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Stan announces Qld-based movie The Second

Psychological thriller about two female friends to be fully funded by Screen Queensland.

stanStan has confirmed its first feature film produced by a partnership with Screen Queensland.

The Second is a psychological thriller about two female friends whose lives entwine in the pages of an elusive second novel. Mairi Cameron will direct with Stephen Lance as writer/producer and Leanne Tonkes as producer.

The $1 million production budget will be fully funded by Screen Queensland. It will enter production in the second half of 2016.

“The Queensland Originals Fully Funded Features with Stan program is an Australian-first and is part of our charge to lead Australia in innovative screen content production,” Qld Premier and Minister for the Arts Annastascia Palaszczuk said.

The Second will receive an ‘event’ theatrical and festival release and exclusive subscription video on demand (SVOD) distribution through Stan.

“The Queensland Government is investing in new media and digital innovation and this fantastic initiative will propel Queensland creatives into a new digital space,” she said.

 

Nick Forward, Stan’s Chief Content Officer, said, “The success of No Activity and Wolf Creek have shown the audience demand for high quality Australian productions and we are excited to be working with the best creative talent in the country to bring more Stan Originals to the screen,” he said.

“We’re delighted to be working with our partners at Screen Queensland in this exciting initiative. Congratulations to Stephen, Mairi and Leanne, and we look forward to working with them to bring their vision to life.”

 

Special mention goes to the three other teams:
– Contact Lost by producer/writer Jade van der Lei and writer/director Josh Tanner
– The Kingdom of Me by producers Lucas Thyer and Jeff Tseng and writer/director Sean Gilligan
– and The Love Division by producer Christina Radburn and writer/director Tim Marshall and executive producer Paddy McDonald.

6 Responses

  1. It is sad to hear the Queensland Premier talking about this as if it is part of new media digital innovation. It is not. It is just another telemovie 100% funded by the Queensland taxpayer with no contribution by Stan. It is about time that streaming companies were brought into the Australian content rules that commercial free to air and to a lesser extent Foxtel have to comply with. The playing field is not level at all.

    1. “It is about time that streaming companies were brought into the Australian content rules …”

      I’m inclined to agree – but if I think about it I have to admit there’s no good reason why.

      FTA? Limited public resource (spectrum) licenced by the govt – it makes sense to require some public return e.g. Aus content.
      Foxtel? Govt-licenced duopoly->monopoly built on limited public resources – so again it makes sense to require some public return.
      Internet streaming? Not using a public resource, or limited by bandwidth or licence, or a monopoly (or small oligopoly). Nothing public is being restricted/given up by its presence – so what’s the justification for enforcing a public return?

      Yes, the more you think about it the more complex it gets – but, fundamentally, there’s no good reason streaming should have forced content rules apart from “its only fair & I want it”…

  2. I remember when Quickflix bagged on Netflix for not making original productions here in Australia (despite the fact Quickflix didn’t and still doesn’t have any of their own).

    But it seems Stan is the only one who is taking the chance on original products in Australia which people might like, good on them, we need more of that here.

    1. Think you might be blurring the memories a little. Quickflix accused Netflix of not having an Australian base / staff. I don’t recall content being the argument, because they have never done any themselves.

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