Monica Zanetti’s Ellie and Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt) opens in UK cinemas today via Kaleidoscope, with Arcadia Films also announcing a range of sales in other territories, including the US.
The queer rom-com, written and directed by Monica Zanetti, follows Ellie (Sophie Hawkshaw), a high-school high-flyer who aces her academic work but can’t figure out a way to talk to Abbie (Zoe Terakes), the person with whom she’s hopelessly in love – or ask them to the formal.
Then a miracle happens: her dead lesbian aunt Tara (Julia Billington) returns as fairy godmother to offer plain-speaking advice from beyond the grave, but she hasn’t dated since the 1980s, and Gen Z dating norms aren’t easy for her to grasp.
Marta Dusseldorp, Rachel House, and Bridie Connell also star.
MahVeen Shahraki and Patrick James are the producers for Brazen Lot, with executive producers Brian Cobb, Steve Jaggi,...
The queer rom-com, written and directed by Monica Zanetti, follows Ellie (Sophie Hawkshaw), a high-school high-flyer who aces her academic work but can’t figure out a way to talk to Abbie (Zoe Terakes), the person with whom she’s hopelessly in love – or ask them to the formal.
Then a miracle happens: her dead lesbian aunt Tara (Julia Billington) returns as fairy godmother to offer plain-speaking advice from beyond the grave, but she hasn’t dated since the 1980s, and Gen Z dating norms aren’t easy for her to grasp.
Marta Dusseldorp, Rachel House, and Bridie Connell also star.
MahVeen Shahraki and Patrick James are the producers for Brazen Lot, with executive producers Brian Cobb, Steve Jaggi,...
- 6/11/2021
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Sophie Hawkshaw (L) and Zoe Terakes in ‘Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt)’.
Since Zoe Terakes came out, the proudly gay actor has not been offered any screen roles as straight characters – but that has not hindered the 19-year-old’s flourishing career.
There is no such discrimination in the theatre world and Zoe is currently performing in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge at the Ensemble Theatre, directed by Iain Sinclair.
She made her stage debut as Catherine, a college student who is romantically involved with Italian Rodolpho, in the Old Fitz Theatre production of the play while she was studying for the Hsc.
Miller’s play has been a talisman for her as she appeared in the Melbourne Theatre Company production, also directed by Sinclair, earlier this year.
Terakes is determined to overcome the attitude prevalent in sections of the screen industry that gay actors can’t be convincing as straight characters.
Since Zoe Terakes came out, the proudly gay actor has not been offered any screen roles as straight characters – but that has not hindered the 19-year-old’s flourishing career.
There is no such discrimination in the theatre world and Zoe is currently performing in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge at the Ensemble Theatre, directed by Iain Sinclair.
She made her stage debut as Catherine, a college student who is romantically involved with Italian Rodolpho, in the Old Fitz Theatre production of the play while she was studying for the Hsc.
Miller’s play has been a talisman for her as she appeared in the Melbourne Theatre Company production, also directed by Sinclair, earlier this year.
Terakes is determined to overcome the attitude prevalent in sections of the screen industry that gay actors can’t be convincing as straight characters.
- 8/3/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Julia Billington
When Julia Billington was at the National Institute of Dramatic Art there was a tacit belief among sections of the screen industry that a gay actor could not come out.
“It wasn’t spoken about but it was an undercurrent, a hangover from the past decade,” she tells If. “If you were queer, you should keep it on the down-low.”
Since she graduated from Nida in 2008 clearly there has been growing acceptance of the Lgbtqi community, although it’s far from universal.
Citing the 38.4 per cent of respondents who voted no in the same sex marriage plebiscite in 2017, she says: “We can pat ourselves on the back but there is still a long way to go.”
Currently Billington is relishing playing Tara, a lesbian who died in the 1980s and is reincarnated as a fairy godmother in Monica Zanetti’s rom-com Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt).
Adapted...
When Julia Billington was at the National Institute of Dramatic Art there was a tacit belief among sections of the screen industry that a gay actor could not come out.
