Encore Magazine articles from December 2004

Encore Magazine archives from December 2004

Editor's note.(NEWS)
December 1, 2004... Well what a year it's been. Here at Encore we've had to think of new and interesting ways of saying that various sectors have experienced a lull. The downturn in production and the irregularity of the runaway production has had implications for...

AIDC names OS delegates.(NEWS)(Australian International Documentary Conference)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Nordic and Canadian delegations have been confirmed to attend the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) to be held in Adelaide from February 21-24, 2005. An International Co-Production Summit will precede the event on...

Academy shortlists 'Ward 13', 'Birthday Boy'.(NEWS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Ward 13 and Birthday Boy have been short listed for 2005 Academy Awards in the Animated Short Film category. Ward 13, written and directed by Peter Corn-well, is a 15-minute stop-motion action, suspense, hospital escape thriller. The...

Tropfest calls for 'umbrella' films.(NEWS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Tropfest 2005 was launched at Sydney's Tropicana Caffe on November 23 with 'umbrella' revealed as the obligatory signature item for entries to the February 27 event and the announcement of new supplementary filmmaker initiatives. The entry...

Hannah, Beckers catch 'Indian'.(NEWS)
December 1, 2004... PRODUCTION has commenced in Invercargill, New Zealand, on The World's Fastest Indian, the story of world land speed motorbike champion Burt Munro, produced by Gary Hannam and director Roger Donaldson with a largely Australian crew. The...

'Ra Choi' shoots in Cabramatta.(NEWS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... FIRST time filmmaker Michael Frank's feature Ra Choi is set and shot in Sydney's Cabramatta and centres on four local street kids. Frank, who takes director, producer and scriptwriting credits on the film, plans to show Ra Choi at various...

Accent vows to appeal censor's X18+ rating: UK director Michael Winterbottom's nine songs is the latest film to fuel the censorship debate, Fiona Williams reports.(NEWS)(Office of Film and Literature Classification, Accent Entertainment)
December 1, 2004... DISTRIBUTOR Accent Entertainment has vowed to appeal the X-rating given to British director Michael Winterbottom's feature 9 Songs, claiming it is "totally preposterous" that the film's rating means it can only be bought or hired from...

Archive opens new Sydney office.(NEWS)(Australia's National Screen and Sound Archive moves to new premises)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Recently appointed Director of ScreenSound Australia, the National Screen and Sound Archive, Paolo Cherchi Usai, officially opened the Archive's new Sydney premises at the Australian Film Commission (AFC) on 19 November. Cherchi Usai unveiled...

Just add comedy.(camera from Fujifilm)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... My career in comedy feature films has taken me to Melbourne with Nick Giannopoulous, L.A. & New York with Jack Lemmon, Italy with Emma Thompson & Kate Beckinsale, London with Ben Elton & Rowan Atkinson and now rural Australia with comedy icon...

G'day LA' to shoot in 05.(PRODUCTION)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Production is set to commence in March/April 2005 on G'day LA, an outback comedy romp produced by US-born Sydney resident Russell Cunningham and directed by Micky Dolenz (of The Monkees fame). The film's sales agent, Becker Film International's...

MTV to develop drama.(PRODUCTION)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... MTV Networks Asia has established the MTV Films fund, a pool of finance designed to fund $6.6 million (US$5 million) worth of Australian production. Fund organisers are currently sifting through the 100 scripts received after a general call for...

'Greenlight' green lit.(PRODUCTION)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... The Movie Network has announced plans to produce an Australian version of Project Greenlight, a $1 million feature initiative that will fund the production of a local feature and chronicle the entire process via a 12-part documentary series....

Nick backs kids' reality.(PRODUCTION)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Phillip Tanner's production company Total Perception is set to produce the children's reality television series, Camp Orange, for pay channel Nickelodeon. The 6 X 30-minute episode series--described as "Survivor with slime" by Nickelodeon's...

