Screen Australia will invest $13.4 million in 12 new feature film and television projects which will instigate production to the value of $64.3 million. This round will see Simon Baker (The Mentalist, Margin Call) return to Australia to make his directorial feature film debut. Baker will reimagine and star in the screen adaptation of Tim Winton's bestselling novel, Breath.
Making the announcement from Cannes, France, Simon Baker said, When I first read Breath, I knew I had to somehow make the film. The gathering storm of the story, detailed and intimate against the power and scope of the rugged setting, struck me as incredibly cinematic. I'm beyond excited to be back in Australia realising this dream.
Baker has been living and working in Los Angeles for 18 years, and is known most recently for his starring role in The Mentalist. From 2009 to 2014, Baker directed numerous episodes of The Mentalist and was also a producer on the show. Baker's many film roles have seen him work with the likes of Ang Lee, Martin Scorsese and George Romero.
Award-winning author Tim Winton is notorious for his remarkable ability to tell exhilarating stories with courage. The screen version of the well-known Australian novel will bring to life teenagers, Pikelet and Loonie, hungry for discovery, who form an unlikely bond with a reclusive surfer and his mysterious wife. The film will transport audiences back to coastal Australian life in the 1970s.
See Pictures and Gran Via Productions will team up with Baker, who will also produce the film. Hollywood luminary and Oscar and Emmy Award winning producer Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad, The Notebook, Rain Man) and Jamie Hilton (Backtrack, The Little Death, The Waiting City) will also produce. Top of the Lake writer, Gerard Lee, will adapt the script for screen. Arclight Films will run international sales.
The latest Screen Australia Production Investment program round will see support given to two intense thrillers that will leave audiences on the edge of their seats. Berlin Syndrome, the eagerly anticipated third film from multi-award winning filmmaker Cate Shortland (Somersault), is about a holiday romance that turns sinister. And Damien Power's feature debut, Killing Ground, sees a young couple's camping trip turn into a violent ordeal.
Two comedies that will have audiences in stitches will receive support. Doug Anthony All Star, Tim Ferguson, and Marc Gracie (producer of The Craic) will make comedy Circle Work (working title), which sees the shenanigans of two friends, Lucy and Billy, unfold at a wild Bachelors & Spinsters Ball.
Anupam Sharma's cross-cultural romantic comedy starring Brett Lee, unINDIAN, will exemplify the heart of multicultural Australia, with Lee's character falling for an Australian Indian woman with strict parents.
The program will support seven television projects five adult and two children's.
From the makers of The Slap TV series comes the screen adaptation of Christos Tsiolkas' novel, Barracuda. The four-part series follows young Olympic hopeful Danny Kelly as he deals with the pressure of obsession.
Crime drama Deep Water is a gripping story that explores a world in which the threat of violence or death is only one encounter away.
Two biopics will receive support nourishing Australian audiences' healthy appetite and interest in real-life stories. Peter Brock is a two-part series about the loved and admired racing identity, who was a hero to a generation of Australians.
From the makers of Better Man, telemovie Mary: Making of a Princess will tell the celebrated love story of Mary Donaldson's transformation from ordinary Australian working woman into the Crown Princess of Denmark.
John Edwards' latest drama, Tips for Married Life, is a six-part series about a woman's journey of survival from housewife to taking over her husband's criminal empire.
Two popular live action children's drama series will receive support. Top-rating television series Nowhere Boys: The Rise of Bear will be made into a telemovie that see the boys drawn together for one last spell. And Tomorrow When the War Began, based on the extremely popular book series, will be made into a six-part TV series. The story will see a group of teenagers fight for their family and homeland, when a large hostile force invades their country. In 2010, the film version of the same name was the number one Australian film at the local box office.
Screen Australia's Head of Production, Sally Caplan, said, It is exciting to announce this round out of Cannes, where there is a huge market response to Simon. It is especially gratifying that he is choosing to come back home to make this symbolic Australian story. We are equally delighted to support an excellent and diverse range of films from new and proven directors and more impressive stories for the small screen for both adult and younger audiences.
IMAGE OF SIMON BAKER AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.
Further information below about all the projects supported in this round.
FEATURE FILMS: PRODUCTION FUNDING
BERLIN SYNDROME
Aquarius Films Pty Ltd
Producer Polly Staniford
Executive Producers Angie Fielder, Troy Lum, David Whealy
Director Cate Shortland
Writer Shaun Grant
Australian Distributor eOne
International Sales Memento Films International
Cast Teresa Palmer, Max Riemelt
Synopsis A passionate holiday romance takes an unexpected and sinister turn when an Australian photographer wakes one morning in a Berlin apartment and is unable to leave.
BREATH
See Pictures Pty Ltd, Gran Via Productions, Breath Productions Pty Ltd
Producers Mark Johnson, Simon Baker, Jamie Hilton
Director Simon Baker
Writer Gerard Lee
Australian Distributor Palace Films
International Sales Arclight Films
Synopsis Based on Tim Winton's award-winning novel set in mid-70s c
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Screen Australia will invest $13.4 million in 12 new feature film and television projects which will instigate production to the value of $64.3 million. This round will see Simon Baker (The Mentalist, Margin Call) return to Australia to make his directorial feature film debut. Baker will reimagine and star in the screen adaptation of Tim Winton's bestselling novel, Breath.
