STAN CEMENTS POSITION AS LOCAL CONTENT LEADER WITH NEW SLATE OF STAN ORIGINALS ANNOUNCED
Stan, Australia’s unrivalled home of original productions, today announced a blockbuster new slate of Stan Originals as part of its ongoing commitment to deliver more world-class, locally produced original films and series.
The announcement follows Stan’s confirmation it has expanded its partnership with Roadshow Rough Diamond, in addition to partnering with the Australian Children’s Television Foundation to create a new feature film production fund.
The new slate of Stan Originals includes Bad Behaviour , a series based on the acclaimed book of the same name by Australian writer Rebecca Starford ; and Christmas on the Farm , a holiday film starring Poppy Montgomery , Hugh Sheridan , Darren McMullen and Nicholas Brown . These new projects are joined by Bump Season 2 and Season 3 ; Year Of , a high school drama spin-off of the highly successful Bump ; and Ironside , a new series inspired by the AFP’s Operation Ironside.
Today’s newly announced films and series build on an already stellar lineup of Stan Originals coming soon, including: Wolf Like Me , starring Josh Gad and Isla Fisher and produced by Made Up Stories in partnership with NBC’s Peacock; The Tourist , starring Jamie Dornan and produced in partnership with the BBC and HBO Max; Gold , starring Zac Efron in his first major Australian film; The Portable Door , starring two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz and Sam Neill and produced in partnership with Sky; Transfusion , starring Sam Worthington ; and Nitram , directed by Justin Kurzel and starring Caleb Landry Jones , who won best actor honours at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for his performance.
Stan Chief Content Officer Cailah Scobie said: “Original content is central to Stan’s growth strategy and today’s announcement reflects our commitment to deliver world-class local productions. We’re thrilled our new slate of originals will feature a who’s who of Australian and international actors and creatives. These local productions are being made in collaboration with some of the world’s biggest studios and we look forward to adding these Australian productions to Stan’s already unrivalled lineup of originals.”
The new slate of upcoming Stan Original Series and Films today announced:
Bad Behaviour – Commencing production in 2021
Based on the book by Australian writer Rebecca Starford , the Stan Original Series Bad Behaviour is an emotionally and physically intense glimpse into the lives of teenage girls at the wilderness campus of an exclusive girls’ boarding school. Exploring latent and emerging sexuality, ritualistic rites, intense friendships, shifting loyalties and a ruthless struggle for power, the series is written by Pip Karmel (New Gold Mountain, Total Control) and Magda Wozniak (Mustangs, The Heights) and produced by Amanda Higgs (The Secret Life of Us, Seven Types of Ambiguity), with Corrie Chen ( Five Bedrooms, Wentworth ) to direct.
Christmas on the Farm – Coming this Christmas
Starring Australian-American actress Poppy Montgomery ( Without a Trace ), Hugh Sheridan ( Packed to the Rafters ), Darren McMullen ( House Husbands ) and Nicholas Brown ( Wakefield ), the Stan Original Film Christmas on the Farm follows Clementine Jones (Montgomery), an Australian author whose autobiographical book about life on a Queensland farm is snapped up by powerhouse publishers London & London. But the truth is, “Clementine” is actually Emmy Jones – a New York socialite who has been passing her late mother’s journals off as her own. When the publisher announces that they’re travelling to Australia for an authentic ‘Clementine’ Christmas before signing off on the lucrative deal, Emmy must race back to the old family farm, roping in her cousin David (Sheridan) and his husband Miles (Brown) to help maintain the ruse. One problem: London & London CEO Ellison ( Jennette Cronin ) shows up with her handsome adult son Jack (McMullen) in tow – but if he remembers the night he met Emmy in New York, the deal could all come crashing down! Christmas on the Farm is written by Jennifer Notas Shapiro ( Christmas Lost and Found, Wrapped Up in Christmas), with additional writing by Samantha Strauss ( Nine Perfect Strangers, The End, Dance Academy ), and Christopher Weekes attached to direct. Teaming up with Poppy Montgomery to executive produce the film are Tracey Robertson , Nathan Mayfield , and Tracey Vieira from Hoodlum Entertainment; and US-based Ruthanne Secunda.
Bump Season 2 and Bump Season 3 – Season 2 Coming this Summer
The second season of the record-breaking Stan Original Series Bump is currently in production in Sydney, with the series also renewed for a third season. Starring Claudia Karvan , Nathalie Morris , Carlos Sanson Jnr and Angus Sampson , Season 2 begins with Oly and Santi in a new place of hope and uncertainty. They’ve had a baby, fallen in love, moved in together and then back out; now they might even get to know each other. Roadshow Rough Diamond’s Dan and John Edwards return to produce the series, alongside Claudia Karvan.
Bump Season 3 will begin production in 2022.
Ironside – Greenlit
An upcoming Stan Original Series, Ironside is a criminal drama telling the extraordinary true story of the Australian Federal Police and FBI’s development and use of the encrypted ANOM app to track and trap international criminals. Roadshow Rough Diamond’s Dan and John Edwards are working hand-in-hand with acclaimed writer and director Gregor Jordan and Nine’s multi-Walkley award-winning journalist for 60 Minutes , The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald Nick McKenzie on the series.
