irstly, I must make an apology for the brevity of this month’s news. Is that sighs of relief I hear? I have been having a holiday in Tasmania, home of the Devils, and only got off the boat this morning to find a looming deadline. I have hastily browsed the various film newsletters I receive and lifted a few relevant items. Also you will find a couple of reviews of things I have seen.
Movies:
The Queen Of the Damned secret location in Melbourne is already under construction for the Death Valley concert on December 1st. - http://www.gothnightout.com.
They have asked for a few thousand Goth extras to turn up for a free concert.
Sydney based Screen Corp is to commence production early in 2001 of a major motion picture based on the events of the maiden voyage of the Dutch ship "Batavia", which sank off the coast of Western Australia in 1629. ScreenCorp, which has a development deal with Universal Pictures, will submit the Batavia project to the studio once casting has been completed. “Shooting will take place in Australia,” says the producer " We have the best locations in the world and we have an exclusive agreement for use of the replica Batavia ship. The ship's mast is so tall that we have to wait for low tide, to pass under the Sydney Harbour Bridge" Funding of the A$60 million budget has been arranged through ABN AMRO Australia.
The Australian Film Industry Awards were presented last in late November and the winners were:
Best Film: “"Looking for Alibrandi".”
Best Achievement in Direction: Andrew Dominick for “Chopper.”
Best Original Screenplay: Russian Doll.
Best Adapted Screenplay: "Looking for Alibrandi".
Best Actress in a leading role: Pia Miranda for "Looking for Alibrandi".
Best Actor in a leading role: Eric Bana for “Chopper.”
Actress in a supporting role: Greta Scacchi: "Looking for Alibrandi".
Actor in a supporting role: Simon Lyndon for “Chopper.”
Cinematography: Steve Mason for “Bootmen.”
Editing: Martin Connor for "Looking for Alibrandi".
Original Music Score: Cesary Skubiszewski for “Bootmen.”
Design: Murray Picknett for “Bootmen.”
Costume Design: Tess Schofield for “Bootmen.”
Sound: “Bootmen.”
Young Actor: Kane McNay for “Mallboy.”
For more detailed information try http://www.afi.org.au/
Guy Pearce who is currently starring in the Count of Monte Cristo has been approached to star in “The Time Machine” based on the HG Wells novel.
Columbia TriStar has announced that it will make a feature about Aussie rock band INXS to be known as “Don’t Change.”
Theatre:
The Ship that Never Was. The Round Earth Company is a part of the fabric of Strahan, a small town on the West Coast of Tasmania, where from the beach just outside town, one can stand facing the Roaring Forties and know that the next landfall is South America 8,000 Kilometres away. The company is resident here and performs “The Ship” daily at the tourist centre, as well as conducting very theatrical guided tours of the Sarah Island penal colony, two or three times each day. That’s a lot of work for actors in a town of only a few hundred people. The dynamo that drives tis work is Richard Davey, a director and writer and performer who set up shop here about seven years ago and who still finds great fascination with the stories and legends of this place. The company has given work to many actors over the years and in any one show (it is a very adaptable piece) we can have from 2 to 6 actors performing. The fewer actors, the more the audience is required to participate. We saw Kiah Davey, Phil Fitzpatrick and Tom Holloway and the show is slick, (occasionally a little too slick for us hearing it for the first time,) funny and very informative. The story concerns 10 convicts who stole a ship they had helped to build and sailed it to Chile in 1834. A true story, it was a comedy of errors on all sides and although they were finally captured, they got off on a technicality. During the 50-minute show, the actors physically build the ship and rig it with ropes and sails, play multiple characters, fully involve the audience, and seem to have a lot of fun as well.
Next day we did a day cruise to Hell’s Gates, Sarah Island, and the Franklin River and Kiah was there with Tom to once again bring the history of this terrible place alive for us. This unfortunately felt a little rushed and it would certainly be in the interests of the tour operators to allow a little more time on the island. Even 10 minutes would make a big difference.
Verdict: The Round Earth Company is anything but flat.
Television:
... is about to enter the silly season where all major production closes down and we get to watch repeats of lifestyle programmes that weren’t really interesting the first time around.

© 2000 Don Bridges ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

(Editor’s Note: Given the known vendetta history of ABC (read: Australian Broadcasting Corporation), we’re obliged to state that “Don Bridges” is not the true name of this columnist and that Scene4 no longer pays for his participation in the ‘witness protection program’ which is located in a small, easy-to-reach cove on the south end of Tasmania!)

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