[Press Release by NIX Co]
Movie EXTRA is delighted to announce AFI nominations for Chandon Pictures
Movie EXTRA’s flagship comedy Chandon Pictures has been nominated for Best Television Comedy Series at the L’Oréal Paris 2008 AFI Awards, while creator, writer and star Rob Carlton is nominated for Best Performance in a Television Comedy Series.
The series shares prestigious company with other AFI nominees in the Best Television Comedy category, The Hollowmen, The Librarians and Summer Heights High.
After premiering to acclaim last year, the comedy is currently shooting Series 2 to be aired exclusively on Movie EXTRA early in 2009. The nominations top off a successful year for Chandon Pictures with Movie EXTRA recently announcing an international distribution deal and format sales to Lionsgate, followed by a development deal with major US network Fox, who will produce a pilot for a US version of the show.
“This nomination caps off an exciting 2 year period for Movie EXTRA, Rob Carlton and the Chandon Pictures team,” said Peter Jenetsky, executive in charge of production for Chandon Pictures.
“Together we embarked on this project which forged new ground for EXTRA in terms of television production and gave Rob his first big break as a Writer / Producer and we are justifiably proud of what the series has accomplished to date. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Season 2 of Chandon Pictures and assure our Subscribers that they are in for another round of off-kilter, off-colour, out-of-bounds comedy / drama that is just damn funny TV!”
The comedy was originally commissioned by Movie EXTRA from Tropfest 2006 winners Rob Carlton and Alex Weinress, who had won that year with their mockumentary short, “Carmichael and Shane”. Starring Rob Carlton in the lead role, Chandon Pictures follows the misadventures of wanna-be documentary filmmaker Tom Chandon and his struggling video production company.
Rebecca Massey (All Saints, Son of the Mask) plays Tom’s pragmatic producer Lucy and Darren Gilshenan (Swinger, Dark City) his loyal cameraman Nick. Charlie Garber (Lost Things, Ghost Rider) joins the cast in Series 2 as Tom’s younger cousin and business manager, Larraby Chandon.
To date, Chandon Pictures has received an Australian Writers Guild (AWGIE) award and was nominated for an Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) award as well as an Australian Director’s Guild (ADG) award.
Movie EXTRA Tropfest 2009 will be a launch-pad for the second series of Chandon Pictures with a sneak peek being featured at the festival during the day on 22 February 2009.