“It wasn’t spoken about but it was an undercurrent, a hangover from the past decade,” she tells If. “If you were queer, you should keep it on the down-low.”
Since she graduated from Nida in 2008 clearly there has been growing acceptance of the Lgbtqi community, although it’s far from universal.
Citing the 38.4 per cent of respondents who voted no in the same sex marriage plebiscite in 2017, she says: “We can pat ourselves on the back but there is still a long way to go.”
Currently Billington is relishing playing Tara, a lesbian who died in the 1980s and is reincarnated as a fairy godmother in Monica Zanetti’s rom-com Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt).
Adapted...
- 4/28/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Top (l-r) Sophie Hawkshaw, Zoe Terakes; Bottom (l-r) Rachel House, Marta Dusseldorp.
As a teenager Monica Zanetti searched in vain for gay rom-coms which she could watch with her mother, while Neil Armfield’s same-sex romantic drama Holding the Man was a major influence.
That has inspired the writer-director to make her feature directing debut on Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt), which, unlike Armfield’s film has a happy ending.
Shooting in Sydney started today, starring Marta Dusseldorp, fellow Janet King alumni Julia Billington, Kiwi Rachel House, Zoe Terakes and newcomer Sophie Hawkshaw.
Zanetti adapted the screenplay from her eponymous play which was staged in 2017 at The Depot Theatre in Marrickville, her second feature credit after Jonnie Leahy’s 2014 drama Skip Deep.
Hawkshaw’s Ellie is 18 and struggling to find the courage to ask classmate Abbie (Terakes) to the formal. Luckily her aunt Tara (Billington), a lesbian who died in the 80s,...
As a teenager Monica Zanetti searched in vain for gay rom-coms which she could watch with her mother, while Neil Armfield’s same-sex romantic drama Holding the Man was a major influence.
That has inspired the writer-director to make her feature directing debut on Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt), which, unlike Armfield’s film has a happy ending.
Shooting in Sydney started today, starring Marta Dusseldorp, fellow Janet King alumni Julia Billington, Kiwi Rachel House, Zoe Terakes and newcomer Sophie Hawkshaw.
Zanetti adapted the screenplay from her eponymous play which was staged in 2017 at The Depot Theatre in Marrickville, her second feature credit after Jonnie Leahy’s 2014 drama Skip Deep.
Hawkshaw’s Ellie is 18 and struggling to find the courage to ask classmate Abbie (Terakes) to the formal. Luckily her aunt Tara (Billington), a lesbian who died in the 80s,...
- 4/23/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Brian Cobb pitching the show in Rome.
Brian Cobb’s Cobbstar Productions has teamed up with France’s Black Sheep Films to co-produce Who’s Seen Jessica Bloom? a crime drama created by Australian actor Marin Mimica and his daughter Julia Rose O’Connor.
Wild Bunch TV will handle international distribution to the 8-part series which focuses on seventeen-year-old Jessica Bloom, who disappears during her final year at an elite Eastern Suburbs private school.
The abduction is streamed live via social media along with a series of torture videos. The police investigation reveals life isn’t as it seems for a group of privileged yet disillusioned year 12 students.
Cobb pitched the project, one of 20 chosen from around the globe, at Rome’s Mia market for TV series, feature films and documentaries last month. He had met with executives at Wild Bunch at Mip TV last year, they sparked to the...
Brian Cobb’s Cobbstar Productions has teamed up with France’s Black Sheep Films to co-produce Who’s Seen Jessica Bloom? a crime drama created by Australian actor Marin Mimica and his daughter Julia Rose O’Connor.
Wild Bunch TV will handle international distribution to the 8-part series which focuses on seventeen-year-old Jessica Bloom, who disappears during her final year at an elite Eastern Suburbs private school.
The abduction is streamed live via social media along with a series of torture videos. The police investigation reveals life isn’t as it seems for a group of privileged yet disillusioned year 12 students.
