Yet another Jungle Entertainment series is headed Stateside – this time drama Wakefield, with Showtime snapping up the US rights.
It’s the second Australian acquisition by the ViacomCBS-owned premium network of late, having also picked up See-Saw Films’ The End last September.
Created by Kristen Dunphy and originally commissioned by the ABC, Wakefield explores the fine line between sanity and madness through the perspectives of staff and patients at a psychiatric facility.
The cast is lead by Brit Rudi Dharmalingham, a gifted nurse, who is the sanest person in what is a pretty crazy place. But when a song gets stuck in his head, a dark secret from his past begins to intrude into his present.
The ensemble also includes Mandy McElhinney, Geraldine Hakewill, Harriet Dyer, Ryan Corr, Sam Simmons and Felicity Ward.
Sam Meikle is a showrunner with Dunphy, and both wrote alongside Joan Sauers and Cathy Strickland. Series...
It’s the second Australian acquisition by the ViacomCBS-owned premium network of late, having also picked up See-Saw Films’ The End last September.
Created by Kristen Dunphy and originally commissioned by the ABC, Wakefield explores the fine line between sanity and madness through the perspectives of staff and patients at a psychiatric facility.
The cast is lead by Brit Rudi Dharmalingham, a gifted nurse, who is the sanest person in what is a pretty crazy place. But when a song gets stuck in his head, a dark secret from his past begins to intrude into his present.
The ensemble also includes Mandy McElhinney, Geraldine Hakewill, Harriet Dyer, Ryan Corr, Sam Simmons and Felicity Ward.
Sam Meikle is a showrunner with Dunphy, and both wrote alongside Joan Sauers and Cathy Strickland. Series...
- 7/15/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
There will be a strong Australian contingent at Series Mania in France this year, including Jungle Entertainment’s Wakefield, Aquarius Films’ The Unusual Suspects, Porchlight Films’ Fisk and Lazy Susan Films’ Iggy & Ace.
2020 saw the international TV festival initially forced to cancel outright before moving industry meetings and networking online. This year it returns, after two postponements, as an in-person event in Lille August 26 to September 3, with an accompanying special digital program.
Series Mania Forum, the industry arm of Series Mania, is set for August 30 – September 1.
Dramas Wakefield, commissioned by the ABC, and The Unusual Suspects, by Sbs, will each compete in the Panorama section.
ABC-ordered comedy Fisk, written, directed by and starring Kitty Flanagan, will be shown in the comedy strand, while Iggy and Ace, an upcoming short-form drama series for Sbs On Demand, will make its world premiere in the web series competitive section.
Two other Australian shows...
2020 saw the international TV festival initially forced to cancel outright before moving industry meetings and networking online. This year it returns, after two postponements, as an in-person event in Lille August 26 to September 3, with an accompanying special digital program.
Series Mania Forum, the industry arm of Series Mania, is set for August 30 – September 1.
Dramas Wakefield, commissioned by the ABC, and The Unusual Suspects, by Sbs, will each compete in the Panorama section.
ABC-ordered comedy Fisk, written, directed by and starring Kitty Flanagan, will be shown in the comedy strand, while Iggy and Ace, an upcoming short-form drama series for Sbs On Demand, will make its world premiere in the web series competitive section.
Two other Australian shows...
- 7/1/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Balancing humour and pathos: Kristen Dunphy and Chloe Rickard on the controlled chaos of ‘Wakefield’
When Wakefield premiered on the ABC this month, it was the culmination of a nearly decade-long journey for creator and showrunner Kristen Dunphy.
Finding a home for the mental health-focused series was only half the battle for its creative team as they were forced to navigate a Covid-19 shutdown across international and state borders. Dunphy and executive producer Chloe Rickard, COO Jungle Entertainment, talk to If about what it meant to finally complete the project.
Introspection resulting from self-isolation is hardly a new phenomenon.
But how does it factor into the portrayal of a fictional character?
In the case of Wakefield, Covid-19 protocol may have given lead actor Rudi Dharmalingam some of the emotional triggers necessary to step into the role of Nikhil Katira, a psychiatric nurse whose sanity begins to unravel while working at the titular facility.
