginger Meggs (1982), Werner Herzog’s Where the Green Ants Dream (1984), Richard Lowenstein’s Strikebound (1984), Graeme Clifford’s Burke & Wills (1985), Tim Burstall’s Kangaroo (1986), George Miller (the other one)’s Les Patterson Saves the World (1987) and David Webb Peoples’ Salute of the Jugger (1989). In 1992, he co-directed the dystopian action-thriller Resistance, reuniting him with fellow Mad Max alumni Vincent Gil (‘Nightrider’) in a support role.

International productions utilising Australian facilities recognised the value of a professional presence like Hugh Keays-Byrne, providing steady work for the actor throughout the 1990s in series such as Moby Dick (1998), opposite Patrick Stewart and Henry Thomas; Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1999), starring Treat Williams; and, as fan favourite ‘Grunchik’ in the sci-fi hit, Farscape.

Dr George Miller always acknowledged the invaluable contribution the actor made during the guerilla-style shot of Mad Max. It is known that the director had written a key role for the actor in his planned DCU adaptation, Justice League: Mortal, a Warner Pros tentpole project that was ultimately shut down only weeks before production was due to begin in 2007. His casting as ‘Immortan Joe’ in Mad Max: Fury Road was seen as a spiritual bond back to the original film and greeted with adoration by the franchise’s fanbase.

WARNERMEDIA AND ROADSHOW FILMS SPLIT IN DISTRIB SECTOR SHAKE-UP

Once considered one of the sturdiest partnerships in global film distribution, WarnerMedia and Roadshow Films will cut ties at the end of 2020 after four decades. Australian parent company Village Roadshow Ltd (VRL) announced to the ASX on Monday that December 31 would be the final day of their co-dependent arrangement, with Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic Dune (December 17) and Patty Jenkins blockbuster DCU sequel Wonder Woman 1984 (December 26) representing their final films together.

Long held and cherished relationships at the boardroom level have dissolved in recent times. In August, an overhaul at WarnerMedia by corporate owner AT&T saw several top executives ousted, including a crucial ally in Ron Sanders, President of Worldwide Theatrical Distribution and Home Entertainment. No indication was given as to whether VRL would still rep Warner titles on the home video front, although that contract also expires in December.  

Founded as a drive-in theatre venture in 1954 by Roc Kirby, whose car-friendly venues became known as ‘villages’, Roadshow expanded into traditional cinema sites (or ‘hardtops’) throughout the 1960s. Kirby’s sons Robert and John entered the family business and, with young execs like Graham Burke (pictured, right; with Robert Kirby, left)promoted through the ranks, Roadshow expanded into the distribution sector, launching a specialised division in 1967. By 1971, Roadshow were so dominant in the Australian market they were able to forge their first partnership with Warner Bros.

In the wake of the acquisition of De Laurentis Entertainment, the entity Village Roadshow was formed in 1989, a show of strength that further solidified ties with Warner Bros. Their first release together was the Kylie Minogue vehicle, The Delinquents (1989), followed by such blockbuster successes as Analyze This, The Matrix and Deep Blue Sea (all 1999); Miss Congeniality (2000); Ocean’s Eleven (2001); Happy Feet (2006); Sherlock Holmes (2009); The Great Gatsby (2013); The Lego Movie (2014); Mad Max Fury Road (2015) and Joker (2019).

While embodying the ‘business’ side of showbusiness, the union also found critical favour with David O. Russell’s Three Kings (1999), a National Board of Review honouree, and provided Denzel Washington with his lead actor Oscar in Antoine Fuqua’s Training Day (2001). The partnership forged a strong bond with writer/director Clint Eastwood and his Malpaso Productions, leading to a stake in such prestige pics as Space Cowboys (2000), Mystic River (2003), Gran Torino (2008), American Sniper (2014), Sully (2016) and The 15:17 to Paris (2018).

The Village Roadshow / Warner Bros partnership weathered some expensive underperformers as well, including Red Planet (2000); The Majestic (2001); The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002; pictured, right); Showtime (2002); Dreamcatcher (2003); Catwoman (2004); The Invasion (2007); Speed Racer (2008); Gangster Squad (2013); Jupiter Ascending (2015); Winter’s Tale (2014); and, In the Heart of the Sea (2015).

In announcing the split, Roadshow CEO Joel Pearlman said, “It has been an honour to release so many incredible Warner Bros. titles over the years and we are proud of the work that we have achieved together.” It was made clear in the ASX filing that the license deal between VRL and Warner Bros. in the theme parks business remains intact and that the $468million sale of VRL to funds managed by BGH Capital would be unaffected.

VRL will continue to seek productions for their Village Roadshow Studios at Gold Coast in Queensland, currently home to Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis and rumoured to be pitching for Taika Waititi’s Thor sequel. It also owns 31% of the New York-based sales and production company FilmNation.

It is understood that the Australian division of Universal Pictures will take control of Warner titles from early 2021.

