December Media nominated for Media Super Production Business of the Year

October 11, 2013 –  December Media has been nominated for Media Super Production Business of the Year at this year’s Screen Producers Australia Awards!

The Screen Producers Australia Awards recognise the creation of outstanding screen content by Australian screen businesses. The Awards will be held during the Screen Forever Conference 2013 on Wednesday 20 November in Melbourne.

Fore more information visit the SPAA Screen Forever website.

MRS BIGGS Sheridan Smith nominated for International Emmy

October 8, 2013 – The nominations for the 41st International EMMY® Awards have been announced.19 countries are represented this year,with the ceremony taking place on November 25 in New York City.

British Actress Sheridan Smith has been nominated for Best Actress for her performance as Charmian Biggs in December Media and ITV’s mini series Mrs Biggs.

The nominees for BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS are:

Li Sun
In The Back Palace: Legend of Zhen Huan
Dongyang Flower Film TV Culture / Beijing TV Art Center / SMG Picture / Beijing Star Galaxy Film TV Culture Communication
PR China
Sheridan Smith In Mrs Biggs
ITV Studios / December Media
UK
Lotta Tejle In 30 Degrees in February
SVT / Fundament Film
Sweden
Fernanda Montenegro In Sweet Mother
TV Globo
Brazil

Fore a full list of nominees visit the International EMMY® Awards website.

Australia’s first 3D IMAX film Hidden Universe 3D hits stellar heights at the box office in its first week

October 1, 2013 – Hidden Universe3D is hidden no longer. In its first week of release, Australia’s first 3D IMAX production has reached the Top 18 of the Australian Box Office. For the weekend of the film’s release Hidden Universe3D grossed $30,056. With only

two prints of the film in circulation, it wins the average gross per print by far with $15,028/print in front of Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine ($8,518/print).

Hidden Universe3D takes audiences on a breathtaking journey deep into space in the cinematic medium that transports audiences like no other. With the full power of IMAX 3D cinematography, the deepest reaches of our universe are brought to life with unprecedented clarity through real images captured by the world’s most powerful telescopes—seen on-screen and in 3D for the first time.

Stunning, high-resolution 3D images of space allow moviegoers to explore the earliest galaxies, watch stars being born in vivid clouds of gas and dust, tour the surface of Mars, and witness images of distant celestial structures including stunning views of the Sun.

Seen for the first time in IMAX 3D, these dramatic new images offer fresh insight into the origins and evolution of the universe.

Narrated by Golden Globe winner Miranda Richardson, Hidden Universe3D is a December Cinema Productions film produced in association with Swinburne University of Technology, Film Victoria, and the European Southern Observatory (ESO).  Executive produced by Emmy®-award-winning producer Tony Wright.  Produced in association with MacGillivray Freeman Films. Produced by Stephen Amezdroz and written and directed by Russell Scott. The musical score is by Dale Cornelius.

www.hiddenuniversemovie.com

Doctor Blake returns to Ballarat

August 1, 2013 – Filming of the second season of The Doctor Blake Mysteries has commenced last Monday. Production will take place in Melbourne and Ballarat during the next 6 months and the audience will

see the maverick country town Doctor Lucien Blake (Craig McLachlan) return to their TV screens in early 2014.

In a statement announcing the second series, McLachlan said: “I can’t

even begin to express how thrilled I am to be traveling back to late 50’s Ballarat for another round of The Doctor Blake Mysteries. My heartfelt thanks to everyone for tuning in.”

December Media’s head of drama and series creator, George Adams, said: “The audience response to the show has been overwhelming and we are delighted ABC TV want more. Tony Wright and I are beyond pleased the show has found such a loyal following so quickly. The show has been blessed with wonderful stories, a great cast, a tremendous crew and memorable locations. All of these elements plus Craig McLachlan’s finely-tuned performance as Doctor Lucien Blake have helped create a classic murder mystery series for a Friday evening on the ABC.”

Australia’s Doctor Blake to make house calls in the UK

July 4, 2013 – December Media is delighted to announce The Doctor Blake Mysteries has been picked up by BBC One daytime in the UK.

BBC One daytime will screen the 10-episode series in late 2013.

In Australia, the highly successful series achieved a national average audience of 1.5 million viewers across its 10 weeks on air.

Series creator George Adams said today, “Having BBC One take a murder mystery show created and produced in Australia is a tremendous validation of the hard work put in by our entire cast and crew, and especially Craig’s spectacular performance as Doctor Lucien Blake”.

