Production is officially underway in Victoria for Gnomes, a new Stan Original series led by Sex Education’s Asa Butterfield and Class of ‘07’s Megan Smart.
The genre-bending horror-comedy is slated to premiere on the platform in 2026.
Created by Joel Kohn (The Mirror), Gnomes follows Senior Sergeant Arnold Kipps (Butterfield), whose routine day takes a dark turn when his ex-partner and ex-girlfriend Ellie McKay (Smart) arrives in town to shut down his police station.
Events escalate quickly after the ancient Gnome Queen is awakened, unleashing a murderous horde that descends on the small town of Nompton.
Tasked with saving the town from destruction, Arnold and Ellie must put aside their differences and join forces with an unlikely alliance of misfit police officers, rebellious teens, and an overzealous mayor to confront the rising gnome threat.
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The ensemble cast includes a host of Australian screen talent: Darren Gilshenan (Colin from Accounts), Alison Whyte (Scrublands), Tegan Higginbotham (Jones Family Christmas), Matt Okine (The Other Guy), Brett Tucker (The Residence), Nicole Gulasekharam (Barracuda), and Luke McGregor (Rosehaven). Also appearing are Nina Oyama (Deadloch), Syd Brisbane (High Country), Evelyn Krape (Babe), Richard Mueck (Begging Me Back Home), Ditch Davey (Roman Empire), and Tess Haubrich (Spiderhead) as the Gnome Queen.
Rising talent featured in the cast includes Oliver Edis, Leigh Lule, George Rayias (Planet Lulin), and Mila Hourmouzis (Spooky Files).
Scripts are penned by Tegan Higginbotham and Paul F. Verhoeven. Matthias Hoene (Cockneys vs Zombies, Theodosia) serves as lead director and executive producer. Joel Kohn and Sian Davies will also direct episodes. The series is co-produced by Kohn alongside John Molloy (Barons) and Richard Kelly (Jones Family Christmas) under the Total Fiction banner.
Gnomes is a co-production between Total Fiction and Screen Invaders, with additional production partners Happy Accidents (USA) and Network Movie (Germany). International distribution will be managed by Happy Accidents, with Network Movie handling the German pre-sale.
The series is supported by Screen Australia, VicScreen and Screen Queensland, with Stan Executive Producers Cailah Scobie and Donna Chang. Executive producers also include Holly Hines and Eric Jarboe (Happy Accidents), Klaus Wunn, Bettina Wente, Heinz-Georg Voskort and Robert Schaefer (Network Movie/ZDF), Suzanne and Luke Walker (Total Fiction), and individual executive producers Matthias Hoene and Victoria Hill.