HANKS RETURNS TO OZ FOR BAZ'S ELVIS EPIC

Cameras are set to roll September 23 on Warner Bros. Pictures’ Elvis, the blockbuster musical drama from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Baz Luhrmann. The latest production from the director of The Great Gatsby (2013), Moulin Rouge! (2001) and Australia (2008) will command all sound stage space at the Village Roadshow Studio lot in Oxenford, Queensland, where actor Austin Butler (Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood, 2019) will step into the blue suede shoes as rock’n’roll legend Elvis Presley.

The dramatic and complicated relationship between the iconic singer and his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker, will be the focus of the narrative, which Luhrmann has co-written with regular collaborator, Craig Pearce. Two-time Oscar-winner Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump, 1994; Philadelphia, 1993) will play the driven, volatile Parker, while Australian actress Olivia DeJonge (The Visit, 2015; Better Watch Out, 2014) has been confirmed as Priscilla Presley. 

Previously announced support players include Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Kindergarten Teacher, 2019; Secretary, 2002) as Gladys Presley; Rufus Sewell (Dark City, 1998; Vinyan, 2008) as Vernon Presley; and, British singer Yola, aka Yola Carter, as gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a key influence on Presley’s musical education.

It is the second start for the mammoth shoot, with pre-production halted in mid-March when COVID-19 conditions shut down filming in most countries, including Australia. The film earned unwelcome publicity when it was announced that Hanks and wife Rita Wilson had contracted the virus and would be isolated in a Brisbane hospital until they were well enough to travel home to the U.S. 

Re-energised by the confirmed shooting date, Luhrmann stated (via a studio press release), “We’re back to, as Elvis liked to say, ‘taking care of business!’  It is a real privilege in this unprecedented global moment that Tom Hanks has been able to return to Australia to join Austin Butler and all of our extraordinary cast and crew to commence production on Elvis.” Hanks has arrived in the northern Australian state to prepare for filming, which includes two weeks of quarantine before joining cast and crew on set.

The production is expected to employ 900 Australian cast and crew and inject an estimated US$105million into the local economy. 

Luhrmann is also producing the film, alongside Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, with Andrew Mittman executive producing. Key creatives include are all longtime Luhrmann collaborators - director of photography Mandy Walker (hot off Niki Caro’s Mulan, for Disney); Oscar-winning production designer and costume designer Catherine Martin; editors Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond; and, composer Elliott Wheeler, who scored the director’s Netflix series, The Get Down.

Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis is currently slated for release on November 5, 2021.

BABYTEETH TAKES BITE OUT OF TRANSILVANIA F.F. AWARD ROSTER

Australian director Shannon Murphy’s striking debut feature Babyteeth, featuring a star-solidifying turn by actress Eliza Scanlen (pictured, below), continues its award-winning festival circuit run with two top awards courtesy of the 2020 Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF). The winners of the 19th annual gathering were announced last Sunday, August 9, at an outdoor event in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Selected from 12 debut or follow-up features from around the world, Murphy’s (pictured, below) fiercely original coming-of-age story earned the ‘Transilvania Trophy’ for Best Film. The top honour was voted for by an all-Romanian jury, a first for the event in the wake of an enforced COVID-19 restructure. 

Babyteeth also won the highly-coveted Audience Award ahead of a particularly strong line-up that included Tim Mielants’ Patrick (Belgium) and Zheng Lu Xinyuan’s The Cloud in Her Room (China), whose helmers shared Best Director honours; Nigina Sayfullaeva’s Fidelity (Russia), which secured leading lady Evgeniya Gromova the gender-neutral Best Acting trophy; and, Svetla Tsotsorkova’s Sister (a Bulgarian/Qatari co-production), the winner of a Special Jury Prize.

 In his first Australian feature in nine years, Ben Mendelsohn stars alongside Essie Davis as Henry and Anna Finlay, the overprotective parents of gravely sick Milla (Eliza Scanlen). When their daughter becomes enamored with a local drug dealer (Toby Wallace) and begins living her waning life to its fullest potential, Henry and Anna’s life takes on a newly energized perspective.

Even by the limited opportunities presented in the truncated 2020 festival calendar, Screen Australia and production partners Spectrum Films, Jan Chapman Films and Whitefalk Films are filling their trophy cabinets with Babyteeth accolades. It has earned Shannon Murphy festival honours in Luxembourg, Palm Springs, Pingyao, São Paulo and Zurich; screenwriter Rita Kalnejais took out a Screenplay Jury Prize at the Portugese event, FEST; and, cast members Scanlen and Wallace (pictured, left) have statuettes in the mail coming from Venice and Marrakech festival organisers.

Babyteeth is currently in release in Australian cinemas via Universal Pictures Australia; with other territories to follow.

VALE ROSSLYN ABERNETHY

Industries on both sides of The Tasman are mourning the loss of industry veteran Rosslyn Abernethy, one of the region’s most experienced and respected production managers. Having forged a remarkable career overseeing shooting schedules and location duties on high-profile shoots in Australia and New Zealand, Abernethy passed away on The Gold Coast on July 20. She was 68.

