VALE ROSSLYN ABERNETHY

Industries on both sides of The Tasman are mourning the loss of industry veteran Rosslyn Abernethy, one of the region’s most experienced and respected production managers. Having forged a remarkable career overseeing shooting schedules and location duties on high-profile shoots in Australia and New Zealand, Abernethy passed away on The Gold Coast on July 20. She was 68.

 

Born in Masterson on New Zealand’s North Island in 1952, young Rosslyn led a nomadic life, the family following her bank manager father to branches nationwide before settling in Taupō in 1975. She began her film career as a typist for the Auckland based exhibition outfit Amalgamated Theatres prior to decamping to the the U.K. where she found office work in the film production community.

Her antipodean ties gave her the edge when director Mike Newell was crewing his New Zealand production Bad Blood (1981), an account of the manhunt for farmer-turned-murderer Stanley Graham (played by Australian actor Jack Thompson; pictured, right). Abernethy returned from England to act as production secretary, a role for which she earned a credit on such productions as Buddies (Dir: Arch Nicholson; 1983); The Return of Captain Invincible (Dir: Philippe More; 1983); and, BMX Bandits (Dir: Brian Trenchard-Smith; 1983).

The all-encompassing role provided training for the position of production co-ordinator, to which Abernethy progressed on the films The Coolangatta Gold (Dir: Igo Auzins; 1984); Cassandra (Dir: Colin Egglestone; 1987); and, Slate, Wyn & Me (Dir: Don McLennan; 1987).

It would be as the industry’s pre-eminent production manager that Rosslyn Abernethy earned her reputation as one of Australia’s most in-demand professionals. From her debut in the role in 1985 on Best Enemies (Dir: David Baker), she would work steadily on productions like the mini-series Sword of Honour (1986); Howling III (Dir: Philippe Mora; 1987); the hit TV series Police Rescue (1989); the Kylie Minogue vehicle, The Delinquents (Dir: Chris Thomson; 1989; pictured, left); Traps (Dir: Pauline Chan; 1994); the international shoot Street Fighter (Dir: Steven E. de Souza; 1994), with Jean Claude van Damme; The Real Macaw (Dir: Mario Andreacchio; 1998); the Hugh Jackman hit, Paperback Hero (Dir: Anthony Bowman; 1989); and, the global hit TV series, The Sleepover Club (2003).

During this period, Abernethy adapted her organisational skills and legendary rapport with crew to oversee the art department of Fortress (Dir: Stuart Gordon; 1992), starring Christopher Lambert (pictured, right). The Queensland shoot was a massive undertaking, an experience that prepared her for working with producer James Cameron on the cave-diving adventure Sanctum (Dir: Alister Grierson; 2011) as production manager. On the 2017 thriller Out of the Shadows (Dir: Dee McLachlan), Abernethy expanded her production manager role into that of line producer, a function she also undertook on the war drama, Escape and Evasion (Dir: Storm Ashwood; 2019). Her final production manager credit was on the thriller The Second (Dir: Mairi Cameron; 2018), starring Rachael Blake, Susie Porter and Vince Colosimo.

Rosslyn Abernethy is survived by her husband Shane Denman and son, actor Burgess Abernethy. Her extended family, including her sister Seonaid, still live in her hometown of Taupō.

AUSTRALIAN DIRECTORS' GUILD ANNOUNCE 2020 NOMINATIONS

The Australian Directors’ Guild (ADG) Executive Director Diana Burnett addressed the dire state of the nation’s creative industries in a statement that accompanied the 2020 ADG nominations, which were announced today.

“At these challenging times, it is more important than ever that we come together as a creative community to celebrate our achievements of the past year,” Burnett said. “Australian directors are creating fine work across all forms and genres and these nominations reflect the depth of talent in this country.”

A record 202 entries were received for the 2020 honours, awards that recognise excellence in the craft and art of directing. The peer-judged acknowledgements are the only opportunity for directors and their work to be acknowledged by their Guild peers. 

