From a unique and authentic voice comes the highly anticipated feature debut Shayda, by writer and director Noora Niasari, starring Iranian actress Zar Amir-Ebrahimi (Tehran Taboo, Morgen sind wir frei) with major production investment from Screen Australia.
Melbourne-based Niasari is well known for her award-winning short films including Waterfall which screened at the 66th Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) where it was nominated for best short film, Tâm and feature documentary Casa Antúnez. HanWay Films has come on board to handle international sales and distribution, UTA Independent Film Group is representing the U.S. sale.
Shayda is produced by Vincent Sheehan (The Hunter, Jasper Jones, Animal Kingdom, Lore) through his new production venture Origma 45. Cate Blanchett, Andrew Upton and Coco Francini at Dirty Films (Apples, Carol, Little Fish) are executive producers. Shayda received major production investment from Screen Australia in association with The 51 Fund and financed with support from VicScreen and the MIFF Premiere Fund, while local distribution in Australia and New Zealand will be handled by Madman Entertainment. The 51 Fund (Cusp and the upcoming Shari & Lamb Chop) provides financing to feature films of any genre that are directed by women, with the goal of providing support to the most exciting female voices within the creative industry. Caitlin Gold, Lindsay Lanzillotta, Naomi McDougall Jones, Lois Scott, and Nivedita Kulkarni also serve as executive producers on behalf of 51.
Heads of production will include Cinematographer and Niasari’s closest collaborator Sherwin Akbarzadeh (Stories From Oz). Osamah Sami (Ali’s Wedding), Leah Purcell (The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson), Mojean Aria (The Enforcer), Jillian Nguyen (Expired) and Rina Mousavi (Alexander) will star alongside Amir-Ebrahimi. Production will commence on 11 July in Australia.
A young Iranian mother (Amir-Ebrahimi) and her six-year-old daughter find refuge in an Australian women’s shelter during the two weeks of Iranian New Year (Nowrooz) which is celebrated as a time of renewal and re-birth. Aided by the strong community of women at the refuge they seek their freedom in this new world of possibilities, only to find themselves facing the violence they tried so hard to escape.
Vincent Sheehan commented, “Shayda is a powerful, timely and important story to be telling and Noora’s unique Iranian/Australian voice as a director will be a potent combination. I am thrilled to be working with such a quality stable of producers and market partners with a shared passion and commitment to backing Noora and her story.”
Screen Australia’s Head of Content Grainne Brunsdon said, “Rising talent Noora Niasari has created a well-crafted script, vibrant characters and an authentic world and Screen Australia is delighted to support her debut feature through development and into production. Shayda offers a unique perspective on a story with universal themes of survival and the cost of freedom.”
Dirty Films also noted, “We first encountered Noora’s talent watching her short films, The Phoenix and Tâm. We were blown away by her precise, emotionally-driven filmmaking and her capacity to draw out gripping performances. We are excited to be working alongside Vincent again to help Noora fulfil her bold and distinct vision for Shayda.”
HanWay Films MD Gabrielle Stewart said, “We are delighted to be part of an incredible team supporting Noora Niasari’s feature debut. Noora has written a beautiful piece that reflects much of her own experience of moving to Australia as a child. There is an intimacy to her storytelling that brings to life what it is to honour the traditions of the culture you have left behind as a mother raising her young child, whilst together bravely embracing a whole new one.”
Sally Phillips in ‘How To Please A Woman’. (Image: David Dare Parker)
Australian cinema made a welcome return to box office top three on the weekend as Madman’s Fremantle-shot How To Please a Woman came in behind Marvel juggernaut Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness and Downton Abbey: A New Era.
Leading the way again was Disney’s Doctor Strange sequel, which took in $3.9 million from its third frame for a gross total of $32.8 million, representing a decline of 47 per cent from the previous week. Universal’s latest Downton Abbey installment was a distant second, managing $578,991 from its fourth outing to track at $6.6 million. The film also had its release in the US, where it made a solid $16 million domestic debut.
It was closely followed by How To Please a Woman, which bowed to $501,064 from 294 screens at an average of $1,704 per session to build on a positive initial response from festival screenings in Perth and on the Gold Coast.
Renée Webster’s feature directorial debut stars British comedian and actor Sally Phillips as Gina, a 50-something who has lost her job and is stuck in a passionless marriage.
