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Film Vic invests $450K in three TV shows: Lowdown, Anatomy and Gnarly

Film Victoria has committed $450,000 across three TV programs: Lowdown Series Two, Anatomy Series Three and Gnarly – The Ben Pappas Story.

The first series of ABC comedy Lowdown has been sold to Britain’s BBC4 and won an Australian Writers Guild Award for best comedy last year. Film Victoria said an estimated 96 per cent of the second series' budget will be spent in Victoria.

The third installment of Anatomy (three episodes) will screen as part of the ABC's Artscape program, creating nine episodes in total. The production house behind the series, Matchbox Pictures, is also currently filming a TV series adaptation of the award-winning novel The Slap.

Gnarly – The Ben Pappas Story is being produced by Moonshine Movies, which has produced several sporting documentaries.

Film Victoria acting chief execuitve Jenni Tosi said Anatomy Series Three and Gnarly – The Ben Pappas Story were great examples of the state's commitment to documentaries.

“In 2009-10 we committed in excess of $1.6 million to factual TV programs through our production investment program,” she said in a statement.

“As Screen Australia’s annual documentary report recently confirmed, Victoria is the only state to have shown an increase in documentary production in recent years. It is extremely encouraging to see this trend continue in 2011.”

Lowdown Series 2
Synopsis: (12 part TV Fiction Series) Alex Burchill writes the Lowdown column for struggling tabloid newspaper, the Sunday Sun. Circulation is in decline and the paper is downsizing and adapting to the brutal economic climate, and Alex’s methods for unearthing stories become increasingly desperate. Each week he must come up with a shock-and-awe story for the embattled paper, and each week that shock-and-awe story somehow ruins his own life.
Production Company: High Wire Films Pty Ltd.
Producer: Nicole Minchin
Writers: Adam Zwar and Amanda Brotchie
Director: Amanda Brotchie

Anatomy Series Three
Synopsis: (Three part factual series) Following the success of the first and second series of Anatomy, Matchbox Pictures are producing a third series, which follows the form of previous series and will consist of three documentaries that explore art, sex and the body. The films will all touch on a wide range of human experience and emotion well beyond the boundaries of traditional arts documentaries. They will be unique and evocative with each story being realised in distinctive director driven visions.
Production Company: Matchbox Pictures Pty Ltd.
Producers: Michael McMahon and Tony Ayres
Directors: Paola Morabito (Hair), Alethea Jones (Tissue), Kim Munro (Nerve)

Gnarly – The Ben Pappas Story
Synopsis: (Factual feature) Emerging from humble upbringings, Ben Pappas rose to meteoric sub-cultural fame in the mid 1990's to become one of the world’s best skateboarders. Sadly, his fame descended into tragedy as he was drawn into a lifestyle of heavy drug use and crime, ending in multiple prison sentences and the tragic unsolved murder of Ben and his then-girlfriend Lynette Phillips. This incredible counter culture fable is one of Australia’s great rags to riches tales as well as one of its most fascinating untold true crime stories. Ultimately, Gnarly is a cautionary tale about how the decisions you make during your adolescence can inform the entire course of your life.
Production Company: Moonshine Agency trading as Moonshine Movies Pty Ltd
Producer: Nikki Buckley
Writer-Director: Mike Hill