Stan used an luncheon at the Sydney Opera House today to unveil a 25-strong originals slate for 2024, including several new commissions – four drama series, four documentaries and a feature film.
The Nine-owned streamer also confirmed it has renewed Black Snow and Scrublands for second seasons, and Bump for fifth.
Today’s announcement sees Stan come the closest yet to its 2020 goal to invest in more than 30 productions per year within five years. Stan has tripled its Australian content over the past three years, and has backed more than 90 original projects since its launch in 2015.
Stan CEO Martin Kugeler confirmed today that originals accounted for seven of the top 15 shows released on the streamer in the last 12 months, while ACMA data puts Stan as the leading commercial commissioner of Australian drama titles in the 2022-23 financial year.
The five new scripted projects include Matchbox Pictures psychological crime drama Critical Incident; a dark comedy series from Jungle Entertainment and Echo Lake Entertainment, Sunny Nights; Lingo Pictures thriller Watching You; The CW and Roku co-commission, Good Cop / Bad Cop, starring Leighton Meester, Luke Cook and Clancy Brown; and 2024 Christmas film, Nugget, directed by Imogen McCluskey.
The doc slate includes Trailblazers, following the journey of the Matildas, and three new projects in its Revealed strand with Nine journalists from across 60 Minutes, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald: Bribe, Inc., uncovering global corruption in the oil industry, KillJoy, the story of a family homicide and Malka Leifer, a harrowing abuse scandal in Melbourne.
Stan also used the showcase to announce Alice Englert, Essie Davis and Thomas Weatherall as the headline cast for previously announced drama Exposure, a psychological thriller that follows a photographer who returns to her hometown after the death of her friend. Shot last year across Sydney and Port Kembla, the cast also includes Mia Artemis, Sean Keenan, Ewen Leslie, George Mason, Christian Byers David Howell, Thom Green, Domino McCathrion, Victoria Haralabidou and Daniel Frederiksen.
Exposure is created by Lucy Coleman and directed by Bonnie Moir, and forms the first production for Thirdborn, the new production company of Nicole O’Donohue, Justin Kurzel and Shaun Grant.
The streamer also confirmed LGBTIQA+ series Invisible Boys, created and directed by Nicholas Verso, is currently in production in Western Australia’s Geraldton, with a cast that includes emerging talent Joseph Zada, Aydan Calafiore, Zach Blampied and Joe Klocek, alongside Pia Miranda and David Lyons. The series is based on the book by author Holden Sheppard, and produced by Feisty Dame Productions and Verso’s Asphodel Films. Writers with Verso include Enoch Mailangi, Allan Clarke, Sheppard, and Declan Greene.
As previously announced, BBC co-commission Two Pound Poms will be back for a second outing, as will US series Poker Face, starring Natasha Lyonne. Reality series Drag Race Down Under will also return for a fourth season, albeit with a new main host: Michelle Visage, with RuPaul continuing as executive producer.
Other originals to come out this year include Population 11, which starts on Friday, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Thou Shalt Not Steal, feature films Windcatcher and The Surfer, and Revealed documentariesOtto by Otto, How to Poison A Planet and Renee Gracie.
“Stan has always championed exceptional storytelling and premium Australian content across all genres, and this world-class slate of 25 titles exemplifies this,” said chief content officer Cailah Scobie.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to championing fresh and established creatives, and elevating Australian storytelling through our collaborations with the best local and international talent.
“While our focus is always on Australian audiences, Stan continues to showcase our original productions on a global stage through our international partnerships with the world’s biggest studios and distributors. Stan Originals connect with Australians, and with this diverse and consequential line-up, we continue to deliver what audiences have told us they want on their screens.”
Created by Sarah Bassiouni and produced by Matchbox Pictures, Critical Incident follows a police officer who, in pursuit of a teenage suspect onto a busy train platform, knocks a bystander onto the train tracks, critically injuring him.
The series has already been shot in Western Sydney and stars Akshay Khanna, Zoë Boe, Roxie Mohebbi, Hunter Page-Lochard, Jai Waetford, Jackson Heywood, Zindzi Okenyo, Simone Kessell and Erik Thomson. Neil Sharma and Daniel Nettheim directed from scripts by Bassiouni and writers Ruth Underwood, Hannah Fitzpatrick and Natasha Henry. Bree-Anne Sykes is the producer, with Matchbox EPs Sheila Jayadev and Debbie Lee.
Jungle and Echo Lake’s Sunny Nights is due to shoot later this year and follows two siblings who venture to Sydney determined to grow their struggling spray tan business, but get caught up in the city’s criminal underworld. Trent O’Donnell will direct with the writers Marieke Hardy, Lally Katz, Clare Sladden, Niki Aken, Ty Freer and Nick Keetch.