Before he could resume filming the miniseries following the Covid-19 lockdown, Dharmalingam first had to complete quarantine,...
Finding a home for the mental health-focused series was only half the battle for its creative team as they were forced to navigate a Covid-19 shutdown across international and state borders. Dunphy and executive producer Chloe Rickard, COO Jungle Entertainment, talk to If about what it meant to finally complete the project.
Introspection resulting from self-isolation is hardly a new phenomenon.
But how does it factor into the portrayal of a fictional character?
In the case of Wakefield, Covid-19 protocol may have given lead actor Rudi Dharmalingam some of the emotional triggers necessary to step into the role of Nikhil Katira, a psychiatric nurse whose sanity begins to unravel while working at the titular facility.
Before he could resume filming the miniseries following the Covid-19 lockdown, Dharmalingam first had to complete quarantine,...
- 4/20/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Rudi Dharmalingam in ‘Wakefield’ (Photo credit: Lisa Tomasetti.)
Jungle Entertainment, BBC Studios and the ABC’s Wakefield will be among the first drama series to resume shooting after the shutdown after the producers obtained an exemption from Border Force travel restrictions for Rudi Dharmalingam.
The British actor will return to Australia on July 10 and after two weeks in quarantine will be ready to work when filming resumes on August 3.
In the eight-parter set in a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital created by Kristen Dunphy, Dharmalingham plays Nik, a psych nurse blessed with a powerful combination of common sense and intuition.
Nik is easily the sanest person in what is a pretty crazy place but when a song gets stuck in his head, a dark secret from his past begins to intrude into his present, forming an intriguing puzzle.
Geraldine Hakewill plays a psychiatrist with Mandy McElhinney as the head nurse, Dan Wyllie...
Jungle Entertainment, BBC Studios and the ABC’s Wakefield will be among the first drama series to resume shooting after the shutdown after the producers obtained an exemption from Border Force travel restrictions for Rudi Dharmalingam.
The British actor will return to Australia on July 10 and after two weeks in quarantine will be ready to work when filming resumes on August 3.
In the eight-parter set in a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital created by Kristen Dunphy, Dharmalingham plays Nik, a psych nurse blessed with a powerful combination of common sense and intuition.
Nik is easily the sanest person in what is a pretty crazy place but when a song gets stuck in his head, a dark secret from his past begins to intrude into his present, forming an intriguing puzzle.
Geraldine Hakewill plays a psychiatrist with Mandy McElhinney as the head nurse, Dan Wyllie...
- 6/30/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Vicki Madden and Vincent Sheehan en route to the launch of ‘The Kettering Incident’.
Screen Tasmania is supporting the development of 13 projects – a mix of feature films, comedy and drama series and factual – involving both experienced and emerging talent.
The $242,500 in additional project development funding is part of the Tasmanian Government’s cultural and creative industries stimulus package.
While the individual sums are modest, averaging $20,000, the funding round sheds light on some intriguing projects from such creatives as Vicki Madden, Fiona McConaghy, Elli Eliades, Jungle Entertainment, Good Thing Productions, Blur Films, Roar Films and Fredbird Entertainment.
Renewing their collaboration after Stan’s The Gloaming, Madden’s Sweet Potato Films and John Molloy’s 2 Jons are preparing Wireless Hill. The 8 x 1 hour drama follows 10 bright young scientists from around the world who are given the opportunity of a lifetime to study on the unique Macquarie Island.
They discover they are unwitting...
Screen Tasmania is supporting the development of 13 projects – a mix of feature films, comedy and drama series and factual – involving both experienced and emerging talent.
The $242,500 in additional project development funding is part of the Tasmanian Government’s cultural and creative industries stimulus package.
While the individual sums are modest, averaging $20,000, the funding round sheds light on some intriguing projects from such creatives as Vicki Madden, Fiona McConaghy, Elli Eliades, Jungle Entertainment, Good Thing Productions, Blur Films, Roar Films and Fredbird Entertainment.
Renewing their collaboration after Stan’s The Gloaming, Madden’s Sweet Potato Films and John Molloy’s 2 Jons are preparing Wireless Hill. The 8 x 1 hour drama follows 10 bright young scientists from around the world who are given the opportunity of a lifetime to study on the unique Macquarie Island.