The ADG singled out six filmmakers for nominations in the Best Direction in a Feature Film (with a budget of A$1million or over) category. They are Thomas Wright for Acute Misfortune; Sophie Hyde for Animals; John Sheedy for H is for Happiness; Ben Lawrence for Hearts and Bones; Wayne Blair for Top End Wedding; and, Natalie Erika James for Relic (pictured, above; Robyn Nevin, Bella Heathcote, James and Emily Mortimer).

Nominees for Best Direction in a Feature Film (budgeted under A$1million) category are: Josephine Mackerras for Alice (pictured, top); Imogen Thomas for Emu Runner; Lucy Colman for Hot Mess; Luke Sullivan for Reflections In The Dust; and, Samuel Van Grinsven for Sequin In A Blue Room.

Four factual-film craftspeople were acknowledged for Best Feature Documentary Direction - Ian Darling for The Final Quarter; Maya Newell for In My Blood It Runs (pictured, left; with the film's Margaret Anderson, right); Peter Hegedus for LILI; and, Allan Hardy for Viva The Underdogs. Directors in the mix for Best Documentary Short are Dr. Karen Pearlman for I Want To Write A Film About Women; Stefan Bugryn for War Mothers: Unbreakable; Logan Much for We’re All In This Together; and, Rob Innes for Youth On Strike!

The ADG Directors Award ceremony will be held in Sydney at the City Recital Hall on 19 October (pandemic restrictions pending), honouring nominees in a total of 19 categories across the film, television, online, music and advertising sectors. The full list can be found at the ADG’s website; a limited number of public tickets are available for the ceremony via Eventbrite.

THE LEGEND OF THE FIVE: THE JOANNE SAMUEL INTERVIEW

Since her television debut in a 1974 episode of The Box, Joanne Samuel has been one of the Australian sector’s most adored actors. Whether as ‘Jessie’, the ill-fated wife whose fate turns Max mad in Dr. George Miller’s Mad Max (1979) to being the heart and soul of 136 episodes of the primetime soap Skyways (1979-80), Samuel has exuded warmth, charm and a natural screen presence like few in the industry ever have. Jump forward 40 years, with her career in front of the camera providing a remarkable legacy, Joanne Samuel has stepped behind the lens for the first time.

Her feature film directing debut is an environmentally-themed teen adventure called The Legend of The Five. “I want to make another one and another one, to repay the industry that I have grown up in and really, really love,” Samuel told SCREEN-SPACE, with her family-friendly film in limited release for the Australian school holidays...    

“My son Jesse Ahern produced it, researching what was marketable,” Samuel says, pointing out her family film was a family affair from its inception. “We wanted to make a film (together) and I thought it was a natural progression for me to just step up and direct. I have directed theatre and a few other things, so I thought I need to just do this.”

The story of five diverse teens who are plunged into a fantasy realm to save a life-giving tree from an evil force, The Legend of The Five drew upon the great all-ages films of the 1980s. “We wanted to make a family genre film, because it’s my favourite. I love PG-, G-rated adventures,” says the director, citing The Princess Bride, Labyrinth and The Goonies as inspirations. “Jesse came up with the idea and we worked on it with writer Peter McLeod, finally rolling cameras in October 2018.” (Pictured, right; Samuel, in blue, with cast and crew)

Read the SCREEN-SPACE review of The Legend of The Five here.

Working with her cast was an extension of Joanne Samuel’s passion for inspiring young creativity; she runs the 3 Sisters Youth Theatre in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. “We do film and theatre work with the kids and they come up with their own concepts and visions,” she says, highlighting the challenge her production faced when addressing the very clued-in young modern audience. “I knew that our ‘family adventure film’ had to offer so much more. Working with the kids and having some understanding of how the modern teen thinks was a real advantage. I do so love working with them.”

The ensemble represents a broad spectrum of teenage types, as was always the intention. “We deliberately went after a diverse group,” Samuel recalls, who cast LA-based Australian actors Lauren Esposito and Lee Joel Scott opposite big-screen newcomers Gabi Sproule, Nicholas Andrianakos and Deborah An. “We wanted the kids to be as much like what kids are like today and then to transport them to this place that is like nothing they have ever imagined. Keeping them relatable to the target audience was crucial, as it allowed us to still create drama from the fantasy setting.”