Fox takes to beach.(PRODUCTION)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Head of production at Fox World Australia David Taylor is working with Red Productions of Manchester (UK) to develop a new 6 X 60-minute drama series called Tamarama. Set around the Sydney beachside suburb of that name. Tamarama's pitch...

SS to get 'Ready Steady'.(PRODUCTION)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Southern Star is developing a local version of the UK cooking competition series Ready Steady Cook! Owned by Endemol, the UK series teams two chefs with two guests, and gives both teams a time limit to produce a delicious meal from a mixed bag...

Nine plans 'Detox' show.(PRODUCTION)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... The team behind The Block, David Barbour and Julian Cress, are developing a new series for the Nine Network called Celebrity Detox. The program, due to premiere early in 2005, will see six celebrities reasses their diets.

Geelong steps up production focus.(NEWS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... HAVING introduced a new film and television policy in conjunction with Film Victoria, the City of Greater Geelong has been courting three feature film projects. Mushroom Pictures' M (formerly known as Macbeth) to be directed by Geoffrey Wright:...

Film Vic greenlights $1m of production.(NEWS)(Victoria)
December 1, 2004... FILM Victoria has announced the recipients of its latest Industry Development and Investment funding round, which dolled out $1 million to fund production in the state. Geoffrey Wright's contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth, M...

NSW post sector boosted by fund extension.(NEWS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... The New South Wales Government's Film Production Attraction Fund will be extended to cover digital production, a move designed to provide NSW companies with an increased chance of luring business to the State. NSW Attorney General Bob...

FTO backs new writers.(film and television office)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... THE NSW FILM and Television Office has announced the successful applicants to its Young Filmmakers Fund (Round 15), New Feature Writers Scheme (Round 3) and Digital Visual Effects Placement Scheme (Round 9). Academy Award nominated...

Unhappy 'Puppy'.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... Dear Editor, In the September issue of Encore Magazine, Harvey's Hearsay, under the heading 'Indies Show Resilience', comments about the Film Finance Corporation Australia's (FFC) and the Australian Film Commission's (AFC) resources were...

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
December 1, 2004... In the October 27 issue of Encore we published a story headed 'Eymann spies Wake film'. In the first paragraph the words 'partnering with' should have read 'working with'. In a caption on page 16 of the October issue Robyn Hughan was...

Clarification.(Correction Notice)
December 1, 2004... Also in the October issue, in the Audio on feature on page 10, AAV Digital Pictures Melbourne wasn't credited as having authored Midnight Oil's recent live DVD release in a story outlining 301 Interactive's completion of the 5.1 surround mix,...

'Manchurian' remake: plays politics with a classic.("The Manchurian Candidate" a movie)
December 1, 2004... To most of my generation Winston Churchill, growling and muttering, persists in memory, a restless ghost unstilled by thousands of books and dozens of movies and miniseries in which as hero (Young Winston), villain (Days of Hope, Churchill and...

The American dream: the surprise success of Saw, the debut feature of Australians James Wan and Leigh Whannell, is the stuff of which dreams are made, Tracey Montgomery reports.(LA INSIDER)(Interview)
December 1, 2004... James Wan and Leigh Whannell have done what every young film-maker dreams of. They met in university, admired each other's work in class and through their course wrote a script. Not just any script, but a very gory and twisted genre film called...

OB companies feel training shortfall: while outside broadcast companies remain busy there are concerns too few operators are emerging through the ranks. David Hull reports.(OUTSIDE BROADCASTING)
December 1, 2004... The outside broadcast industry has realised one of its strengths--an experienced workforce--has become a weakness in that opportunities to introduce and train up new blood are limited. As broadcast technology becomes more complex, technical...