While Gina has always lived life on the sidelines, she is met with a business opportunity to convert team of well-built moving guys into housecleaners. Clientele soon demand something more – sex, or better yet, pleasure. Gina and her team launch an enterprise that is all about getting intimacy right between people, but she soon has to acknowledge her own appetite in order to make a new life for herself.
Starring alongside Phillips are Erik Thomson, Alexander England, Caroline Brazier, Tasma Walton, Roz Hammond, Cameron Daddo and New Zealander Josh Thomson.
Village Cinemas national programming manager Geoff Chard told IF the film’s opening was comparable to that of fellow Australian releases June Again and Swinging Safari.
“Overall the box office was a little softer than hoped for, with How To Please A Woman being the highest-ranked new opener at just over $500,000 nationally,” he said.
“This is similar to the recent Australian films June Again and Swinging Safari. The location-specific results were quite varied, with some sites (in particular our regional locations) much higher in the rankings, with the majority our suburban multiplexes further down the list.”
Wallis Cinema programming manager David Simpson also said How To Please A Woman had “certain site-specific success” among its locations.
“We are finding that given this is an Aussie film, it is doing well where we customarily have a lot of ex-pat regulars,” he said.
Top row (from left) are Deborra-lee Furness, Lucy Ansell, Sisi Stringer, and Richard Roxburgh. Bottom row (from left) are Robin McLeavy, Eric Bana, Anna Torv and Jacqueline McKenzie.
The team behind the award-winning film The Dry has begun production on another Jane Harper feature adaptation in Victoria, with Eric Bana reprising his role as Aaron Falk and Robert Connolly returning as writer and director.
Set to shoot primarily in the Dandenong Ranges, Yarra Valley, and the Otways, Force of Nature follows five women that take part in a corporate hiking retreat, from which only four come out on the other side.
Federal Agents Aaron Falk and Carmen Cooper (Jacqueline McKenzie) head deep into the Victorian mountain ranges to investigate in the hopes of finding their whistle-blowing informant, Alice Russell (Anna Torv), alive.
Deborra-lee Furness, Robin McLeavy, Sisi Stringer, and Lucy Ansell play the remaining hikers, while Jeremy Lindsay-Taylor is back in the role of Erik Falk, alongside Richard Roxburgh as Daniel Bailey, Tony Briggs as Ian Chase and Kenneth Radley as Sergeant King.
Made Up Stories’ Bruna Papandrea, Jodi Matterson and Steve Hutensky are again producing alongside Bana for Pick Up Truck Pictures and Connolly for Arenamedia. Ricci Swart, Andrew Myer, Robert Patterson, Joel Pearlman and Edwina Waddy are executive producing.
The film has received major production investment from Screen Australia, in association with VicScreen, and is being financed with support from Soundfirm and Blue Post. Roadshow is on board as local distributor, with WME Independent to handle international sales.
Connolly said he was “so excited” to return to the world of detective Aaron Falk.
“We’re also delighted by the exceptional cast of established and emerging actors joining us on this journey,” he said.
“Jane Harper’s Force of Nature is a deeply emotional and thrilling story showcasing the extraordinary world and landscape of the Australian wilderness.”
Bana said he was proud to be able to follow up The Dry.
“Jane has once again provided a thrilling story that gives us another chance to showcase a unique and incredible Australian landscape,” he said.
“Whilst it was always our dream to bring this story to the big screen, its fate always rested with the Australian cinemagoing public. Their overwhelming support of The Dry turns this into a reality.”
Eric Bana and Robert Connolly on the set of ‘The Dry’.
Screen Australia head of content Grainne Brunsdon said the cast and setting of the sequel meant it was likely to become “another cinematic event”.
“The Dry was an extraordinary success, reaching number one at the Australian box office and quickly becoming an Australian classic,” she said.
We’re delighted to support this immensely talented team’s return for Force of Nature and deliver an enthralling Australian thriller.”
Victorian Creative Industries Minister Danny Pearson said the production would inject $10 million into the state’s economy and “showcase Victoria’s regions to the world”.
Adam Demos and Victoria Justice in ‘A Perfect Pairing’. (Image: Vince Valitutti/Netflix)
As a kid growing up in Queensland, Stuart McDonald used to walk along the cliffs of the Numinbah Valley in the Gold Coast hinterland and hope to be able to capture the scenery as a director when he was older.
That wish became a reality when he filmed Netflix rom-com A Perfect Pairing in the area last year.
The director said the memories from his childhood were not lost on him as he returned to the location for the film.
