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FILMING FOR THE CRY (BBC) BEGINS

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Filming for the Synchronicity Films production The Cry has begun in Australia, with Stuart Menzies and December Media as the Australian producers.

Based on a novel by Helen FitzGerald and adapted by Jacquelin Perske, the cast includes Ewen Leslie (Top of the Lake), Stella Gonet (The Crown), Sophie Kennedy Clark (The Danish Girl) and Australian actors Asher Keddie (X Men: Origins) and Alex Dimitriades (Seven Types of Ambiguity).

http://www.c21media.net/bbcs-cry-attracts-abcs-attention/

THE SEARCH FOR LIFE IN SPACE NOW SHOWING

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Wednesday night saw the gathering of science and film luminaries for the premiere of The Search for Life in Space at IMAX Carlton.

The screening was followed by a Q&A with celebrity Astronomer Alan Duffy and Producer/Director Stephen Amezdroz.

About Life In Space-

A new era of space exploration has begun as NASA trail-blazes the development of a new brand of science, astrobiology, a new era of space exploration has begun.

With stunning space imagery captured by the world’s most advanced telescopes, The Search for Life in Space takes us from the surface of Mars and the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn to the extreme lava fields of Hawaii and to toxic thermal vents deep beneath the Pacific Ocean. In these harsh environments, astrobiologists look for clues to how life takes hold— and how life might thrive on other planets.

An immersive adventure, The Search for Life in Space deepens our understanding of the cosmos and makes us re-examine such fundamental questions as: “Where did we come from?”, “How did we get here?” “Are we alone?”

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MYSTERY IS THE BEST MEDICINE ON THE ABC

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The numbers are in and it seems that the #BlakeArmy continues to grow.
Series 4 was the most popular series of The Doctor Blake Mysteries to date.
Audiences were up by 4% on previous series, dominating the Friday 8:30pm timeslot, with more people tuning in to Doctor Blake than all other channels put together.
Doctor Blake was also the most time-shifted program for the ABC so far this year.
The team at December Media is now working hard on Season 5 to captivate and grow audiences once again in early 2017.

DECEMBER MEDIA IN PRODUCTION WITH NEW SKETCH COMEDY SHOW

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Fancy Boy, a new six-part sketch comedy show, commenced production in Melbourne this week.

The show, which has grown out of the three year Fresh Blood initiative to uncover exciting new talent, finds comedy in the stranger corners of suburbia: in the couple whose communication breakdown leads to a kidnap; in the artist who loses everything over his obsession with fart sounds; in the mum who struggles to accept her missing teen back into the family, mainly because he returns with a full beard and a foreign accent.

It’s twisted and tender, a comedy that lives somewhere between the moody and the downright dark. It’s an itch that starts out small, but quickly turns into a weeping sore and before you realise it, you’re all out of anti-fungal cream.

ABC’s Head of Entertainment, Jon Casimir, said “Fancy Boy made their name as a transgressive and weird live act, willing to go to places others wouldn’t. But what really marks their work is not just the boldness of their intent, it’s the heart and insight that underpins it. Fancy Boy sketches make you laugh but surprisingly, they also make you feel.”

Executive producer Stuart Menzies says, “Their live show was reviewed as ‘crude, disturbing and offensive’. We’ve think we’ve kept that spirit intact.”

Executive Vice President NBCUniversal’s Digital Enterprises and head of US streaming comedy channel Seeso, Evan Shapiro, says “The Fancy Boys are the freshest set of sketch voices I’ve seen in a long time – they are a whole new level of weird, even by Australian standards.’

Fancy Boy introduces five fresh faces to sketch comedy (actually they’re not that fresh, in fact some of them look quite unwell), John Campbell, Stuart Daulman, Greg Larsen, Henry Stone and Jonathan Schuster (but please do not give out any of these names to Social Security). And for this series they are joined by award winning comedian Anne Edmonds.

Fancy Boy will premiere on the ABC in Australia and Seeso in the USA late 2016.

Fancy Boy is produced by Nicole Minchin, series produced by Declan Fay, executive produced by Stuart Menzies and directed by Colin Cairnes.

A December Media production in association with Checkpoint Media and Fancy Boy TV Principal financier Screen Australia developed and produced in association with ABCTV and Film Victoria.

DOCTOR BLAKE TO RETURN FOR SEASON 5

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The Doctor will be back! The ABC has announced that our number one locally produced drama series, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, has been commissioned for a fifth series.

Starring the formidable talents of Craig McLachlan as police surgeon Dr Lucien Blake and Nadine Garner as his devoted housekeeper Jean, The Doctor Blake Mysteries continues to attract a huge audience year upon year.