Awards OB shows size matters: production company Roving Enterprises brought a number of firsts to this year's ARIA (Australian record industry association) music awards.(OUTSIDE BROADCASTING)
December 1, 2004... Melbourne-based production company Roving Enterprises developed an ambitious display concept for this year's ARIAs presentation and outside broadcast, which went live to air on Network Ten from the Sydney SuperDome on October 17. For the...

one80 in HD OB fast lane: one80 digital post's DVD recording of the Eagles live was a positive experience in high-definition for the company.(OUTSIDE BROADCASTING)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Having commissioned Australia's first dedicated high-definition OB truck at the start of 2004. Newcastlebased one80 Digital Post scored the plumb job of facilitating the DVD production of The Eagles in concert from the band's November 14, 15...

Dido tour gets big picture: on her latest live tour Dido followed the emerging trend for artists to incorporate led screen technology into their live performance. David Hull went along to see how this was achieved.(OUTSIDE BROADCASTING)(Cover Story)
December 1, 2004... Overseeing the production component at popular English songstress Dido's November 10 show at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Big Picture Australia director and co-founder Dennis Murphy admitted a major challenge presented by the Dido show was...

Production report.
December 1, 2004... ENCORE's production report includes all known features and television drama and non-drama television programs which have a network presale. Projects in the planning stage appear once only and the listing ends when a project goes into post...

Movie network launches 'greenlight'.(PEOPLE)
December 1, 2004... THE MOVIE NETWORK LAUNCHED ITS PROJECT GREENLIGHT FEATURE/DOCU-SERIES INITIATIVE (SEE STORY PAGE 8) AT SYDNEY'S FOX STUDIOS ON NOVEMBER 9. PHOTOS: PURE PHOTOGRAPHY. 1 Foxtel CEO Kim Williams (left), with Screentime executive director Bob...

XYZ turns 10.(PEOPLE)
December 1, 2004... XYZ NETWORKS HELD A PARTY TO CELEBRATE THE PAY TV CHANNEL PRODUCER'S 10TH BIRTHDAY AT SYDNEY'S LUNA PARK ON OCTOBER 27. 1 (L-r): TV writer Peter Timbs and Machine Gun Fellatio's Chit Chat, hammed it up with Channel V's Andrew G. 2 Arena TV...

Cinema.(AUDIENCE)(Illustration)
December 1, 2004... National box office australian box office* [week ending: november 3, 2004] This Last week week Film (Distributor) Weeks Total $ 1 (-) Shall we Dance (BVI/Miramax) 1 1,724,248 2 (1)...

DVD rentals.(AUDIENCE)
December 1, 2004... DVD rentals [week ending: november 14, 2004] This Last Week Week Film (Distributor) 1 (-) Mean Girls (Paramount Pictures) 2 (1) Shrek 2 (Universal) 3 (-) Raising Helen (Buena Vista Home Entertainment) 4 ...

Video rentals.(AUDIENCE)
December 1, 2004... Video rentals [week ending: november 14, 2004] This Last Week Week Film (Distributor) 1 (-) Mean Girls (Paramount Pictures) 2 (1) Shrek 2 (Universal) 3 (-) Raising Helen (Buena Vista) 4 (3) Troy...

Calendar December 04.(Calendar)
December 1, 2004... ASIA TV FORUM AND MARKET The Asia Television Forum and Asia Film Market and Conference features a host of trade and public events in print, broadcasting, film, publishing, digital media and online media. 1-3 Dec, Singapore Info:...

AGSC/APRA celebrate composers.(PEOPLE)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... THE SCREEN COMPOSERS GUILD AND AUSTRALASIAN PERFORMING RIGHTS ASSOCIATION HELD THEIR ANNUAL AWARDS ON NOVEMBER 1. 1. The members of Decoder Ring picked up the award for best original song for a feature for their Somersault soundtrack. 2....

Programming shake up: well connected industry columnist Harvey Shore keeps his ear close to the ground for the latest gossip doing the rounds at the major broadcasters.(HARVEY'S HEARSAY)
December 1, 2004... Ric Burns, former Seven executive and head of Disney Television in Australasia, surprised many last month by dumping the mouse and joining the Lifestyle Channel as its new boss, obviously more cheese there since the new role also covers...