Port Arthur film Nitram stuns critics, audience at Cannes Film Festival
By Stephanie Bunbury
‘Smashed Avocado’ to GoodThing Productions
GoodThing Productions, which produced Stan Grant’s Adam Goodes documentary The Australian Dream and Damon Gameau’s 2040, acquired film and TV rights to Haddow’s Smashed Avocado via Alex Adsett Publishing Services in a three-way auction.
Adsett said she is ‘thrilled’ the company ‘saw something special in Nicole and Smashed Avocado‘ to develop the book into a series ’empowering more Australians to achieve home ownership and seek innovative ways to reach their goals’.
Nero publisher Sophy Williams said, ‘Smashed Avocado will adapt brilliantly to the screen. Nicole has a perfect blend of authority and down-to-earth Aussie practicality, all with more than a dash of charm.’
Haddow will be involved in the project, which will adapt her book into short- and long-form content, for access across various network or streaming services.
GoodThing Productions producer Charlotte Wheaton said the company is ‘incredibly excited to be working with Nicole on adapting Smashed Avocado into a TV series, a home-grown product that resonates internationally and provides not only a roadmap to home ownership in the new world, but a framework for different generations to discuss it’.
#winning
Thank you to SPAA for awarding The Australian Dream best feature documentary for 2019.
Hello London!
We are extremely excited to announce that this year’s Into Film Festival will open across the UK on 6 November 2019 with 40 simultaneous pupil premieres of award-winning climate change documentary 2040 ahead of its UK release
Cited as the first film aimed at young audiences to offer a hopeful response to youth ‘eco-anxiety’, 2040 looks to a future two decades ahead, where it has been possible to galvanise a global movement to invest in regenerative solutions that improve the wellbeing of the planet. Positive, practical and informative, the 2040 launch events, screening as part of the Festival’s ‘Natural World’ strand, will be supported by special celebrity guests and a UK network of Greenpeace speakers.
Damon Gameau’s upbeat documentary predicts our best selves saving the planet.THE GUARDIAN REVIEW OF ‘2040’
Award-winning director Damon Gameau (That Sugar Film) embarks on a journey to explore what the future could look like by the year 2040 if we simply embraced the best solutions already available to us to improve our planet and shifted them rapidly into the mainstream.
Ed Fuller, campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said: “We’re delighted that our Greenpeace volunteers will be presenting to young audiences across the UK, where they’ll be talking about the need to protect the environment, the climate emergency we’re facing and what can be done to help. This is a great opportunity to reach the next generation of climate campaigners and activists.”
This year’s Into Film Festival will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and with Unicef UK we are encouraging children and young people to celebrate this landmark moment and stand up for their rights and be inspired by young people in films and on screen making a difference.
As part of the pupil premieres, young audiences will be encouraged to take part in the #WhatsYour2040 campaign, creating their vision for a sustainable future.
Anna Kettley, Director of Programmes at Unicef UK said: “We are really pleased that this year the Into Film Festival will be joining us to celebrate 30 years of children’s rights. The Convention forms the basis of all Unicef’s work both in the UK and overseas and at its heart it is a simple promise to every child, that they are entitled to the best possible start in life. That’s why we need to talk about children’s rights, why that promise to all children matters and why we’re asking everyone to celebrate 30 years of children’s rights.”
The 2019 Into Film Festival will take place 6-22 November. Priority bookings go live on 4 September for those with an Into Film Club, while general bookings go live on 5 September.INTO FILM FESTIVALThe Into Film Festival is a free, annual, UK-wide celebration of film & education for 5-19 year olds.
Goodes story to go global as NBA star Ben Simmons jumps on board
Australian NBA superstar Ben Simmons has jumped on board with a new documentary about Adam Goodes to ensure the story of the AFL great’s battle with racism will be spread around the world.
Simmons has become an executive producer of The Australian Dream, which will premiere next week at the Melbourne International Film Festival and includes fresh interviews with Goodes about the sad end to his career with the Sydney Swans.
NBA star Ben Simmons, a passionate AFL fan, has lended his support to a new film on Adam Goodes’ battle with racism.
A passionate AFL fan and Essendon diehard, Simmons has chosen to lend the heft of his international profile to the film after discussions between producer John Battsek and Uninterrupted – a multimedia company and ‘athlete empowerment brand’ founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter which Simmons is associated with – brought it to his attention.
“We were talking about projects we might collaborate on. When I mentioned this to them they immediately identified it as one they thought would appeal to Ben,” Battsek said.
Simmons was playing high school basketball at the time of the Goodes controversy, which saw him booed by crowds around the country and eventually led to his retirement at the end of the 2015 AFL season. He has clearly been taken by the film, which is written by journalist Stan Grant and directed by Brit Daniel Gordon, the man behind the acclaimed Hillsborough documentary.
“When they all saw the film, they absolutely loved it and very quickly came back and said he’d love to endorse the film and be involved with the film,” Battsek said.
“We had our conversations and it ended up with him coming on as an executive producer, so I can only assume that he knew about Adam’s story and it was something he wanted to become a part of.”
There is no higher profile Australian athlete in the world right now than Simmons, an NBA All-Star. Nor is there a richer one – the 23-year-old signed a fresh contract with the Philadelphia 76ers worth $242 million earlier this month, making him the highest-paid Australian athlete in history.
“The film already has a UK theatrical deal, there’s all sorts of interest in America – having Ben on board just elevates the level that interest might reach,” Battsek said. “And truth be told, and I can only hint at it, there will be some big international news on this project coming up relatively soon.
“Of course he’s interested in it because it’s about Australian affairs but one of the things about this film is that we’re seeing, is sadly, it’s not just an Australian affair, this. The instances of racism in sport in Europe, America and racism generally across the world are significant … so actually, this film speaks to people everywhere.”
Simmons’ involvement comes as six sporting organisations – the AFL, NRL and the cricket, rugby, netball and athletics national bodies – all provided their own public statements of endorsement for The Australian Dream. Many of them are now working towards incorporating the film into their own reconciliation action plans.
“It is a story of the consequences of speaking out, standing up and being proud – from the voices and actions of support, but also the loud voices of racism and prejudice that focus on one man in a concentrated way that very few have had to endure,” said the AFL’s general manager of diversity and inclusion, Tanya Hosch.
MIFF Opening Night Gala – The Australian Dream
The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has unveiled the first 29 films on its line-up this year, including the world premiere of GoodThing Productions and Passion Pictures’ The Australian Dream which will open the festival August 1.
The documentary, written by Stan Grant and directed by Brit Daniel Gordon, looks at race, identity and belonging from the perspective of former Sydney Swans captain and Indigenous rights activist Adam Goodes, who in 2013 sparked a national conversation about racism after requesting a 13-year-old Collingwood supporter be removed from the ground after calling him an “ape”.
“The Australian Dream is a compelling kickstart both to our festival this year, and to a national conversation,” said MIFF artistic director Al Cossar.
“It’s an accomplished piece of documentary filmmaking that tackles broader questions of who we are as a nation, together, in deeply affecting terms. It’s a film for all Australians, and a film for now. We can’t wait to share it with MIFF audiences.”
“We’re thrilled that The Australian Dream will have its world premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival and to share this first look with Australians,” said Grant.
“This is the story of Adam Goodes and a moment when Australia faced the worst in itself. But it is more than that — it is the story of a country and its history. A story of pain but, above all, hope.”
GoodThing Productions acknowledges that its offices are on stolen Wurundjeri land of the Kulin Nation, and we pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded. GoodThing is contributing to the ‘Pay The Rent’ campaign and we encourage others to consider paying the rent with us: https://paytherent.net.au/