“We thought it would be hard to top the fact that we have had the ABC hit of the year with 1.5m viewers tuning in every week, but this is the icing on the cake,” says Adams. “Our distributor ITVG has done a great job in securing the sale and we hope that the domestic and now international recognition of the show goes some way to repaying the commitment shown by ABC TV, Screen Australia and Film Victoria. As Doctor Blake would say “Onwards and upwards.”

Head of Fiction ABC TV Carole Sklan said, “The Doctor Blake Mysteries showcases the creative work of outstanding Australian practitioners. Itʼs wonderful to know it not only connects strongly with local audiences but also resonates with audiences around the world.”

Head of Programme Acquisition for the BBC Sue Deeks said, “We are delighted that the unconventional Doctor Blake will be providing traditional Aussie grit and humour as well as intriguing and intelligent mystery to BBC Daytimeʼs successful drama line-up.”

The Doctor Blake Mysteries, set in the late 1950s, is filmed in the iconic town of Ballarat 115km north west of Melbourne. Craig McLachlan stars as the intriguing Dr Lucien Blake. Nadine Garner plays housekeeper Jean Beazley, Cate Wolfe is the district nurse Mattie OʼBrien and Joel Tobeck the tenacious Chief Superintendent Matthew Lawson.

ABC TV announced recently it had commissioned a second series of its top rating drama series The Doctor Blake Mysteries. Filming will commence on Monday July 29, 2013.

The Doctor Blake Mysteries is a December Media Production in association with ABC TV, Screen Australia and Film Victoria. Producer George Adams and Executive Producer Tony Wright. ABC Executive Producers Christopher Gist and Carole Sklan.

HIDDEN UNIVERSE 3D Official Teaser online

July 1, 2013 – Already screening in the US and Denmark, Hidden Universe 3D is set to hit the big screen in Australia in September. In the meantime though, you can check out the trailer and plenty of interesting details about this breathtaking documentary online now.

Hidden Universe 3D is a breathtaking tour of deep space brought to life on the giant screen through mesmerizing, real images captured by the world’s most powerful telescopes. In an age where space tourism has become reality, the film offers a ticket to ride to the stars through the lens of the world’s most powerful telescopes.

The film is a unique partnership between Swinburne University of Technology’s Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing and December Media.

• Start your space adventure here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yap2gSYTlM

BAFTA success for December Media/ITV co-production MRS BIGGS, Sheridan Smith wins leading actress

Sheridan Smith as Charmian Biggs

May 13, 2013 –  The same day as Mrs Biggs finished its first run on Network 7, Sheridan Smith won the leading actress BAFTA Award for

her performance in the December Media/ITV top rating mini series.

She beat fellow nominees Sienna Miller, Rebecca Hall and Anne Reid.

Mrs Biggs is the true story of the woman behind Britain’s most famous villain, Great Train Robber Ronald Biggs. Over five hour-long episodes we go an astonishing journey with her, from naïve young woman to reluctant gangster’s moll; from a stifling, choking life at the hands of an overbearing father, to

the joy of freedom and motherhood. Mrs Biggs gives us the inside story

on one of the most infamous crimes of the 20th century; but more than anything it is a sweeping love story told across three decades and from one side of the world to the other.

MRS BIGGS premieres Sunday 14 April at 9.30pm on Channel 7

April 9, 2013 – December Media’s and ITV’s 5-part drama series Mrs Biggs, starring Sheridan Smith and Daniel Mays, premieres on Sunday 14 April at 9:30pm on Channel Seven.

Mrs Biggs is the true story of the woman behind Britain’s most famous villain, Great Train Robber Ronald Biggs. Over five hour-long episodes we go an astonishing journey with her, from naïve young woman to reluctant gangster’s moll; from a stifling, choking life at the hands of an overbearing father, to the joy of freedom and motherhood. ‘Mrs Biggs’ gives us the inside story on one of the most infamous crimes of the twentieth century; but more than anything it is a sweeping love story told across three decades and from one side of the world to the other.

Mrs Biggs is a co-production between ITV Studios in the UK and Melbourne based December Media for Seven Network in Australia.

Check out the trailer for a sneak peak of the program:

HIDDEN UNIVERSE website launch

The eerie glow of the Cats Eye Nebula, as seen in Hidden Universe.

5 February 2013 –  Hidden Universe, December Cinema Productions’ 3D IMAX® space film’s website is launched! Your passport to space awaits on hiddenuniversemovie.com.

