Previously delayed WA family feature Whale Shark Jack and a Bump Christmas film are among 26 titles unveiled by Stan today.
The Nine-owned streamer, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, revealed a line-up of 14 new commissions to go along with 12 previously announced projects at an event in Sydney today.
Of the 14 originals, there are three dramas, six features and five documentaries.
It is one more than last year’s 25-strong slate, edging Stan closer to its 2020 goal of investing in more than 30 productions per year within five years.
Chief content officer Cailah Scobie said the streamer remained committed to “fostering emerging and established creatives and partnering with the world’s biggest studios and distributors”.
“Following ten years of championing exceptional storytelling for Australian audiences, Stan continues to commission premium Original productions and acquire the best in international entertainment,” she said
“As we look to the next ten years, and beyond, we will continue to connect with our audiences and showcase Australian storytelling at its very best.”
Familiar titles within the scripted slate include Miranda and Khrob Edmonds’ directorial debut Whale Shark Jack, which Screenwest announced alongside fellow WA production Drone Racers in February 2023.
IF reported last April that the production remained delayed more than a year with casting believed to be an issue, but that a new proposal was being considered that would see production take in late-winter through spring.
It now represents the second co-commission between Stan and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF), following last year’s Windcatcher.
Written by Kathryn Lefroy, Whale Shark Jack stars Abbie Cornish and Michael Dorman as husband and wife with Alyla Browne as their daughter Sarah. The story follows Sarah’s journey as she tries to recover from an unexpected tragedy and finds herself in the coastal town of Exmouth, WA. She struggles to make new friends and find her feet on land, and even in the comfort of being back with her great-aunt Dot ( Rachel Ward), she is desperate to return to her old life at sea. Sarah pegs all her hopes on Jack, certain that when his migration brings him back to Exmouth, her mother will take her out on the boat again. But when Jack fails to return, Sarah embarks on a risky mission to find him.
Timothy White and Miranda Edmonds are producers, with Georgia White and Estelle Buzzard co-producers. Executive Producers are Bernadette O’ Mahony for ACTF, Cailah Scobie and Donna Chang for Stan, Kelvin Munro, and Malinda Wink. Deanne Weir, Olivia Humphrey, Khrob Edmonds, and Kathryn Lefroy serve as co-producers with Hazel Walgar as an associate producer.
After wrapping up with a fifth season at the end of last year, the cast and crew of Bump are back for a feature adventure. Set between episodes 509 and 510 from the final season, Bump: A Christmas Film follows the extended Bump family on a South American cruise, with Angie alive and well and Santi and Oly’s second baby Angelo just a couple of months old. However, the family’s hopes for a festive, cultural Christmas reunion, showcasing the beauty and warmth of Colombian traditions, unravel in a series of chaotic events.
Also in the feature line-up are previously announced titles Saccharine from writer and director Natalie Erika James; One More Shot with Emily Browning, Ruben Östlund’s The Entertainment System is Down with Kirsten Dunst, Daniel Brühl and Keanu Reeves; and Tyler Atkins’ The Beast In Me starring Russell Crowe and Daniel MacPherson.
Of the new series to hit the streamer, there is Jungle Entertainment’s comedy-drama He Had It Coming. Created and written by Gretel Vella and Craig Anderson, the series stars Lydia West as Elise, an awkward English scholarship student who forms an unlikely alliance with Barbara (Liu Bordizzo), a fashion influencer who posts about girl power all day but is always too busy to attend a protest.
After a series of mishaps with men, both decide to take a stand. Barbara spearheads an activist art project in the dead of night and drunk as skunks, the girls deface a statue of the university’s male founder in the University’s Quadrangle. When the girls wake to discover that the university’s star athlete has been murdered and displayed at the foot of their political statement, they must urgently erase all ties to the crime. The cast also includes Liv Hewson, Duncan Fellows, Roxie Mohebbi, Tom Dawson, Alex Campion De Crespigny and Miah Madden.
