The premiere of Amazon’s Back to the Rafters last month and the impending production of Netflix’s Heartbreak High offer insight into how international platforms approach local IP with cultural resonance.
Whereas one picks up the story of a family six years after their last outing, the other will reimagine a world from before the turn of the century, sharing only its title and young adult genre with the original.
The local and international popularity of both series – Heartbreak High was sold to more than 80 countries in the ’90s and Packed to the Rafters to a number of European and Asian territories, as well as South Africa – makes them appealing for platforms like Netflix and Amazon with global audiences. However, the process of bringing back an old favourite is not always a smooth one.
Five years ago, Foxtel commissioned a re-imagining of Joan Lindsay’s novel Picnic at Hanging Rock...
Whereas one picks up the story of a family six years after their last outing, the other will reimagine a world from before the turn of the century, sharing only its title and young adult genre with the original.
The local and international popularity of both series – Heartbreak High was sold to more than 80 countries in the ’90s and Packed to the Rafters to a number of European and Asian territories, as well as South Africa – makes them appealing for platforms like Netflix and Amazon with global audiences. However, the process of bringing back an old favourite is not always a smooth one.
Five years ago, Foxtel commissioned a re-imagining of Joan Lindsay’s novel Picnic at Hanging Rock...
- 10/6/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Six-part series Back to the Rafters, set to debut globally on Amazon Prime Video September 17, picks up six years on from when we last saw the Rafter family. Dave (Erik Thomson) and Julie (Rebecca Gibney) have created a new life in the country with youngest daughter Ruby (Willow Speers).
As everyone comes together in Sydney to celebrate Dave and Julie’s 35th Anniversary, history repeats and circumstances force them all to cram into Ben’s two-bedroom home – once again packed to the-you-know-what. During the visit it becomes apparent that the older Rafter children are facing new challenges with Ben (Hugh Sheridan) recently married to Cassie (HaiHa Le) and hoping to start a family, Nathan (Angus McLaren) trying to do it all as a single dad to Edward (Kaspar Frost) and Rachel (Georgina Haig) living a secret life in New York. Granddad Ted (Michael Caton) struggles to find his place, Julie...
As everyone comes together in Sydney to celebrate Dave and Julie’s 35th Anniversary, history repeats and circumstances force them all to cram into Ben’s two-bedroom home – once again packed to the-you-know-what. During the visit it becomes apparent that the older Rafter children are facing new challenges with Ben (Hugh Sheridan) recently married to Cassie (HaiHa Le) and hoping to start a family, Nathan (Angus McLaren) trying to do it all as a single dad to Edward (Kaspar Frost) and Rachel (Georgina Haig) living a secret life in New York. Granddad Ted (Michael Caton) struggles to find his place, Julie...
- 8/25/2021
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Philip Quast and Hermione Norris in ‘Between Two Worlds’.
After creating five of Australia’s most popular dramas – Always Greener, All Saints, Packed to the Rafters, Winners & Losers and A Place to Call Home – in a stellar 37-year career, Bevan Lee felt he had reached a crossroad.
If he followed one path, he would simply rest on his laurels and be content with his legacy. The other, far more attractive and challenging option: Create a drama unlike anything he’d ever done and which breaks the traditional rules of the genre.
Hence was born Between Two Worlds, a 10-part Seven Studios production which premieres on Seven on Sunday.
The first episode depicts two disparate and seemingly disconnected worlds, typified by one family of extreme wealth and privilege, the other middleclass and suburban.
“I decided I wanted to do a twisty, turny narrative which breaks the rules,” says Lee, who created the show last year,...
After creating five of Australia’s most popular dramas – Always Greener, All Saints, Packed to the Rafters, Winners & Losers and A Place to Call Home – in a stellar 37-year career, Bevan Lee felt he had reached a crossroad.
If he followed one path, he would simply rest on his laurels and be content with his legacy. The other, far more attractive and challenging option: Create a drama unlike anything he’d ever done and which breaks the traditional rules of the genre.
Hence was born Between Two Worlds, a 10-part Seven Studios production which premieres on Seven on Sunday.
The first episode depicts two disparate and seemingly disconnected worlds, typified by one family of extreme wealth and privilege, the other middleclass and suburban.
“I decided I wanted to do a twisty, turny narrative which breaks the rules,” says Lee, who created the show last year,...
- 7/24/2020
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Amazon has scheduled its first scripted Australian Amazon Original series, Back to the Rafters, which will launch on Prime Video in Australia and around the world. Production on the series is expected to start next year.
Back to the Rafters offers the next chapter in the story of the Rafter family, who appeared for six years in one of Australia’s most popular drama series, Packed to the Rafters. At its center were parents Dave and Julie, working to balance their own journey as a couple with the ups and downs of raising a family into adulthood.
