Gillian Armstrong first garnered attention for her debut feature MY BRILLIANT CAREER (1979), adapted from the classic novel by Miles Franklin. At the film’s release, Gillian held the distinction of being the first woman to direct a feature-length movie in Australia in almost 50 years. Her feature credits include: STAR STRUCK, MRS SOFFEL, HIGH TIDE, […]
Director attached to SALVATION CREEK – Megan Simpson Huberman
Megan Simpson Huberman has agreed to direct SALVATION CREEK, an Australian movie about a high-flying magazine editor whose husband and brother die within three days of each other. The producer is Heather Ogilvie, CEO of Galvanized Film Group, who collaborated with the director on her two previous features, Alex (1992) and Dating the Enemy (1996). […]
Walkleys Storyology Conference – Bringing the James Hardie Asbestos Cover Up to the Screen
With the boundaries between fact and fiction becoming increasingly blurred, how do we then reconcile the needs of telling a good story with the demands of being true to the facts? Particularly when those facts deal with the deaths of innocent workers and customers at the hands of a powerful corporation. Join ABC reporter Matthew […]
Marta Dusseldorp and Rebecca Gibney Join Read-thru of SALVATION CREEK
Shirley Barrett will direct today’s read-thru of SALVATION CREEK, funded by Screen NSW’s Aurora Script Development Workshop. Erik Thomson and Jeanie Drynan join Marta Dusseldorp and Rebecca Gibney. After so many months of writing, it will be a treat to finally hear the characters come to life. Well done Heather for pulling together such a […]
Sydney Writers’ Festival – Panel Discussion on THE TALL MAN
On National Sorry Day, when we remember the mistreatment of Indigenous Australians, we invite you to a provocative re-examination of the 2004 death in custody of Palm Island resident, Cameron Doomadgee, as retold in the book and documentary THE TALL MAN. Join the film’s director Tony Kravitz (DEAD EUROPE), producer Darren Dale (REDFERN NOW) and […]
National Treasures: David Williamson and Gillian Armstrong talk about the highs and lows of the entertainment industry
In honour of David Williamson’s 40th Anniversary as a playwright, I am moderating a literary dinner at the The Bistro at North Beach tonight at part of this year’s Byron Bay Writers’ Festival. Joining David and I, will be Australia’s first lady of film, Gillian Armstrong. 7.30pm–10.30pm LITERARY DINNER The Bistro at North Beach National […]
Closed deal with BBC Films to produce/ write ONE IN A BILLION – James Rouse directing
I am in Hong Kong to turn the unlikely rise of Barry Cox, from school drop out in Liverpool (UK) to Cantonese-singing pop sensation, into a movie. BBC Films is financing the new draft. Commercial director James Rouse is attached to direct. I am also producing with Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Ellen Dux.
Pedro Almodovar Comes on Board THE MAN WHO FELL IN LOVE WITH THE MOON
Pedro Almodovar, who previously held the option on Tom Spanbauer’s pan-sexual Western, has agreed to develop a new draft of Craig Lucas’ adaptation with the eye of making it his first English-language film. Set in Idaho at the turn of the last century, the story tells the tale of an abandoned, part-native American boy who […]
Susan Sarandon Considers Joining Cast of LAMBS OF GOD
Director Simon Hunter and I had breakfast with Susan Sarandon this morning in Beverly Hills. Susan is interested in playing the role of ‘Iphigenia’. Judy Davis is interested in playing ‘Margarita.’ Winona Ryder is still attached to play ‘Carla.’ It would be a dream cast if we can pull it together.
Encore – Bell to shoot a $3.5 million feature in Queensland
LA-based producer of FIGHT CLUB, Ross Grayson Bell, is to shoot a $3.5 million feature in Queensland in mid-2000. Set in Australia’s tropical north during the 1970s, FRIEND OF DOROTHY tells the story of a 16-year-old boy’s coming-of-age through his relationship with a fifty-some-thing teacher. Jeanie Drynan (recently nominated for an AH Award for her […]