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Miranda Cosgrove as Emma and Brooke Shields as Lana in ‘Mother of the Bride’ (Photo Cr. Sasidis Sasisakulporn/Netflix © 2024)

Netflix has shared the first photo from the romantic comedy Mother of the Bride, directed by Mark Waters (the original Mean Girls). The first photo features Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly)- the Bride – and Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) – the Mother.

The first photo arrived along with the announcement of a May 9, 2024 release date on Netflix.

The cast also includes Benjamin Bratt (Poker Face), Rachael Harris (Lucifer), Sean Teale (Skins), Chad Michael Murray (Sullivan’s Crossing), Michael McDonald (MADtv), Wilson Cruz (My So-Called Life), Tasneem Roc (The Bureau of Magical Things), and Dalip Sondhi (Frayed).

“Lana’s daughter Emma returns from abroad and drops a bombshell: she’s getting married. In Thailand. In a month!” reads Netflix’s synopsis. “Things only get worse when Lana learns that the man who captured Emma’s heart...

We can breathe a sigh of relief, School Spirits Fanatics.

Paramount+ finally confirmed Tuesday afternoon that it had ordered School Spirits Season 2.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news.

School Spirits Season 1 wrapped on the streaming service in April with several cliffhangers.

The series stars Peyton List as Maddie Nears, a teenager trying to solve her murder.

While the YA market has been saturated with series in recent years, the series excelled in every area.

It boasted a compelling mystery, plenty of drama, and lots of potential for future seasons.

"We saw how engaged the fans of the show were, and we're really excited about not only the creative direction of the show [in season one], but the promise of the creative direction we're aware of in the second season," Shauna Phelan, executive vp and co-head of Nickelodeon and Awesomeness live-action series and films, told The Hollywood Reporter.

"The audience responding to the...

School is difficult enough, but it's about to be more difficult for a teenager named Maddie (played by Peyton List), tasked with solving her murder.

Paramount+ dropped the official teaser for School Spirits this week, and it looks set to be one of the most talked-about shows of the year so far.

The trailer introduces us to Maddie, a teenager who finds herself dead, and her spirit is stuck at school.

Maddie has no idea how she died, but she can see the reactions from the other students in the school as she tries to comprehend how she got stuck there.

The minute she tries to step foot off the school grounds, she's taken back to the crime scene.

It's a compelling hook for a teen drama, and the official trailer makes it seem like this one is worth watching.

School Spirits is getting a three-episode premiere on Thursday, March...

School Spirits Pictured, L-r: Xavier Baxter (Spencer McPherson), Maddie Nears (Peyton List), Rhonda (Sarah Yarkin), Claire Zolinski (Rainbow Wedell), Wally Clark (Milo Manheim), Charley (Nick Pugliese), Simon Elroy (Kristian Flores) and Nicole Herrera (Kiara Pichardo) in School Spirits on Paramount+ Photo: Nickelodeon©2022 Paramount Global, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Paramount+ has revealed the official trailer and key art for the upcoming original YA drama series School Spirits. The series will premiere with three episodes on Thursday, March 9, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Canada and the following day in Australia and the U.K. School Spirits will also launch exclusively on Paramount+ in Latin America and Brazil on Friday, April 28. Premiere dates for other Paramount+ international markets will be announced at a later date. Following the premiere, new episodes of the eight-episode season will be available to stream weekly on Thursdays exclusively for Paramount+ subscribers. Produced by Awesomeness Live-Action Studios,...

(Welcome to ...And More, our no-frills, zero B.S. guide to when and where you can watch upcoming movies and shows, and everything else you could possibly stand to know.)

High school is a complicated time in a person's life. While everyone goes through physical, mental, and social changes as they begin to transition into adulthood, the high school experience isn't the same for everybody. Some people feel like outcasts and revel in the community built on the outskirts of "normalcy." Meanwhile, others consider it to be the greatest years of their lives and have no problem participating in the ongoing popularity contest or reaping the benefits that come with it.

However, do you think that the latter group would still consider that time in their lives the glory days if they had to spend eternity there? The new young adult drama from Awesomeness Live-Action Studios titled "School Spirits" explores...