The film is distributed by MacGillivray Freeman Films, the world’s most distinguished distributors of Imax films and is coming to IMAX, IMAX 3D and Giant Screen theatres in May 2013!

In the meantime follow Hidden Universe on Facebook for news, backgrounds and sneak peeks.

ABC TV asks Doctor Blake for a repeat prescription

Dr Lucien Blake (Craig McLachlan)

28 February 2o13 – ABC TV is pleased to announce its current top rating drama, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, is in development for a second series.

Produced by December Media for ABC TV, The Doctor Blake Mysteries premiered on 1 February with a national audience of 1.8 million*. It is achieving a five city series average of 1.2 million, winning its timeslot each week for the first three episodes. It has also attracted a total of 160,000 plays on ABC iview across four episodes.

December Media’s Head of Drama and series creator, George Adams, said, “The audience response to the show has been overwhelming and we are delighted ABC TV want more. Tony Wright and I are beyond pleased the show has found such a loyal following so quickly. The show has been blessed with wonderful stories, a great cast, a tremendous crew and memorable locations. All of these elements plus Craig McLachlan’s finely tuned performance as Doctor Lucien Blake have helped create a classic murder mystery series for a Friday evening on the ABC.”

ABC TV Head of Fiction, Carole Sklan said “Doctor Blake not only has intriguing mystery stories and a fascinating lead character, the show also explores our social history in unexpected and entertaining ways”.

Craig McLachlan said, “I can’t even begin to express how thrilled I am to be traveling back to late 50’s Ballarat for another round of The Doctor Blake Mysteries. My heartfelt thanks to everyone for tuning in.”

The Doctor Blake Mysteries series one has a further 5 episodes to run on ABC1 on Friday nights at 8:30pm and is also available for watching on ABC iview.

Production Credits: A December Media Production in association with ABC TV, Screen Australia and Film Victoria. Producer George Adams and Executive Producer Tony Wright. ABC Executive Producers Christopher Gist and Carole Sklan.

*Source: OzTAM metro consolidated data and RegionalTAM data.

Dr Blake proves just the right medicine for Friday nights on ABC TV

Dr Blake (Craig McLachlan) and Jean Beazley (Nadine Garner)

February 5, 2013 – A combination of Craig McLachlan, the ABC, December Media and a murder mystery set in Ballarat has proved a domestic winner.

The Doctor Blake Mysteries, the latest drama offering from ABC1 screened on Friday night at 8.30 and proved an audience winner for the network.

“We are thrilled audiences love this series as much as we do. We are confidant we have created a show that just gets better and better each week and that the audiences will fall in love with Craig McLachlan’s Dr Lucien Blake even more as the series continues” says show Producer George Adams

Craig McLachlan said today, “I just want to send out a big ‘thank you’ to everyone who dropped by the good doctor’s surgery last Friday night, the feedback has been quite overwhelming. Equally I’d have to say that the interest and enthusiasm shown leading up to our debut was amazing. And very much appreciated, believe me!”

The 10-part series, also starring Nadine Garner, Joel Tobeck, Rick Donald and featuring, Cate Wolfe, Penne Hackforth-Jones and John Wood is set in 1959 and tells the story of Dr Lucien Blake, an ex POW, who struggles with his war time experiences and works as the town doctor and Police Surgeon.

HIDDEN UNIVERSE 3D filming completed!

© Malcolm Ludgate 2012

January 2013 – Filming of December Cinema Productions’ 3D IMAX® space film, Hidden Universe has wrapped!

The final filming took place in Chile’s Atacama Desert with the IMAX® Solido 3D camera. The locations were challenging, at times ofan altitude of 5000 metres. The outcome is incredible footage from the moonlike desert landscape and the world’s largest telescopes thatallow us to see an immersive view of the cosmos. CGI animationmakes up 50% of the film, utilising Swinburne University’s 12- teraflop supercomputer to process and animate the vision.

“None of the computer graphics are make-believe. Every image is based on real data, be it Mars, a nebula, the sun, or a galaxy.” Stephen Amezdroz, Producer

Post production has commenced with the film slated for release mid April 2013. The film will be distributed by MacGillivray Freeman Films, the world’s most distinguished distributors of Imax films.

More information about the program can be found on the MacGillivray Freeman Films Website.

Check out the official trailer of THE DOCTOR BLAKE MYSTERIES

January 11, 2013 – The ABC has released the official trailer of The Doctor Blake Mysteries today.