If her cast has an international flavour, her location choices are very much Australian. Sweeping aerial photography of the stunning terrain captures the magnificence of the region, a landscape that has since been all but destroyed by the fires that ripped through the nation’s heartland last summer. “The location is a character. It is a magical place,” says Samuel, who has called the Blue Mountains her home for many years. “We looked at what we had at hand, and I knew the spots we had to go to.” (Pictured, right; Samuel, far right, on location durning the shoot)

Samuel knew that for her film to succeed it would have to travel, but always knew it’s heart reflected hers. “For my first film, it was important that we ticked all the boxes for our markets, both national and international,” she says, “but I love that people will know it is an Australian film. I want to tell Australian stories.”

VALE GEORGE OGILVIE

The Australian arts community is today mourning the passing of George Ogilvie, one of its most beloved elder statesmen. A masterful director and creative collaborator across theatre, film and television disciplines, Ogilvie mentored a generation of young actors with a commitment to his art and craft that was unparalleled.

One of twin sons born in Goulburn to Scottish immigrants, Ogilvie grew up in Canberra and was drawn to the theatre from a young age, exhibiting acting prowess and musical skills in his early teens. At 20, he moved to London and studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and with the iconic Jimmy James Company, where he performed works by Agatha Christie, Tennessee Williams, Terence Rattigan and Noel Coward, amongst many others.

Ogilvie returned to Australia in 1954 and, under the professional guidance of theatrical greats Walt Cherry and John Sumner, began to explore directing; his early work included landmark productions of Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey, Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding and Ann Jellicoe’s The Knack. He would travel and work extensively in Europe, studying with the great mime Jacques Lecoq in Paris and forging a reputation upon his return to to London as one of the industry’s finest directors of actors.

It was John Sumner who encouraged his protégé to return to Australia to take up the role of Artistic Director at the Melbourne Theatre Company, a six year engagement during which he directed 23 plays, winning the Melbourne Theatre Critic’s award for Best Director on three occasions. Over the subsequent decades, George Ogilvie became one of the most influential figures in Australian live theatre.

He oversaw the South Australian Theatre Company as Artistic Director from 1972-1975; worked with the Sydney Theatre Company, directing Nick Enright's The Man With Five Children, starring Steve Bisley and Proof, starring Jacqueline McKenzie and Barry Otto; staged now legendary productions for the Australian Ballet (most famously, ‘Coppelia’, in 1979 and again in 2006) and Australian Opera ('Il Seraglio'; 'Falstaf'; 'Lucretia Borgia'; 'Don Giovanni'); and, taught extensively at the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Actor’s Centre Australia and The Eora Centre.

George Ogilvie turned to television at the height of the mini-series heyday to launch the next phase of his directing career. He made his debut helming an instalment of the true-life political saga The Dismissal in 1983, which he followed with a multi-episode arc behind the cameras on the historical sports drama Bodyline, both for producers George Miller and Byron Kennedy.

He would work steadily in television for the next twenty years, directing Bryan Brown in The Shiralee (1987); Claudia Karvan in Princess Kate (1988); Angie Milliken in two made-for-TV procedurals, The Feds (both 1993); Gary Sweet and Jacqueline McKenzie in The Battlers (1994); Richard Roxburgh in The Last of The Ryans (1997); and, eleven episodes of the hit series, Blue Heelers (from 2002-06).

His affiliation with the Kennedy Miller production outfit led to one of the most high-profile feature film directing debuts in Australian industry history. Ogilvie earned co-director honours alongside franchise founder George Miller (pictured, above; from left, Miller, star Tina Turner and Ogilvie, in red) on the highly-anticipated sequel Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 1985; while Miller invested time and energy in the films kinetic action sequences, Ogilvie was employed to guide the cast (many of them child actors) through the dialogue and drama. The director had proven his worth with the film’s prickly leading man previously; Ogilvie had directed Mel Gibson for the Nimrod Theatre Company’s acclaimed 1982 staging of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.

