Screen Australia Invests In New TV Projects
$5.6 million is set to be invested in four new television projects.
Dubbed an "eclectic slate" of local television programs by Screen Australia's Chief Executive, Ruth Harley, the line-up features comedy series House Husbands (Nine Network), Mr & Mrs Murder (Network Ten), dramatic telemovie The Broken Shore (ABC), and animated children's comedy Get Ace (Network Ten).
Having straddled the worlds of film and television, AFI award winning director Rowan Woods (Little Fish, The Boys) has praised the state of Australian television.
"I love directing TV, I always have," Woods says. "My first year out of film school was TV, and my last three gigs have been great examples of Australian episodic TV - Spirited, The Straits, and at the moment, Rake."
Although not attached to direct, the news relates to Woods in more ways than one, with House Husbands straying close to home as the ten-part series tells the story of modern families through the perspective of stay-at-home dads raising their kids.
"I took two years out, uncompromisingly to be Mr. Mum," Woods laughs. "I came out of that last year, since then I've been hell for leather."
Mr & Mrs Murder is about a married couple (Shaun Micallef and Kat Stewart - pictured - in a scene from Offspring) with a crime scene cleaning business that solves the cases that cops can't. Marieke Hardy (Laid) is attached as one of the show's writers.
Adapted from a Peter Temple novel, The Broken Shore tells the story of a Melbourne detective returning to his hometown, a quiet coastal community thrown into unrest by the murder of a local philanthropist who had some very morbid secrets.
Get Ace is a 26 episode animated show, following the adventures of nerdy school kid who is inadvertently fitted with a set of top-secret high-tech braces.
The four series are expected to generate $32 million in production.