Paramount+ is trying to bring in younger viewers. 

The streaming service today announced its new young adult drama series, School Spirits, will premiere with two episodes on Thursday, March 9, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Canada.

The series will premiere the following day in Australia, and the U.K. Premiere dates for other Paramount+ international markets will be announced at a later date.

Following the premiere, new episodes of the eight-episode-long season will be available to stream weekly on Thursdays for subscribers in the U.S. and Canada and on Fridays for subscribers in Australia and the U.K.

The announcement dropped during the series' panel at Paramount+'s Television Critics Association presentation, where a first-look teaser trailer was also revealed.

School Spirits is centered around Maddie (Peyton List), a teen girl stuck in the afterlife investigating her mysterious disappearance.

Maddie goes on a crime-solving journey as she...

During its presentation at the Television Critics Association’s 2023 winter press tour, Paramount+ debuted new teaser art for the third and final season of “Star Trek: Picard,” which premieres on Feb. 16. During the panel about the series however, the team behind the series didn’t seem so sure that this would be the end.

“Who knows?” executive producer Alex Kurtzman said when asked about the ending of the series, with star Patrick Stewart saying that if the show could “maintain the work quality” of the first three seasons, he would be open to reappearing. He also noted that the storylines of the final season intentionally “leave doors open.”

The series stars Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, who he played for seven seasons of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd also star.

“Star Trek: Picard” is...

Rock Island Returns

Production is now under way at the Pinnacle Studios in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia on the second season of Network 10 and Nickelodeon kids’ mystery adventure series “Rock Island Mysteries.” The show is produced by Fremantle Australia with support by Screen Queensland and federal body Screen Australia. The 20-episode season sees teenager Taylor Young, portrayed by Alexa Curtis, and friends again take up the challenge of finding Taylor’s missing uncle. “Rock Island Mysteries” is produced by series producer Timothy Powell and Jonah Klein of Fremantle Australia. Directors include Jovita O’Shaughnessy and Evan Clarry. Season 1 premiered on 10 Shake in May this year and has since screened on Nickelodeon in Australia, New Zealand, U.K., and the U.S. It is currently streaming on 10 Play, Paramount+ in Australia and Latin America and on Binge. Season 1 premiered on 10 Shake in May this year and has since screened on Nickelodeon in Australia,...

Peyton List is going back to high school… possibly forever.

TVLine has an exclusive first look at the cast of Paramount+’s School Spirits, a young adult drama series produced by Awesomeness starring List (Cobra Kai) as “a teen stuck in the afterlife who decides to investigate her mysterious disappearance alongside a group of other students who are also stuck in limbo at their high school,” per the show’s official logline.

More from TVLineYellowstone's 1923 Adds Robert PatrickYellowstone Spinoff 1923 to Introduce a Haunted Dutton: Brandon Sklenar Cast as Harrison Ford's TV NephewGood Fight Boss Explains Episode 2's Dark Peter...

A cross-section of the country’s emerging screen talent has received the endorsement of the Casting Guild of Australia (Cga) with the announcement of the guild’s annual Rising Stars.

The 2021 list comprises Albert Mwangi (Bump), BeBe Bettencourt (The Dry), Clarence Ryan (Stateless), Claude Jabbour (Eden), Elizabeth Cullen (Elvis), Georgie Stone (Neighbours), Jacob Junior Nayinggul (High Ground), Marlo Kelly (Joe Exotic), Ngali Shaw (Rfds) and Yerin Ha (Halo).

Now in its seventh year, the program is designed to identify Australian actors that have the potential to shine on the world stage, with previous recipients including Eliza Scanlan (Babyteeth), Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why), Zoe Terakes (Nine Perfect Strangers), Tilda Cobham-Harvey (Hotel Mumbai) and Alexander England (Little Monsters).

Cga president David Newman said the guild was particularly proud of the “talent, tenacity, drive, and passion” of the 2021 Cga Rising Stars.

“In a time when an actor has had to adapt like never before,...

The casting directors behind Nitram, The Dry, High Ground, and The Furnace will battle it out in the feature film category of the Casting Guild of Australia Awards to be held later this month.