He parlayed his profile into two smaller-scale but potent workds – Short Changed (1986), an inter-racial custody drama, nominated for five AFI Awards, that pits a white woman against an Aboriginal man for the custody of their son; and, The Place at The Coast (1987; pictured, right), a Bergman-esque drama set in a remote seaside community that tackles both environmental issues and father-daughter dynamics with Ogilvie’s trademark intelligence and sensitivity. (Pictured, below; Bryan Browm and Rebecca Smart in The Shiralee)

His final big-screen effort was The Crossing in 1990, the film that launched the leading-man career of a young actor named Russell Crowe. "Oh, I just loved him," Ogilvie told The Sydney Morning Herald in a 2016 interview. "He was a force. He worked hard but he did expect everyone around him to work hard as well. None of the crew liked him, thought he was an arrogant little pisspot." The coming-of-age period drama, co-starring Danielle Spencer (pictured, below; with Crowe) and Robert Mammone, earned Crowe his first AFI Award nomination; it would win the highest industry honour for Jeff Darling’s cinematography. Twenty-four years later, Ogilvie returned to acting briefly as a favour for his friend, with a small part in Crowe's directing debut, The Water Diviner (2014).   

In 1983, George Ogilvie was cited in the Queens Birthday Honours List when he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to theatre and the performing arts. Despite never earning a directing nomination for his film and television work, he was recognised by the Australian Film Institute in 1988, when he received the prestigious Byron Kennedy Award, an accolade that honours “innovation, vision and the relentless pursuit of excellence.” In 2006, he published his memoirs, entitled Simple Gifts: A Life in the Theatre.

A deeply spiritual man who practised Siddha Yoga for many years, travelling to the Ganeshpuri ashram in India to meditate, George Ogilvie devoted his later life to inner peace and understanding; in an interview for ABC Radio National in 2006, he recounted camping by the Sea of Galilee, reading the Bible as he walked its banks. A private man whose legacy is a body of work unmatched in the Australian entertainment industry, Ogilvie spent his final years in his home in Sydney’s Potts Point, with his dogs and close friends. He was 89.  

VALE SASKIA POST

Australian actress Saskia Post, whose vivid portrayal of doomed rock-star girlfriend ‘Anna’ in Richard Lowenstein’s Dogs in Space made her an icon to a generation of teenage moviegoers, passed away March 16 at Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital from complications stemming from a congenital heart condition. She was 59.

Born of Dutch heritage in 1961 in Martinez, California, Saskia Steenkamer immigrated with her family to Australia in 1975. Studying writing at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and acting at both University of New South Wales and The Drama Studio in Sydney, she soon became a popular and respected figure in the arts communities in both cities.

She made an immediate impact on audiences in her television debut, playing WWII Dutch refugee ‘Julianna Sleven’ in the popular series, The Sullivans (pictured, right; centre, with co-stars Norman Yemm and Vicki hammond), and would work steadily in the medium with semi-regular slots on primetime soaps Sons and Daughters and A Country Practice and the mini-series Return to Eden.

Following a small cameo in Haydn Keenan’s film Going Down (1982), Post made her credited debut in the nuclear-era drama One Night Stand for director John Duigan (Dimboola, 1979; Winter of Our Dreams, 1981). A four-hander about teenagers spending a night together in the Sydney Opera House as war erupts in Eastern Europe, Post shone opposite the equally impressive Tyler Coppin, Cassandra Delaney and Jay Hackett (pictured, below) in a film that beckons cult status.

Post followed One Night Stand with a support role in Ray Lawrence’s AFI Best Film honouree Bliss (1985), playing Barry Otto’s daughter in the critically-acclaimed adaptation of Peter Carey’s book. Other film work included Jocelyn Moorhouse’s Proof (1991), with Russell Crowe and Hugo Weaving, and Stavros Kazantzidis’ True Love & Chaos (1997), alongside Miranda Otto, Noah Taylor and Ben Mendehlson.

Post also became a sought-after stage performer, with a long career playing key roles in such productions as Hating Alison Ashley, Salome, Endgrain, Train to Transcience, Could I Have this Dance?, In Angel Gear, Figures in Glass, Skin and Vincent in Brixton.