 

Born in Masterson on New Zealand’s North Island in 1952, young Rosslyn led a nomadic life, the family following her bank manager father to branches nationwide before settling in Taupō in 1975. She began her film career as a typist for the Auckland based exhibition outfit Amalgamated Theatres prior to decamping to the the U.K. where she found office work in the film production community.

Her antipodean ties gave her the edge when director Mike Newell was crewing his New Zealand production Bad Blood (1981), an account of the manhunt for farmer-turned-murderer Stanley Graham (played by Australian actor Jack Thompson; pictured, right). Abernethy returned from England to act as production secretary, a role for which she earned a credit on such productions as Buddies (Dir: Arch Nicholson; 1983); The Return of Captain Invincible (Dir: Philippe More; 1983); and, BMX Bandits (Dir: Brian Trenchard-Smith; 1983).

The all-encompassing role provided training for the position of production co-ordinator, to which Abernethy progressed on the films The Coolangatta Gold (Dir: Igo Auzins; 1984); Cassandra (Dir: Colin Egglestone; 1987); and, Slate, Wyn & Me (Dir: Don McLennan; 1987).

It would be as the industry’s pre-eminent production manager that Rosslyn Abernethy earned her reputation as one of Australia’s most in-demand professionals. From her debut in the role in 1985 on Best Enemies (Dir: David Baker), she would work steadily on productions like the mini-series Sword of Honour (1986); Howling III (Dir: Philippe Mora; 1987); the hit TV series Police Rescue (1989); the Kylie Minogue vehicle, The Delinquents (Dir: Chris Thomson; 1989; pictured, left); Traps (Dir: Pauline Chan; 1994); the international shoot Street Fighter (Dir: Steven E. de Souza; 1994), with Jean Claude van Damme; The Real Macaw (Dir: Mario Andreacchio; 1998); the Hugh Jackman hit, Paperback Hero (Dir: Anthony Bowman; 1989); and, the global hit TV series, The Sleepover Club (2003).

During this period, Abernethy adapted her organisational skills and legendary rapport with crew to oversee the art department of Fortress (Dir: Stuart Gordon; 1992), starring Christopher Lambert (pictured, right). The Queensland shoot was a massive undertaking, an experience that prepared her for working with producer James Cameron on the cave-diving adventure Sanctum (Dir: Alister Grierson; 2011) as production manager. On the 2017 thriller Out of the Shadows (Dir: Dee McLachlan), Abernethy expanded her production manager role into that of line producer, a function she also undertook on the war drama, Escape and Evasion (Dir: Storm Ashwood; 2019). Her final production manager credit was on the thriller The Second (Dir: Mairi Cameron; 2018), starring Rachael Blake, Susie Porter and Vince Colosimo.

Rosslyn Abernethy is survived by her husband Shane Denman and son, actor Burgess Abernethy. Her extended family, including her sister Seonaid, still live in her hometown of Taupō.

AUSTRALIAN DIRECTORS' GUILD ANNOUNCE 2020 NOMINATIONS

The Australian Directors’ Guild (ADG) Executive Director Diana Burnett addressed the dire state of the nation’s creative industries in a statement that accompanied the 2020 ADG nominations, which were announced today.

“At these challenging times, it is more important than ever that we come together as a creative community to celebrate our achievements of the past year,” Burnett said. “Australian directors are creating fine work across all forms and genres and these nominations reflect the depth of talent in this country.”

A record 202 entries were received for the 2020 honours, awards that recognise excellence in the craft and art of directing. The peer-judged acknowledgements are the only opportunity for directors and their work to be acknowledged by their Guild peers. 

The ADG singled out six filmmakers for nominations in the Best Direction in a Feature Film (with a budget of A$1million or over) category. They are Thomas Wright for Acute Misfortune; Sophie Hyde for Animals; John Sheedy for H is for Happiness; Ben Lawrence for Hearts and Bones; Wayne Blair for Top End Wedding; and, Natalie Erika James for Relic (pictured, above; Robyn Nevin, Bella Heathcote, James and Emily Mortimer).

Nominees for Best Direction in a Feature Film (budgeted under A$1million) category are: Josephine Mackerras for Alice (pictured, top); Imogen Thomas for Emu Runner; Lucy Colman for Hot Mess; Luke Sullivan for Reflections In The Dust; and, Samuel Van Grinsven for Sequin In A Blue Room.

Four factual-film craftspeople were acknowledged for Best Feature Documentary Direction - Ian Darling for The Final Quarter; Maya Newell for In My Blood It Runs (pictured, left; with the film's Margaret Anderson, right); Peter Hegedus for LILI; and, Allan Hardy for Viva The Underdogs. Directors in the mix for Best Documentary Short are Dr. Karen Pearlman for I Want To Write A Film About Women; Stefan Bugryn for War Mothers: Unbreakable; Logan Much for We’re All In This Together; and, Rob Innes for Youth On Strike!

The ADG Directors Award ceremony will be held in Sydney at the City Recital Hall on 19 October (pandemic restrictions pending), honouring nominees in a total of 19 categories across the film, television, online, music and advertising sectors. The full list can be found at the ADG’s website; a limited number of public tickets are available for the ceremony via Eventbrite.