Emme Hoy, Belinda King, Nicholas Cole, and Hannah Samuel served as writers on the series, with Rachel House and Anne Renton directing. Vella executive produced with Chloe Rickard, Shay Spencer, Bridget Callow-Wright, Robert Taylor and Ellie Gibbons. He Had It Coming had major production from Screen Australia.
Comedy combines with horror in fellow new series Gnomes from filmmaker Joel Kohn. Set in a fading country town the story follows Senior Sergeant Arnold Kipps and his ex-partner from the force (and life) Senior Constable Ellie McKay, who has returned to town with the task of shutting down Arnold’s beloved police station. When the town’s gnome population is brought to life by an ancient evil, all hell breaks loose, and the pair must team up with a motley crew of locals to try and save their home from a Gnome-apocalypse.
Kohn worked with Tegan Higginbotham and Paul Verhoeven to pen the scripts and produces with Total Fiction’s John Molloy and Richard Kelly. Production is slated to take place in Victoria this year with support from Screen Australia. No casting details are available as yet.
There is also erotic psychological thrillerWatching You from Lingo Pictures. Inspired by J.P Pomare’s best-selling novel The Last Guests, the six-part series stars Aisha Dee as Lina, who after a passionate one-night stand, discovers that her affair has been captured by cameras hidden in the apartment. Amid mounting threats and paranoia, she sets out to unmask an insidious voyeur, only to realise that the threat is closer and more dangerous than she could have imagined. The cast also includes Josh Helman, Chai Hansen, Laura Gordon, Olivia Vásquez and Luke Cook.
Alexei Mizin and Ryan van Dijk adapted Pomare’s novel for television, with Lingo Pictures’ Jason Stephens and Bree-Anne Sykes producing and Helen Bowden executive producing. Peter Salmon and Sian Davies directed the episodes, which were produced in association with ITV Studios, who is managing international distribution. The series had major production investment from Screen Australia and was financed with support from Screen NSW through the Made in NSW Fund.
Rounding out the scripted series is Gristmill’s Love Divided by Eleven, featuring Brooke Satchwell as Lillian, a woman still reeling from the untimely death of her fiancee. She receives a letter from a man crushed by a motorbike, thanking her for his new heart. Suddenly, Lillian feels better. And she wants more of that feeling. She wants to know more about the people that were able to live.
Filmed in Victoria in Ballarat, Melbourne and Yarra Valley, the six-part series stars Eleanor Matsuura, Ryan Johnson, Ben Lawson, Annie Maynard, Daniel Henshall, Kerry Armstrong, Megan Smart, and Khisraw Jones-Shukoor.
Other scripted series still to come for Stan include Scrublands: Silver, Sunny Nights, and The Assassin.
Further, the streamer announced five new additions to its revealed slate – Revealed – Zyzz & Chestbrah: The Poster Boys, following the meteoric rise of legendary bodybuilders and internet sensations Zyzz and Chestbrah; Revealed – Joh: Last King of Queensland, in which Richard Roxburgh brings Joh Bjelke-Petersen to life in an examination into one of Australia’s most controversial leaders; Revealed – Craig Bellamy: Inside the Storm, an exploration into the inner sanctum of Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy; Revealed: Into the Night, a four-part series directed and produced by Janine Hosking and Katrina McGowan investigates one of Australia’s most baffling crimes; and Revealed: Death Cap, which offers exclusive access into the 2023 Leongatha mushroom poisoning that became global news.
On the acquisitions front, Stan announced will screen Long Bright River with Amanda Seyfried; courtroom drama The Rainmaker; based on John Grisham’s best-selling novel, science fiction mystery The Institute. based on the Stephen King novel; documentary Kevin Costner’s The West, and British espionage thriller Secret Service. Also coming exclusively to Stan will be Half Man, from Emmy-winning creator and actor Richard Gadd, who will star in the series alongside Jamie Bell.
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