ABC Director of Television Richard Finlayson says “We are delighted to commission more Doctor Blake for our audience. Series four has been the most successful to date with an average audience of 1.67 million viewers across TV broadcast and iview*. Doctor Blake satisfies an appetite for engaging, home grown stories.”

Series Co-creator and showrunner George Adams says “December Media is elated to be returning to 1960s Ballarat once again to bring our loyal audience more tales of murder, mystery, mayhem and a wee bit of love with Blake, Jean and all our favourite characters.”

Series five will see Doctor Blake facing mysteries on every front, from the boxing ring to the vineyards of Victoria, from Gypsy camps to the Debutants Ball. Loyalties will be tested, friendships will be strained and faiths will be challenged. Will Blake and Jean finally find the happiness they so richly deserve? And can they then survive the return of an avenging nemesis from the recent past?

The fifth series of The Doctor Blake Mysteries will be filmed later in the year and air on ABC TV in 2017.

* Oztam Metro Consolidated Data, Regional TAM Consolidated Data and OzTAM VPM data.

DOCTOR BLAKE- SEASON 4 RETURNS WITH A BANG!

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The Doctor Blake Mysteries returned on Friday 5th February to continue its run as Australia’s #1 drama with a total audience of approximately 1.685 million.
Congratulations to cast and crew on another fantastic series premiere.

DECEMBER MEDIA PRODUCES A NEW 3D FILM THAT’S OUT OF THIS WORLD

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Filming has started on December Media’s 3D IMAX film Life in Space – a follow on from the box office success Hidden Universe 3D. With the Islands of Hawaii as its backdrop, Life in Space explores the tenacity of life, transforming lava deserts into living Edens. From the depths of the Pacific Ocean, to the ice moons of Jupiter and Saturn, beyond our solar system and out into the far reaches of space as we search for the essential elements needed to sustain life.

Life in Space is the second 3D film in December Media’s four-film journey into space. The third film Earth Story is due to start production in September this year. Like the very successful Hidden Universe 3D these will be produced in partnership with Swinburne University Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing with investment from Film Victoria. With the fourth film in development December Media is cementing its place as Australia’s only 3D Giant Screen production house.

December Media’s Head of Giant Screen Production Stephen Amezdroz says, “As knowledge of our planet grows, so to does our understanding of the possibilities out in universe. Biology is no longer just the science of life on one planet but of all planets. “A new science called Astrobiology is changing the way we think about life on Earth and beyond. In any great detective story if you profile your suspect you have a greater chance of finding them, and so it is with our search for life in space,” says Stephen. 3D Computer Generated Images are being created 8K per eye representing the highest levels of CGI detail yet used in an IMAX / Giant Screen Film anywhere in the world. Life in Space is due to be released in the summer of 2016.

December Media’s third film Earth Story takes us on a visual journey to see our world during its birth, its infancy and its adolescence. Earth Story allows viewers to see our home’s glorious history using the power of 3D IMAX to discover that our world was once stranger than science fiction and more visually spectacular than our wildest dreams.

For further enquiries contact

Kerrie Theobald E: kerrie@decembermedia.com.au M: 0417 998 552

THE DOCTOR DELIVERS GREAT RESULTS

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The nominations for the 2015 AWGIEs have been announced.

December Media is thrilled that Stuart Page’s script for Darkness Visible in The Doctor Blake Mysteries, Series Three, has received a nomination in the Television – Series category.  Stuart has written for Series 1, 2, and 3.

Season three of The Doctor Blake Mysteries starring Craig McLachlan and Nadine Garner is the highest rating of all three series and is the number one returning drama series in Australia this year to date.

Season Four of The Doctor Blake Mysteries will start filming in early September. Producer George Adams said today “Stuart has been part of the Blake family since the beginning and for all of us story is everything, so it’s fantastic that Stuart’s script is getting Guild recognition, we couldn’t be more delighted. ”

December Media celebrates!

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“We are not here today just to put brand-new stains on our brand-new flooring but to raise a glass to new beginnings… ”

So December Media’s Executive Chairman & Creative Director Tony Wright began the party to celebrate the remarkable achievement of the company’s 18 years as an Australian success story. Growing from a small factual business to a burgeoning drama production company and, now one of the biggest giant screen producers in the world.

Friends from the film and television world came together to raise a toast to the new offices, welcome the new CEO Stuart Menzies and celebrate the continued domestic and international success of the December Media product. It’s a bright future with many more innovative, exciting and entertaining ventures still to come.

Photos courtesy of jimleephoto.com

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Executive Chairman of December Media Tony Wright announces the appointment of Stuart Menzies as new CEO.

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After 10 years at the ABC Stuart has returned to the production sector. His roles at the ABC included six years as Head of Documentaries moving on to becoming the First Controller of ABC 2, which he grew into a vibrant, alternative offering for the national broadcaster.