They discover they are unwitting...
- 6/21/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Niki Aken at Charlie’s in La
Like the rest of the crew and cast, Niki Aken was gutted when the production of the ABC comedy Why Are You Like This was shut down with two weeks filming to go.
Aken is the script producer on the six-part show created and written by Naomi Higgins, Humyara Mahbub and Aunty Donna’s Mark Samual Bonanno, produced by Sarah Freeman for the directors Jessie Oldfield and Adam Murfet’s production company Ckol.
A spin-off of the pilot funded by the Screen Australia/ABC Fresh Blood initiative, the series follows best friends Mia (Olivia Junkeer) and Penny (Higgins) and Penny’s aloof housemate Austin (Wil King).
“Obviously it was the the right call, but gutting for the cast and crew,” Niki says. “It was a normal, human response to an unprecedented situation.
“I am one of the lucky ones as an in-demand writer...
Like the rest of the crew and cast, Niki Aken was gutted when the production of the ABC comedy Why Are You Like This was shut down with two weeks filming to go.
Aken is the script producer on the six-part show created and written by Naomi Higgins, Humyara Mahbub and Aunty Donna’s Mark Samual Bonanno, produced by Sarah Freeman for the directors Jessie Oldfield and Adam Murfet’s production company Ckol.
A spin-off of the pilot funded by the Screen Australia/ABC Fresh Blood initiative, the series follows best friends Mia (Olivia Junkeer) and Penny (Higgins) and Penny’s aloof housemate Austin (Wil King).
“Obviously it was the the right call, but gutting for the cast and crew,” Niki says. “It was a normal, human response to an unprecedented situation.
“I am one of the lucky ones as an in-demand writer...
- 3/27/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Jocelyn Moorhouse with Dop Martin McGrath on the ‘Wakefield’ set.
Jocelyn Moorhouse was shooting the ABC’s Stateless when Jungle Entertainment offered her the gig of set-up director of the ABC drama Wakefield.
The concept was unlike anything she’d ever heard of, centering on the interaction between staff and patients at a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital, leavened with musical numbers and tap dancing, so she was hooked.
Brit Rudi Dharmalingam plays Nik, a gifted psych nurse in the eight-episode show created by Kristen Dunphy, who is the showrunner with Sam Meikle, produced by Shay Spencer and Ally Henville for Jungle Entertainment and BBC Studios.
The sanest person in a pretty crazy place, Nik is confronted by a dark secret from his past when a song gets stuck in his head.
Reuniting with the director after collaborating on the Seven Network’s Wanted, Geraldine Hakewill plays a psychiatrist, with Mandy McElhinney as the head nurse.
Jocelyn Moorhouse was shooting the ABC’s Stateless when Jungle Entertainment offered her the gig of set-up director of the ABC drama Wakefield.
The concept was unlike anything she’d ever heard of, centering on the interaction between staff and patients at a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital, leavened with musical numbers and tap dancing, so she was hooked.
Brit Rudi Dharmalingam plays Nik, a gifted psych nurse in the eight-episode show created by Kristen Dunphy, who is the showrunner with Sam Meikle, produced by Shay Spencer and Ally Henville for Jungle Entertainment and BBC Studios.
The sanest person in a pretty crazy place, Nik is confronted by a dark secret from his past when a song gets stuck in his head.
Reuniting with the director after collaborating on the Seven Network’s Wanted, Geraldine Hakewill plays a psychiatrist, with Mandy McElhinney as the head nurse.
- 3/16/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
‘Wakefield’.
British actor Rudi Dharmalingam, Mandy McElhinney and Geraldine Hakewill lead the cast of newly-announced ABC drama Wakefield, now shooting across Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Southern Highlands.
Produced by Jungle Entertainment in partnership with BBC Studios, the eight-parter created by Kristen Dunphy is set in a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital, and described as a psychological mystery exploring the fine line between sanity and madness.