Year Of – Greenlit
Year Of is set in and around the senior years of high school – exploring the liminal time between childhood and adulthood for the kids and the renegotiations with adults that it brings. Of course, the school and the teachers – we’ve already met in Bump . Young love and angst, humour and tragedy, rub against each other in a powerful mix. Roadshow Rough Diamond’s Dan and John Edwards are working alongside the talented writing team of Jessica Tuckwell and Kelsey Munro on the series.
Recently announced Stan Original Films and Series also coming soon:
Gold
Starring Zac Efron and set against the backdrop of a vast, unique and unforgiving landscape, the Stan Original Film Gold is a taut thriller about greed and the lengths people will go to secure themselves a fortune. When two drifters travelling through the outback stumble across the biggest gold nugget ever found, the dream of immense wealth and greed takes hold. AACTA Award-winning actor and filmmaker Anthony Hayes ( Animal Kingdom, The Light Between Oceans, War Machine ) directs and co-stars alongside Zac Efron and award-winning actress Susie Porter (Stan Original Film The Second ). John Schwarz and Michael Schwarz are producing the film through their Deeper Water Films banner ( Killerman , Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan ), alongside Hayes for Rogue Star Pictures .
Nitram
Directed by Justin Kurzel , written by Shaun Grant and produced by Nick Batzias and Virginia Whitwell at Good Thing Productions , the Stan Original Film Nitram depicts the events leading up to one of the darkest chapters in Australian history in an attempt to understand why and how this atrocity occurred. Nitram ( Caleb Landry-Jones ) lives with his mother ( Judy Davis ) and father ( Anthony LaPaglia ) in suburban Australia in the mid-1990s. He lives a life of isolation and frustration at never being able to fit in. That is until he unexpectedly finds a close friend in a reclusive heiress, Helen ( Essie Davis ). However, when that friendship meets its tragic end, and Nitram’s loneliness and anger grow, he begins a slow descent into a nightmare that culminates in the most nihilistic and heinous of acts.
The Portable Door
The Stan Original Film The Portable Door is a magical fantasy adventure that sees two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz ( Django Unchained, No Time to Die ) and multi-Golden Globe nominee Sam Neill ( Peter Rabbit, Jurassic Park franchise) star alongside Patrick Gibson ( The OA, Tolkien ) and an all-star Australian cast, including Miranda Otto ( The Lord of the Rings franchise), Chris Pang ( Crazy Rich Asians ), Jessica DeGouw ( Gretel & Hansel , Pennyworth ), New Zealand’s Rachel House ( Soul, Thor: Ragnarok ), Arka Das ( Mulan , Lion ), Damon Herriman ( Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Stan Original Series The Commons ) and Sophie Wilde (Stan Original Series Eden, You Don’t Know Me ). Adapted from Tom Holt’s eponymous seven-book fantasy series, award-winning Australian director Jeffrey Walker ( Ali’s Wedding, Stan Original Series The Commons) is directing the film from a screenplay adapted by Australian writer Leon Ford ( Griff the Invisible ).
The Tourist
BAFTA nominee Jamie Dornan stars as ‘The Man’ in the upcoming Stan Original Series The Tourist – a mystery-packed six-part thriller charting one man’s search for his identity. From Emmy and Golden Globe-winning production company Two Brothers Pictures ( Baptiste, The Missing, Fleabag ) and headed up by acclaimed writers Harry and Jack Williams , The Tourist also stars Danielle Macdonald ( Unbelievable, Dumplin’, Patti Cakes ), Shalom Brune-Franklin ( Line of Duty, Roadkill ), Ólafur Darri Ólafsson ( Trapped, The Missing ), Alex Dimitriades ( The End, The Cry ) and Damon Herriman ( Mindhunter, Justified ).
Transfusion
The Stan Original Film Transfusion is a muscular thriller starring Sam Worthington ( Avatar ) as Ryan Logan, a former Special Forces operative, who is battling to cope with life after the loss of his wife and is thrust into the criminal underworld to keep his only son from being taken from him. The film also co-stars Phoebe Tonkin (Stan Original Series Bloom ) and Matt Nable ( The Dry ), who in addition to starring and writing the film, makes his directorial debut with the project.
Wolf Like Me
Starring Josh Gad ( Frozen , Beauty and the Beast ) and AACTA Award-winning Australian actress Isla Fisher ( Arrested Development , Wedding Crashers ), the Stan Original Series Wolf Like Me is a genre-bending, heartfelt drama produced by Jodi Matterson ( Nine Perfect Strangers ), Bruna Papandrea ( Big Little Lies ) and Steve Hutensky’s ( The Dry) Made Up Stories and written and directed by three-time AACTA Award nominee Abe Forsythe ( Little Monsters ). Everyone brings their own set of baggage to a new relationship and Gary (Gad) and Mary (Fisher) are no different. Gary is an emotional wreck and struggles to provide for his daughter since the death of his wife. Mary has a secret she can’t bring herself to share with anyone. The universe brought these two together for a reason, they just need to keep following the signs.