Australia Raises Location Offset Scheme to 30%, Securing Position as Magnet for International Film, TV Production

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The 25th Shanghai International Film Festival, June 9 to 18, has unveiled the titles in contention for awards in its four main feature-length sections: main competition, Asian New Talent, Animation film and documentary. These are eligible for the festival’s prestigious Golden Goblet Awards, winners of which will be announced at the Shanghai Grand Theater on the evening of June 17. While SIFF remains the only mainland China festival to be accredited as a so-called A-list event by the International Federation of Film Producers (FIAPF), its selections are largely separate and distinct from those at other major international festivals.

Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) has unveiled the major competition selections for its 25th edition (June 9-18), which will be the first to be held in a fully physical format with international guests since before the pandemic. 

EXCLUSIVE: Half of the 46 projects currently in the California film incentives program have submitted “force majeure” requests seeking waivers to extend their mandated start-date requirements due to the ongoing Writers Guild strike, according to the California Film Commission, which administers the tax credits program. The number of approved film and TV projects seeking force majeure delays is expected to grow as the strike, now in its 25th day, grinds on.

Lena Mahfouf is bringing new life to the iconic green dress worn by Jennifer Lopez!

Julio Torres stars and directs “Problemista,” his debut film. The film has released its first trailer, depicting a surreal yet grounded take on an immigration story, with the many wrinkles and charms that are expected from a Torres-led project. What to watch: 7 movies and shows to stream this week - May 19Arnold Schwarzenegger drives a tank to Netflix HQ in new ad‘Los Espookys’ creators discuss the show’s unique Latin American perspectiveA post shared by Julio Torres~* (@spaceprincejulio)“Problemista” tells the story of Alejandro (Torres), a toy maker from El Salvador whose visa is running out.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Álvaro Morte, immortalized by his performance as the Professor in “Money Heist,” has inked a multi-year producing deal with Sony Pictures Television through his Madrid-based production company 300 Pistolas, which he founded alongside Blanca Clemente. The accord sees 300 Pistolas, a theater company, making the transition into producing scripted TV, with Morte developing English-language scripted series exclusively with SPT, which he and Clemente will serve on as producers via 300 Pistolas.  Morte and Clemente will have access to SPT’s development teams. SPT will serve as exclusive production and distribution partner to any projects produced under the deal, SPT confirmed Wednesday.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief NBC’s mystery-drama series “La Brea” will return to Australia for filming of its third season. Within the country, production will relocate from Victoria state to Queensland. The series is produced by Universal Television and Keshet Studios, with Australian production managed by Matchbox Pictures. Renewal was announced in January. “[La Brea] follows an epic family adventure after a massive sinkhole opens in Los Angeles pulling people and buildings into a mysterious and dangerous primeval land where they have no choice but to band together to survive,” according to the official synopsis.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Mortal Kombat 2” will follow the example of its 2021 hit predecessor and film in Australia. But production will relocate to Gold Coast, Queensland, from Adelaide in South Australia. The New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures title is based on the iconic video game by Ed Boon and John Tobias. Filming will begin at Village Roadshow Studios from June.  “Mortal Kombat 2” is written by Jeremy Slater and will again be directed by Australian Simon McQuoid. The film will be produced by James Wan’s Atomic Monster and Todd Garner’s Broken Road Productions. 

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Kirsten Niehuus, CEO at Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, which funds films and TV series production in the Berlin region, and Simone Baumann, managing director of German Films, which promotes and supports the release of German films abroad, welcomed a wide array of guests to their garden party at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. Three Medienboard-funded films are in this year’s Competition: Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s “Four Daughters,” Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner’s “Club Zero,” and U.S. helmer Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City.” Niehuus told Variety: “Those are three very different productions, but it shows the spectrum [of films] that Medienboard supports.” Tunisian films, like “Four Daughters,” need international co-production funding to get made, she said, and “we believe in world cinema, so were very happy [to back it].” Hausner is “one of the most impressive female filmmakers [in the world], and I think there should be more female filmmakers on the Croisette and every other ‘A’ festival,” she said. “Asteroid City” is “the best of American arthouse filmmaking; very stylish, with a great narrative – so we love it,” she said.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “In Our Day,” the film by South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo which closes the Directors’ Fortnight section of the Cannes film festival, has seen distributors in multiple territories move early to strike rights deals. French rights were picked up by Capricci), Spanish rights by L’Atalante Cinema and Greek rights by Ama Films. The film has its official premiere on May 25. Seoul-based Finecut has long been the sales agent for Hong’s plentiful output. In addition to the deals on “In Our Day,” Finecut signed agreements with L’Atalante, with France’s Ariona Films and Taiwan’s Cola Films for “In Water,” Hong’s first film of 2023 which premiered in the Encounters section in Berlin in February. The film was previously sold to Cinema Guild for North America.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Yes, the Cannes Film Festival has only just started. But Hollywood is already quietly planning for the Venice Film Festival lineup, as the unofficial launch of awards season in late August is starting to shape up with several high-profile titles, Variety has learned. Among the films in contention to bow on the Lido: Luca Guadagnino’s sexy tennis comedy “Challengers,” starring Zendaya and Josh O’Connor, and Yorgos Lanthimos’ surrealist science-fiction romance “Poor Things,” with Emma Stone and Marc Ruffalo, among entries believed to be locked-in for a Venice launch. Zendaya was last in Venice in 2021 with “Dune,” but Denis Villeneuve’s sequel, which has an early November launch date, is not expected to follow suit to the fest.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology is launching a grant scheme to support co-productions between Indonesian and international filmmakers. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The premium end of the streaming video sector in India is poised for shake-up, with Reliance Industries’ JioCinema challenging the SVOD dominance of Disney+ Hotstar, new research suggests. “The India Online Video Report: Analysis of Consumption, Content & Investment Trends,” from Singapore-based Media Partners Asia, shows total consumption across the online video sector reached 6.1 trillion minutes for the 15-month period from Jan 2022 to Mar 2023. Within that period, the SVOD, AVOD and freemium platforms accounted for some 12% of viewing time, up from 10% in 2021. Social services such as YouTube and TikTok accounted for 88% of viewing time.

