Mark Lazarus is departing as a drama investment manager at Screen Australia to join Arclight Films as head of creative and acquisitions in Australia.
He succeeds Michael Wrenn, who joined Arclight in 2012 as a consultant and is pursuing his own projects including Ben Elton’s The Wiggles- Pandamonium!, Eron Sheean’s End of Animal and Stephan Elliott's Madams, co-produced with Julie Ryan, based on the true story of two Australian con-women who took on the British "horsey" set and nearly got away with it. Arclight reps The Wiggles movie and Madams internationally.
Wrenn is also EP on Gillian Armstrong's recently completed documentary Women He's Undressed, a behind-the-scenes look at the Australian Oscar-winning costume designer Orry-Kelly.
In five years at Screen Australia Lazarus has been involved in numerous films handled by Arclight internationally including Kimble Rendall’s Bait 3D, the Spierig brothers’ Predestination and Patrick Hughes’ Red Hill.
Among other titles he oversaw at Scroz are Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook, Kriv Stenders’ Kill Me Three Times, Julius Avery’s Son of a Gun, Shine Australia’s Never Tear Us Apart and Endemol Australia’s Gallipoli.
His producer credits include The Loved Ones, Restraint and Australian Rules. Earlier in his career he ran creative affairs for Fox Icon Productions, he was executive producer of Filmgraphics Entertainment and head of development and acquisitions at Ocean Pictures, where he acquired Rabbit-Proof Fence.
Arclight MD Gary Hamilton said, “His reputation precedes him in bringing priceless, in-depth, hands-on experience in the successful development of projects. Mark knows precisely how to ensure a film has the proper foundation from which to grow and having worked together on a variety of projects over the years.”
Lazarus, who starts at Arclight on September 1, spoke highly of his time at Screen Australia, observing, “The quality of the people, the work and the connections gave me invaluable experience in the development, finance and production of movies and television.
“I’m excited to get back into the private sector and doubly excited that a company as dynamic as Arclight has asked me to join their team. I’m looking forward to working with Australian distributors to bring world class projects to the marketplace."
Among the Oz films Arclight is handling are Rob Connolly's Paper Planes, Matt Drummond's Dinosaur Island and Chris Fitchett's The Fear of Darkness.