At the show’s centre is Dharmalingham’s Nik, a gifted psych nurse, blessed with a powerful combination of common sense and intuition. Nik is easily the sanest person in what is a pretty crazy place. But when a song gets stuck in his head, a dark secret from his past begins to intrude into his present, forming an intriguing puzzle that comes together as the series builds to its heart wrenching conclusion.
Starring alongside is an impressive ensemble cast including Dan Wyllie, Harriet Dyer,...
British actor Rudi Dharmalingam, Mandy McElhinney and Geraldine Hakewill lead the cast of newly-announced ABC drama Wakefield, now shooting across Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Southern Highlands.
Produced by Jungle Entertainment in partnership with BBC Studios, the eight-parter created by Kristen Dunphy is set in a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital, and described as a psychological mystery exploring the fine line between sanity and madness.
At the show’s centre is Dharmalingham’s Nik, a gifted psych nurse, blessed with a powerful combination of common sense and intuition. Nik is easily the sanest person in what is a pretty crazy place. But when a song gets stuck in his head, a dark secret from his past begins to intrude into his present, forming an intriguing puzzle that comes together as the series builds to its heart wrenching conclusion.
Starring alongside is an impressive ensemble cast including Dan Wyllie, Harriet Dyer,...
- 2/12/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Tamara Asmar.
Screenwriting is often such a lonely pursuit that Tamara Asmar really relishes her time brainstorming in writers’ rooms, likening the experience to being in a confessional.
“These are places where people divulge the most personal, hilarious, moving and heartbreaking things about their lives,” says the prolific writer whose credits include Doctor Doctor, On the Ropes, Love Child and Beat Bugs.
“That feeds into stories, sparks ideas and takes you down different narrative pathways that you otherwise would not have. I have definitely contributed some stories, cleverly masked.”
Currently Asmar is juggling multiple projects in development including Aleph, an eight-part series created by Miranda Nation for Porchlight Films, a fantasy drama for Jungle Entertainment and a movie for Easy Tiger which she now thinks is better suited to TV.
Screen Australia is funding the story development of Aleph, which follows a woman who is faced with the choice between...
Screenwriting is often such a lonely pursuit that Tamara Asmar really relishes her time brainstorming in writers’ rooms, likening the experience to being in a confessional.
“These are places where people divulge the most personal, hilarious, moving and heartbreaking things about their lives,” says the prolific writer whose credits include Doctor Doctor, On the Ropes, Love Child and Beat Bugs.
“That feeds into stories, sparks ideas and takes you down different narrative pathways that you otherwise would not have. I have definitely contributed some stories, cleverly masked.”
Currently Asmar is juggling multiple projects in development including Aleph, an eight-part series created by Miranda Nation for Porchlight Films, a fantasy drama for Jungle Entertainment and a movie for Easy Tiger which she now thinks is better suited to TV.
Screen Australia is funding the story development of Aleph, which follows a woman who is faced with the choice between...
- 10/20/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
FremantleMedia Australia is inviting writers and other creatives to pitch ideas for an innovative international story development initiative dubbed Blue Sky.
Jointly funded by Screen Australia.s new enterprise industry program and Fma, the scheme aims to create four high-end drama concepts for international broadcasters and VOD platforms.
In the first round, the two successful applicants will undertake a 5-day development workshop with an international script mentor, yet to be named, and receive consultation and guidance from Fma drama executives and the mentor.
Projects will be developed to a bible and then first draft script stage, ready for commissioning. Where projects are led by a director or a creative producer Fma will work with the creator to attach a writer to the project.
Successful applicants will be further rewarded with financial and creative participation in any successful project..
In addition to the four people selected for each of two rounds,...
Jointly funded by Screen Australia.s new enterprise industry program and Fma, the scheme aims to create four high-end drama concepts for international broadcasters and VOD platforms.
In the first round, the two successful applicants will undertake a 5-day development workshop with an international script mentor, yet to be named, and receive consultation and guidance from Fma drama executives and the mentor.
Projects will be developed to a bible and then first draft script stage, ready for commissioning. Where projects are led by a director or a creative producer Fma will work with the creator to attach a writer to the project.
Successful applicants will be further rewarded with financial and creative participation in any successful project..
In addition to the four people selected for each of two rounds,...
- 4/14/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
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