Indian exhibitor PVR Inox, recently formed by the merger of the PVR and Inox cinema brands, has launched a new motion pictures arm, PVR Inox Pictures, which will ramp up acquisitions of international content for the India market. 

according to Vulture.The video, which was captured by a concert-goer on Twitter, showed Swift yelling out, “She’s fine!” before hitting the chorus of the song.Swift continued singing, but abruptly cut off again, yelling out, “She wasn’t doing anything.” A few seconds later, Taylor appeared to tell the security guard again, “Hey! Stop!” The Post reached out to Swift’s reps for comment.According to another “Eras Tour” Philly attendee, the security guards at the stadium were allegedly being a bit forceful when trying to get people to move off of the barricade. One of the concert-goers alleged that the guards were, “putting their hands on us to physically push us off of the barricade instead of just telling us to move” Not sure what happened during Bad Blood but it was enough Taylor needed to get involved… #erastour #taylorswift #tserastourphilly pic.twitter.com/JcJMmi0dOJSwift’s trip to Philadelphia marked her first “Eras” Tour stop in the Northeast – later this month, she will be performing at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and the MetLife stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey – the closest she’ll come to New York City this time around.The tour, which kicked off on March 17 in Arizona, has been a hit so far, complete with a three-hour set list, elaborate, glittering costume changes, and even stunts.It’s the first since her “Reputations” tour in 2018.

McKinley Franklin editor Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) executive director Tom Mara has announced the company’s acquisition of the Seattle Cinerama Theater from the estate of late Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen. Mara revealed the news at the opening night celebration of the 49th annual SIFF on May 11. The festival runs through May 21. “We are honored to take on stewardship of this historic theater. It’s a film venue adored by the community and speaks to the critical role SIFF plays in bringing the power and art of film to diverse audiences across our region,” Mara said. “So many of us have experienced the magic of this theater, and we are excited to carry on the vision and impact that Paul Allen started so many years ago.”

Sophia Scorziello editor Eva Longoria’s fictional feature directorial debut “Flamin’ Hot” staring Jesse Garcia will open the 2023 Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, announced Wednesday as part of the full festival lineup. This year, the festival will feature over 80 films, 19 world premieres and 100 student films. LALIFF will take place May 31-June 4 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Longoria’s film is based on the true story of Richard Montañez (Garcia), the Frito Lay janitor who used his Mexican American heritage to turn one snack into a global sensation. Closing the festival is the Los Angeles premiere of Julio Torres’s A24 feature film “Problemista” starring Torres and Tilda Swinton, which tells the story of an aspiring Salvadorian toy maker in New York City and the race against his work visa as he tries to realize his dreams.

Australia, already one of the world’s leading inbound production hubs, has increased its Location Offset for international film and TV productions shooting in the country to 30% from the current 16.5%, effective from July 1, 2023. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sarah Snook is pregnant in real life — and in HBO’s “Succession” — but in “Run Rabbit Run,” she plays a mother and fertility doctor who is frightened by her young daughter’s inexplicable memories of a past identity. The Australian thriller from director Daina Reid and writer Hannah Kent released its first trailer as the film is confirmed to screen at next month’s Sydney Film Festival. “Run Rabbit Run” made its world premiere as the opening title of the Midnight section of the Sundance festival in January. The film will launch on Netflix on June 28. Emmy-nominated Snook stars alongside Damon Herriman and Greta Scacchi. Variety’s review from Sundance called the film an “effective if familiar mommy-issues chiller.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Warwick Thornton’s “The New Boy” has been set as the opening title of next month’s Sydney Film Festival, which will celebrate its 70th edition, June 7-18. The film, a tale of sprituality and survival in 1940s Australia, starring Cate Blanchett, Deborah Mailman, Wayne Blair and Aswan Reid, will also play in the festival’s competition section.