Barbara Leane has been remembered by friends and colleagues as a trailblazing talent agent, an astute businesswoman and a mentor to countless actors and young agents.

Leane died on Friday on the Gold Coast after being diagnosed with cancer in January. Her age was a ‘state secret.’

Barbara Leane Management mentored some of the country’s most successful actors including Luke Ford, Wendy Hughes, Max Cullen, Kerry Armstrong, Peter Phelps, Bruce Spence, Anne Looby, Ian Stenlake and Susan Prior.

Phelps was 18 and making his debut on The Restless Years when legendary actor John Ewart asked him about his agent. “What do they do?” Phelps asked, so Ewart urged him to approach Leane, who went on to represent him for 25 years until she retired.

“Barbara was the den mother to every one of her beloved actor cubs,” Phelps tells If. “She chose her client actors on who that person was as...

‘On Halloween.’

Vertical Entertainment has acquired North American and UK rights to On Halloween, Timothy Boyle’s micro-budgeted horror movie about a killer clown.

Operating virtually as a one-man band, Boyle wrote, produced, directed and photographed the Us-set film inspired by the creepy clown sightings of 2016, which prompted some impressionable people to go clown hunting.

His associate producer Jeremy Cook was on hand at times to help move the lights and organise the cast.

Giselle van der Wiel stars as a journalist who uncovers a shocking urban legend about a serial killing clown who has stalked the woods of Century Park for over 100 years.

Patch May plays her husband with Aaron J March as her cameraman and Ivan Topic, Robert Harrell and James Pratt as cops who hunting down the clown. Terry Serio and Telen Rodwell play clowns.

“We had multiple offers after last year’s Afm for Us distribution...

Terry Serio in ‘On Halloween’

Filmmaker Timothy Boyle decided to shoot a micro-budgeted horror movie about a killer clown in between two other projects.

Operating virtually as a one-man band, Boyle wrote, produced, directed and photographed On Halloween. His associate producer Jeremy Cook was on hand at times to help move the lights and organise the cast.

“It was just me, my camera and my actors on set,” the filmmaker tells If. “It was actually liberating, the best experience of my career and the closest thing I’ve ever had to truly experiencing being an auteur.”

Inspired by the creepy clown sightings of 2016, which prompted some people to go clown hunting, he assembled a cast including Giselle van der Wiel, Brandon Paterson, Conor Fogarty, Terry Serio, Ivan Topic, Aaron J March, Patch May and Ezekiel Simat.

Giselle plays Jordan Madden, a journalist in search of the truth behind a series...

Blue Murder: Killer Cop..

The Seven Network has revealed its programming slate for the coming 18 months. Among it are a number of new Australia dramas, including: Olivia Newton-John, Warnie, Hoges: The Paul Hogan Story and the anticipated Blue Murder: Killer Cop, which sees Richard Roxburgh reprise his role as Roger Rogerson.

The network has also confirmed that The Secret Daughter, Wanted and 800 Words will return in 2017.

Also new for Seven are Million Dollar Cold Case, Yummy Mummies, The Aussie Property Flippers and Murder Uncovered. The network has also touted a controversial new show.—..now being filmed under a veil of secrecy..—.which it claims will be the most talked about program of 2017.

Seven has confirmed reality mainstays.My Kitchen Rules, House Rules, First Dates and Seven Year Switch for new seasons.

New international titles secured by the network include Trial and Error and Training Day.

Seven.s...

Blue Water Empire.

Filming has begun in Far North Queensland and the Torres Straits on Blue Water Empire, the three-part docudrama on the history and culture of the Torres Strait Islands set to air on the ABC next year.

The cast list has filled out with a who's who of the local scene: Jack Thompson, Ryan Corr, Damian Walshe-Howling, Aaron Fa.Aoso, Jimi Bani, Roy Billing, Geoff Morrell, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Peter Phelps, Merwez Whaleboat, Robert Mammone and Damian de Montemas..

The series is being produced by Aaron Fa.Aoso and Jimi Bani's Lonestar Company in partnership with Bunya Productions, led by producers David Jowsey and Greer Simpkin (Goldstone). It was commissioned by the ABC with assistance from Screen Australia and Screen Queensland.

