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Ben Lawrence took home the main prize – Best Direction in a Feature Film (Budget $1M+) – at last night’s Australian Directors’ Guild (Adg) Awards, for his debut narrative feature Hearts and Bones.

Held virtually and hosted by Greta Lee Jackson and Nina Oyama, this year’s Adg Awards also saw female directors take home 10 of the 19 prizes – marking the first time ever that women have made up more than 50 per cent of winners.

Among them were Josephine Mackerras, who took home Best Direction of A Feature Film (Budget under $1M) for the French-language Alice; Maya Newell whose In My Blood It Runs saw her win Best Direction of a Documentary Feature, and Emma Freeman, who won Best Direction of a TV or SVOD Mini-Series for Stateless: Episode 3.

The guild suggests this reflects the push for gender parity in the industry. Traditionally, women have been extremely underrepresented in director roles, and last week,...

Diana Burnett.

Executive director Diana Burnett will depart the Australian Directors’ Guild next month after one year in the job to take up the new role of studio manager at Animal Logic.

The body’s membership has increased significantly during her tenure, growing from about 700 to more than 1,000 members, including more than 200 from diverse backgrounds.

In Mach the Adg opened its ranks to aspiring screen directors and those who want to support the directing community, waived joining fees and offered discounts on fees as the production industry faced a lengthy shutdown.

“It wasn’t an easy decision because I love the work we’ve been doing, but it’s the right step for me,” Burnett, who starts in the new job in November, tells If. “There are some exciting projects on the horizon at Animal Logic.

“I am really proud of what my team have accomplished over the past year including navigating the Covid-19 pandemic,...

‘Yolo: Crystal Fantasy’.

Adult Swim’s next animated series will be set in a perhaps unexpected location – Wollongong. The WarnerMedia-owned network has commissioned eight episodes of Yolo: Crystal Fantasy from Australian creator Michael Cusack, the first series order it has made outside the Us.

Produced by Princess Pictures, the 8 x 15 minute series will follow two Australian party girls looking for “fun times, new experiences, positive vibes, and hopeful horoscopes. Sarah’s quest is to find love, whereas Rachel hungers for chaos, often bringing them into conflict as they encounter surreal Australiana, strange bush creatures, and eccentric nomads.”

The series expands on characters first seen in Cusack’s YouTube hits Yolo and Yolo 2; though he tells If they’re more developed and get into situations you might not expect if you’ve watched the shorts.

“It’s a lot of stream of consciousness writing,” he says.

The first 2-minute iteration...

Adult Swim has picked up the animated comedy series “Yolo: Crystal Fantasy” from creator Michael Cusack, Variety has learned exclusively.

The series, which will premiere later this year, follows Australian party girls Sarah and Rachel as they are looking for fun times, new experiences, positive vibes, and hopeful horoscopes in the bizarre town of Wollongong. Sarah’s quest is to find love, whereas Rachel hungers for chaos, often bringing them into conflict as they encounter surreal Australiana, strange bush creatures, and eccentric nomads.

Cusack’s viral YouTube hit “Ciggy Butt Brain” caught the eye of “Rick and Morty’s” Justin Roiland who later asked him to create an Australian version of “Rick and Morty,” which led to the animated project “Bushworld Adventures.” The 11-minute special infamously aired on Adult Swim on April Fools Day in 2018, one year after the surprise premiere of “Rick and Morty” Season 3.

“Yolo: Crystal Fantasy” will be a quarter-hour animated series.

‘Nice Shorts.’

Nick Boshier and Jazz Twemlow are leading the team of comedy writers/performers who will create Nice Shorts for Bunya Entertainment.

The online sketch comedy of 16 episodes, ranging from 3-10 minutes, will tap into national and international conversations to create videos for weekly release via social platforms.

Apart from Boshier and Twemlow the team includes Nazeem Hussain (Legally Brown), Greta Lee Jackson (Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am), Penny Greenhalgh (The Lost Tapes) and Bjorn Stewart.

The Bunya Group is not looking to monetize the low-budget online series, instead using it as the first opportunity to work with comedy creatives and as the first foray into comedy for the new banner Bunya Entertainment.