Nominees across eight categories were announced today ahead of the virtual ceremony on November 20.

Nikki Barrett has two nominations in the feature film, getting a nod for The Furnace and also Nitram with Alison Telford and Kate Leonard. Rounding out the category is High Ground‘s Anousha Zarkesh and The Dry‘s Jane Norris.

Barrett also features in the Best Casting in a TV Drama, TV Miniseries and Telemovie nominees for her work on Fires, going up against Eden‘s Danny Long – who has a total of four nominations – The Newsreader‘s Nathan Lloyd and Wakefield‘s Marianne Jade.

For Best Casting in a TV Comedy, Kirsty McGregor is recognised for Fisk and season two of Frayed,...

Based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Multicom has extensive experience supplying two way radio communications to the Film & TV industry on the Gold Coast and Australia wide.

Having supplied some of the largest productions in Australia we understand the industries unique communication requirements. Offering genuine 24/7 service our clients have direct access to a dedicated rental coordinator day or night.

With previous clients including Disney, Touchstone pictures, Bazmark Films, ABC(America), Village Roadshow Pictures, Fremantle media, Endemol, Nine Network and Nickelodeon, you can be confident Multicom has the experience to ensure seemless communications for your next production.

Spanning over 25 years in Film & TV communications we are proud to have supplied many productions over the years, some of which include: Street Fighter (1994), The Thin Red Line (1998),

Big Brother (2001 – 2004), Survivor Australia (2002 – 2005), Condemned (2006), Australia (2008), Nims Island (2013), The Railway Man (2013) Unbroken (2013), San Andreas (2014), Pirates of the Caribbean (2015), Shallows (2016) The Bureau of Magical Things (2017 – 2020),

Reef Break...

Melbourne-based private film finance group Elevate Production Finance has hired Shana Levine as head of production investment.

Levine joins other recent recruits in London-based film financier and producer Charles Auty, who is COO, and Brisbane-based entertainment and finance lawyer Ted Cawrey, who is head of legal and business affairs.

Epf MD Craig McMahon said Levine’s appointment would now mean the company could provide “superior end-to-end service to productions”.

Since launching in 2017, Elevate has helped fund a number of Australian and international films, including George Miller’s Three Thousand Years Of Longing; Rich Lee’s War Of The Worlds starring Eva Longoria; Liam-Neeson starrer Blacklight; Sophia Banks’ debut feature Black Site; and Film Nation’s Misanthrope, directed by Damián Szifron.

During the height of Covid-19, the company, which is backed by Australian and international institutions and private equity, reassessed its protocols to provide debt funding to productions despite the pandemic.

When local newspapers complain about traffic jams caused by Nicole Kidman filming (in New South Wales’ picturesque Byron Bay) and Natalie Portman stopping Sydney traffic by wearing revealing shorts, there is a sense that normality has returned to everyday life in Australia. The film industry is back in production high gear.

Indeed, films starring Zac Efron (“Gold”), Chris Hemsworth (“Escape From Spiderhead”), Joel Edgerton and Tom Hanks, are all currently lensing in different parts of Australia. Portman is preparing to shoot Marvel’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” while Kidman and Melissa McCarthy were recently shooting Hulu miniseries “Nine Perfect Strangers.” George Miller is shooting his “Furiosa,” a “Mad Max” spinoff, for Warner Bros.

Neighbor and sometime rival New Zealand is equally busy. Disney’s “Avatar” movie franchise and Amazon’s “Lord of the Rings” TV series are

both moving again after a coronavirus hiatus. A slew of local movies is also now shooting.

Expenditure on screen production in Australia plunged by 18% in the financial year to June 2020, reflecting a near total shutdown of large-scale drama filming from March, due to the impact of the coronavirus and work from home regulations. But, until the virus struck in the fourth (April to June) quarter much of the industry had been on course for a record year.

“If you think that we lost more than a quarter of our year, three and a half months, but ended down only 18%, that’s a good result. It is only half the downturn you might have thought,” Screen Australia CEO, Graeme Mason told Variety.

The July 2019-June 20202 period saw total production spending of A$990 million ($693 million) coming from production of local and foreign feature, television and online drama titles, as well as post, digital and visual effects, according to Screen Australia’s annual Drama Report. The report counts spending...