Set to begin production in Sydney in 2020, Back to the Rafters is produced by Seven Studios and will feature original principal cast members Rebecca Gibney (Julie Rafter), Erik Thomson (Dave Rafter), Jessica Marais (Rachel Rafter), Hugh Sheridan (Ben Rafter), Angus McLaren (Nathan Rafter), Michael Caton (Ted Taylor) and George Houvardas (Nick “Carbo” Karandonis...
Back to the Rafters offers the next chapter in the story of the Rafter family, who appeared for six years in one of Australia’s most popular drama series, Packed to the Rafters. At its center were parents Dave and Julie, working to balance their own journey as a couple with the ups and downs of raising a family into adulthood.
Set to begin production in Sydney in 2020, Back to the Rafters is produced by Seven Studios and will feature original principal cast members Rebecca Gibney (Julie Rafter), Erik Thomson (Dave Rafter), Jessica Marais (Rachel Rafter), Hugh Sheridan (Ben Rafter), Angus McLaren (Nathan Rafter), Michael Caton (Ted Taylor) and George Houvardas (Nick “Carbo” Karandonis...
- 12/5/2019
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
‘Between Two Worlds’
The international sales campaign for Between Two Worlds, the Seven Studios drama created by Bevan Lee, kicks off this week at the Mipcom market in Cannes.
Entertainment One acquired the distribution rights to the series starring Cold Feet’s Hermione Norris, Philip Quast, Sara Wiseman and Aaron Jeffrey, in its first ever content deal with Seven Studios.
“Seven Studios is thrilled to partner with Entertainment One to take this extraordinary drama to the world,” CEO Therese Hegarty tells If.
“Between Two Worlds is a world class production by master storyteller Bevan Lee and we are looking forward to taking another fantastic Australian production to an international audience.”
The deal was brokered by Noel Hedges, eOne’s executive VP, acquisitions, international distribution, who said: “Between Two Worlds offers us a glimpse into the rare and privileged world of the super-rich and is a fantastically gripping saga presented by...
The international sales campaign for Between Two Worlds, the Seven Studios drama created by Bevan Lee, kicks off this week at the Mipcom market in Cannes.
Entertainment One acquired the distribution rights to the series starring Cold Feet’s Hermione Norris, Philip Quast, Sara Wiseman and Aaron Jeffrey, in its first ever content deal with Seven Studios.
“Seven Studios is thrilled to partner with Entertainment One to take this extraordinary drama to the world,” CEO Therese Hegarty tells If.
“Between Two Worlds is a world class production by master storyteller Bevan Lee and we are looking forward to taking another fantastic Australian production to an international audience.”
The deal was brokered by Noel Hedges, eOne’s executive VP, acquisitions, international distribution, who said: “Between Two Worlds offers us a glimpse into the rare and privileged world of the super-rich and is a fantastically gripping saga presented by...
- 10/7/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Beck Cole with Tessa Rose on the set of ‘Grace Beside Me’ (Photo credit: Magpie Picture/Julian Panetta).
As a proud woman from Warramungu/Luritja nations filmmaker Beck Cole has worked on numerous Indigenous-themed TV series and documentaries including First Australians, Redfern Now, Grace Beside Me and Black Comedy.
Two years ago she decided to embark on a wider range of projects, a strategy that’s paid off as she has directed two episodes of Fremantle/Foxtel’s Wentworth and is preparing to direct two episodes of Seven Studios’ drama Between Two Worlds.
Later this year she will resume her role as voice director on the third season of Ned Lander Media’s animated series Little J & Big Cuz for Sbs.
Cole and emerging writer/director Samuel Paynter are among eight Indigenous teams from Australia and New Zealand who are making the anthology feature Cook 2020: Our Right of Reply.
As a proud woman from Warramungu/Luritja nations filmmaker Beck Cole has worked on numerous Indigenous-themed TV series and documentaries including First Australians, Redfern Now, Grace Beside Me and Black Comedy.
Two years ago she decided to embark on a wider range of projects, a strategy that’s paid off as she has directed two episodes of Fremantle/Foxtel’s Wentworth and is preparing to direct two episodes of Seven Studios’ drama Between Two Worlds.
Later this year she will resume her role as voice director on the third season of Ned Lander Media’s animated series Little J & Big Cuz for Sbs.
Cole and emerging writer/director Samuel Paynter are among eight Indigenous teams from Australia and New Zealand who are making the anthology feature Cook 2020: Our Right of Reply.
- 5/21/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Hermione Norris.
Best known for her roles in Cold Feet and Luther, Hermione Norris is playing the lead in Seven Studios’ drama Between Two Worlds.
