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SF commissions Australian sci-fi telemovie

SF channel has commissioned a sci-fi telemovie, Arrowhead, based on a short filmed in the South Australian desert.

2013-06-18_1021SF channel has commissioned its first-ever local production, a sci-fi telemovie, Arrowhead, based on a short filmed in the South Australian desert.

The film by Writer, Director and Producer Jesse O’Brien is described as “a tale of survival set amongst the distant stars. Kye is a prisoner of war caught between two armies that he doesn’t believe in. When offered an opportunity for freedom, Kye sets out on one last rescue mission, only to become stranded on a desert moon when his ship – the Arrowhead – crash lands. Kye has to learn to survive when we discovers a new lifeform that will challenge his very body and soul.”

“We are incredibly proud to announce our commitment to Arrowhead, our first ever local drama production exclusively for SF. It is a unique project and we are excited to be supporting a new age of Australian filmmakers in the development of independent science fiction production”, said Peter Hudson, CEO of SF.

Jesse O’Brien added “My original goal, like any other independent filmmaker, was to somehow get a film made and then just hope somebody would want to pick it up. But the faith that SF has put into the project has given the movie a guaranteed audience. That’s something no first-time director would ever begin to ask for.”

Production will start in June and it is expected to air in the second half of 2014 on SF.

6 Responses

  1. @ Shazz, that was my thinking too, i.e. could this be the start of a new series. There’s not a lot of space based sci fi TV being aired currently, perhaps this is a step towards filling that void. Hopefully it’s not done too cheaply.

  2. Any idea on what kind of budget? I hope its not the uber el cheapo $1-2m spent on US Syfy tv movies.

    I wonder if this could be an attempt to launch a series if it proves to be a reasonable success.

  3. Thanks David for the clarification that previous programs have been produced, as it wasn’t clear in the article (“first ever local production” would imply the channels first local program as the only difference between Sci Fi and SF is the name, indent, and ads – basically just a facial with no real structural changes). Still rediculous that in 7 years only a few local documentaries have been made.

  4. SF is 7 years old and this is it’s first local production. This is a joke! Don’t get me wrong, I love SF (ritually watch Lost Girl and Warehouse 13), but how can a channel that is owned by three of the biggest media networks in the world only just making its first series when 10% of it’s annual expenditure is meant to be spent on local production? Here is an idea – stop sending 10% of your funding to other networks for their local productions and just make your own shows! But on a positive note, it will be interesting to see some local sci-fi production!

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