‘The Masked Singer.’

Network 10 is sticking to tried-and-true formats next year, its schedule and investment in local content unaffected by the pandemic-induced advertising downturn.

While all the new and returning shows unveiled today were commissioned before the Federal Government’s media reforms scrapped the local content sub-quotas, executives say that had no bearing on its strategy for 2021.

New to the slate next year are Making It Australia, an adaptation of the NBCUniversal format, a local version of the UK’s The Dog House and The First Inventors, a co-commission with Nitv. (See separate story).

The network continues to commission children’s dramas, with the second series of Jonathan M. Shiff Productions’ The Bureau of Magical Things, the Stephen Jaggi Company’s teen mystery drama Dive Club (a co-commission with Netflix) and a third show yet to be announced. All will premiere on 10 Shake.

“We will deliver a 50-week schedule next year,...

‘The Masked Singer.’

Network 10 is sticking to tried-and-true formats next year, its schedule and investment in local content unaffected by the pandemic-induced advertising downturn.

While all the new and returning shows unveiled today were commissioned before the Federal Government’s media reforms scrapped the local content sub-quotas, executives say that had no bearing on its strategy for 2021.

New to the slate next year are Making It Australia, an adaptation of the NBCUniversal format, a local version of the UK’s The Dog House and The First Inventors, a co-commission with Nitv. (See separate story).

The network continues to commission children’s dramas, with the second series of Jonathan M. Shiff Productions’ The Bureau of Magical Things, the Stephen Jaggi Company’s teen mystery drama Dive Club (a co-commission with Netflix) and a third show yet to be announced. All will premiere on 10 Shake.

“We will deliver a 50-week schedule next year,...

Australia’s leading children’s TV producers today called on the Federal Government to review its planned media reforms, warning that abolishing the free-to-air broadcasters’ children content quotas will result in thousands of job losses.

The coalition is seeking an urgent meeting with the government to work on changing policies to sustain children’s production and enable producers to continue to access the Producer Offset.

“Unless these amendments are urgently implemented we fear many thousands of jobs will be lost and highly successful and profitable production companies will be forced to close,” the group said.

“The government’s decision to effectively shut down the production of local children’s content will have a detrimental impact on the Australian community and especially its children.”

By abolishing the quotas for children’s content and with no requirements on the streamers or other adjustments, the government has left the sector stranded, it says.

Julian Cullen and Kimie Tsukakoshi in ‘The Bureau of Magical Things.’ (Photo credit: Mark Taylor)

Screen production in Queensland is set to restart with the second season of Jonathan M. Shiff Productions’ The Bureau of Magical Things and a rom-com feature from the Steve Jaggi Company.

The cameras will roll on Shiff’s children’s fantasy, which was shut down in March, on June 29 on the Gold Coast.

On the same day, Jaggi and director Christine Luby will begin shooting This Little Love of Mine in Cairns. Scripted by Georgia Harrison, it’s a co-production with Nicely Entertainment, an La-based distribution and production company recently launched by former Gaumont exec Vanessa Shapiro.

Jaggi is producing with Kelly Son Hing and Spencer McLaren; the cast will be announced next week.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Shiff’s 20-part series is employing more than 200 cast and crew and injecting more than $8.5 million into the State’s economy.

The cast of ‘Wentworth.’

The coronavirus pandemic has forced the suspension or postponement of 119 screen productions, resulting in a loss to the production sector of $471 million.

That’s according to Screen Producers Australia’s updated screen production survey on the impact of Covid-19.

In addition to the production disruption, the survey found $20 million in export revenue has been lost, bringing the total to nearly $100 million.

Among the productions that have been shut down or delayed are Neighbours, Wakefield, Australia’s Got Talent, Back to the Rafters, Wentworth, Five Bedrooms, Harrow, The Voice Australia, The Bureau of Magical Things, Why Are You Like This?, Yes, Chef!, Rfds, The Real Housewives of Melbourne, Little J & Big Cuz, The Block and The Bachelor Australia.

