By FilmInk Staff
Paramount Upfronts takes true crime across all genres, bolsters documentary and stays true to core family audience. We chat to Tamara Simoneau about what’s coming up at Paramount+ and Channel 10.
Timely and twisted true crime adaptations, increased investment in documentary style content, and a controversial Duchess define the 2027 slate for the new Skydance-owned era of Paramount Australia.
Speaking to FilmInk at the platform’s Upfronts, Tamara Simoneau, VP Content, Network 10, said that despite the seismic global ownership changes for the network, it was largely “business as usual.”
As we know, the business of television defies the notion of “usual”, and in a contracting season for the industry, Paramount Australia delivered an Upfronts hosted in the now iconic MasterChef kitchen studios with a highly strategic stance. Targeted, tight, playing to its strengths and revelling it its locally executed content and heritage.
Whilst the deep pockets and vast content holdings of the Ellison-owned parent group claimed the background hum, local productions and talent were the main beat. Paramount Australia and Network Ten articulated the power of brand longevity with Big Brother, Survivor, Ninja Warrior and GoggleBox; intelligent reinvention via the new MasterChef Jr co-host in Meghan, Duchess of Sussex; and the benefits of collaborating with established producers including Working Dog, Eureka, Hoodlum, and Warner Bros.
Fron the commissioning perspective, Simoneau said that “we want to look the same way that we’ve looked before for the best dramas and scripted and unscripted pitches that come our way and invest in them, and I don’t think that will change. We want the best content out there, and we want it on our platforms, and that won’t change.”
In newly commissioned drama, the network announced its first time collaboration with SoapBox Pictures for The Mushroom Murders, a dramatised retelling of the 97 days between the infamous regional Victorian lunch, its resulting three deaths from poison, and the arrest of accused murderer Erin Patterson. The series will feature Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets) as Erin Patterson; Lynskey is also attached as an executive producer and was a surprise guest at the Upfronts presentation. The six-part series will be directed and EP’d by Daina Reid (The Handmaid’s Tale) with co-creator Deb Balderstone (Dustfall, Ticket to Paradise, Palm Beach) from Soapbox also serving as EP with Xavier Marchand (Dustfall, A Gentleman in Moscow), in addition to Paramount+ Sophia Mogford.
Simoneau told FilmInk that the competitive project came with a compelling ensemble creative team and was a unique perspective on the events behind the news story that attracted a global obsession. “It’s a story that has obviously captivated the world, and it’s no surprise that it’s landed in this space,” she says. “I’m sure that many people have been in writing rooms, ideating about what to do with this story. We’re delighted with where ours has gotten to, and that we have now attached Melanie Linsky to the project, and it’s in pre-production.”
The series was co-created and written by Anya Beyersdorf (Fake, Apple Cider Vinegar, Fires), with Dianne Taylor (Dustfall, After the Party) and Belinda Chayko (Dustfall, Fires) also featuring as writers.
The president of Network 10 and Paramount Australia’s head of streaming, Beverley McGarvey, described the ambitious series as a “powerful addition to our growing slate of premium storytelling, and we are delighted to partner with such an exceptional creative team to share it with viewers around the world.”
In another true crime fictional adaptation, and with six years of development time from producers Hoodlum, is Who the Hell is Hamish, the dramatic retelling of serial lothario and conman Hamish McLaren’s financial exploitation of women. The series will be supported by the documentary The Hunt for Hamish, from Network Ten investigative journalist Denham Hitchcock. The story originally evolved from a true crime podcast. Both are slated to air before the end of the year.
The six-part drama set in Queensland stars Dominic Cooper as Hamish and Claire van der Boom leading an impressive ensemble cast and was filmed in Queensland and is written and co-created by Adam Zwar and directed by Jeffrey Walker.
Documentary and specifically true crime narratives feature heavily across the slate. There’s the third season of Last King of the Cross; two feature-length documentary specials from Denham Hitchcock for Ten; and a new investigative six part series from award winning journalist Hedly Thomas on Paramount+, Hedley Thomas Investigates.
Simoneau said that the increased investment and focus on documentary was in part addressing the unstoppable audience demand for true crime. “True crime has really been having a moment for the last few years, largely coming off the back of the talk around Erin Parrerson,” Simoneau says. “True crime has also had a real resurgence in popularity across the board, across drama, and across documentary on streaming outlets all over the world. Hedley Thomas stands alone in this field. He’s done such incredible work. This was a real no-brainer. He will explore six true crime cases, one in each episode. As we know from Teacher’s Pet, his investigations have changed the course of justice. He’s done incredible work.”
Simoneau said that that the commissioning approach was both a response to core audience demands and general zeitgeist. “We always look at both things,” she says. “We’re looking at what the world is consuming and what’s having a moment in the zeitgeist, because obviously that feeds into what Australian audiences are looking for as well. And then we also look for where we have gaps in genres. What do we need on our platform to complement what else we have? So that’s where Headley Thomas fit in really nicely.”
In new children’s programming, Paramount+ has commissioned a big one for young sports lovers. Produced by Orange Entertainment for Paramount+, Sam Kerr Kicking Goals is based on the popular children’s book series co-written by Aussie footballing superstar Sam Kerr and Fiona Harris. The series follows the formative years of an 11-year-old Kerr on her lead to soccer ascension. The project was developed by Orange Entertainment’s Diya Eid from the book series and attracted funding from Screenwest, Screen Australia and Minderoo.
The addition of fresh children’s-oriented programming serves to address both the deficit in local kids’ content creation and augments Ten’s exclusive sports rights for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil, the A-League Men and Ninja A-League and the CommBank Socceroos and CommBank Matildas.
While she would not be drawn on numbers around how many new local projects were slated for commissioning, Simoneau said it can “ebb and flow through the year. Sometimes you’ll have what you think is a great slate, and then something else comes along that you can’t pass up. Putting a number on it might cause you to just stop looking. And you never want to stop looking and taking pitches and reading scripts.”
Looking ahead to slate development aspirations, Simoneau said “we’ve filled some really nice spots with the true crime and also the kids’ programming with the Sam Kerr show. We will continue to look at all the different audiences and follow them where they go, and keep filling out. So maybe this is the beginning of more content like Hedley Thomas Investigates. Obviously, if it works, which we believe that it will, then we’ll keep going down that path.”
Simoneau said the inclusion of the Duchess of Sussex, as the co-host of MasterChef Junior, was a case in point of how the network worked at leveraging both global and local levels. “That will have global appeal,” says Simoneau. “It’s pretty great for an Australian crew, and an Australian team making that show. The things that we commission for Paramount+, we always commission with a global view, and that puts Aussie work in front of the world. We should all be really proud of that. MasterChef Australia is already a global hit, so this will just reinforce that.”