Created by Bevan Lee, the series follows the English actress as Cate Walford, whose husband Phillip is a vicious, philandering business tycoon. With her marriage on the ropes, she is caught in a tangled web of lies and manipulation.
Through a shocking twist of fate, her world collides with the seemingly disparate and disconnected, warm and loving world of a widow and her footy star son and musical daughter.
Philip Quast plays Phillip with A Place to Call Home’s Sara Wiseman as the widow Sophia Grey. The cast includes Wentworth’s Aaron Jeffery as a football coach, Megan Hajjar as Sophia’s daughter Bella, Alex Cubis as her brother Danny, Tom Dalzell as the Walford’s son Bart and Melanie Jarnson as Bart’s girlfriend.
Best known for her roles in Cold Feet and Luther, Hermione Norris is playing the lead in Seven Studios’ drama Between Two Worlds.
Created by Bevan Lee, the series follows the English actress as Cate Walford, whose husband Phillip is a vicious, philandering business tycoon. With her marriage on the ropes, she is caught in a tangled web of lies and manipulation.
Through a shocking twist of fate, her world collides with the seemingly disparate and disconnected, warm and loving world of a widow and her footy star son and musical daughter.
Philip Quast plays Phillip with A Place to Call Home’s Sara Wiseman as the widow Sophia Grey. The cast includes Wentworth’s Aaron Jeffery as a football coach, Megan Hajjar as Sophia’s daughter Bella, Alex Cubis as her brother Danny, Tom Dalzell as the Walford’s son Bart and Melanie Jarnson as Bart’s girlfriend.
- 4/16/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Cold Feet and Luther star Hermione Norris is to front high-concept Australian thriller Between Two Worlds.
The series is being produced by Seven Studios for its parent network, commercial broadcaster Seven Network. It is the latest series from the Australian network as it bolsters its global ambitions and follows the hire of Damon Pattison as Creative Director of Seven Studios UK and its European adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days from Slim Film + TV, which it owns a stake in.
Filming has just begun in Sydney on Between Two Worlds, which sees Norris play Cate Walford, whose relationship with vicious, business tycoon husband, Phillip, is on the ropes and sees a tempestuous home life trapped in a tangled web of lies and manipulation. Through a shocking twist of fate, this dark and murky world collides with the seemingly disparate and disconnected, warm and loving world of a widow and...
The series is being produced by Seven Studios for its parent network, commercial broadcaster Seven Network. It is the latest series from the Australian network as it bolsters its global ambitions and follows the hire of Damon Pattison as Creative Director of Seven Studios UK and its European adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days from Slim Film + TV, which it owns a stake in.
Filming has just begun in Sydney on Between Two Worlds, which sees Norris play Cate Walford, whose relationship with vicious, business tycoon husband, Phillip, is on the ropes and sees a tempestuous home life trapped in a tangled web of lies and manipulation. Through a shocking twist of fate, this dark and murky world collides with the seemingly disparate and disconnected, warm and loving world of a widow and...
- 4/16/2019
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
The premiere of season 3 of A Place to Call Home on Foxtel's SoHo has attracted a a consolidated cumulative audience of 500,000 viewers.
According to OzTam figures, that ranks as the third most watched drama series in subscription TV history, trailing Game of Thrones and Wentworth.
The Sunday September 27 broadcast of A Place to Call Home scored. an overnight consolidated audience of 255,000, the most watched program ever on SoHo and the fourth most popular series on pay TV this year behind Game of Thrones, Selling Houses Australia and The Flash.
The figures vindicate the decision by Foxtel executive director of television Brian Walsh to commission two series of the Seven Productions show created by Bevan Lee after the Seven Network elected not to renew it..
Walsh said: .We are knocked out by this outstanding result. It is a timely reminder that Australians love great Australian story telling and quality drama which is well conceived,...
According to OzTam figures, that ranks as the third most watched drama series in subscription TV history, trailing Game of Thrones and Wentworth.
The Sunday September 27 broadcast of A Place to Call Home scored. an overnight consolidated audience of 255,000, the most watched program ever on SoHo and the fourth most popular series on pay TV this year behind Game of Thrones, Selling Houses Australia and The Flash.
The figures vindicate the decision by Foxtel executive director of television Brian Walsh to commission two series of the Seven Productions show created by Bevan Lee after the Seven Network elected not to renew it..
Walsh said: .We are knocked out by this outstanding result. It is a timely reminder that Australians love great Australian story telling and quality drama which is well conceived,...