“It was so strange as an adult, literally being at the foot of those hills looking back up and getting the chance to actually direct a film there.”
Written by Elizabeth Hackett and Hilary Galanoy, A Perfect Pairingstars Victoria Justice as Lola, an LA wine-company executive who travels to an Australian sheep station in an attempt to land a major client (Samantha Tolj).
While working as a ranch hand, she forms a connection with a rugged local Max (Adam Demos). As they open up to one another, Lola discovers that Australia has introduced her to much more than just a love for entrepreneurship. The cast also includes Nicholas Brown, Natalie Abbott, Lucy Durack, Luca Sardelis and Emily Havea.
The film was produced by Hoodlum Entertainment’s Deborah Glover and Tracey Vieira, alongside Robyn Snyder and Deborah Evans.
Hackett and Galanoy also executive produced with Hoodlum’s Tracey Robertson Nathan Mayfield, and Fernando Szew.
Shot across five and a half weeks in winter, much of the production took place outdoors, with McDonald admitting they were “really fortunate” with the weather, while also paying tribute to cinematographer Ben Nott and production designer Helen O’Loan for their work.
“The cinematographer Ben Nott has such a beautiful eye and is so energetically engaged in the filmmaking process and Helen O’Loan, our production designer, was stunningly good,” he said.
“They made the film so beautiful and created things that didn’t exist.”
McDonald also singled out first assistant director Damien Grant for praise for helping to figure out “every location where the sun was at every single time in the day”, so they were always shooting “in the perfect light”.
“There’s a lot of math in that Rubik’s Cube of figuring out the right direction at right time of day,” he said.
“It was a lot of work, but it really paid off.”
A Perfect Pairing is McDonald’s first feature film since 2015’s family adventure Oddball, having since helmed episodes of series such as Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, American Housewife, and Wrecked.
Having spent a decent chunk of time working abroad, he said he was pleased to highlight a part of his home country that international audiences may not be aware of.
“In some ways, there is that image of Australia as the dry outback, which is of course still part of the country, but it isn’t only that,” he said.
“I was really pleased that I could make Oddball in Warrnambool because it has such a specific look to it.
“When we made A Perfect Pairing in Numinbah Valley, I was really happy because [the location] was also very specific, in the way there are these huge rocky cliffs topped with rainforests that roll down these big hills.
“It’s great when Australian filmmakers get to celebrate parts of the country that are quite unique.”
The director is set to continue his relationship with Netflix for his next project, ChooseLove, which is currently shooting in Auckland.
Also a rom-com, the interactive feature follows Cami, a young woman who seemingly has it all but still feels something is missing, a feeling that begins to grow when she meets Rex and an old love returns to her life.
McDonald commended the streamer for its faith in the rom-coms, noting some studios did not pursue films within the genre as vigorously as they once did.
“I think there will always be an audience for that genre because how we feel about each other and how we negotiate our love lives isnt something that is going to go away,” he said.
A Perfect Pairing is available to stream on Netflix.
1. You will always encounter a proportion of both love and fear for a project you want to take on. What you need to do is overcome the fear just enough so that the inspiration and love for it is slightly stronger than the fear.
Fear will hold you back. As I type this, I know it’s held me back. Aside from making great things, I think all filmmakers probably need therapy, but also maybe the ability to be introspective. Confront fear and translate that into inspiration.
2. At the start of the film, plant a seed in the audience’s mind and steer their attention toward something that will trigger a memory for them later on.
You know I don’t believe there are any rules in writing, but I do think plant and payoff is the most important part of storytelling. If you can set up certain aspects at the beginning, you can help your characters’ arc, and hang a light on things for the audience to connect to later.
3. Dig deep to try and discover if the story or characters apply to your own life experience in some way and use what you learned from those experiences.
Writing and directing comes from a personal place. You don’t have to have been in the same situation as the characters, but try to find where they are in terms of emotional states.
Have you felt scared, excited, turned on, happy, etc? How did you react then? Add some naturalism.
4. While you’re making the film, give it all the love, attention, and intelligence it needs, but once it’s out in the world, let it be.
We’ve seen many directors mess with their work over time. I think the best thing you can do is find a finished version and let your art stand. There’s always the temptation to change or alter things. Let it hang, see how it matures.
Then make something new. You have a lot to offer.
