Netflix announces new local dramas, docos.

Netflix has announce 4 new local projects, including two drama series, one documentary and one feature film.

They include a romance film with Delta Goodrem to screen in September, new dramas from Easy Tiger and Tony Ayres plus a documentary to screen later this year.

Que Minh Luu, Director of Content Australia & New Zealand said, At Netflix, we’re about telling stories from an authentic Australian point of view. We’re a team of Aussies working with Aussies to make shows that are for us, by us and about us. When we embrace local flavour unabashedly, our audiences feel seen and understood – and they fall in love with our stories.

“Our upcoming films and shows from Australia celebrate our culture and showcase the diverse people and landscapes from all corners of the country and across all genres. Today, we’re sharing some of the new Australian films and shows that will be released on Netflix or commence production this year, with plenty more to come yet!”

In September Netflix will debut new feature film Love is in the Air from Jaggi Entertainment.

“Giving our slate a romance boost, Australia’s sweetheart Delta Goodrem stars in this movie about a seaplane pilot falling for the man sent to sink her business. Filmed in Queensland’s Whitsundays, Love is in the Air will set hearts aflutter with its familiar and comforting ‘will they, won’t they’ journey towards love,” said Luu.

Cattle station drama Desert King (working title) is from Easy Tiger and Ronde.

“Set in the Australian Outback, this epic succession tale revolves around billionaire miners, Traditional Owners, cowboys and desert gangsters fighting over the world’s biggest cattle station the size of Wales. The series is going to be red and dusty because it’s the Outback, but it’ll also be sexy with a lot of guns and helicopters. And a lot of cows,” she continued.

The Survivors (Working Title) is a series produced by Tony Ayres (Fires, The Slap, Clickbait, Stateless, Glitch)

“We’re teaming up with Matchbox Pictures to adapt The Survivors by acclaimed Australian author Jane Harper into an ambitious crime- mystery limited series. Set in a Tasmanian seaside town, the cerebral narrative explores the impact of unresolved grief.”

Documentary film OneFour: Against All Odds will premiere later this year.

“This documentary sheds light on a controversy dispute that’s still playing out today. On one side is you have arguably the most popular drill rap group in Australia, some of whom skirted on the wrong side of the law. On the other side, you have a dedicated police task force trying to shut them down and prevent them from performing. Although OneFour are not typically featured on mainstream TV, they are wildly popular —and these are the quintessentially Australian stories that we want to tell.

Luu added,” We’re excited about the variety and scope these new films and shows bring to our existing slate of homegrown stories. Having seen success both here in Australian and around the world with films like Run Rabbit Run, True Spirit, The Stranger, and A Perfect Pairing as well as series such as Wellmania, Heartbreak High, and Surviving Summer that have racked up millions of view hours and featured high in our Top 10 lists both locally and globally; we hope to continue to create space for Australian stories to be told and succeed.”

Love is in the Air (Film): September 28.
A seaplane pilot flying in the tropics finds herself falling for the man sent to sink her business.
Director: Adrian Powers
Writer: Adrian Powers, Caera Bradshaw, Katharine E. McPhee
Produced by: Steve Jaggi and Kelly Son Hing for Jaggi Entertainment and Kylie Pascoe
Cast: Delta Goodrem, Joshua Sasse, Steph Tisdell, Roy Billing

Jaggi Entertainment’s Steve Jaggi says: “It was a thrill to work with Netflix again, and return to Far North Queensland to film Love Is In the Air earlier this year. We were welcomed by the Airlie Beach community, and our cast and crew worked incredibly hard to bring this story to the screen. Shot entirely on location, we pushed the boundaries by shooting in glorious 8K Vista Vision and it is my hope that audiences experience tropical Queensland as they enjoy the film!”

OneFour: Against All Odds (Documentary Film); Later in 2023.
A group of Sydney-based, Pacific Islander kids start recording drill raps to avoid a life of crime. Two years into their meteoric rise, a police task force shuts down their sold-out national tour due to concerns that the group’s music will incite violence.
Director: Gabriel Gasparinatos
Producers: Sarah Noonan, Erin Moy, Jennifer Peedom and Gabriel Gasparinatos
Produced by: Entropico, Stranger Than Fiction

Writer and Director Gabriel Gasparinatos says: “The story of OneFour is one of the most significant cultural moments in recent Australian history. It’s about the changing face of this country and who gets to have a voice in it. Australia markets this sunkissed image of itself and it’s so important to show it’s not all like that, and that there is another side to this country the world is only just starting to see. I’m so grateful to OneFour for trusting us with their story and to Netflix for bringing it to the global audience it deserves.”

Desert King (Series) (Working Title):
When the world’s largest cattle station is left without a clear successor, generational clashes threaten to tear the Lawson family apart. Sensing this once great dynasty is in decline, the outback’s most powerful factions – rival cattle barons, desert gangsters, Indigenous elders and billionaire miners – move in for the kill. Desert King is an explosive drama about power, family, land and legacy.
Executive Producers: Ben Davies, Ian Collie, Rob Gibson
Producer: Paul Ranford
Created by: Tim Lee and Ben Davies
Director: Greg McLean
The series is a co-production between: Easy Tiger and Ronde

Ben Davies and Rob Gibson say: “We’re beyond excited to be heading into the remote outback to make this epic and distinctively Australian drama for audiences worldwide on Netflix. And we’re thrilled to have assembled an incredible creative team, on and off screen, to do justice to the rarely-seen world, characters and stories of the Top End—a place where timeless meets modern, and where landscape is life and livelihood, but also mortal danger. More soon!”

The Survivors (Series) (Working Title):
Fifteen years ago, a terrible storm hit the seaside tourist town of Evelyn Bay and three young people died. Kieran lost his older brother, Finn. Mia lost her best friend, Gabby. Finn’s best friend, Toby, also died. The respective families, the community of friends, and the very town itself, became haunted and defined by these immeasurable losses. Kieran and Mia coped with their feelings of guilt and culpability by running away. But now, they are back and a new tragedy—the murder of a young woman—forces them to confront the past again with all of its murky secrets. Based on the novel by Jane Harper. Produced by: Tony Ayres Productions (TAP), which is part of Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group.

Tony Ayers says: “Jane Harper’s brilliant novel is a gift to adapt, because its clever murder mystery plot is actually a Trojan horse for a deeper examination of how we live with the wounds that life inflicts on us. It’s about the cost of survival and how that impacts differently on men and women. I’m thrilled that we are working with Netflix on this show, as its themes hit the sweet spot of being both distinctly Australian, yet resonant and meaningful to a global audience.”