Surf Drama Series ‘Barons’ Is Calling Card for New Era at Fremantle Australia

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAustralian actor and filmmaker Charles Jazz Terrier has completed post-production on a speculative pilot for “WTFitness,” a comedy series set in Melbourne’s gym scene. ‘WTFitness’ is proposed to be a series with eight half-hour episodes that boasts an ensemble cast including Terrier, Christopher Kirby, Kat Stewart, Jonny Brugh and Trevor Jamieson.

Over the next six weeks, the trial of Johnny Depp’s $50 million defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard that commences today could prove to be the biggest roles of the former couple’s careers.

One in three LGBTQI Australian voter said that they are undecided about who they will vote for or are considering changing their vote at the forthcoming federal elections scheduled to be held on May 21, 2022. The results of one of the largest national online surveys of LGBTQI voters conducted by advocacy group Equality Australia was released on Monday, just as major political parties started their six-week campaign before the federal elections. One in five LGBTQI voter, who had voted Liberal, National, Labor or Greens at the 2019 elections, said they were reconsidering their vote this time.   A post shared by Equality Australia (@equalityaustralia)Equality Australia estimates that there are around 850,000 LGBTQI voters who are eligible to vote at the elections in May. Around 7,902 people, including 5,578 LGBQI people currently living in Australia, responded to the LGBTIQ+ Federal Election survey conducted in February and March 2022. The elections are being held months after a failed bid by Prime Minister Scott Morrison to get an anti-LGBTQI Religious Discrimination Bill passed in Parliament.

Manori Ravindran International EditorA Vice Studios documentary series on the 2014 disappearance of Malaysian flight MH370 has been sold to History Channel in the U.S. and a raft of broadcasters in Europe.Vice Distribution, the global distribution and licensing arm of Vice Media Group, pre-sold the three-part series, entitled “MH370: The Lost Flight,” into A+E Networks’ History, TV2 in Denmark and Viaplay across its European territories (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Poland and the pan-Baltics).

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorThree-part documentary series “Delphine: My Story” tells how the artist Delphine Boël, the illegitimate daughter of King Albert II of Belgium, fought for legal recognition, and is now known as Princess Delphine of Saxe-Coburg. It has been sold to multiple territories, Warner Bros. announced at MipTV in Cannes Tuesday.HBO Max has picked up the show in numerous territories in Europe.

EXCLUSIVE: Dave Logan, creator of Acorn TV’s Harry Wild and writer on Roald Dahl film To Olivia, is developing a crime drama TV series set in Malta with his Harry Wild co-writer Jo Spain.

Walter Iuzzolino’s Eagle Eye Drama and Beta Film’s Hotel Portofino has been commissioned for a second series.

Paramount+ is locking phasers in advance of the latest new series in the Star Trek saga, releasing the first official trailer for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which debuts next month on the streamer.

Katherine Tulich Paramount Australia and New Zealand has greenlighted Helium Pictures’ eight-hour scripted drama “Paper Dolls” for Network 10 and Paramount Plus Australia. Production is set to commence in Sydney later this year and will premier on 10 in 2023.Set in 2000, “Paper Dolls,” which is produced by Helium Pictures, follows the meteoric rise and fall of fictional girl band Indigo, a manufactured pop group born on one of the first reality talent TV shows.The drama focuses on five women aspiring for pop stardom only to find their dream of fame compromised by what it takes to achieve it. At first competitors and then confidants, as Indigo achieves instant success and stardom, their secrets threaten to tear the band apart, particularly as one member, returning to the music industry, threatens to implode the group as she seeks revenge on a former record label that wronged her.

Australian actor Joel Edgerton will be seen reprising the role of “Star Wars” character Uncle Owen in Lucasfilm’s upcoming “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series starring Ewan McGregor as the iconic Jedi. Edgerton had a supporting role in David Lowery‘s fantastic film “The Green Knight,” and now he’s continuing his recent trend of tackling genre projects with plans to make another streaming series.

FX has set the date of its Danny Boyle-directed limited series about Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones. Pistol will premiere May 31 exclusively on Hulu in the U.S. and on Disney+ in UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

EXCLUSIVE: Matt Passmore (The Glades) and Floriana Lima (A Million Little Things) are set as the leads of Blank Slate, NBC’s drama pilot from Dean Georgaris, John Fox, Davis Entertainment and Universal Television.

Ian McShane has been cast in Paramount+ Australia’s drama Last King Of The Cross and will take on a major role. He will appear opposite star Lincoln Younes.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefJana McKinnon, Markella Kavenagh and Yerin Ha have joined the cast of Australian TV series “Bad Behaviour.”Filming of the four-part show, which is adapted from the acclaimed book of the same name by writer Rebecca Starford, has now completed in Victoria, Australia. It is expected to play on Australian streaming platform Stan later this year.McKinnon (“We Children of Bahnhof Zoo”) stars as scholarship student, who arrives at Silver Creek for a year of character building at the wilderness campus of an exclusive girl’s boarding school.

 Hayes has been away from the musical spotlight for years now but is roaring back to our consciousness with a flurry of activity, including a successful promotional visit of Australia, a banging headline set to a sold-out crowd of 40,000 at the 2022 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade and announcement of his 2023 Australian tour, where he’ll be performing in six Australian cities between January and February next year.“More of a mini-film than a video – come spend seven minutes in heaven with me and my gang in our fictional CLUB U WISH!”, Hayes posted on social media.The music video, totally conceptualised by Hayes, couldn’t be described better than how the press release did it: “Hayes continues to present a version of his past that is clearly a peach tinted re-imagining of his actual life. Timelines blur with the neon and pastel of the 1980’s sitting comfortably next to a Dandy-esque 60’s presentation of the singer portraying himself having a blast.”The single is inspired by the “late 80’s drum-machine, synth-bass heavy R&B pop that influenced his youth” Savage Garden fans will know that Hayes had previously alluded to his first kiss in the 1999 song Chained To You.“Acting like a mover shaker dancin’ to Madonna then you kissed me,” Hayes sang on Savage Garden‘s sophmore record.In 2022, he re-visits the moment, but this time it is an out and proud Hayes re-telling the story and its queer elements.“After so many years of being placed in a neat and tidy package, it’s nice to remember why I got into this business in the first place: to be an artist.

The Chase star Anne Hegerty, also known by her alter ego 'The Governess', is set to be replaced by a brand new brainiac on the upcoming series of Beat The Chasers, which is set to air on ITV in the coming weeks. It was announced last week that the quizzing queen, 63 - who has been one of the longest standing Chasers on the show since joining back in 2010 - was forced to pull out of the show due to illness.

Neil Young has announced the fourth instalment in his ‘Official Release Series’ anthology, comprising three classic albums from the 1980s – one of his own, and two collaborative efforts – as well as a rare EP that was only ever sold in Australia and Japan.‘Official Release Series Volume 4’ is set for release on April 29 via Reprise. In addition to Young’s 1980 solo album ‘Hawks & Doves’, the box set includes his fifth album with Crazy Horse (1981’s ‘Re•ac•tor’) and his debut effort with The Bluenotes (1988’s ‘This Note’s For You’).It also marks the first time many fans will be able to hear the EP ‘Eldorado’, which was initially released in Australia and Japan in 1989.