5. Tell your friends to be brutal with their feedback. You have to pull your muscles to hear that bad feedback. Because feedback is brutal. But feedback is also help, and it’s the only way to learn.
Man, it can be so hard to hear the real notes from people. So hard.
But I promise you, when your story gets better, when your writing goes further, when your films premiere somewhere, it will all be worth it. Listen. Take it in. Let it make you better.
6. Have someone do psyche work with you. Let them help you facilitate a discussion between yourself and your character.
I have found this to be really helpful. Work with a friend or a mentor and talk out every aspect of a character. You can even use an actor friend to play one of them. That’s really fun because you can ask them questions and truly round out your story and the way to sink into these people.
7. Shun the world you don’t like and create your own.
Life is very hard. Hollywood is full of rejection. Writing and directing can take you far away from your troubles and give you the opportunity to examine things you never would get to see otherwise. Time travel. Fall in love. Go somewhere special.
8. Write, in disguise, about yourself and the people around you by changing the details.
We all know a few characters. Put them in your work. Make them authentic. Combine people you know or just keep digging into them. Change names and details, but don’t fear using friends and family as a jumping-off point for something more.
9. Make your audience think back to how they missed something in your film that’s been in front of their noses the whole time.
This is the thing about planting early, you can surprise the audience later. Really find people interested in how things are panning off by rewarding them. If you add layers to your storytelling, this will really show up.
10. If your mind goes blank on set, just remember all you need to do is put the camera up, put some people in front of it, and trust that you’ve done enough preparation that you know what you’re doing.
Intuition is your best friend. It can carry you through a long career. The truth is, you’re always going to be hustling for work. But when you get lost or down, follow your gut.
Set up a camera and shoot something. Find your inspiration.
Comedy “How to Please a Woman,” starring “Veep” and “Bridget Jones Diary” actor Sally Phillips, has generated brisk business for Beta Cinema. Brainstorm Media has taken all rights for the U.S. and will release the film theatrically on July 22, and pay TV operator Sky has secured all rights for the U.K.
Beta Cinema also sold all rights for Canada (Mongrel Media), Poland (Monolith Films), former Yugoslavia (Discovery), Czech Republic (Bohemia Motion Pictures) and Hungary (ADS).
Madman will put the film out in Australia and New Zealand on a wide release on May 19 and May 26, respectively.
Phillips stars as 50-year-old Gina, who feels she has become “invisible to everyone.” Establishing a house-cleaning service, staffed by good-looking male cleaners who provide cleaning with benefits, the film follows her as she learns how to ask for what she wants and encourages other women to do the same.
“We fell in love with this movie as we feel most people will when they see it,” said Michelle Shwarzstein, head of distribution at Brainstorm Media. “This film manages to tackle an often taboo subject in the funniest and most heartfelt way. People will walk away smiling.”
Paul Wiegard, co-founder and CEO of Madman Entertainment, stated: “Australian and New Zealand exhibitors are backing this feel-good, relatable comedy about female sexuality and vulnerability. More than 300 screens have already confirmed. The film offers a fun girls’ night out, the themes of empowerment and pleasure connecting with the primary audience.”
Thorsten Ritter, exec VP acquisitions, sales and marketing at Beta Cinema, stated: “We acquired ‘How to Please a Woman’ very early at script stage as it resonated with us as a truthful, enlightening and smart comedy for a mature audience. I am very pleased to see all of what we envisaged from the script and the filmmakers behind it worked out so beautifully.”
Erik Thomson (“The Black Balloon,” “The Furnace”), Alexander England (“Alien: Covenant”), and Caroline Brazier (“Three Summers,” “Rake”) round out the cast of this Australian production, written and directed by Renée Webster.
It is produced by Tania Chambers and Judi Levine of Feisty Dame Productions and Such Much Films, supported by Screenwest, Lotterywest and Screen Australia.
At the Cannes Film Market, Beta Cinema will host a market screening for “How to Please a Woman” on May 19, 11:30 a.m. at Olympia 3.
Recent highlights for Beta Cinema include Berlinale 2022 Special Gala entry “The Forger,” featuring Louis Hofmann from the Netflix series “Dark,” and David Hayman and Udo Kier starrer “My Neighbor Adolf.”
Turning well-built male removalists into well-built domestic cleaners, WA-made film How to Please a Woman is designed to open up some important conversations around sex, intimacy… and housework, discovers Ara Jansen.
