Alison Bell and Mike Jones.
Fiona Eagger and Deb Cox’s Every Cloud Productions is ramping up its development slate after hiring screenwriter/story editor Mike Jones.
Jones, who was story producer on Every Cloud’s ABC iview series Deadlock, is working as head of content and development.
“Mike brings a complementary skill set, which allows Deb to focus on her role as creative director/producer and both of us as executive producers,” Eagger tells IF.
Jones spent four years as story editor and script developer at Vicki Madden’s Sweet Potato Films, working on The Gloaming and The Kettering Incident.
He also did script development of the anthology horror series Deadhouse Dark produced by Enzo Tedeschi and Rachele Wiggins with funding from Screen Australia and Screen Queensland.
Of his new role he said: “It’s a big change that has left me both thrilled and daunted equally as I take the reins on a diverse creative slate. Certainly I’ve hit the ground running on a rapid learning curve, yet mostly I feel enormously privileged.
“I’m joining a much respected and successful company driven by a genuinely collaborative and positive culture, led by two decidedly impressive women in Deb Cox and Fiona Eagger.”
Jones will take part in a panel discussion and hold one-on-one meetings at Screenworks’ Business of Producing 2020 conference in Ballina later this month, observing: “This is the first foray in what I intend to be an ongoing effort to find the best new stories and talent and strategically craft a slate that builds on Every Cloud’s history of success.”
Eagger is delighted with moviegoers’ responses to Tony Tilse’s Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears, which through yesterday has grossed nearly $2.5 million.
“The Miss Fisher brand is robust and we’re planning many things,” she says, without elaborating; she expects to make announcements in the next couple of months.
Every Cloud Productions and ITV Studios Australia’s SeaChange reboot performed strongly on the Nine Network last year. The producers are keen to make another series but there is no word yet from Nine on a renewal.