.It.s an honour to be telling the stories of our amazing people and their contribution, over the last two centuries, to the history of Torres Strait Islanders and wider Australia,...

(l-r): Gary Sweet, Peter Phelps, Richard Roxburgh and Tony Martin in Blue Murder.

Shooting has begun on mini-series The High Road, the sequel to the 1995 ABC series Blue Murder. Blue Murder, set in the 70s and 80s, followed disgraced former detective Roger Rogerson.s associations with underground figures such as criminal Neddy Smith. Director of the original production, Michael Jenkins, has returned to shoot the project. Richard Roxburgh (Rake) will also reprise his acclaimed role as Rogerson. The series is being produced by John Edwards through Endemol Shine. Edwards told If that a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.that the show was being produced through his new production company, Roadshow Rough Diamond, was incorrect. He said The High Road was a remaining obligation he had to Endemol Shine, whom he left last year.

According to reports in the Herald Sun, Channel 7 will broadcast the series. Earlier this week,...

Network Ten is betting heavily on new and returning reality shows in 2015 to maintain the momentum of this year.s ratings growth and to make the company a more attractive take-over target as potential buyers circle.

News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch has confirmed the 50%-owned Foxtel is looking at buying a small stake in the loss-making broadcaster, reportedly in partnership with Discovery Communications. Cross-media laws would limit Foxtel to a 14.9% stake.

Murdoch told News' Agm that independent advisers have been hired to look at the potential purchase but he ruled out buying his son Lachlan.s stake in Ten.

There were only two fresh dramas among eight new local productions highlighted at Ten.s upfronts presentation on Thursday night.

FremantleMedia Australia will produce Mary: The Making Of A Princess, a telemovie dramatizing the fairytale of the Tasmanian-born real estate agent who met a Danish crown prince in a Sydney pub and became Mary,...

Network Ten is betting heavily on new and returning reality shows in 2015 to maintain the momentum of this year.s ratings growth and to make the company a more attractive take-over target as potential buyers circle.

There were only two fresh dramas among eight new local productions highlighted at Ten.s upfronts presentation on Thursday night.

FremantleMedia Australia will produce Mary: The Making Of A Princess, dramatizing the fairytale of the Tasmanian-born real estate agent who met a Danish crown prince in a pub and became Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark.

Shine Australia will produce The Peter Brock Story, a bio on the motorsports champion who was plagued by self-doubt. He died in 2006, aged 61, when his car hit a tree during a rally in Western Australia.

Fremantle Media.s Wonderland returns next year and Neighbours will celebrate its 30th year, but there is no Offspring.

The only major new Australian...

Remote warfare is a terrifying proposition. With death-dealing taking place at the press of a button in rooms far removed from the killing field it's no wonder filmmakers are starting to examine what happens when the human psyche is put under the pressure of these decisions. We've seen drone warfare examined as part of many movies about espionage and the war on terror (Syriana springs to mind as a chilling example) but few movies focusing solely on this. One movie that aims to do just this is Edwin McGill's Drone, an upcoming Australian indie posing as an American-set movie starring Peter Phelps (above left) and Guy Edmonds.Drone is the story of Dalton (Edmonds), an 'armchair warrior' - a drone plane operator with the U.S. Army. Up to...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Australian actor Gary Sweet has spoken of his sadness over the death of his friend Jon Blake, who passed away 25 years after he was left brain-damaged in a horrific car crash.

Blake died at the age of 52 on Sunday after suffering complications from pneumonia.

The popular actor's career was cut short in 1986 when he was involved in a car smash while filming The Lighthorsemen in the South Australian desert, which left him permanently brain-damaged and dependent on his mother Mascot to look after him.

Sweet, who starred alongside Blake in the film and was by his friend's bedside following the accident, found Blake's deterioration "devastating".

He recalls, "We got on very well... we used to sit around and shoot the breeze, and he was very popular with the ladies. (After the accident) we tried anything just to get him to wake up. It was quite devastating."

