By Patrick Frater Variety 16 June 2022
Australia’s The Steve Jaggi Company and the Los Angeles-based Nicely Entertainment have hatched a pact to develop and produce a significant slate of film and TV series.
“A Royal in Paradise,” the third movie collaboration between the two partners and the first under the new deal, started production this week in Australia’s Queensland.
Previously, the two collaborated on young adult series “Dive Club” and romantic feature “This Little Love of Mine,” which claimed to be the first Australian film into production during the global pandemic. Both productions were sold to Netflix.
The new deal calls for them to develop a minimum of six new TV projects, including both dramas and YA series, and two to three new movies per year.
Starring Rhiannon Fish (“The 100,” “Home and Away”) and Mitchell Bourke (“The Family Law”), “A Royal in Paradise” is directed by Adrian Powers (“Forbidden Ground”) from a script by Powers and Caera Bradshaw (“Dive Club”).
The story involves a New York writer (Fish) and a prince (Bourke) finding friendship and more at a marine conservation fundraiser in Australia’s Haven Isles.
In addition to the new deal, Nicely Entertainment will also be handling global sales and distribution of the Giant Screen 8k HDR family friendly documentary “Beyond the Reef,” produced by The Steve Jaggi Company and In Three Production. The picture showcases Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and its biodiversity in a fun and pacy presentation aimed at tween audiences. It is hosted and narrated by actor and social media influencer Shuang Hu and will be released to the international market later this year.
“The Steve Jaggi Company has found its sweet spot working across both the young adult and romance genres, and it has been rewarding to see our projects reach Netflix’s top 10 in so many territories around the world,” said founder Stave Jaggi. “We are spoilt for choice here in Australia when it comes to talent and locations, and we’re looking forward to continuing our successful working relationship with the team at Nicely.”
Nicely was founded in 2020 and is headed by Vanessa Shapiro, previous president of worldwide TV distribution & co-productions at Gaumont. Her company brings to market more than 15 new movies each year and has delivered a dozen new movies on Lifetime, including “A Very Charming Christmas Town,” “Lonestar Christmas,” “The Christmas Listing” and “Christmas on the Menu.”
Nicely is also the worldwide distributor on a new 2022 Australian-made Netflix family series “Gymnastics Academy: A Second Chance!,” created by Clay Glenn.