But it will be Dogs in Space, Lowenstein’s chaotic recollections of Melbourne’s hard-edged inner-city 70’s music scene, for which Saskia Post will be forever remembered. As the wise-beyond-her-years Anna, she both towers over yet succumbs willingly to the enigmatic, self-destructive musician Sam (Michael Hutchence), in a performance that itself seems to dominate then ultimately submit to the tragic trajectory of the heroin-infused narrative.

Film writer Thomas Caldwell, in his 2011 analysis of the film’s enduring legacy, described Post as, “The heart of the film…[radiating] every time she is on screen with her combination of punk attitude and classical Hollywood beauty.” In 2016, theatre director Robert Chuter, who worked with Post on his 1990 stage production In Angel Gear, wrote a brief appreciation of their collaboration, recalling, “she was one of my favourite people/actors: beauty, dignity, curiosity, talent, kind, independence.” (Pictured, right; Post, left, with Lowenstein and Hutchence).

Although she surfaced briefly in 2017 for what would be her final onscreen appearance in Timothy Spanos’ underground oddity Throbbin’ 84, Saskia Post spent her final years in the small Victorian township of Trentham, where she practiced transpersonal art and therapy. Her impact upon both her community and her many fans was evident when nearly $15,000.00 was raised via a Chuffed crowdfunding campaign to help with her living and medical costs.

FIRST LOOK: PAUL HOGAN AS 'PAUL HOGAN' IN THE VERY EXCELLENT MR DUNDEE

One of Australia's favourite film larrakins is set for a big screen return. Paul Hogan, the Lightning Ridge-born comedian who transformed from Harbour Bridge rivetter to Australian TV legend to global superstar in the wake of his blockbuster 1986 comedy Crocodile Dundee, plays a fictionalised version of himself in The Very Excellent Mr Dundee.

The meta-comedy will arrive in Australian cinemas on April 30 via Transmission Films, with international distribution to be confirmed. "Paul Hogan is an Australian icon, and we're delighted to continue our association with this living legend,” said Transmission's joint Managing Directors, Andrew Mackie and Richard Payten.

Directed by Dean Murphy, who previously worked with Paul on Strange Bedfellows (2004), Charlie & Boots (2009) and That’s Not My Dog! (2018), The Very Excellent Mr Hogan features the actor on the brink of receiving a Knighthood for services to comedy. “Don’t do anything to mess this up”, his manager tells him. However, despite all his best efforts, the next six weeks sees his name and reputation hilariously destroyed.

“Audiences always have a great time with Paul when he’s on screen, but this film is particularly special," says Murphy. "People ask what's true and what's not. What I do know is fact is certainly funnier than fiction.”

A line-up of some of the greatest comedy stars of their generations have come on-board the project, including British comedy legend John Cleese, American funnyman Chevy Chase and local stars Shane Jacobson and Julia Morris. Also joining 'Hoges' on-screen will be Australian icon Olivia Newton-John, comedian Jim Jefferies, Die Hard’s Reginald Veljohnson, Seinfeld’s Wayne Knight and actress Rachael Carpani.

Since Crocodile Dundee, directed by Peter Faiman, and its hit 1988 sequel, directed by John Cornell, Hogan has worked from bases in both Australia and the U.S. His Hollywood career faltered after the disappointing reception afforded his 1990 afterlife comedy, Almost an Angel. He returned to his homeland to make the comedy Lightning Jack (1994) and family adventure, Flipper (1996), before a third, ill-fated attempt to resurrect his once-popular outback hero in 2001's Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles. He has since worked steadily in Australia with Murphy on feel-good films that appeal to his avid fanbase.  

ALYSSA DE LEO WOWS MIFF AND SAVES LIVES WITH SHORT FILM CLASSIC

Is the best film at the 2019 Melbourne International Film Festival an ad commissioned by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC)? Screening ahead of every MIFF session, ‘The Afterlife Bar’ imagines a social gathering of the celebrity souls, the drinking session quickly becoming a “How did you die?” chat. John Lennon, Che Guevara and Princess Di all recount their demise (it’s funnier than it sounds), before the camera settles on a young man named Jeremy; he admits, to the stunned patrons, he was texting while driving.