Another The Lighthorsemen co-star, Peter Phelps, adds, "We had formed a really good friendship in The Lighthorsemen, going up to the hills and to the pub together. There was always some hope that with the mystery of a brain injury there was a chance. I hope there was no pain (in his death)."

Actor Tony Bonner adds, "It's a blessing of some kind that John is not travelling in any more pain. I hope that he is in a peaceful place now."

Blake's funeral will be held later this week (ends05Jun11).

Director: Adam Blaiklock Writers: Adam Blaiklock, Matt Tomaszewski, Joe Velikovsky Starring: Ben Oxenbould, Daisy Betts, Sam Lyndon, Simon Lyndon, Leeanna Walsman, Harry Cook, Peter Phelps Caught Inside is a not-so-tall tale of how rationally real (not reel) people would react to a brutish man like Bull (Ben Oxenbould). I am getting ahead of myself though, so please allow me to back my ass up a bit... A group of impeccably attractive Aussie blokes charter a private boat -- the aptly named Hedonist -- captained by Skipper Joe (Peter Phelps) for a surfing safari to a remote island located somewhere off the coast of Thailand with radical swells and tubular breaks; Bull is along for the ride because he is the key to finding the clandestine locale. It is supposed to be a guys only escapade, but Toobs (Simon Lyndon) brings along his girlfriend Alex (Leeanna Walsman) and her scrumptiously seductive friend,...

Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek

(from the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival)

Directed by: Adam Blaiklock

Written by: Joe Velikovsky, Matt Tomaszewski and Adam Blaiklock

Starring: Ben Oxenbould, Daisy Betts, Sam Lyndon, Simon Lyndon, Leeanna Walsman, Harry Cook and Peter Phelps

Boat-locked dramas have held their place among low-budget thrillers for some time. “Dead Calm,” “Open Water” and “Donkey Punch” have proffered a variety of versions of people locked in a precarious place with nowhere to go but down.

This time, young Australian filmmaker Adam Blaiklock casts a group of fairly seasoned Australian television actors and takes them to Thailand, where cheap fish and boat charters lure thousands of similarly minded southerners each year. This team has leased a vessel called “Hedonist” for what was supposed to be a boys’ surfing trip but now consists of four guys, two girls, a skipper and his crew. The two girls are two...

Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek

(from the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival)

Directed by: Adam Blaiklock

Written by: Joe Velikovsky, Matt Tomaszewski and Adam Blaiklock

Starring: Ben Oxenbould, Daisy Betts, Sam Lyndon, Simon Lyndon, Leeanna Walsman, Harry Cook and Peter Phelps

Boat-locked dramas have held their place among low-budget thrillers for some time. “Dead Calm,” “Open Water” and “Donkey Punch” have proffered a variety of versions of people locked in a precarious place with nowhere to go but down.

This time, young Australian filmmaker Adam Blaiklock casts a group of fairly seasoned Australian television actors and takes them to Thailand, where cheap fish and boat charters lure thousands of similarly minded southerners each year. This team has leased a vessel called “Hedonist” for what was supposed to be a boys’ surfing trip but now consists of four guys, two girls, a skipper and his crew. The two girls are two...

The South by Southwest Film Festival announced its feature film line-up Wednesday, piling heaps of cinematic goodness on an already stellar program that includes Jodie Foster’s The Beaver, Duncan Jones’ Source Code, Ti West’s The Innkeepers, Conan O’Brien’s tour documentary, and the latest Simon Pegg-Nick Frost comedy, Paul, with Seth Rogen.

Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) returns to the festival with her latest film, Red Riding Hood starring Amanda Seyfried, after the writer-director spoke on a screenwriting panel in 2009.

Plus a few favorites from the Sundance Film Festival last month, like Tom McCarthy’s Win Win, Morgan Spurlock’s The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, and Max Winkler’s Ceremony.

I’m extremely excited, even if I’m already having flashbacks to intense sleep deprivation. Like the last two years, I’ll be on the ground covering as much of the festival as I can within the packed 9 days of screenings,...