“Like the dramas we’re best known for, the quality of writing in Nice Shorts will be the hallmark of this show,” says Bunya Group CEO Sophia Zachariou.

Bunya Entertainment is developing seven narrative comedies including one with Adam Zwar.

Adele Vuko, Sarah Bishop and Greta Lee Jackson.

Sydney comedy collective Skit Box are in the thick of filming their Fresh Blood series Wham Bam Thank You Ma.am..

The 6x30 minute sketch series, written, directed and starring Adele Vuko (Soul Mates, This Is Littleton), Greta Lee Jackson (Crazy Bastards, In a Woman's World) and Sarah Bishop (Red Christmas, Crushed), has been commissioned by Screen Australia, ABC TV and NBCUniversal.s comedy streaming channel Seeso..

Screen Australia and ABC.s Fresh Blood initiative has been nurturing the careers of young comedy writers, directors and performers since 2013. With Seeso, who have previously co-commissioned the likes of Soul Mates season two, now on board, Wham Bam Thank You Ma.am will also be available in the Us.

Erin White, Nikos Andronicos and Kacie Anning are guest directing, while special guests include David Collins (Umbilical Brothers), Triple J.s Matt Okine, Christiaan Van Vuuren...

Documentaries investigating Australia.s war in Afghanistan, the fight against the country.s ice epidemic and the state of the heath and school systems will screen on the ABC next year.

The comedy slate includes two series starring Utopia.s Luke McGregor and six pilots, with viewers voting to determine which pilot goes to a series.

The ABC also confirmed its flagship channel will be available to live-stream on iview from December and that it plans to broadcast all content in HD from next June.

ABC director of TV Richard Finlayson said at the upfronts launch: .As the national broadcaster we will continue our commitment to Australian content, delivering a high-quality, deep and diverse slate..

The factual slate includes Essential Media and Entertainment.s Afghanistan: Inside Australia.s War, which chronicles the raw experiences of Australia.s longest war, from private soldiers to prime ministers, written and directed by Victoria Pitt...

Would the world be a better place if it were run by women? Not really, according to Sydney comic trio Skit Box.

The creative team of Adele Vuko, Sarah Bishop and Greta Lee Jackson will start shooting It.s a Woman.s World, a series of comedy sketches, at the end of next month.

It.s one of 25 projects, each budgeted at $10,000, commissioned by ABC-tv and Screen Australia.s Fresh Blood initiative designed to unearth the next generation of comedy writers and performers. All will premiere on the ABC.s iView platform.

.There will be three sketches in the series, each focusing on a different scenario that would exist in female-dominated reality,. Bishop tells If. .These will build on the themes of our Girls Harass Construction Worker video, a gender-reversal sketch that explores what happens when women prey on passing tradies..

The three members will write, produce and act in...

Azio - The Bogan Spy Agency, Crazy Bastards, I'm With Stupid, Fancy Boy, Food for Peasants and Pet Quarantine..judging by some of the titles and synopses , the ABC TV/Screen Australia Fresh Blood initiative will spawn some weird and wonderful comedies.

A mix of puppetry, animation, parodies, improv and absurdist humour, the 25 projects selected will each receive $10,000 to produce three short-form sketches.

The shows will air on ABC.s iView platform this year. ABC controller Brendan Dahill tells If that some may later screen on ABC2 after they premiere on the catch-up service.

The initiative is designed to unearth the next generation of comedy performers and producers. There were 492 applications, many of such a high calibre that the ABC and Screen Australia decided to commission 25, one more than originally planned.

Here are the recipients: Aunty Donna Mark Samual Bonanno, Adrian Dean, Broden Kelly, Zachary Ruane

Mentored by Tim Minchin,...

They're an all-female comedy team called Skit Box. It's hard to tell if the ensemble's name is just a happy coincidence or an intentional play on words. Co-star Sarah Bishop dishes out the definitive answer. "It's cheeky but it sums up exactly what we're about: female comedy skits." Well played, Skit Box...but we see what you did there.   The new web series features comedienne Greta Lee Jackson alongside Sydney actresses, Adele Vuko and Sarah Bishop.