Jungle, alongside Future Shack Entertainment, is also behind eight-part series Good Cop / Bad Cop, which is due to shoot in Queensland next month. The series follows Lou (Meester) and Henry (Cook), a sister and brother detective team in a small Pacific Northwest police force who must contend with colourful residents, a serious lack of resources, and their very complicated dynamic with each other and their police chief, Big Hank (Brown) – who happens to be their father.
The series is written by Will & Grace‘s John Quaintance, with Phil Lloyd as co-executive producer. O’Donnell will set up the series, alongside Natalie Bailey, Gracie Otto and Corrie Chen. Joining Quaintance and Lloyd in the writers room are Steve Joe, Julie de Fina, Steve Toltz, Clare Sladden and Sarinah Masukor.
Alexei Mizin and Ryan van Dijk have adapted J.P Pomare’s novel The Last Guests into series Watching You for Lingo, again working with Stan off the back of Prosper. The psychological thriller follows Lina, who after her passionate one-night stand is captured by hidden cameras, sets out to unmask an insidious voyeur who threatens to destroy her life. Jason Stephens will produce, with Helen Bowden executive producing. The series is produced in association with Lingo parent ITV Studios, who will manage international distribution.
Nugget (working title) will be Stan’s 2024 Christmas film. The titular character is the family dog who falls sick over Christmas, requiring a city dermatologist to return home to confront both her dysfunctional family, and the mortality of the one family member. Helmed by McCluskey, the film is produced by Naomi Just, executive produced by Rob Gibson and Ian Collie, and written by Vic Zerbst and Jenna Owen.
Trailblazers, produced by Savage Films, Milestone Films and LM Films Production, will premiere on Stan in the lead up to the Olympic Games – Stan is the official partner of the games with the 9Network. Maggie Miles and Maggie Eudes are the producers, writers and directors of doc, along with producer Lucy Maclaren, and EPs Caitriona Fay and Kate Gill. Eudes is also DOP and Sara Edwards editor.
Revealed: Bribe, Inc follows journalist Nick McKenzie as he uncovers Monaco-based business Unaoil’s global bribery scandal and exclusively speaks to the whistleblower who brought the crimes into the open. The documentary is an Australian Canadian collaboration, produced by 1441 Productions, directed by Peter Klein, written and produced by Klein and Calyn Shaw.
Vincenzo Lamberti directs Revealed: KillJoy, which follows Kathryn Joy, whose father killed their mother when they were three months old and who embarks on a journey to uncover their mother’s buried story. The doc is produced by Lisa Albert for Fringe Dweller Films, with associate producers Kathryn Joy and Jess Hill and project advisor Ivan O’Mahoney.
Revealed: Malka Leifer follows three sisters who faced unspeakable abuse at the hands of their headmistress as they reach the end of a quest for justice two decades in the making. O’Mahoney produces for In Films, Joel Pearlman and Edwina Waddy for Roadshow Films, and Adam Kamien directs. The documentary is produced in association with Fremantle, who will also handle international distribution.
Production is already underway on the second season of Goalpost Pictures’ Black Snow in Queensland, with Travis Fimmel reprising his role as Detective Cormack. This time, Cormack is investigating two missing person cases: Zoe Jacobs, who disappeared from her own 21st birthday party in 2003, and his own younger brother, who went missing when they were children. Director Sian Davies, executive producer Rosemary Blight and creator Lucas Taylor return to the series, while Helena Brooks joins as director. Season two is produced in association with All3Media International and Sundance Now.
9Network co-commission Scrublands S2 is due to shoot in Western Australia, and is an adaptation Chris Hammer’s best-selling second novel Silver. It sees Luke Arnold’s Martin Scarsden return to his coastal hometown, Port Silver, to set up a new life with partner Mandy Bond. When he arrives to find his childhood friend Jasper brutally murdered and Mandy the prime suspect, Martin makes it his duty to find the real murderer and absolve Mandy.
Ben Young is attached to direct, with writers Felicity Packard, Jock Serong and Fiona Kelly. Scrublands is a Easy Tiger and Third Act Stories production, produced by Ian Collie, Rob Gibson, Martha Coleman and Felicity Packard.
While there are no plot details yet for Bump season 5, Nathalie Morris, Carlos Sanson Jr, Claudia Karvan and Angus Sampson are confirmed to reprise their roles in the Roadshow Rough Diamond series.
Beyond its originals slate, Stan also confirmed a range of new acquisitions today, including thriller series Nightsleeper; Joan starring Sophie Turner, Spartacus: House of Ashur, high-octane thrillerRed Eye, suspense thriller Hunting Wives and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Stan will also be the home of three brand new series in the Walking Dead Universe – Dead City, Daryl Dixon and The Ones Who Live, as well as A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Returning are Hacks, All American, Sullivan’s Crossing, Ru Paul’s Drag Race All Stars, Bel Air, From, Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book IV: Force, Twisted Metal, as well as the final season of Yellowstone.