Tuesday 9 February, 2010
Richard Moore, the Ciceronian head of the Melbourne International Film Festival, is today contemplating his future as the Berlin Film Festival ramps up and the street temperature moves up towards zero.

News Feature by: David Tiley
Tuesday 9 February, 2010
Dealing with Ten Conditions of Love, the film about the Uighar minority in Western China from John Lewis and Jeff Daniels, is like being bitten by a ferret. It won't let go, and the room fills up with hunting dogs in a frenzy.

Tuesday 9 February, 2010
'Australian Story' with Red Symons came in 4th, while 'My Kitchen Rules' caught pretty much the same audience as last week.

Monday 8 February, 2010
Ann Brown, known to the screen sector mostly through her husband, Geoff Brown, will be laid to rest this Friday.

Monday 8 February, 2010
Life is peaceful in the multiplexes. With so many airconditioners in private hands, punters don't have to go to the mall to get cool any more.

Monday 8 February, 2010
The NSW government is chuffed that it helped secure the VFX work on Sucker Punch, but we reckon Animal Logic will be happy as well.

News Feature by: Nathan Wellington
Monday 8 February, 2010
Nathan Wellington, post-production expert, fresh from Park Road Post in New Zealand, asks the nitty gritty question: what attracts work here, and how can we attract more?

News Feature by: Alex Prior
Monday 8 February, 2010
Phoenixes and vampires both have the habit of rising from the dead – and the Swish Group is now back on the ASX having previously collapsed owing crew in Australia and the US a great deal of money. Some, but not all, of the directors have changed. Carey Peter Stynes continues, and Marcus Georgiades now sports the title of Chief Executive Officer.

Monday 8 February, 2010
Senator Conroy has announced that the commercial FTA networks will get a fat cheque over the next two years, as a rebate for their license fees.

Monday 8 February, 2010
Ten's new drama series rated well, Seven's special on the conjoined twins came in 7th, and ABC's 'Inside the Firestorm' made it into the top 15.

News Feature by: David Tiley
Friday 5 February, 2010
The Black Saturday fires happened a year ago this Sunday. Screenwriter Mac Gudgeon has collaborated with Jim Usher on a book, to be launched this Saturday by Julia Gillard.

News Feature by: Anne Richey
Friday 5 February, 2010
Most directors have to spend years in the industry, working their way through the ranks, before they have the chance to direct their first feature film. But most directors aren't James Hunter, an 18 year old embarking on a Very Ambitious Project starring Sophie Lowe and Rhys Muldoon.

News Feature by: Nathan Wellington
Friday 5 February, 2010
Nathan Wellington - one of the Post Production Masters of the Universe - sees a world full of NZ magic, and an growing Asian presence. And asks the crucial question: where are we in all this?

Friday 5 February, 2010
George Miller popped up to promote the sequel to Happy Feet and share his unique interpretation of the history of Australian cinema.

News Feature by: David Tiley
Friday 5 February, 2010
Pete Best, and Matthew Salleh of Urtext Studios are quoted in an Adelaide paper as nervous about competition about the classy new facilities to be built at Glenside. This leads to an interesting question: what will be the pricing policy?

News Feature by: David Tiley
Friday 5 February, 2010
Our New Zealand editor has been following the unpleasant fate of Arkles Entertainment, which has also established a presence in Australia. With surprising implications on this side of the Tasman.

Thursday 4 February, 2010
Theatre photographer and actor Stuart Campbell died in December, but a Memorial Service will be held on Sunday February 7th. He was loved and respected by many screen people.

News Feature by: David Tiley
Thursday 4 February, 2010
The crusade to make ISPs take responsibility for illegal content has failed in court - and the parties now face a bill which is much higher than $4m. Meanwhile, Telstra continues to stonewall on the whole issue, even though it is a significant owner of copyright as well.

News Feature by: David Tiley
Wednesday 3 February, 2010
David Rapsey's journey as producer of the low budget but classy genre film Lake Mungo is extremely instructive. And paints a darker picture of distributors and independent production in Australia.

News Feature by: John Barnett
Wednesday 3 February, 2010
John Barnett, a senior producer in the NZ industry, a sophisticated dealmaker, and known to be accurate with figures, has conducted his own analysis of the health of the NZ industry. We wonder what the same questions would reveal about the Australian sector.

News Feature by: David Tiley
Wednesday 3 February, 2010
Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey have been nominated for an Academy Award for their short, Miracle Fish. Jane Patterson has been honoured with a finals berth for her work as costume designer on Bright Star... other than that, the cupboard is bare.

Sunday 31 January, 2010
Animal Kingdom and the team propelled by David Michôd and Liz Watts, with Bec Smith and Vincent Sheehan on the financials, has the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. How cool is that?

News Feature by: Alex Prior
Friday 29 January, 2010
The Fennessy brothers started work for Elisabeth Murdoch's Shine Australia on January 1, and now have two deals – gameshow Countdown for SBS, and Junior MasterChef for Network Ten. And according to Carl Fennessy, both deals were genuinely pitched and won in January.

Friday 29 January, 2010
After the Celebration of Her Life today by the beach in Port Melbourne, Lynn Byonas's friends are left to contemplate the impact of her life. James Davern penned an obituary, while her sister conveyed so much of her essence in an email...

Friday 29 January, 2010
The Ettamogah saga continues through summer with staff taunted with the possibility that they might just have a job if they don' talk to the nasty union. It seems the company remains under seige on both sides of the Tasman.

Wednesday 27 January, 2010
The NZ Screen Production Incentive Fund and the Australian Producers Offset look pretty much the same on the surface, but under the hood, they are very different. Former NZ Film Commission CEO Ruth Harley (currently running Screen Australia) reckons the Offset will stabilise and grow the television sector – and the SPIF won't.