A spin-off of 'High Maintenance', starring Yael Stone, and a comedic crime series from Jungle Entertainment are among the 21 projects that will share in more than $600,000 in story development funding from Screen Australia.
Writer-director Natalie Erika James has drawn on painful personal experience for her debut feature, psychological horror movie 'Relic'.
First-time feature directors Thomas Wright ('Acute Misfortune'), John Sheedy ('H is for Happiness'), Ben Lawrence ('Hearts and Bones') and Natalie Erika James ('Relic') will vie for the Australian Directors' Guild Award for Best Direction in a Feature Film ($1 million or over) against Sophie Hyde ('Animals') and Wayne Blair ('Top End Wedding').
Elisabeth Moss is set to re-team with 'The Handmaid’s Tale' director Daina Reid in the supernatural thriller 'Run Rabbit Run'.
A thrilling tale that serves as a deeply felt metaphor for the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease, Relic tells the story of Edna (Robyn Nevin), an elderly and widowed matriarch who goes missing, and her daughter Kay (Emily Mortimer) and granddaughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) who must travel to their remote family home in the Melbourne countryside to find her. Soon after her return, they start to discover a sinister presence haunting the house and taking control of Edna.
Second features from directors Natalie Erika James ('Relic') and Samuel Van Grinsven ('Sequin in a Blue Room') are among the 28 projects to recently share in $1 million worth of development funding from Screen Australia.
While some distributors are cutting back, Umbrella Entertainment plans to release 19 titles in cinemas this year, up from 14 in 2019.
US distributor IFC Films and sibling IFC Midnight have set multi-platform launch dates for Shannon Murphy’s 'Babyteeth' and Natalie Erika James' 'Relic', but release plans for Australia are yet to be settled.