Coeli Cutcliffe.
Coeli Cutcliffe has joined Jude Troy and Richard Finlayson’s Wooden Horse, where she will serve as development manager.
Most recently Cutcliffe was a development executive at Porchlight Films, where she worked for three years until the company closure in June 2020. Prior to this she was an executive at Southern Star, where she worked with John Edwards for almost a decade on shows such as The Secret Life of Us and Love My Way.
At Wooden Horse, Cutcliffe will be responsible for working with established and emerging creatives, and developing Australian stories for global audiences. The company currently has projects in development with Stan, ABC, and SBS.
Joint CEOs Finlayson and Troy said: “We are thrilled to have Coeli join the Wooden Horse family. She is highly regarded within the creative community and her development skills a great asset as we continue to expand our slate of distinctive and diverse stories. Wooden Horse is committed to working with the best in the business to bring these stories to life and Coeli complements the team perfectly.”
Cutcliffe said: “I’m super excited to be joining Jude, Richard and the team at Wooden Horse.
“They’ve got a wonderful range of voices and stories on their slate and their energy and passion for the work is infectious.”
Wooden Horse’s upcoming slate includes a feature film adaptation of Matt Okine’s debut novel Being Black n’ Chicken n’ Chips in partnership with Aquarius Films; a six-part drama series based on a true crime for Stan penned by Jane Allen (Cleverman); a family comedy series written by James O’Loghlin (collaborators include Alison Bell, Tristram Baumber and Natesha Somasundaram); a true crime documentary series created by Kriv Stenders; an eight part drama series set in Western Sydney’s explosive hip hop scene created by Hau Latekefu and Matt Okine alongside Winnie Dunne and Ben Crisp; and a British Australian co-production created by Giula Sandler (Glitch).
Wooden Horse also recently secured the adaptation rights from Curtis Brown for award-winning young novelist JP Pomare’s In the Clearing – a gripping psychological thriller that draws inspiration from the infamous Australian cult, The Family.
The Sydney-based company is currently in production on an eight-part podcast for Audible based on a true story. Past projects have included Stan’s The Other Guy, in partnership with Aquarius, and ABC’s Waltzing the Dragon with Benjamin Law.