Archive for category: Acting and Extras Work in Sydney

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More Sydney Studios Planned

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A new project to make a mega film production facility in Sydney’s West has been reported. The development at Penrith Lakes (formerly a quarry and the Sydney Olympic Regatta Centre), called Lakeside Studio would comprise 10 sound stages, offices, screening room, workshop spaces, a cafeteria and a training school. The site is already part of movie history, being a location for Mad Max: Fury Road back in 2012.

The Daily Mail reported that the $150 million project would create up to 300 construction jobs over three years and, once completed, the site would ­employ up to 2,000 people on major movie projects.

James M Vernon, who produced Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge said ‘The demand for studio space in Australia has quadrupled in the past 10 years and recent inquiries from overseas producers have amounted to $2 billion in production expenditure’.

A project such as this would be a great addition to Sydney’s offering as a production hub of choice for local and International productions. Planning Minister, Rob Stokes is reported to be revealing plans soon. More to come…

📷: Movie magic at Sydney’s existing Fox Studios Australia: Screen NSW

Paid to warm seats

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Earlier this year 15 MCTV members were paid to warm seats at a bar as background for this Furphy ad. Our extras can be spotted all over film and TV lending atmosphere and creating realistic scenes for the main action.

Love the creativity of these ads!

Secrets She Keeps Season 2

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Submissions have been happening for series 2 of Network 10s hit psychological thriller, The Secrets She Keeps.

Reprising their lead roles are Jessica De Gouw (Operation Buffalo, The Crown) as Instagram-perfect mother of three, Meghan, and Laura Carmichael (Downton Abbey, The Spanish Princess) as Agatha, an obsessed woman with an unimaginably dark past.

Season 1 was an International hit, sold to the UK, US, France, New Zealand, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Russia, CIS, The Baltics and Israel. 56 MCTV members were lucky enough to work on Season 1.

Season 2 of The Secrets She Keeps continues the storyline from last year’s finale. You can read more about Season 2 here, but you may want to catch up on Season 1 first, which is available to watch now on 10 Play.

Good luck to everyone who has been submitted so far!

Days of Abandonment D.O.A

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MCTV joins HBO and many others in disappointment today, as we received news that the screen adaptation of Days of Abandonment has now been cancelled.

“Due to unforeseen personal reasons, Natalie Portman has stepped down from HBO Films’ Days of Abandonment prior to the start of filming,” HBO said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the production will not move forward. We are very sorry we won’t be able to bring this beautiful story to the screen with our talented writer/director and cast. We send our sincere thanks to our cast, producers, and crew for all their passion and hard work.”

In slightly more positive news, IF has reported that the Government funding ‘Days of Abandonment’ was to receive will now be reallocated. A spokesman for Minister Fletcher’s office said:

“After the producer of Days of Abandonment applied for and received funding under the Location Incentive program, the producer has now cancelled filming of this production since star Natalie Portman pulled out,” …“Accordingly, the government funding has been withdrawn and will be allocated to other productions.”

“There is a strong pipeline of projects seeking funding under the program and there will be more announcements coming soon.”

Any MCTV member who has been booked and cancelled at late notice will be paid in accordance with the terms of their agreement. We thank everyone who already dedicated time in preparation for this production.

Rolling on Days of Abandonment

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Shooting on Natalie Portman’s new project Days of Abandonment has started. The HBO film adaption of Elena Ferrante’s novel has received a $3.4 million grant via the Federal Government’s Location Incentive Program, with the expectation it will inject more than $25 million into the local economy. Arts Minister, Paul Fletcher expects 500 extras roles will be required on the movie.

The production, which will shoot in Sydney and regional parts of the state, is also being supported through the NSW Government’s Made in NSW Fund.

“We are very appreciative to have the opportunity to safely film in Australia alongside the talented people who live and work in the country,” said Executive Producers Maggie Betts, Celine Rattray, Sophie Mas and Len Amato. 

“Everyone has been so welcoming and we look forward to a successful production.”

Best of luck to everyone from MCTV who has been submitted so far.

More Stars on Poker Face

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More details of Russell Crowe’s new project, Poker Face, have have emerged. Liam Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky have been added to the cast, as reported by The Daily Mail. Pataky is fresh from her role on another Sydney production, Interceptor.

Poker Face is described as a high-octane psychological thriller, taking place around a high stakes poker game. The movie is set in Miami, but will be entirely filmed in Sydney at the insistence of Russell Crowe who wants  ‘to show people just how stunning and world-class Sydney is’.  

Poker Face is Crowe’s second time directing, following 2014’s The Water Diviner.

MCTV has been busy with submissions for this one. Good luck to everyone submitted so far. More to come…

Screen Australia announces Funding

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Screen Australia has awarded Story Development funding to 28 projects this week. The productions range from online series and a family feature film to an eight-part horror/dramedy series. Surreal comedy duo, Hot Department (pictured), was awarded funding for a new online comedy series ‘Home’. A TV series inspired by the 1999 movie ‘Two Hands’, which starred Heath Ledger and was set in Bondi, along with ‘Our Haunt’, set in Surry Hills also achieved funding. You can see the full list with plot outlines here.

Well done to all the successful applicants. We look forward these home grown projects moving towards production in the coming months.

How Sydney saved ‘The Matrix’

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You may think that the number of blockbusters filmed in Sydney lately is a new phenomenon, however back in 1999 a little movie called ‘The Matrix’ came to Sydney. Directors Lana and Lilly Wachowski had to overcome many obstacles to get the movie made and had to cut corners where they could. In order to save money they decided to film in Sydney. ‘The Matrix’ was eventually filmed on a $60 million budget. It’s been reported that Warner Brothers executives said it would have cost $95 million to film in America at the time.

MCTV extras appeared in ‘The Matrix’, which went on to make a whopping $465.3 million at the box office. The movie won multiple Academy Awards and spawned a franchise. The fourth Matrix movie is expected in December this year.

With a low Aussie dollar at the moment, Government subsidies and the global pandemic causing issues for film crews worldwide it’s no wonder we have seen so many productions in the last year.

You can read more about the story of ‘The Matrix’ here.

Kidman Roars

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Nicole Kidman is the latest Aussie star to bring a production home. She has been working on Apple TV+ anthology series Roar, shooting at Cronulla this week. She posted a great photo on set to Instagram that shows her new cropped hairdo for the production.

Created by Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch (“GLOW”), and based on a book of short stories by Cecelia Ahern, “Roar” is a collection of eight half-hour genre-bending episodes, told from a uniquely female point of view. In addition to starring, Kidman will executive produce alongside Per Saari via Blossom Films. Emmy Award-winning Australian producer Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutensky and Allie Goss will executive produce on behalf of Made Up Stories.

MCTV has been submitting for this one, good luck everyone!