A feature doc about Lion and Beautiful Boy writer Luke Davies, a film about a recording studio on a remote island in the Caribbean built by Sir George Martin and a tale about underground horror filmmaker Dick Dale are some of the docs to have received funding from Screen Australia. The Australian government-backed…

A new initiative to develop official Australian-Chinese co-productions, Chinalight begins accepting submissions today. Hatched by Oz-based international sales outfit Arclight Films and supported by Screen Australia's Enterprise program, the scheme is seeking Australian talent, including writers, producers and…

EXCLUSIVE: In a new initiative to nurture Australian talent and give something back to the local industry, Australians in Film and Screen Australia have recruited key members of the Oz community working in Hollywood to launch the inaugural Mentor LA program. The plan will match the established talent with four…

Based on real events, Stateless centers on the tragic story of Cornelia Rau, a young German/Australian woman who escaped a frightening cult only to be trapped in a bizarre labyrinth of Oz psychiatric and legal systems. Developed and directed by Cate Blanchett, it marks the Oscar-winner’s first foray into high-end…

Graeme Mason Tapped As Screen Australia CEO National film body Screen Australia has named Graeme Mason as its new CEO. Mason has over 20 years of international experience in film, television and multimedia. He was formerly the CEO of the New Zealand Film Commission and was selected from a field of over 250…

Clock To Start Ticking For Indian ’24’ Slumdog Millionaire star Anil Kapoor is getting to work on the Indian version of the TV series 24. The actor, who was featured in the final season of Fox/20th TV's real-time drama, will produce via his Anil Kapoor Film Co. He'll also play the Jack Bauer character, now reportedly…

Don Groves is a Deadline contributor based in Sydney New films from Red Dog director Kriv Stenders, Samson & Delilah helmer Warwick Thornton and first-time feature directors Wayne Hope and Kasimir Burgess are among 11 film and TV projects that secured funding Monday local time from Screen Australia. The agency is…

China Theaters Offered Rebates To Boost Local Film Market Share Worried about competition from U.S. and other foreign titles, China’s movie industry regulators have created financial incentives for any theater chain that takes in at least 50% of its annual box-office revenue from Chinese films. Tian Jin, deputy…

Don Groves is a Deadline contributor based in Sydney Several producers have tried in vain to mount a biopic of INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence since he died in a Sydney hotel room in 1997. Now, two new projects are gearing up. Producers Trevor Ray Field and Suzy Markovski, and screenwriter/executive producer Robert…

Outsider Expected To Replace George Entwistle At BBC Speculation about who will replace George Entwistle as director general of the BBC is growing in the UK. BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten has promised the selection won’t be as drawn out as it was when it came to naming Entwistle in the first place. While some…

BBC Probe: “Unacceptable” Journalistic/Management Failures More senior BBC staff could leave the corporation as an internal report into the Newsnight fiasco that cost former director general George Entwistle his post draws damning conclusions. The investigation by BBC Scotland director Ken MacQuarrie concluded that…

Don Groves is a Deadline contributor based in Sydney The soaring Oz dollar has all but wiped out Australia as a runaway production location, with no U.S. films and only one U.S. TV project, Sony Pictures Television's drama pilot Frontier, shooting Down Under in 2011-2012. Foreign productions spent just $A49M ($50.9M)…