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that any woman in possession of a home must want someone to clean it. Someone that isn’t her. That’s part of the premise of a wonderfully warm movie, filmed in Fremantle, that hits cinemas this month. How to Please a Woman stars Sally Phillips, Erik Thomson, Alexander England, Ryan Johnson, Josh Thomson and Cameron Daddo, alongside WA-born actors Caroline Brazier, Tasma Walton and Hayley McElhinney.
Sally Phillips is Gina, a mature woman who starts a business which turns well-built male removalists into well-built house cleaners. The response from her ocean-swimming community helps make her new venture an instant hit. As business booms, her clients demand something more – sex – but more importantly, pleasure. Gina and her foodie manager (Erik Thomson) launch an enterprise that’s all about getting intimacy right between people.
Writer/director of ‘How To Please A Woman’, Renee Webster. Photo: David Dare Parker
As Gina faces the highs and lows of running a business, she’s also forced to stand up for herself and her own pleasure, and take control.
Exploring the vulnerable world of what women really want – and how hard it can be to get it right – the film is a precarious, often hilarious, heartwarming and revealing journey.
How to Please a Woman was shot over five weeks in the middle of last year in Fremantle and at Leighton Beach. Some of the film’s most delightfully insightful scenes happen in the concrete women’s change rooms at the beach after sunrise swims in the Indian Ocean with Gina’s women friends. Through years of changeroom semi-naked chat, they have grown into a fun and eclectic cohort who share intimate secrets and laughs.
“I never sexualized our view of women in the changerooms,” says director and screenplay writer Renée Webster.
“The atmosphere in those scenes is terrific, even when we were dealing with sex, intimacy and pleasure. All these women standing around with their clothes off and talking about things – you could feel them standing in their own power.”
Caroline Brazier – who plays Sandra – says she would find herself tearing up during those scenes because of the wonderful energy in the space.
Caroline Brazier as Sandra with Alex England as Tom, in ‘How To Please A Woman’. Photo: David Dare Parker
“All these gorgeous women who were extras offering up their naked bodies of all different shapes and sizes; in that moment they all looked so beautiful,” says Brazier. “We really have bought into this lie that our culture needs us to believe that our bodies are terrible if they are not a particular way. They were exquisite and that made for a very profound moment.”
Webster says that in these scenes, and indeed across the movie, tone was incredibly important in order to balance the humanity in the story with the comedy.
“My intention was to create a powerful comedy where you take away something from it. The way for the audience to find their way is to make sure you are being honest and authentic and might speak to people’s own lives.”
Webster takes a slightly more subtle path with Gina’s character, who could have easily been a loud, brash character who barrels along all guns blazing. Instead, in casting Sally Phillips, she delivers a quietly determined woman who is finally discovering her own power and tells her new male crew that “obviously, the cleaning must be effective and there must be a minimum of one orgasm”.
Producer Tania Chambers says it was wonderful to see a realistic woman’s orgasm on screen, one that seems normal and possible rather than porn-inspired.
“We wanted to have grown-ups that are intentional and communicating with each other. We wanted to reflect these values and healthy sexuality.
“Over the last five or so years with internet streaming and women accessing porn and going to sex shops and the proliferation of sex-positive websites, there’s a different language that’s occurring.”
She says this has led to a lot more sex-positive discussions but also a better understanding of how sex really is, as opposed to what many types of unrealistic porn offers. How to Please a Woman adds to this conversation by pointing to communication as being an important part of the process, as the character of Anthony finds out when he gets a few lessons.
Sally Phillips as Gina, in ‘How To Please A Woman’. Photo: David Dare Parker
How to Please a Woman is a female story told from a female perspective, and that female focus resonated behind the scenes too. Of the key film crew, three-quarters are women. Both producers, the line producer and departmental heads for production design, wardrobe, hair and make-up are women. The camera department, grip and gaffers also include women.
Tania Chambers says in general there’s a move to help more women up the ranks in film production and an encouragement for more women to be involved in all facets of film-making.
“To have a number of women working as grips and gaffers in this film was great,” says Chambers. “Someone told me during filming that if there’s more than one woman in a particular area, they feel like they can stand by each other and not feel like they are alone against the world.”
It’s pretty normal to have areas like make-up and wardrobe dominated by women. Less so when it comes to grips and some of the more physical jobs.
“That’s changing and it’s exciting,” says Webster. “I think it’s also practical when you are dealing with intimacy scenes. A room full of men feels really different to a room full of women and men. I find that really enabling and great for the creative process.”