That represents $232 million in actual spending and $239 million in estimates. The survey did not cover stalled Hollywood productions including Marvel Studio’s Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings...

Kylie Munnich (Photo credit: Jade Ellis).

More than 60 per cent of the 500-plus people who responded to Screen Queensland’s survey on the impact on the screen sector from Covid-19 in the past two days are freelancers or contractors – and most are jobless.

That’s according to Screen Queensland CEO Kylie Munnich, who says the agency is committed to supporting the industry through this crisis as well as focusing on how to prepare for a full recovery when it’s business as usual.

Munnich has convened a broadly-based Queensland screen industry task force which will meet fortnightly or more frequently if required and is liaising closely with her team including head of development and production Jo Dillon.

The members are WildBear Entertainment principal and executive producer Veronica Fury, Bacon Factory Films director Dean Gibson, Hoodlum Entertainment chief content officer and former Sq CEO Tracey Vieira, Cutting Edge’s owner/director Michael Burton,...

In one of the first buys out of the 2020 Berlin Film Festival, Stephen Johnson’s Australian epic “High Ground” has sold to Samuel Goldwyn Films for stateside distribution. IndieWire has the first trailer for the film, below.

Here’s the official synopsis, courtesy of the Berlinale: “After fighting in the First World War as a sniper, Travis, now a policeman in the vast empty spaces of Northern Australia, loses control of an operation that results in the massacre of an Indigenous tribe. When his superiors insist on burying the truth, Travis leaves in disgust, only to be forced back twelve years later to hunt down Baywara, an Aboriginal warrior whose attacks on new settlers are causing havoc. When Travis, now a bounty hunter, recruits as his tracker the young mission-raised Gutjuk, the only known survivor of the carnage, memories threaten to resurface and turn the white man from hunter into the hunted.

‘The Bureau of Magical Things’.

A second season of Jonathan M. Shiff’s Aacta Award-winning children’s series The Bureau of Magical Things will enter production next month in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

With major investment from distributor Zdf Enterprises, Screen Queensland and Screen Australia, the series will air on Network 10 locally, as well Zdf Germany and Nickelodeon, who previously bought the first season for the Us and 170 other territories.

The 20-part second season will continues the adventures of Kyra, a teenage girl who acquired magical powers when caught in a clash between an elf and a fairy. In this new series, when Kyra and Darra embark on a quest to find a legendary lost temple, Kyra’s orb magic accidentally awakens a dangerous object causing fairy and elf magic to malfunction. As the danger escalates, Kyra must risk everything to deal with a threat that endangers the...

Katrina Bowden and Aaron Jakubenko.

Us actor Katrina Bowden and Aaron Jakubenko lead the cast of survival thriller Great White, which is now shooting in Queensland.

Scripted by Michael Boughen and directed by Tvc director Martin Wilson in his feature debut, the plot follows five people who are stranded on a seaplane far from shore.

Their challenge is to try to make it to land before they either run out of supplies or are devoured by sharks.

Bowden, who played Florence Fulton in The Bold and the Beautiful and Cerie in 30 Rock, and Jakubenko play the seaplane operators and lovers Kaz Fellows and Charlie Brody.

Cast as the hapless passengers are Tim Kano (Neighbours) as Joji, Kimie Tsukakoshi as his wife Michelle and Te Kohe Tuhaka (The Dead Lands) as the cook Benny.

In their second collaboration following Andrew Traucki’s survival thriller Black Water : Abyss, currently in post,...

Top: Anthony Partos, Brett Aplin and Bryony Marks. Bottom: Caitlin Yeo, David Bridie.

Bryony Marks, Caitlin Yeo, Antony Partos, Brett Aplin and David Bridie have received three nominations each for the upcoming Screen Music Awards, staged by Apra Amcos and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (Agcs).

They are among a group of 40 composers who have been nominated across 12 award categories, spanning more than 36 works. The awards will be held in late November in Melbourne, hosted by Justine Clarke.

Nominated for Best Feature Film Score of the Year is Yeo for Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan, Partos and Dan Luscombe for I Am Mother; Aj True for Jirga and François Tétaz for Judy & Punch.