- 10/15/2015
- by Staff writer
- IF.com.au
Rebecca Gibney will reprise her role as Detective Sergeant Eve Winter in Seven.s new series Winter. Winter was a popular character on the successful TV movie The Killing Field, which aired on Seven last year. Peter O.Brien will also return to his role of Detective Inspector Lachlan McKenzie. Joining them are Matt Nable, Antonia Prebble, Akos Armont and Sara West. The series will follow Winter and her colleagues who are tasked with solving the murder of a 23-year-old mother Karly in a fishing town in south Nsw. But things become complicated when Federal Policeman Jake Harris (Nable) is reluctant to share his case or main witness Indiana. Winter doesn.t give up and continues to dig deeper, while McKenzie runs his own investigation into a cold case of a separate murder years ago, which took place in the same town. Winter is an in-house Seven Production and is produced by Chris Martin-Jones,...
- 1/20/2015
- by Emily Blatchford
- IF.com.au
Spartacus Vengeance – Episode 8: Balance
Stars: Liam McIntyre, Peter Mensah, Manu Bennett, Viva Bianca, Craig Parker, Katrina Law, Hanna Mangan-Lawrence, Lucy Lawless, Dan Feuerriegel, Nick Tarabay, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Dustin Clare | Written by Jed Whedon | Directed by Chris Martin-Jones
“Spartacus is a historical portrayal of ancient Roman society that contains graphic violence and adult content. Viewer discretion is advised.”
So we’re 8 episodes deep into this 10 episode season and the Capua Four are finally back together again. Liam McIntyre has successfully cemented his place as a more thoughtful and calmer Spartacus, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson looks comfortable portraying a damaged, but stronger Naevia.
Speaking of damage, I love how the characters are gaining more scars each battle, that attention to detail is just one reason Spartacus is such a good show. Continuity! (See my rant in last week’s review).
I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that this episode...
Stars: Liam McIntyre, Peter Mensah, Manu Bennett, Viva Bianca, Craig Parker, Katrina Law, Hanna Mangan-Lawrence, Lucy Lawless, Dan Feuerriegel, Nick Tarabay, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Dustin Clare | Written by Jed Whedon | Directed by Chris Martin-Jones
“Spartacus is a historical portrayal of ancient Roman society that contains graphic violence and adult content. Viewer discretion is advised.”
So we’re 8 episodes deep into this 10 episode season and the Capua Four are finally back together again. Liam McIntyre has successfully cemented his place as a more thoughtful and calmer Spartacus, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson looks comfortable portraying a damaged, but stronger Naevia.
Speaking of damage, I love how the characters are gaining more scars each battle, that attention to detail is just one reason Spartacus is such a good show. Continuity! (See my rant in last week’s review).
I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that this episode...
- 3/18/2012
- by Baron Fornightly
- Nerdly
Australia.s highest-rated TV drama series Packed To The Rafters is back to claim its crown.
The Seven series, which last year averaged 1.8 million viewers, returns next week with another 22 episodes.
It.s the nation.s favourite drama, having netted Best Australian Drama at the last three Logie Awards. Two weeks ago it also took out the Audience Choice Award for Best TV Program at the inaugural Aacta Awards.
Series producer Chris Martin-Jones, who occasionally sits in the director.s chair, puts the show's success down to it being so relatable. The drama focuses on the Rafter family . a family, which, like any, faces pressures of life and love while dealing with serious social issues.
.They can see the characters in their own lives. They can see the situation the character.s in,. Martin-Jones says from his Sydney office.
He says tackling serious issues such as abortion, drug abuse and...
The Seven series, which last year averaged 1.8 million viewers, returns next week with another 22 episodes.
It.s the nation.s favourite drama, having netted Best Australian Drama at the last three Logie Awards. Two weeks ago it also took out the Audience Choice Award for Best TV Program at the inaugural Aacta Awards.
Series producer Chris Martin-Jones, who occasionally sits in the director.s chair, puts the show's success down to it being so relatable. The drama focuses on the Rafter family . a family, which, like any, faces pressures of life and love while dealing with serious social issues.
.They can see the characters in their own lives. They can see the situation the character.s in,. Martin-Jones says from his Sydney office.
He says tackling serious issues such as abortion, drug abuse and...
- 2/8/2012
- by Sam Dallas
- IF.com.au
Australia.s highest-rated TV drama series Packed To The Rafters is back to claim its crown. The Seven series, which last year averaged 1.8 million viewers, returns next week with another 22 episodes. It.s the nation.s favourite drama, having netted Best Australian Drama at the last three Logie Awards. Two weeks ago it also took out the Audience Choice Award for Best TV Program at the inaugural Aacta Awards. Series producer Chris Martin-Jones, who occasionally sits in the director.s chair, puts the show's success down to it being so relatable. The drama focuses on the Rafter family . a family, which, like any, faces pressures of life and love while dealing with serious social issues. .They can see the characters in their own lives. They...
- 2/8/2012
- by Sam Dallas
- IF.com.au
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