One of the first scenes they shot was Alexander England taking off his clothes. He plays Tom, the first character you also see in the trailer. Webster says she purposefully shifted the mix of the room to be men and women to create the right energy. After the scene the actor told her it was a much better experience.
Hayley McElhinney as Hayley, Tasma Walton as Monique, Sally Phillips as Gina and Caroline Brazier as Sandra, in ‘How To Please A Woman’. Photo: David Dare Parker
The story behind How to Please a Woman came from two women Webster discovered who ran a business offering sexual services to women. She had read about them and wondered who their clients were.
“What I found was unexpected. Yes, there were women with heaps of money and power, but a lot of the women who used the service wanted to find some sexual agency and didn’t know how to get it and be safe, and were not prepared to give up sex.”
The stories that Webster heard around this business were what inspired the film and informed her writing of the screenplay.
The script also allowed her to make a few pointed comments about women and housework.
“For many people housework is something you don’t want to think about but it’s still a big part of your life. I have a lot of working professional mum friends who still have to do the housework. The reality and universality of that was such a touchstone because it’s a part of everyday reality.”
The group of four close female friends in the movie are post-40, maybe closer to 50, as are most of Gina’s clients. Rather than portray them as old, older or getting old, Webster has imbued them with an infectious sense of energy and positivity. There’s a feeling of take-charge and her female characters are not ready to settle for no sex – or average sex.
“I always had in my mind that this would be fun,” says Webster. Perth is her hometown so she felt particularly drawn to the filming locations and says the synchronicity of shooting her first feature film here and on the beach where she grew up was “really powerful”.
“I have a strong feeling it’s a great time to share this story,” she says. As well as giving people joy in the watching, she hopes it will provoke discussion around intimacy issues.
“This film was made not just to entertain. I would love it if it opened up new conversations in our lives and allowed some space for them. For both men and women.”
Neon has taken the North American rights to Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel, due to star Julia Garner, Jessica Henwick and Hugo Weaving.
Expected to begin production in the coming months, the See-Saw Films feature follows Hanna (Garner) and Liv (Henwick), best friends backpacking in Australia.
After they run out of money, Liv, looking for an adventure, convinces Hanna to take a temporary live-in job in a pub called ‘The Royal Hotel’ in a remote Outback mining town. Bar Owner Billy (Weaving) and a host of locals give the girls a riotous introduction to Down Under drinking culture but things turn nasty when their jokes and behaviour cross the line. Soon Hanna and Liv find themselves trapped in an unnerving situation that grows rapidly out of their control.
The Royal Hotel is produced by Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Liz Watts for See-Saw Films, with Scarlett Pictures’ Kath Shelper. Simon Gillis will executive produce.
Neon has previously distributed See-Saw Films feature Ammonite, from Francis Lee. The deal forThe Royal Hotel was negotiated by Jeff Deutchman and Mason Speta on behalf of Neon, Simon Gillis on behalf of Cross City Films, See-Saw’s in-house sales arm, alongside UTA Independent Film Group on behalf of the filmmakers.
In a joint statement, See-Saw’s joint-MDs Sherman and Canning said: “We are very happy to be working with Neon again on the release of The Royal Hotel. Neon have an undeniable history of supporting both emerging and established filmmakers, and putting together innovative and provocative campaigns. We know that they are the right home to bring this film to US theatres.”
The Royal Hotel marks Green’s first feature to shoot in Australia. The Melbourne-born filmmaker’s previous work includes The Assistant, which also starred Garner, and documentaries Casting JonBenet and Ukraine is not a Brothel.
Transmission Films will distribute The Royal Hotel in Australia. Screen Australia has provided major production investment in association with the South Australian Film Corporation. Further finance comes via Screen NSW.
HanWay and Cross City Films are handling international sales.
Network 10 has commissioned eight-part drama Paper Dolls, which is set in 2000 and follows a manufactured girl group born out of one of the first reality TV shows.
The Helium produced series, created by Ainslie Clouston, appears to be loosely inspired by Bardot – who emerged from Seven’s 1999 program Popstars, the precursor to Australian Idol.
Belinda Chapple, one of the original members of Bardot with Sophie Monk, Sally Polihronas, Katie Underwood and Chantelle Barry, serves as co-executive producer.
Paper Dolls follows five hopeful women desperate to escape their ordinary reality and with aspirations of pop stardom. However, after stepping into the spotlight as band Indigo, they find their dream of fame is compromised by what it takes to achieve it.