‘Tapping into the cultural zeitgeist,’ at SXSW 2011

Austin, Texas – The SXSW 2011 Feature Film Lineup was unveiled Wednesday afternoon. The festival lineup will consist of 130 features, in nine full days of programming, promising to deliver a film-going experience unlike previous years.

With a reputation for taking chances on relatively unknown filmmakers, the SXSW panel of judges carefully picked 130 films from 1,792 feature-length film submissions, (1,323 U.S. and 469 international). The program consists of 60 World Premieres, 12 North American Premieres and 16 U.S. Premieres.

The main competition categories return with eight Narrative Features, and eight Documentary Features, both competing for their respective Grand Jury Prize. New for films in competition this year, are awards for screenplay, editing, cinematography, music, and acting.

(The Midnighters and SXFantastic feature sections, along with the short film program, will be announced next week.)

Here are a few of the Features to be screened, among many others.

Narratives:

The Beaver (World Premiere)

Dir.

Readers of Sound On Sight can be sure that we will indeed be covering the SXSW Film Festival once again. As previously reported, Duncan Jones’ latest film Source Code is opening the festival and there will also be premieres for the documentary Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, Greg Mottola’s Paul, and Jodie Foster’s The Beaver. Now the full line-up has been announced it is incredible.

Hit the jump to check out the line-up, and be sure to visit our site during the event.

The 2011 SXSW Film Festival runs from March 11 – 19th in Austin, Texas.

SXSW Film Announces 2011 Features Lineup

Austin, Texas – February 2, 2011 – The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival is thrilled to announce the features lineup for this year’s Festival, March 11 – 19, 2011 in Austin, Texas. The 2011 lineup continues the SXSW tradition of tapping into the cultural zeitgeist, highlighting emerging talent and breakthrough performances and supporting first-time filmmakers.

"Win Win," starring Paul Giamatti, left, and Alex Shaffer, will screen at SXSW

Aimée Lagos’ thriller “96 Minutes,” starring Brittany Snow; Chris Eyre’s “A Year in Mooring” and “American Animal” from writer-director Matt D’Elia are among the films that will screen in competition at next month’s South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

These films will be joined in the Headliners section by Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan in Tom McCarthy’s “Win Win,” Takashi Miike’s “13 Assassins,” Rainn Wilson in “Super” and others previously announced including Jodie Foster’s “The Beaver,” Greg Mottola’s “Paul,” the documentary “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” from director Rodman Flender, and the opening-night world premiere of Duncan Jones’ “Source Code.”

The following are highlights from the lineup announced Wednesday, with descriptions provided by the festival.

Narrative Feature Competition “96 Minutes”

Director, Writer: Aimée Lagos

Four young lives. One night. One terrifying event.

"Win Win," starring Paul Giamatti, left, and Alex Shaffer, will screen at SXSW

Aimée Lagos’ thriller “96 Minutes,” starring Brittany Snow; Chris Eyre’s “A Year in Mooring” and “American Animal” from writer-director Matt D’Elia are among the films that will screen in competition at next month’s South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

These films will be joined in the Headliners section by Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan in Tom McCarthy’s “Win Win,” Takashi Miike’s “13 Assassins,” Rainn Wilson in “Super” and others previously announced including Jodie Foster’s “The Beaver,” Greg Mottola’s “Paul,” the documentary “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” from director Rodman Flender, and the opening-night world premiere of Duncan Jones’ “Source Code.”

The following are highlights from the lineup announced Wednesday, with descriptions provided by the festival.

Narrative Feature Competition “96 Minutes”

Director, Writer: Aimée Lagos

Four young lives. One night. One terrifying event.

The South By Southwest Film Conference and Festival announced this year's features lineup. The festival takes place March 11-19 in Austin, Texas.

There are a total of 130 features screening this year including 60 world premieres, 12 North American premieres and 16 U.S. premieres! This year the a total of 1,792 feature-length films were submitted, which is the most ever.