The Doctor Blake Mysteries is an original 10-part murder mystery series starring one of Australia’s favourite and most versatile actors, Craig McLachlan, as the maverick country town doctor Lucien Blake. A risk-taker, he’s impulsive and not afraid to upset the status quo.

The series starts Friday, 1 February at 8.30pm on ABC1.

• Follow Dr Blake on Facebook
• News, sneak peeks and Dr Blake exclusives on Twitter

THE DOCTOR BLAKE MYSTERIES premieres Friday 1 February at 8.30PM on ABC 1

January 8, 2013 – The original 10-part ABC1 murder mystery series, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, is going to premiere on Friday 1 February at 8:30PM on ABC 1.

Dr Lucien Blake (Craig McLachlan) left Ballarat as a young man. But now he finds himself returning to take over his dead father’s medical practice. And one of the unwanted duties his father left him is the on-call role of police surgeon.

Beside Blake, helping and at some times hindering, are his housekeeper Jean (Nadine Garner), her nephew Danny (Rick Donald), a young constable, District Nurse Mattie O’Brien (Cate Wolfe) and Chief Superintendent Matthew Lawson (Joel Tobeck).

Set in the gothic gold rush town of Ballarat in 1959. The wealth that built its grand architecture is long gone – but not the mysteries, murder and deceit that linger beneath the surface of its faded glory.

The series is produced by George Adams and Tony Wright. A December Media Production in association with ABC TV, Screen Australia and Film Victoria.

• Follow Dr Blake on Facebook
• News, sneak peeks and Dr Blake exclusives on Twitter

Emmy casts its glow

Tony Wright with his Emmy. Credit: Michael Copp, Hobsons Bay Weekly December 6, 2012 –  Williamstown producer Tony Wright has won international acclaim for producing the documentary Decoding Immortality aka. Immortal, about Nobel Prize-winning Australia scientist Professor Elizabeth Blackburn. He spoke to Goya Dmytryshchak of Marbyrnong & Hobsons Bay WEEKLY.

You can find the full interview on the Maribyrnong Weekly Website.

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IMMORTAL wins 2012 Emmy Award

Sonya Pemberton and Tony Wright with their Emmy® Award. © Marc Bryan-Brown 2012

October 2, 2012 – Last night in New York, December Media’s documentary Immortal was recognized by the United States National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) with a News and Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Science and Technology Programming.

Five years in the making, Immortal was written and directed by Sonya Pemberton and produced by Tony Wright for December Media/Pemberton Films for SBS. The film follows the work of distinguished Australian scientist Professor Elizabeth Blackburn.  In 2009, Elizabeth and her team’s discovery of an ‘immortalising’ enzyme deep in the DNA of a single-celled pond creature, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

Broadcast on SBS in 2010 as part of its ‘Secrets of the Human Body’ season, Immortal was retitled Decoding Immortality for the American audience and broadcast on the Smithsonian Channel in 2011.

Immortal has now won over 20 major accolades including Special Jury Prize, 2012 Jackson Hole Science Media Awards, Best Science at the 2011 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, Best Documentary at the 2011 National Press Club, and winning Sonya Pemberton the 2011 Health Journalist of the Year.

The 33rd Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards was presented on Oct. 1, at a ceremony at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz atLincoln Center, located in the Time Warner Center in New York.  It was attended by over 900 leading television professionals. The Emmy Awards are the major US national broadcast journalism competition. They promote journalistic excellence by awarding the coveted Emmy to the very best news reports and documentary films in the world.

http://www.emmyonline.tv/mediacenter/news_33rd_winners.html

December Media starts production on the Big One, as big as it gets!

July 13, 2012 – While a supercomputer in Melbourne turns new data into a 3D simulation of the evolution of the universe, producer Stephen Amezdroz will shoot live action scenes in some of the highest, driest and remotest places on the planet for a new giant-screen film called HIDDEN UNIVERSE (working title).  The film, is the product of a unique partnership between December Media and Swinburne University’s world-renowned Centre of Astrophysics and Supercomputing. Russell Scott of Swinburne 3D Productions at the Centre will direct the film.

The film will be distributed by MacGillivray Freeman Films, the world’s most distinguished distributors of Imax films.

“We’re making a film about what lies within the gaze of the new generation of telescopes,” explains Amezdroz.  “Hidden Universe will reveal as never before the incredible links between our own nature and the rest of the universe and the possibility of life on other planets – giving audiences a dramatic new view of the cosmos.”