Desperate to escape their ordinary reality and with aspirations of pop-stardom, five hopeful women step into the spotlight only to find that their dream of fame is compromised by what it takes to achieve it.
The girls’ connection with each other evolves from competition to confidants, but their secrets threaten to tear the band apart, especially the machinations of one extra ambitious member who re-enters the music industry for a specific reason – to implode the group and seek vengeance on the record label that wronged her.
Helium founder and chief creative officer Mark Fennessy produces. Clouston, whose recent credits include Darby and Joan, Amazing Grace and Playing for Keeps, has written the series, developed with Claire Phillips.
Fennessy said: “Paper Dolls is a deeply fascinating, female-driven drama with a female-led creative team. This dramatic and compelling series is defined by its unique mix of fun and edge – equal parts gritty and aspirational, whilst shining a light on some of this generation’s freshest and most creative voices.”
Paper Dolls is one of a number of projects that the recently-launched Helium is working on with Network 10 parent Paramount ANZ.
Production is soon to begin on its Paramount+ drama Last King of the Cross, the story of Sydney nightclub mogel John Ibrahim, starring Lincoln Younes and Ian McShane.
With Invisible Republic and Hype Republic, Helium is also producing upcoming Paramount+ feature 6 Festivals, written and directed by Macario de Souza. It is also set within the music world, following three best friends who bucket list six festivals in six months after one of them is diagnosed with brain cancer. It features cameos from acts such as G Flip, Dune Rats, Alison Wonderland, Bliss n Eso, Peking Duk, PNAU, Example, Hooligan Hefs, The Amity Affliction, JessB, B Wise and Running Touch.
Paramount ANZ EVP and chief content officer Beverley McGarvey said: “We are thrilled to have commissioned another premium, entertaining, and distinctive Australian drama from Helium. Paper Dolls is set to be a captivating and engaging series. With a sensational cast and an experienced creative team, this story will enthral audiences.”
Production on Paper Dolls will begin in Sydney later this year, with the series to premiere on 10 in 2023.
Like many a busy producer, Nicky Bentham gets a number of unsolicited emails.
The London-based Australian, who runs Neon Films, rarely has the time or capacity to respond to all of them. However, one landed in her inbox a few years ago that managed to grab her attention.
It was an idea for a film detailing the true story of Kempton Bunton, a taxi driver from Newcastle upon Tyne who in 1961 at 60 years old, stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London.
Kempton then proceeded to send ransom notes, stating he would return the portrait on the condition the government invested more care for the elderly – he had long campaigned for pensioners to receive free television licences.
The pitch for the film came from Kempton’s grandson himself, Christopher Bunton. It was a story that was somewhat forgotten by history – in part because Kempton so embarrassed the establishment of the time – but now the family wanted it out there.
“It was a very short paragraph. Considering how hard it is to write an effective synopsis, it was really well-written,” Bentham tells IF.
“It really caught my eye because it was such an absurd, crackpot story of an art heist that I’d never heard of.”
From its email beginnings, Kempton’s story has been brought to life via The Duke, in which he is played by Jim Broadbent, with Helen Mirren starring alongside as his long-suffering wife, Dorothy.
Currently in ANZ cinemas via Transmission Films, the comedy drama is the last project of the late director Roger Michell (Notting Hill).
Roger Michell, Nicky Bentham and Jim Broadbent on the set of ‘The Duke’.
After connecting with Christopher, Bentham spent several years developing the screenplay and assembling the team around the film, including Michell.
Christopher had already written a script himself, but Bentham then engaged Richard Bean and Clive Coleman to take it further. They seemed the perfect duo; Bean a writer from the north of England, and Coleman a comedy writer who was previously a barrister and BBC legal correspondent.
The team had a treasure trove of material to draw from; Kempton was a prolific unproduced playwright, and had also written an unpublished memoir. There were also case files in the National Archives, press clippings and court transcripts, as well as Kempton’s family.
“It became really clear to me that there was all of this really rich material and stranger-than-fiction facts to it. But at the heart of the story was a family drama – that’s where the real the real story lay,” Bentham says.
Michell was the first director Bentham sent the script to, because he could do scale, humour but also “intimate, moving human moments”.
Initially he said no, but they later wrangled him on board, along with Broadbent – they shared an agent, and had previously worked together on Le Week-End.
