Dean Devlin’s ElectricNow Streaming Platform to Launch in Australia

Hearts hero Cammy Devlin was reduced to tears after he was told he had made Australia's 26-man squad for the World Cup.

The clocks have gone back in the UK, meaning longer, darker nights and the sense summer is long gone. Happily, there’s plenty of news to keep us occupied. Jesse Whittock here taking you through the first Insider of the month. Let’s go.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Dollhouse Pictures, production company founded by Krew Boylan, Rose Byrne, Jessica Carrera, Shannon Murphy and Gracie Otto, is to produce “Devotion,” a book-to-film adaptation of Hannah Kent’s bestselling novel of the same title. The production is in partnership with production and finance firm Storyd.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Australian teen drama series Heartbreak High will return for Season 2 on streaming service Netflix. Produced by Fremantle Australia and NewBe, season 2 of “Heartbreak High” will see a reunion of the previous cast. They have assembled in Sydney, Australia and the nearby Gadigal, Dharug, Dharawal and Ku-ring-gai lands, for pre-production and filming. The show is a reimagination of an iconic piece of Australian television that first played between 1994 and 1996 on Network Ten. A second run played from 1997 to 1999 on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, in a version that was part-funded by the BBC.

Zac Efron’s adventure continues.

EXCLUSIVE: Independence Day and Godzilla co-writer Dean Devlin’s Electric Entertainment is to roll out its AVoD ElectricNOW beyond the U.S.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Australia’s SLR Productions has announced production on season two of the award-winning original CGI animated series, “Space Nova” for ABC ME. The 15 x 22-minute season has received significant production funding from both Screen Australia and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation as well as development funding from ABC ME and Create NSW. “Space Nova” will be co-produced with Giggle Garage in Malaysia and distributed internationally by ZDF Studios, with ACTF representing the series across Australia and New Zealand. Targeting a six- to ten-year-old global audience, the first season sold to broadcasters or streamers in Germany, the U.K., Norway, Finland, Sweden, Poland, the U.S, Singapore, East Asia, Indonesia, and Brazil.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief European-Australian firm Flying Bark Productions has been appointed as the animator of the first of three untitled ‘Avatar’ films from Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation. The film series, derived from the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “The Legend of Korra “animated series, originally created for Nickelodeon by Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino, was announced earlier this year. The first feature will be directed by Lauren Montgomery, with Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino producing. Flying Bark, which is based in Belgium and has major facilities in Sydney, Australia, describes the film series as “[pushing] the style and boundaries of hybrid animation [..] it will couple traditional 2D animation with substantial CG elements.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese filmmaker, Bi Gan, best-known for his single-take feature “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” has seen his “A Short Story” picked up by Kino Lorber for distribution in North America. A fairy tale that follows the relationship between man and cat, the film had its world premiere in competition at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and now has its North American premiere in the Currents section of the New York Film Festival. Kino Lorber plans to qualify “A Short Story” for the 96th Academy Awards, showing it theatrically nationwide in early 2023 in tandem with a theatrical re-release of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” “Kino Lorber rarely acquires short films, but Bi Gan has packed more cinematic delight into the fifteen minutes of ‘A Short Story’ than many feature length films deliver in two hours,” said Kino Lorber SVP Wendy Lidell. The deal was brokered by Les Films du Losange.

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.

Victorian Liberal MP Bev McArthur has targeted former AFL coach Dani Laidley, while slamming a state-funded program for men about gender equality and healthy masculinities. Trigger Warning: This story discusses anti-trans comments, which might be distressing to some readers. For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.Laidley, former North Melbourne AFL player and coach, had come out as trans in November 2020.

Dannii Minogue is glad her sister Kylie has moved home to Australia. The 'I Should Be So Lucky' superstar relocated back to her native Melbourne earlier this year after spending three decades living in the UK and her sister Dannii has revealed Kylie is enjoying being able to spend more time with her family now they are all based Down Under. She told Hello! magazine: "It's great [having Kylie home].