By Don Groves –INSIDEFILM – [Thu 08/08/2013]

As a solo producer, Unicorn Films’ Lizzette Atkins has a remarkably diverse and prolific development slate. Atkins is preparing projects for directors Sue Brooks, Matthew Saville and Ana Kokkinos plus a slate of low-budget horror movies. While they span a variety of genres, Atkins says there is a common thread: all are director- driven.

She founded Unicorn Films last year after nine years as a partner in Circe Films, whose credits include Jon Hewitt’s steamy thriller X, Lawrence Johnston’s Night and Eddie Martin’s Lionel, a feature documentary on Aboriginal boxer Lionel Rose. Her latest production, Anna Broinowski’s Aim High in Creation! had its world premiere on Wednesday at the Melbourne International Film Festival.

The most advanced project on her slate is Brooks’ Driving Back from Dubbo, the saga of a 15-year-old girl who runs away with her best friend to see her favourite band, prompting her parents to hire an aging private detective to help find her. Richard Roxburgh and Miranda Otto will play the parents with Sam Neill as the private eye.

Saville, who recently wrapped Felony, a crime thriller starring Jai Courtney, Melissa George and Joel Edgerton, is set to direct Kid Snowball. A dramedy scripted by John Brumpton and Shane Danielsen , it centres on a burn-out tent boxer who falls in love with a young stripper as he takes her young son under his wing.

Kokkinos is to direct Billy & Pearl, the story of 10-year-old Billy who, while searching for his father, meets 30-plus Pearl who is running away from herself. The screenplay is by Mira Robertson, who collaborated with Kokkinos on Head On.

Atkins is developing the horror movies with Michael Wrenn, an executive producer on The Rocket and Mystery Road. She acknowledges the genre is often a tough sell for Australian audiences but says “there is an insatiable appetite for horror internationally.”

More Here:
http://if.com.au and http://unicornfilms.com.au