As Jock Blair reflects on a 55-year career as a writer, producer and production and development executive, he identifies the two biggest changes he.s witnessed in the screen industry.
One relates to money, the other to creativity.
.It.s incredibly difficult to finance production,. says Blair, who retired last week after 11 years as director . development at Screen Queensland.
.Television drama is now very conservative as networks are playing it safe,. he tells If. .In the 1980s things were pretty wild and you could produce things you can.t do now. As an industry we seem to have lost our edge creatively..
Blair initially joined Sq.s predecessor, the Pacific Film and Television Commission, for six months to help out in development but he liked the role so much he stayed.
He is proud to have helped the careers of multiple creative types and companies including Tracey Robertson and Nathan Mayfield...
One relates to money, the other to creativity.
.It.s incredibly difficult to finance production,. says Blair, who retired last week after 11 years as director . development at Screen Queensland.
.Television drama is now very conservative as networks are playing it safe,. he tells If. .In the 1980s things were pretty wild and you could produce things you can.t do now. As an industry we seem to have lost our edge creatively..
Blair initially joined Sq.s predecessor, the Pacific Film and Television Commission, for six months to help out in development but he liked the role so much he stayed.
He is proud to have helped the careers of multiple creative types and companies including Tracey Robertson and Nathan Mayfield...
- 8/5/2014
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Chicago – “Excuse me, I don’t feel anything,” announces the young, saucer-eyed woman to her meditation instructor. In fact, she feels many things, though meditative tranquility is not among them. Whenever she closes her eyes, a series of nightmarish images emerge from the depths of her heightened paranoia. At the center of her fears is a dark force in the form of her sister, lovingly nicknamed, “Sweetie.”
Though Kay (Karen Colson) is technically the heart and soul of this potent 1989 drama, her troubled, titular sibling, carrying the birth name of Dawn (Geneviève Lemon), soaks up attention like a sponge. Her unrestrained flamboyance and untreated mental illness threatens to consume everyone and everything that falls into her orbit. Kay’s irrational fear of trees seems to be symbolic of the family roots that run deep, entangling her limbs and stunting her growth.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
“Sweetie” marks the feature filmmaking debut of Jane Campion,...
Though Kay (Karen Colson) is technically the heart and soul of this potent 1989 drama, her troubled, titular sibling, carrying the birth name of Dawn (Geneviève Lemon), soaks up attention like a sponge. Her unrestrained flamboyance and untreated mental illness threatens to consume everyone and everything that falls into her orbit. Kay’s irrational fear of trees seems to be symbolic of the family roots that run deep, entangling her limbs and stunting her growth.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
“Sweetie” marks the feature filmmaking debut of Jane Campion,...
- 5/4/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Kerri Hill-Grisham and Todd Farmer (My Bloody Valentine) are working on an Indigenous-themed 3D thriller/horror film called The Dark Things.
The pair are currently developing the project, about “Aboriginal legends that become a reality in a small country town on the east coast of Australia”, and looking at Queensland locations for the shoot.
It will be produced by Michael Lake (The Condemned, The Marine 2), and the music will be composed by Harry Manfredini (Friday the 13th). Concept artist Michael Broom is also attached to the proejct.
Hill-Grisham has worked as a make-up and SFX artist in Hollywood, and The Dark Things is her first attempt at filming a large scale film in Queensland.
The pair are currently developing the project, about “Aboriginal legends that become a reality in a small country town on the east coast of Australia”, and looking at Queensland locations for the shoot.
It will be produced by Michael Lake (The Condemned, The Marine 2), and the music will be composed by Harry Manfredini (Friday the 13th). Concept artist Michael Broom is also attached to the proejct.
Hill-Grisham has worked as a make-up and SFX artist in Hollywood, and The Dark Things is her first attempt at filming a large scale film in Queensland.
- 5/25/2010
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
NEW YORK -- Michael Lake is replacing Joel Simon as president of World Wrestling Entertainment's film division, which has been struggling at the boxoffice.
A spokesman for the sports entertainment powerhouse said Thursday that WWE has hired Lake for a two-year contract.
Lake will develop theatrical features and direct-to-video products as vehicles for WWE Superstars. He says he plans to ramp up production on WWE Films' straight-to-video slate, aiming to produce around three to four films annually along with a theatrical tentpole feature. He will also develop new TV projects that would benefit from an affiliation with WWE or its talent.
He most recently served as executive producer on one of three WWE films the company has produced in the last five years, The Condemned, starring wrestling star "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. The movie struggled at the boxoffice but has done solid home-video business in recent weeks.
The exec, a veteran of Village Roadshow Pictures, has overseen production work on such Hollywood hits as the Matrix trilogy, Miss Congeniality and Ocean's Eleven.
"Joel is leaving to pursue a career as an independent producer," a WWE spokesman said of Simon's departure.
A spokesman for the sports entertainment powerhouse said Thursday that WWE has hired Lake for a two-year contract.
Lake will develop theatrical features and direct-to-video products as vehicles for WWE Superstars. He says he plans to ramp up production on WWE Films' straight-to-video slate, aiming to produce around three to four films annually along with a theatrical tentpole feature. He will also develop new TV projects that would benefit from an affiliation with WWE or its talent.
He most recently served as executive producer on one of three WWE films the company has produced in the last five years, The Condemned, starring wrestling star "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. The movie struggled at the boxoffice but has done solid home-video business in recent weeks.
The exec, a veteran of Village Roadshow Pictures, has overseen production work on such Hollywood hits as the Matrix trilogy, Miss Congeniality and Ocean's Eleven.
"Joel is leaving to pursue a career as an independent producer," a WWE spokesman said of Simon's departure.
- 10/5/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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