Yeo is also nominated for Best Television Theme for The Pacific: In the Wake of Captain Cook with Sam Neill and also the category of Best Music for an Advertisement, while Partos is nominated...

‘Phi and Me’.

Screen Australia has provided almost $800,000 in production funding for five online projects, featuring talent such as Mark Grentell, Enzo Tedeschi, Rosie Lourde, Kristy Best, Geraldine Hickey and Diana Nguyen.

Online investment manager Lee Naimo said: “I’m excited to support such a wide range of original ideas in this slate, including Cloudy River presenting a contemporary perspective on relationships and Lgbtqi+ experiences, and Deadhouse Dark breaking the mould with a series of online horror films.”

“We have been impressed by the quality of the applications coming through and have started to see teams coming with fully formed pilots and very clear plans for producing and marketing their work. Creators are becoming very aware of their audience, with some teams leveraging their existing online fanbases or transferring audiences from live acts to screen projects. This innovation is evident in finance plans too, where we are seeing much more...

Boasting animation, live-action shows and tween series, Zdf Enterprises’ Zdfe.junior division offers a diverse catalog of domestic and international productions.

The unit is attracting strong global interest with such titles as “The Worst Witch,” “The Bureau of Magical Things”

and “Find Me in Paris,” particularly on the VOD front, says Zdfe president and CEO Fred Burcksen.

Zdfe’s recent kids’ titles have all attracted leading VOD partners.

Nickelodeon was quick to pick up global linear and non-linear rights to Jonathan M. Shiff Prods.’ Australian teen fantasy series “The Bureau of Magical Things.” Co-produced by Zdf and Zdfe, the show is already set for season two.

Hulu nabbed U.S. streaming rights to Cottonwood Media’s tween drama “Find Me in Paris,” about a Russian ballerina in 1905 Paris who is flung into the future by a magical pendant and forced to adapt to modern technology, fashion and teen slang while...

Sophie Hyde, Rachel Perkins.

Warwick Thornton, Garth Davis, Joel Edgerton and Anthony Maras have been nominated for best direction in a feature film budgeted at $1 million or more in the 2019 Australian Directors’ Guild Awards.

So Sweet Country, Mary Magdalene, Boy Erased and Hotel Mumbai will compete in the awards to be announced on Monday May 6 at the City Recital Hall in Sydney.

In the new category of best direction in a feature budgeted below $1 million, the nominees are Christopher Kay (Just Between Us), Donna McRae (Lost Gully Road), Dustin Feneley (Stray) and Jason Perini (Chasing Comets).

The nominees for best direction in a TV or SVoD drama series episode are Rachel Perkins (Mystery Road series 1), Nash Edgerton (Mr Inbetween series 1), Tony Krawitz and Emma Freeman.

Jeffrey Walker (Riot), Daina Reid and Shannon Murphy (On The Ropes) have been nominated for best direction in a TV or SVoD miniseries and telefeature.

Totally Wild’s Stacey Thomson (l) and Natalie Hunter (r) with Cherrie Bottger at the 2018 Logies (Photo: Network 10).

The Australian Children’s Television Foundation has questioned Network 10’s commitment to children’s TV after the departure of Cherrie Bottger.

The network is not replacing Bottger, who retired late last year after 17 years as head of children’s TV, having championed numerous shows including Totally Wild and Jonathan M Shiff’s The Bureau Of Magical Things, Mako Mermaids and H20: Just Add Water.

Her duties will be shared among the team who worked closely with her over the years – probably no surprise since the commercial free-to-air networks have long lobbied the government to abolish the kids’ quotas.

Actf CEO Jenny Buckland told If: “With Cherrie gone at Ten, what we really lose is any competition for the ABC children’s services. Without replacing her, but instead having people share her different responsibilities,...

Antonia Murphy, Joseph Wijangco and Anousha Zarkesh (Photo credit: Marlo Media)

Nikki Barrett and Anousha Zarkesh won multiple prizes at the Casting Guild of Australia Awards presented last Friday in Melbourne.

Barrett received the awards for her work in See Pictures/Gran Via Productions/Windalong Productions’ Breath (best casting in a feature film), Easy Tiger’s Jack Irish series 2 (TV drama) and Fremantle Australia’s Picnic at Hanging Rock (TV miniseries and telemovie).