Cobb pitched the project, one of 20 chosen from around the globe, at Rome’s Mia market for TV series, feature films and documentaries last month. He had met with executives at Wild Bunch at Mip TV last year, they sparked to the...
- 11/19/2018
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Exclusive: Short version of ‘choose your adventure’ story to premiere in Cannes.
Spotlight Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to the full-length live-action Vr feature Dream Channel.
A 35-minute version of the 90-minute film will screen at the Cannes Next Vr Theatre.
The project has been profiled in Cross Video Days, a Cannes forum where investors in the Vr space are brought together with experimental filmmakers.
The film is a narrative-driven “choose your own adventure” about gangsters who buy and sell dreams on the black market. Venturing into the world, audiences discover that they are the protagonist of the story and their dreams have been stolen too.
Viewers can experience Dream Channel on both mobile, via Samsung Gear Vr, and on Htc Vive as a fully immersive world where they navigate their way around an augmented Amsterdam from scene to scene choosing their own adventure.
Jonny Peters wrote and directed the film produced by Brian Cobb. The film was...
Spotlight Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to the full-length live-action Vr feature Dream Channel.
A 35-minute version of the 90-minute film will screen at the Cannes Next Vr Theatre.
The project has been profiled in Cross Video Days, a Cannes forum where investors in the Vr space are brought together with experimental filmmakers.
The film is a narrative-driven “choose your own adventure” about gangsters who buy and sell dreams on the black market. Venturing into the world, audiences discover that they are the protagonist of the story and their dreams have been stolen too.
Viewers can experience Dream Channel on both mobile, via Samsung Gear Vr, and on Htc Vive as a fully immersive world where they navigate their way around an augmented Amsterdam from scene to scene choosing their own adventure.
Jonny Peters wrote and directed the film produced by Brian Cobb. The film was...
- 5/17/2017
- ScreenDaily
'Indigo Lake' is an Aussie neo-noir written and directed by Martin Simpson, produced by Brian Cobb and starring Andrew Cutcliffe, Miranda O.Hare, Marin Mimica and Pamela Shaw. Cutcliffe ('Home and Away', 'Wonderland') plays Jack, a painter who falls in love with his subject (Miranda O.Hare), to the chagrin of her gangster husband (Marin Mimica)..
Simpson wrote the script in 2011 and brought it to Cobb, who put the budget together via private investors and the Offset. Beyond.s Martin Fabinyi, with whom Cobb worked under a Screen Australia Enterprise attachment, is executive producing. The indie feature made its world premiere in Canberra, the producer.s hometown, on April 23, followed by a screening at Sydney.s Dendy Newtown on April 26, where the stars, director and producer participated in a Q&A session..
International rights are being handled by Ksm, and the filmmakers will head...
Simpson wrote the script in 2011 and brought it to Cobb, who put the budget together via private investors and the Offset. Beyond.s Martin Fabinyi, with whom Cobb worked under a Screen Australia Enterprise attachment, is executive producing. The indie feature made its world premiere in Canberra, the producer.s hometown, on April 23, followed by a screening at Sydney.s Dendy Newtown on April 26, where the stars, director and producer participated in a Q&A session..
International rights are being handled by Ksm, and the filmmakers will head...
- 5/10/2017
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
'Indigo Lake' is an Aussie neo-noir written and directed by Martin Simpson, produced by Brian Cobb and starring Andrew Cutcliffe, Miranda O.Hare, Marin Mimica and Pamela Shaw. .
Cutcliffe ('Home and Away', 'Wonderland') plays Jack, a painter who falls in love with his subject (Miranda O.Hare), to the chagrin of her gangster husband (Marin Mimica)..
Simpson wrote the script in 2011 and brought it to Cobb, who put the budget together via private investors and the Offset. Beyond.s Martin Fabinyi, with whom Cobb worked under a Screen Australia Enterprise attachment, is executive producing.
The indie feature made its world premiere in Canberra, the producer.s hometown, on April 23, followed by a screening at Sydney.s Dendy Newtown on Wednesday night, where the stars, director and producer participated in a Q&A session.
