Andrew Thorburn, Chair Of Anti-Gay Church, Named New CEO Of Essendon FC

Liza Foreman Cineflix Rights has presold Helium’s ten-part Australian crime drama “Last King of The Cross” to Sky.  Starring Tim Roth, the series will air exclusively in all Sky territories in Italy, the UK, Ireland and Germany, the company has announced.  Inspired by John Ibrahim’s best-selling autobiography, which follows his rise from a poverty-stricken immigrant to Australia’s nightclub kingpin, “Last King of The Cross” tells the story of two brothers who lose each other in their ascent to power. Set in Sydney’s Kings Cross in the 1980s and 1990s, the cast includes Lincoln Younes (“Grand Hotel,” “Tangle”), Claude Jabbour (“Eden,” “Stateless”), and Callan Mulvey (“300: Rise of an Empire”). Cineflix Rights is the exclusive international distribution partner.   

Manori Ravindran International Editor The David Tennant-starring “Litvinenko” has sold into AMC+ and Sundance Now in the U.S., along with a host of other buyers in 80 international markets. The drama has pre-sold ahead of its debut on ITV’s forthcoming U.K. streaming service ITVX, which launches this fall, and NENT Group’s Viaplay streaming service in the Nordics, Netherlands, Poland and Baltics. Written by George Kay (“Lupin”) and produced by Patrick Spence, ITV Studios and Tiger Aspect Productions, the drama tells the story of Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian Federal Security Services and KGB officer, whose death from polonium poisoning in November 2006 triggered one of the most complex and dangerous investigations in the history of the Metropolitan Police.

Tim Roth-starring Australian drama Last King of the Cross has been picked up by Sky in Europe, marking the first major sale of the Paramount+ series as it heads to Mipcom Cannes.

New England Patriots team owner Robert Kraft and his partner Dr. Dana Blumberg married in a star-studded surprise wedding event in New York City on Friday night. The A-list guest list included the likes of former Patriots stars Tom Brady Drew Bledsoe, Randy Moss, Ty Law, Vince Wilfork.

Florence + The Machine have shared a new live album recorded at their huge Madison Square Garden show in New York last month.The gig took place on September 17 as part of a world tour behind Florence’s new album ‘Dance Fever’, and a 24-track live album of the performance has hit streaming services today (October 14).The career-spanning set begins with recent single ‘Heaven Is Here’, with ‘Dance Fever’ songs ‘Free’, ‘King’ and more also aired.The live album then finishes with renditions of huge hits ‘Shake It Out’ and ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’.Listen to the whole thing below.The North American leg of the ‘Dance Fever’ world tour will wrap up tonight (October 14) with a show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. From there, the tour will continue on to the UK and Europe in November, before heading to Australia and New Zealand in early 2023.‘Dance Fever’, Florence + The Machine’s fifth studio album, was released in May 2022.

Blink-182 have returned with their first song to feature Tom DeLonge in just months shy of a decade: a belting pop-punk anthem titled ‘Edging’.Despite its title (and the returning frontman’s penchant for tongue-in-cheek raciness) the song is surprisingly void of sex jokes, instead offering a self-deprecative take on the dissolution of a relationship. It opens with DeLonge singing the first verse, as he quips: “I ain’t that cool, a little fucked in the head / They’ll be hangin’ me quick when I’m back from the dead.”A music video for ‘Edging’, directed by Cole Bennett, is due to be released tomorrow (October 15).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Kamila Andini’s “Before Now and Then” (aka “Nana”) topped the nominations for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, with nods in four categories including best film and best director. The film, about a gentlewoman’s memories of escaping from a Communist purge, narrowly headed three films with three nominations each: “Poet” (aka “Akyn”) by Kazakhstan’s Darezhan Omirbayev; “This Is What I Remember” (aka “Esimde”) by Kyrgyzstan’s Aktan Arym Kubat; and Philippines director Lav Diaz’s “When The Waves Are Gone” (“Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon”). APSA casts its net wide, seeking honors for cinematic excellence from 78 countries and territories defined as Asia Pacific. The awards will be presented at a ceremony at HOTA on Australia’s Gold Coast on Nov. 11, 2022.

Manori Ravindran International Editor New York’s South Asian International Film Festival has appointed Chayan Sarkar as its new president. A filmmaker, entrepreneur and festival director, Sarkar is also the founder of the Indian International Film Festival of Queensland in Australia. He takes over from SAIFF founder Shilen Amin, who will step down as president, but will remain a member of the festival’s board of directors. Sarkar joins SAIFF as the festival enters its 19th year as a leading film festival in the U.S. for new cinema from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, and within the Indian diaspora. In recent years, SAIFF has become increasingly influential as a platform for South Asian cinema, both in the U.S. and internationally. Fourteen of India’s submissions for the international feature film Oscar have had their North American premieres at the festival.

The original members of blink-182 – Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker – will reunite for the first time in 10 years for a worldwide tour that will run from March 2023 through February 2024.

Blink-182 have reunited with Tom DeLonge for a huge world tour, and are due to release a new single this week.The song ‘Edging’ is set to arrive on Friday (October 14), and it marked the first time in a decade that DeLonge, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker had been in a studio together (pre-save/pre-add it here).A new full-length studio album is also in the works, details of which are yet to be revealed.Additionally, the trio have announced their biggest tour to date, with concerts confirmed in the UK, Europe, North America Australia and New Zealand as well as their first-ever shows in Latin America.The mammoth stint will kick off next March and conclude in February 2024. For the UK leg, Blink-182 will visit Glasgow, London, Birmingham and Manchester in September and October 2023.Tickets go on sale at 10am local time next Monday (October 17).

Jordan Moreau Tom DeLonge, Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus are reuniting as Blink-182 for the first time since 2015 for a new international tour. The band is also dropping a new song on Friday, titled “Edging,” which marks the first time the trio has been in the studio together in a decade. The international tour will include Turnstile in North America, Rise Against in Australia, The Story So Far in United Kingdom and Europe and Wallows in Latin America. Tickets for Blink-182’s tour go on sale at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 17 at blink182.com. LATIN AMERICA

A happy accident! Kate Walsh inadvertently revealed that she and boyfriend Andrew Nixon are engaged.

Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories, the film and TV production company behind “Big Little Lies” and “Nine Perfect Strangers,” among others, is expanding its presence to open a new U.K. office, and it’s tapped “Ticket to Paradise” producer Sarah Harvey to lead the office.

Paramount’s Network 10 Preps Aussie ‘Taskmaster’ 

Surprise – Kate Walsh is engaged!

Following the global success of her show Nanette and it’s follow up Douglas, Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby announced that she has signed a multi-title deal with Netflix. Gadsby’s announcement came almost a year after the comedian slammed Netflix over its handling of the controversy surrounding comedian Dave Chappelle’s transphobic comments. Gadsby revealed that Netflix had agreed to work with her on a special that would feature genderqueer comics from across the world. Hannah Gadsby.Gadsby had kicked off her ‘Body of Work’ tour in the US in April 2022. The show travelled to Canada, before arriving in Australia.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Veteran film executive Kylie Munnich has joined leading Australian independent producer Goalpost Pictures as its CEO. She takes up the newly-created position from Nov. 1, 2022, after recently departing from Screen Queensland, which she headed for the past three years. Prior to Screen Queensland, Kylie worked as a scripted sales and co-production executive for Seven Studios, Australia. Before that, she was senior VP for distribution Asia-Pacific for Sonar Entertainment overseeing sales for premium drama series such as Tom Hardy’s “Taboo” and Pierce Brosnan’s “The Son.”