They were the “perfect package” for the film, particularly as Broadbent was who they always had in mind for Kempton – he even bears a striking resemblance to the real man.
In terms of Kempton’s wife Dorothy, Bentham wanted a “fierce and phenomenal” actress in the role, she being the glue and backbone of the family and who put up with Kempton’s schemes.
However, the team were unsure if Mirren would be keen for such a role.
“We’re so used to seeing her in a crown and looking incredible, which she does very naturally – would this really appeal; the role of a housewife and domestic cleaner? But we knew she’d bring something amazing to the role. We thought, ‘Well, let’s just send it to her, it’ll probably be a quick pass, and then we’ll have to think again.’ But she really fell in love with the writing, really understood the character and was just so excited to do something different.”
The Duke was shot in November 2019 and premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2020, though its theatrical release has then been delayed by the pandemic. Ironically, many of the themes of the film have become more prescient with COVID-19, particularly around caring for the elderly and isolated.
Bentham is warmed that people seem to be responding to the film’s message of kindness and community; that a society can only be judged on how it treats its most vulnerable.
“Obviously the film hasn’t changed, but I think the way that it resonates has,” she says.
“Also the fact that people are getting to see it in cinemas, where we’d always hoped that they would. It is about that community experience.”
Despite older audiences being the slowest to return to cinemagoing, The Duke has proved a relative hit in its native UK, opening to £992,261 and so far tallying £4.8 million ($8.4 million), pushed by a strong marketing campaign from Pathé.
While it has been hard to sit on the film for a long time, Bentham says people seem to “really want to come together and laugh”, and recognise the place of independent cinema among the tentpoles.
“I’m delighted we can offer that experience.
“I missed that, that communal experience, especially with comedy. It’s so much fun to to laugh with people. That’s what life’s all about.”
However, the release of the film has been bittersweet for Bentham, in that Michell, who died last September, has not been around to see it.
“It’s unbearably sad that he’s not here to see how much the film is delighting audiences. As much as he was quite a singular filmmaker – in that he was never making choices just to be a crowd pleaser, he was always following his own instinct and his own interests – he was making them for the people to enjoy. He would have he would have absolutely loved to hear the roaring laughter in the packed houses.”
Bentham has worked in the UK for the last two decades, or almost her entire career, having moved over after studying Media Arts and Production at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).
Nicky Bentham.
However, she is not the only Australian whoworked The Duke; one of the EPs is the Sydney-based Peter Scarf, who she has known all her life.
“He was the first person that I called when I came across the project and was bidding for the rights.”
After landing in the UK with no industry connections, Bentham worked her way up the ladder from the bottom, juggling a “proper cliché” job in a video store with working as a runner, before eventually moving up the production department.
Her break as a producer came on Chris Atkins’ BAFTA-nominated Talking Liberties, with the financing structure she used catching the eye of Liberty Films, leading to her producing Duncan Jones’ Moon.
While Liberty Films then wanted to move into Hollywood features, Bentham decided to go into a different direction and in 2008 started developing her own projects under her banner Neon Films Her other projects include documentary Who Killed The Klf?, a co-production with Fulwell 73 due for release later this year, Andrea Riseborough and Damian Lewis-starrer The Silent Storm and children’s dance film You Can Tutu.
Neon’s focus is predominantly on film, though Bentham is also currently developing a number of TV projects. She is interested in bringing stories from the margins – or stories that have been overlooked or forgotten – to the mainstream, imbuing them with a contemporary gaze.
“I’m always looking for a distinctive angle on something; a story that we think we know or we understand and and how we can see things differently.”
While firmly based in the UK, where she is an active member of BAFTA, WFTV and co-chair of PACT’s Film Policy Group, Bentham is currently working on a project with Robyn Kershaw, and is “desperate” to make a project out of Australia.
“I’m talking to a number of people, but because I am truly independent, I’m pretty picky about projects. They have to really strike a chord. I have been looking for the right Australian project for some time, and I’m very keen to do either a co-production or a full Australian project.”
Of her career, Bentham says it’s “been a long, old bumpy road”.
“It’s been just over 20 years since I’ve been here [in the UK]. I’ve worked non-stop in that time, had two kids and started a non-profit called Raising Films, which has an Australian chapter as well. It’s been unbelievably hard work and really hectic. But I feel like now I’m kind of just hitting my stride, and maybe all of that hard work and those tricky decisions are finally paying off.”
