Australia’s Stan Unveils Trio Of Originals Including Outback Drama From ‘Bluey’ Studio, Projects With All3 & Banijay
29.08.2023 - 16:17
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Stan has ordered a trio of original drama series as part of its content boss Cailah Scobie has called “a massive week” for the Australian streamer.
We can reveal Stan has commissioned Bluey producer Ludo Studio to make eight-part road series Thou Shalt Not Steal, and also ordered coastal mystery thriller Exposure and Invisible Boys, a contemporary drama about a closeted gay teenager in small-town Western Australia. A trio of UK-based international distributors have signed on for the shows.
Stan has been working closely with international partners as it builds out its slate, with Deadline in the past year revealing comedy series C*A*U*G*H*T, which stars Sean Penn and Matthew Fox, and epic family drama Prosper, developed with Lionsgate.
“The shows are representative of our entire slate,” Stan Chief Content Officer Scobie said of the new originals in an exclusive interview with Deadline. “We back distinctive voices and tell Australia stories that resonate with Australian audiences but also resonate internationally. We have international partners on each one, which is testament to the ambition of the shows.”
Thou Shalt Not Steal is set in barren parts of Central and South Australian in the 1980s and comes from Ludo, the studio behind the children’s mega-hit Bluey, which is made for the ABC in Australia and the BBC in the UK, and runs on Disney+ in the U.S.
The show follows young Aboriginal delinquent Robyn, who escapes detention and reluctantly teams up with awkward teenager Gidge as she searches for the truth behind a mysterious family secret. They begin a perilous journey across the Australian Outback, pursued by Maxine, a sex trafficker whose taxi Robyn stole, and Gidge’s domineering father, a fraudulent