International rights are being handled by Ksm, and the filmmakers will...
Cutcliffe ('Home and Away', 'Wonderland') plays Jack, a painter who falls in love with his subject (Miranda O.Hare), to the chagrin of her gangster husband (Marin Mimica)..
Simpson wrote the script in 2011 and brought it to Cobb, who put the budget together via private investors and the Offset. Beyond.s Martin Fabinyi, with whom Cobb worked under a Screen Australia Enterprise attachment, is executive producing.
The indie feature made its world premiere in Canberra, the producer.s hometown, on April 23, followed by a screening at Sydney.s Dendy Newtown on Wednesday night, where the stars, director and producer participated in a Q&A session.
International rights are being handled by Ksm, and the filmmakers will...
- 4/27/2017
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
Writer-director Martin Simpson is shooting Indigo Lake, a thriller about an artist who is pressured into painting the portrait of a nightclub owner.s beautiful wife, in Sydney.
Andrew Cutliffe (Home and Away, Wonderland) plays Jake, the painter who falls in love with his subject (Miranda O.Hare), which arouses the suspicions of her husband (Marin Mimica).
The lovers develop a plan to kill the husband by drugging him and driving his car into Indigo Lake. But murder is not as easy as it's painted.
Jonas McLallen is producing with Brian Cobb and Beyond.s Martin Fabinyi as EPs. Beyond will handle international sales and will collaborate with Ross Howden.s Screen Launch on the Australian theatrical release.
Cobb is spending two years with Beyond as part of Screen Australia.s Enterprise program. The feature is financed by private investors and the producer offset. The 4-week shoot is on various locations around Sydney.
Andrew Cutliffe (Home and Away, Wonderland) plays Jake, the painter who falls in love with his subject (Miranda O.Hare), which arouses the suspicions of her husband (Marin Mimica).
The lovers develop a plan to kill the husband by drugging him and driving his car into Indigo Lake. But murder is not as easy as it's painted.
Jonas McLallen is producing with Brian Cobb and Beyond.s Martin Fabinyi as EPs. Beyond will handle international sales and will collaborate with Ross Howden.s Screen Launch on the Australian theatrical release.
Cobb is spending two years with Beyond as part of Screen Australia.s Enterprise program. The feature is financed by private investors and the producer offset. The 4-week shoot is on various locations around Sydney.
- 11/25/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Screen Australia has injected almost $1.6 million in funding into eight new projects through its Multiplatform Drama program..
The program is intended to support unorthodox projects released on a variety of platforms.
Screen Australia senior investment manager, Tim Phillips, said the new slate demonstrated the fund.s twin goals of supporting exciting new teams and finding fresh ideas from established talent..
"Funding from Screen Australia helps deliver on the promise and potential of these ideas, and assists content makers release and market their stories worldwide,. he said.
Screen Australia head of production, Sally Caplan, said the fund was both creator and audience focused.
.Adelaide.s RackaRacka and Triptych Pictures are the latest team supported under the fund to deliver views in the many millions with their Versus series," she said..
"For brave local content which is connecting with audiences globally, you need look no further than our Multiplatform fund..
.The eight...
The program is intended to support unorthodox projects released on a variety of platforms.
Screen Australia senior investment manager, Tim Phillips, said the new slate demonstrated the fund.s twin goals of supporting exciting new teams and finding fresh ideas from established talent..
"Funding from Screen Australia helps deliver on the promise and potential of these ideas, and assists content makers release and market their stories worldwide,. he said.
Screen Australia head of production, Sally Caplan, said the fund was both creator and audience focused.
.Adelaide.s RackaRacka and Triptych Pictures are the latest team supported under the fund to deliver views in the many millions with their Versus series," she said..
"For brave local content which is connecting with audiences globally, you need look no further than our Multiplatform fund..
.The eight...
- 7/8/2015
- by Brian Karlovsky
- IF.com.au
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