Zarkesh took home the awards for Princess Pictures’ Wrong Kind of Black (best achievement in casting) and Scarlett Pictures’ Black Comedy series 3 (TV comedy).

“We had a lucky year in that all three of these projects were very collaborative casting processes with the filmmakers actively engaged in trying to find something true to the world they were creating. It’s always the best kind of casting to be involved in and shows on screen,” Barrett tells If.

The male cast of ‘Fighting Season’ (Photo: Mark Rogers).

The casting directors of 1%, Breath, Sweet Country and The Merger are the finalists in the feature film category of the Casting Guild of Australia Awards.

The Cga has also announced the 10 winners of this year’s Rising Stars awards, who are nominated by Cga members and chosen by a committee comprising Kirsty McGregor, Nikki Barrett, Anousha Zarkesh, Tom McSweeney, Faith Martin and Nathan Lloyd.

The recipients are George Pullar (Fighting Season), Michael Sheasby (The Nightingale), Harry Greenwood (True History of the Kelly Gang), Tess Haubrich (Bad Mothers), Markella Kavenagh (The Cry), George Zhao (The Family Law), Milly Alcock (Upright), Kimie Tsukakoshi (The Bureau of Magical Things), Harvey Zielinski and Alexandra Jensen.

McSweeney tells If: “I’ve watched Kimie grow as a performer over the past decade from a kid with a fantastic singing voice to an actress of conviction, dedication and positivity.

Nicole Kidman and Joel Edgerton on the set of ‘Boy Erased.’

Joel Edgerton and Simon Baker have scored nominations in the feature film direction and acting categories for Boy Erased and Breath, the first time that’s happened in the same year in AFI | Aacta history.

Edgerton and Baker will compete for four prizes at this year’s awards which will be handed out at an industry luncheon on December 3 and at the ceremony on December 5. Both titles have been nominated for best film and Edgerton and Baker are also in the running for best supporting actor and adapted screenplay.

In total 19 features received nominations, with five vying for best film: Boy Erased, Breath, Yolanda Ramke and Ben Howling’s Cargo, Bruce Beresford’s Ladies in Black and Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country.

The five titles competing for the new category of best indie film budgeted under $2 million are the Jacobson brothers’ Sibling Rivalry,...

Kimie Tsukakoshi in ‘The Bureau of Magical Things’ (Photo: Mark Taylor).

Nickelodeon has acquired Jonathan M. Shiff Productions’ live-action children series The Bureau of Magical Things, with the series set to premiere on October 8 in the Us and to go on to air on its channels and branded blocks across 170+ countries and territories.

The 20 x 30 series was shot in Queensland with support of Screen Australia, Screen Queensland and City of Gold Coast, and first aired on Ten’s Channel Eleven in July. It was also pre-sold to German public broadcaster Zdf, with Zdf Enterprises taking worldwide distribution rights.

Kimie Tsukakoshi (The Family Law) stars as a Kyra, an ordinary teenage girl who is caught in a clash between an elf and a fairy then becomes magically transformed. Mia Elizabeth Cullen, Julian Cullen, Rainbow Wedell, Jamie Carter, Christopher Sommers, Melanie Zanetti and Nicholas Bell also star.

“The Bureau of Magical Things...

Evan Clarry and Pearl Tan.

The Australian Directors Guild has named Evan Clarry as the guild’s new chapter head in Queensland and Pearl Tan as head of the Nsw chapter.

Clarry takes over from Sally McKenzie, who stepped down after many years of service to the Adg, and Tan succeeds Tony Davison.

McKenzie said: “After five years as the chapter head in Queensland, I’m standing down and passing the baton to Evan Clarry. I’m so glad that someone as capable as Evan has stepped up to the pitch. I have been awarded a Churchill Fellowship and am headed towards a big adventure.”

Clarry’s career began with the short film Mate, which won best film at Flickerfest and best screenplay at the 1998 AFI Awards.

His directing credits include the feature films Blurred and Under the Radar and the Emmy-nominated TV series Mortified. He served as a story developer,...