With production taking place in July and August in Chile and Australia, the Australia-based filmmakers will employ computer-generated imagery, remastered telescopic images and cutting edge new data to create simulations of the cosmos and its beginnings.  From imagery obtained from telescopes such as Hubble, the VLT (Very Large Telescope) and ALMA Telescope in Chile, December Media will create 3D giant-screen images of celestial structures such as the Whirlpool Galaxy, Crab Nebula and many others. The film will also visualize for audiences what telescopes “see” in multi-wavelength revealing previously unseen forms such as pulsars and stellar nurseries.

“Space films have a long and successful track record at the box office and Hidden Universe promises to continue that trend,” said Bob Harman, Director of Distribution at MacGillivray Freeman Films.  “The many dome screens and space centers in our industry are especially pleased the film is being developed.”

Amezdroz expressed one simple aim for the film, “I would like the audience to take the time and look up, and realize they are part of this amazing universe.”

HIDDEN UNIVERSE is slated for release in 2013.

Cameras roll on two new TV drama series

April 19, 2012 – Two December Media produced TV drama series have started principal photography this week: 10 part crime series The Doctor Blake Mysteries which will screen on ABC1 in 2013 as well as the five part drama Mrs Biggs, a co-production with ITV Studios, which has already finished filming in the UK and has now moved to Australia for five weeks of production.

The Doctor Blake Mysteries is set in the Victorian country town of Ballarat in 1959, with Craig McLachlan in the lead role of Dr Lucien Blake, who is not only the local GP, but is also the town’s police surgeon, often finding himself investigating deaths – both natural and unnatural.

Articles about the crime series and the first days of shooting can be found on TV Tonight, The Courier, and Geelong Advertiser.

Mrs Biggs is based on the life of Charmian Biggs, ex-wife of the Great Train Robbery mastermind, ‘Ronnie’ Biggs. The series will chronicle Charmian’s life from the moment she first met and fell in love with Ronnie, to their years in Australia and the heartbreak of his rejection after he fled to Rio de Janeiro.

More information about Mrs Biggs can be found on TV Tonight and ITV. Snaps from the UK set have been published by The Sun and The Daily Mail.

AUSTRALIA ON TRIAL premieres 8.30pm Thursday 5th April on ABC1

March 27, 2012 – December Media and Essential Media & Entertainment’s three-part docudrama series Australia on Trial will be on air from the 5th of April.

Presented by historian Michael Cathcart, Australia On Trial is a thought-provoking series, recreating three historic trials that throw light on the Australia of colonial times.

Based on actual court reports, the series provides a unique take on how Australia’s national identity has evolved – and how the moral, social and political questions raised by these trials still resonate in the present day.

Each episode covers a separate trial. The trials featured are The Mount Rennie Rape Trial (1886), The Eureka 13 Trial (1855), and The Myall Creek Massacre Trial (1838).

The series will air on ABC 1 Thursdays at 8:30pm, from 5th April starting with The Mount Rennie Outrage. The Eureka 13 screens the following week Thursday 12th April, 8:30pm and Massacre at Myall Creek on Thursday 19th April, 8:30pm.

More information about the program can be found on the ABC website.

ABC Trailer Episode 3 Massacre at Myall Creek
ABC Trailer Episode 2 The Eureka 13
ABC Trailer Episode 1 The Mount Rennie Outrage

OUT OF THE ASHES wins AACTA Award for Best Cinematography

Director of Photography David Parer and Producer Tony Wright are proud of their success at the AACTA Awards Luncheon

January 18, 2012 – December Media’s documentary Out of the Ashes, has won the Best Cinematography (Documentary) Award at the inaugural AACTA Awards in Sydney this Sunday.

Out of the Ashes, directed by Dione Gilmour and produced by Tony Wright, tells in beautiful cinematography, the story of how Nature rose out of the ashes after devasting bush fires tore through Victoria on the 7th of February 2009.

Producer Tony Wright and Director of Photography David Parer received the prestigious award this Sunday at the AACTA Awards Luncheon in Sydney. This year’s AACTA Awards are a continuum of the AFI Awards, which have proudly celebrated Australia’s screen excellence and heritage since 1958.

Footage including David Parer’s interview (commencing at 01:14) captured from the AACTA media room can be seen on the AFI youtube channel.

All winners and nominees are listed on the AACTA homepage.