In many respects, the screen sector today is virtually unrecognisable from three and a half years ago, and not just because the coronavirus pandemic has devastated sections of the industry.
Tanya Phegan has quit Easy Tiger to join Guesswork Television as head of scripted, overseeing the development and production of its scripted slate.
Belying fears that Foxtel would cut back on local commissions following the Federal Government's media reforms, the pay TV platform expects to have three Australian dramas in production next year.
"Michael’s pitch for 'The Newsreader' was so strong and I knew it would be a fabulously original series."
After working in the US for 11 years, Australian filmmaker Christel Cornilsen is keen to shoot a feature film in Australia next year, while maintaining her base in Los Angeles.
Aurora Films’ Ákos Armont and Antony Waddington plan to turn Helen Garner's novel The Spare Room, a drama about a woman who cares for her cancer-stricken friend, into a feature film.
Emma Thompson will play a widow who hires a sex worker for a "night of bliss" in the UK comedy Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, directed by Sophie Hyde.
TV drama producers face a balancing act next year: How to take advantage of the 30 per cent Producer Offset while coping with watered-down local content regulations and the financial constraints affecting all Australian broadcasters - public and commercial.