There are going to be some amazing films shown this yea. Opening night kicks off with Duncan Jones' Source Code (Moon). The fest rolls on with Jodie Foster‘s The Beaver, Greg Mottola‘s Paul, Sundance Grand Prize doc winner How to Die in Oregon, Errol Morris‘ Tabloid, Victoria Mahoney‘s Yelling to the Sky, Azazel Jacob‘s Terri. There will also be a special screening of Catherine Hardwicke‘s Red Riding Hood.

The Midnight and SXFantastic sections will be announced with the shorts program next week.

See the complete lineup below via...

The South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) just announced their entire 2011 feature film lineup, and there’s isn’t a lot of note, with regards to this blog’s focus.

Titles you should be aware of – all of which we’ve previously profiled on Shadow And Act – include, Victoria Mahoney’s feature film debut, Yelling To The Sky (which will actually make its world debut at the Berlin Film Festival later this month); plus Blacktino, the first feature film from writer/director Aaron Burns, a self-described “blacktino nerd from Austin, Texas,” who got his start at Robert Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios doing visual effects; Benda Bilili, a documentary about a band of homeless, disabled Congolese; and last, but not least, Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey, a documentary about the black man that happens to be the man behind the puppet (which also played at Sundance).

There might be...

The South by Southwest Film Festival has announced their features lineup for the 2011’s Festival, which will take place March 11th to the 19th in Austin Texas. Read the full press release after the jump. SXSW Film Announces 2011 Features Lineup Austin, Texas – February 2, 2011 – The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival is thrilled to announce the features lineup for this year’s Festival, March 11 – 19, 2011 in Austin, Texas. The 2011 lineup continues the SXSW tradition of tapping into the cultural zeitgeist, highlighting emerging talent and breakthrough performances and supporting first-time filmmakers. The Midnighters and SXFantastic feature sections, along with the short film program, will be announced next week. “This is the most exciting moment for us. After a fantastic festival of discovery in 2010, we can finally unveil the line up for this year’s event,” says Film Conference and Festival Producer Janet Pierson. “SXSW prides itself on taking chances, sifting for...

It's so good to finally be able to tell people about Caught Inside. Formally called The Hedonist, and filmed by a dynamic new Australian filmmaking team in the stunning Maldive Islands, the buzz around the film industry Down Under has been strong on this film for a while.

Now, with the news the open water thriller will premiere at the Sydney Film Festival, the filmmakers have released a fantastic trailer which recalls the classic Dead Calm, by that other Aussie, Phillip Noyce. Here's the synopsis: A surf charter to remote paradise. A bunch of mates, uncrowded waves and one rule; leave your girlfriend at home. When this rule is broken, focus turns towards a single female. She flirts with the attention of her captive male audience. Sexual tension, manipulation and deceit erupt into violence. But on a boat in the middle of nowhere you can't run and you can't hide.

Nash Edgerton's thriller The Square is set to open in North American cinemas in mid-April, and to push the film to audiences its distributor Apparition has cut a trailer that shows just how the tension ratchets up until the film punches you in the guts.

Penned by brother Joel Edgerton (with Matthew Dabner) The Square tells the downward-spiralling story of a construction supervisor (David Roberts) who becomes embroiled in a fast-growing web of lies and crime when he plots with his mistress to steal a bag of cash from her boyfriend.

Joel Edgerton also stars, as does Clare van der Boom, Anthony "King of Western Grit" Hayes, Damon Herriman, Bill Hunter, Hanna Mangan Lawrence, Julian Morrow and Peter Phelps.

SXSW is one of my favorite festivals of the year as it showcases some of the best and most innovative real independent films, and with this host of world premiers, it's also playing alot of Sundance material as well as genre fare from all over the world, many of which we've covered heavily in these pages.

From the Sundance lineup, we have films like Moon, The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, You Won't Miss Me, Grace, and Humpday, among others.

For the world genre material we've covered, there's Lake Mungo, The Square, Zift, and Awaydays.

I think you get the point that lots of great looking film will be playing. I'll leave a bit of the exploration to you..

Lineup after the break.

Narrative Features Competition

Artois the Goat

Director: Kyle Bogart. Writer: Cliff and Kyle Bogart

Lab technician Virgil Gurdies embarks on an epic quest to craft the greatest...