The concept and script is the inspired work of Alyssa De Leo, a 20 year-old RMIT filmmaking student. De Leo (pictured, above) penned a brilliant short-form comedy disguised as a road safety call-to-action; her script won the Split Second Film Competition and was shepherded into production by ad agency Taboo, production company Airbag and director Will Horne.  “From the beginning, I was always going to take the comedic approach,” the young writer told SCREEN-SPACE, enjoying the first high-profile creative triumph of what promises to be a fascinating film industry career….

SCREEN-SPACE: Let's go right back to the start. When/how did the inspiration for the concept of 'an afterlife bar' come to you? What was the germ of the idea?

ALYSSA: When I first heard about the competition, I knew MIFF and the TAC wanted something quite different and creative, I guess what you wouldn’t usually see in a typical TAC ad. I’ve always been fascinated by history and historical figures, especially as an avid movie watcher and reader. I enjoy biopics and would love to write one someday. As a writer I’m always thinking about characters and to me, historical figures are some of the best characters out there. So I kind of had those two ideas floating around in my head, historical figures and road safety - not things that usually go together! One day they just kind of clicked together in my head and I thought to myself ‘That’s bizarre but it could work.’ I love writing comedy and can’t help but inject it into most things I write, even if it's a serious subject. But I thought the comedic approach could be effective in getting that road safety message across, as it’s not only entertaining but educational too, and I think something like that might stick with you more.

SCREEN-SPACE: How did you settle on the 'dead celebs'? I conjured in my head a table that might have also used a more age-appropriate Paul Walker or a River Phoenix, or might that have been a bit too soon, too tragic?

ALYSSA: There was a huge mix of celebs I considered when I first came up with the idea. When writing the first draft, I looked at which celebrities had well known deaths, but also how their deaths could be interjected into jokes and punchlines effectively. In the original script I actually had Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi too, along with Princess Di, Mary Queen of Scots, Steve Jobs and Shakespeare. When I first met with Airbag and Taboo, we had a script workshop where we made a huge list of potential celebs to add - there was everyone from Charles Darwin, Neil Armstrong, and Joan of Arc. When choosing the final celebs, the key thing we looked at were people who you would recognise instantly. Cleopatra, Ned Kelly, John Lennon; you see that Egyptian dress, rusty helmet, round glasses, and you know who those people are. We also didn’t want to include anyone whose death was too recent. I remember Steve Irwin’s name came up and we just thought, too soon. I think Steve Jobs is the most recent death we have in there, but I think his part works, considering the ad is about not using your phone while driving, and he’s kind of responsible for how popular phones are nowadays.

SCREEN-SPACE: Was it tough shaping a creative vision that satisfied both you and the TAC brief? Can you envision a working life that balances both ad industry work and more independent short/feature output?

ALYSSA: I found it really rewarding working with everyone who was involved - the TAC, Airbag and Taboo. I was very involved throughout the whole process and they didn’t hinder my creative vision at all, which was great. They wanted to stick to the bone of my original script as much as possible. They were really open to any ideas I had, and while they suggested a couple of things to change or add, anything they said only made the project better. It was a super collaborative process. I can imagine myself balancing ad work and shorts and features in the future. My ideal goal would be to write for both television and film one day, but I’m super open to doing more ad work - it’s a really fun process and I’d love to make some more.

SCREEN-SPACE: Which makes me think - given its popularity and award-winning status, might you adapt The Afterlife Bar into a feature?

ALYSSA: (Laughs) It’s only a matter of time, isn’t it? I actually have thought about what an ‘Afterlife Bar’ feature film might look like. We could add a ton more celebrities, maybe explore the history of the bar, how it came to be, which celebs work there, and look at more of Jeremy’s backstory - maybe what he was like when he was alive, and the choices he made leading to his unfortunate fate. It would also be fun to expand the world of the afterlife. Afterlife salon? Afterlife stadium? Afterlife market? It could definitely happen.