Menzies replaces Heath Watt, who departed as the Sydney-based MD in early March for personal reasons.

Tony Wright said, “I have known Stuart for many years in different roles and I’m really excited by the energy and enthusiasm that he brings to his work. He is the right person to lead December Media and position the company at a time that it is doing so much dynamic work.”

Stuart Menzies said, “I loved my time at the ABC but I am an independent producer at heart. December Media has been a first rate company for many years producing a string of great shows and opportunities abound for growth.

Stuart and his family recently returned to Melbourne from Sydney and he has started in the new post.

December Media and Biopixel ink three Giant Screen/IMAX film ventures

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Experienced Giant Screen/IMAX film production house, December Media and specialist natural history filming company BioPixel are pleased to announce that they have finalised an agreement to develop and produce three 3D Giant Screen/IMAX films.

The deal will commence with the development and production of their first film focusing on the world’s largest living structure, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Great Barrier Reef – 3D is currently in advanced stage of financing and is scheduled to commence shooting March 2015.

Emmy Award winning Victorian based company, December Media is the production house behind Giant Screen/IMAX hit, Hidden Universe 3D. Hidden Universe 3D has been in the Australian Top 10 box office in both 2013 and 2014. December Media is also currently in production on two new 3D films with Swinburne Universities Department of Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Life in Space 3D and Earth Story 3D.

BioPixel is a Queensland company based at James Cook University in Cairns. Founded by telecommunications entrepreneur Bevan Slattery and Emmy award-winning cinematographer and marine biologist Richard Fitzpatrick, BioPixel brings to the partnership an unequalled knowledge and understanding of the diversity that is the Great Barrier Reef along with a focus on the latest image capture technologies like 5K filming and high speed shooting.

Heath Watt, Managing Director of December Media, said, “We have been scoping the world for potential partnerships for new and exciting Giant Screen/IMAX projects for some time. With BioPixel’s amazing experience in and capability for shooting natural history it is a natural fit to our Giant Screen/IMAX slate strategy.”

Bevan Slattery, co-founder of BioPixel, said of the newly signed agreement, “I grew up in central Queensland so the Reef was my back yard, and I’m excited to help bring that experience to Giant Screen using the latest technologies. Combining BioPixel’s technical expertise in shooting natural history with an experienced production partner like December Media will allow us to give our audience the definitive Great Barrier Reef experience.”

Richard Fitzpatrick, co-founder and Director of Photography of BioPixel, said, “There is no better place on earth that is better suited to being presented in 3D than the Great Barrier Reef. Combining our experience and our heavy investment in the latest filming technologies with a production partner like December Media will allow a whole new generation to experience the Reef like never before.”

Stephen Amezdroz, December Media’s Head of Giant Screen Production said, “I’m excited to be able to broaden the scope of the themes (space and ocean) we bring to the largest and most immersive screens in the world, offering audiences that unique “you are there” experience. It’s also a great reason to get back in the water.”

Shooting for Great Barrier Reef – 3D will begin in March 2015 with scripting on a further two films commencing around the same time.

For further information contact:

Richard Fitzpatrick
Director of Photography BioPixel richard.fitzpatrick@biopixel.tv

Stephen Amezdroz
Manager of Giant Screen Production December Media stephen@decembermedia.com.au

    December Media appoints new Head of Non-Scripted

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    September 17, 2014December Media, leading independent content production company (Doctor Blake Mysteries, Mrs Biggs, Hidden Universe), today announces the appointment of former Rival Media Limited (“Rival”) Managing Director, Howard Myers as its new Head of Non-Scripted commencing in late 2014.

    Howard has held numerous senior production and executive roles, including stints with Disney Channel in the UK, Disney-ABC International in Los Angeles and more recently establishing independent production company Rival in the UK.

    Heath Watt, December Media’s Managing Director, said “We are delighted that we were able to entice Howard to join the December Media team. Howard’s experience in developing, pitching and producing non-scripted content of all scales will be the foundation for the realignment of December Media’s factual and non-scripted business.

    “December Media has achieved significant domestic and international success through its drama and giant screen projects in recent years. Drama franchise, Doctor Blake Mysteries, is currently in its third season for ABC and has been licensed in the UK to BBC1 and in the USA on BBCWW/PBS. Giant screen film, Hidden Universe, has been a Top 10 Australian box office film for two years and is current screening on over 35 screens worldwide. With Howard leading the creative fire in our non-scripted division, we are sure that it will not be long before our non-scripted projects deliver success for domestic and international clients alike.”

