Animal Logic has launched Truant Pictures, a new production company that will act as a subsidiary of the successful Aussie animation outfit with a focus on live-action genre films for the Australian market. Truant will be headquartered at Animal Logic's Sydney-based studios and also operate out of its Los Angeles…

In a move that took international markets by surprise overnight, Australia’s Nine Entertainment announced a $3 billion takeover of Fairfax Media. The TV net will take a controlling 51.1% stake in the newly merged company, which will be renamed NEC, or Nine Entertainment Company. The deal creates the country’s largest…

Paramount’s live-action Dora The Explorer movie will shoot in Australia after a last-minute tax break concession from local authorities. The movie’s presence in Australia was cast in doubt on Friday when Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison rejected Paramount’s request for a one-off increase from the standard 16.5…

International commissions are coming thick and fast for the BBC's recently unleashed production division, this time in Australia. BBC Studios is set to produce a new season of science series Stargazing for local public broadcaster ABC. The news comes a week after it secured wildlife doc The Red List for U.S. cable…

Netflix has ordered its first Australian original series, a supernatural crime drama titled Tidelands co-created by Secrets & Lies scribe Stephen M. Irwin. He will pen the 10-episode first season produced by Hoodlum Entertainment and executive produced by co-creator Tracey Robertson, Nathan Mayfield and Leigh McGrath…

Tanna, the first feature to be fully shot in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu, has been selected by Australia as its selection for the 2017 Foreign Language Oscar race. The Romeo and Juliet tale is directed by Aussie documentary filmmakers Bentley Dean and Martin Butler. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival…

In a bid to attract Hollywood and local productions, the government of Australia’s New South Wales announced a $15M (AUD$20M) fund on Wednesday. The move by the Oz state was spearheaded by Deputy Premier and Minister for the Arts, Troy Grant, who made no bones about the aim. “We have our sights firmly set on stealing…

The recent trips Australian politicians have made to LA to stump for Oz as a location destination are paying off. After it was announced last week that Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok and Fox’s Untitled Ridley Scott Alien project would head Down Under, today comes word that Legendary Pictures’ Kong: Skull Island is taking up…

Sony Pictures Television is expanding its reach into Australia with the acquisition of Playmaker Media. The Sydney-based production company, which specializes in scripted programming, was formed in 2009 and is led by producers David Taylor and David Maher. The outfit’s credits include six-part thriller The Code, which…

Entertainment One will expand its Australian operations, launching a TV production and development unit headed by Jude Troy, the executives heading eOne Films Australia and eOne Television jointly announced. Troy, currently managing director – home entertainment, will take on the new role of EVP of TV Development…

LA-based non-profit org Australians in Film has appointed Simonne Overend as president. One of the first things on her agenda will be to launch the Gateway LA script development program. The program will support the development of commercially successful, Australian-created TV and movie screenplays for U.S. and…

EXCLUSIVE: Just a day after the announcement of a new Broadway revival of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic The King And I comes word that the title star of the Tony-winning 1996 revival, Lou Diamond Phillips, is stepping in to reprise his performance in an Australia tour of the lavish Christopher Renshaw…