    Howard Myers, said “I am truly excited to be joining the December Media team. This is a brilliant opportunity to work with a company that has a great pedigree, a fantastic reputation and a solid base for me to create and oversee production of Factual, Factual-Entertainment and Entertainment projects both locally and across the globe. I’m also looking forward to learning to surf and BBQ like a pro!”

    Howard will initially undertake consultancy work for December Media from the UK and then join the Australian operation later in the year. Howard will work closely with the December Media team in the main office situated in Melbourne. December Media is currently scoping Sydney locations for an office, from which Howard will ultimately be based.

    DOCTOR BLAKE wins Silver in New York’s World’s Best TV and Film Festivals

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    April 10, 2014 – The Doctor Blake Mysteries (Season One) has this week received a prestigious Silver World Medal for Best Drama at the New York Festivals World’s Best TV & Film 2014 awards. The New York International festival honours the world’s most outstanding in the television and film industries with 50 countries competing for the coveted awards.

    The international win is yet another reason for celebration for the show and its producers, December Media, with this week’s announcement of the commencement of scripting for a third season of The Doctor Blake Mysteries. This comes on top of the recent announcement the star of the show, multi‐award winning Craig McLachlan, has been nominated for Most Outstanding Actor in this year’s TV WEEK Logies awards.

    Producer George Adams said, “This show just keeps giving. We are stunned by the reaction from local audiences but now this level of international recognition has blown us away. I am so delighted for our entire cast and crew who have worked so hard to create a world‐class drama. It appears we might just have done it.”

    Writers will now map out the twists and turns of the new season with promises of even bigger mysteries to uncover, more Blake secrets to unravel and a few surprises along the way. Season Three is expected to film later this year, returning to the iconic town of Ballarat.

    The Doctor Blake Mysteries is an Australian drama success story. Its final episode of the season screens this Friday (April 11 at 8.30pm on ABC1). The series enjoys recognition on the world stage selling to international markets including the United Kingdom, Europe and New Zealand.

    ABC TV to investigate more DOCTOR BLAKE!

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    April 07, 2014 – ABC TV is thrilled to announce that development is underway on the next installment of ABC1’s hit drama series, The Doctor Blake Mysteries.

    Since premiering earlier this year, the second series of The Doctor Blake Mysteries, has become essential Friday viewing attracting a combined metro and regional series average of 1,553,000*.

    Starring the multi Logie award-winning Craig McLachlan and AFI award-winner Nadine Garner, the series is produced in partnership with producer George Adams at Melbourne’s December Media. The success of The Doctor Blake Mysteries in Australia is now being mirrored overseas with the series being sold into international markets including the United Kingdom – screening on BBC1, around Europe, New Zealand and negotiations are currently in progress with the PBS network in the United States.

    ABC Head of Fiction Carole Sklan says “Craig McLachlan has proven to be perfectly cast as the good Doctor and he has acquired a legion of new and old fans. December Media constantly surprise with the originality and authenticity of the murders and mysteries that they are able to conjure up. We’re looking forward to more!”

    December Media Executive Producer Tony Wright says “I am totally delighted that the ABC wants to push ahead with developing the third series. We look forward to being able to reward our large, consistent and loyal audience with more episodes of The Doctor Blake Mysteries.”

    The final episode of series two of The Doctor Blake Mysteries airs this Friday 11th April at 8.30pm on ABC1.

    *OzTAM & RegionalTAM Consolidated data (Feb 2014).

    December Media appoints new Managing Director

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    February 25, 2014 – December Media, a leading independent content production company (The Doctor Blake Mysteries, Mrs Biggs, Hidden Universe 3D), announced today the appointment of former WTFN Commercial Director, Heath Watt as its new Managing Director, commencing early March.

    Heath spent the past two and a half years with WTFN establishing its Sydney operations and launching its distribution business, Fred Media, in which he also held the position of CEO. Prior to WTFN, Heath held senior executive roles at Network Ten (Head of Business Affairs) and at the ABC (Chief Operating Officer, Australia Network).

    Tony Wright, December Media’s Executive Chairman, said “I’m very proud of December Media’s growth and output across drama, factual and Giant Screen films over the last few years. However, I want the company to continue to expand and Heath’s business background and expertise is going to allow us to do this. I’m very excited about Heath joining the company and I’m looking forward to working with him”.

    Heath Watt said, “December Media is a company with fabulous creative instincts and an ability to deliver outstanding content. Mrs Biggs and The Doctor Blake Mysteries are recent testaments to these attributes.

    “The company has shown great innovation over the last couple of years with its move into Giant Screen content, culminating in the release of Hidden Universe 3D. I am extremely excited by the opportunities of this format.

    “I am delighted to have been offered the opportunity to join the company. I look forward to working with the Board and the creative teams to grow the business,” said Watt.