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AUSTRALIA, CANADA AND SINGAPORE JOIN FORCES ON STORMWORLD
Western Australian Great Western Entertainment Pty Ltd (GWE) made an announcement at the recent Mipcom TV marketplace in Cannes that it has brought together production, investment and broadcast partners from Canada, Singapore and Australia for its new kids/family sci-fi series Stormworld.
Brightlight Pictures Inc of Vancouver will co-produce the live action 26 x ½ hour series with Great Western under GWE's WiKKiD.tv brand. Joining the adventures of Canadian teenage characters Jason and Lee on Stormworld, is Singapore's TheatreRed.
Kevin Campbell, Chairman of GWE, confirmed that the Australian-Canadian co-production would enter production early next year. Principal photography will take place in Perth, Singapore, Vancouver and the Kimberley coast in North-Western Australia.
The series is supported by ScreenWest, Film Finance Corporation (FFC), the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), TheatreRed, Lotterywest, the Nine Network, ABC-TV, the Disney Channel Australia, Daro Film Distribution and Canada's CTV (Space Channel).
The series has already been sold to Ireland, Romania and Hungary and will be launched at MIP in April 2009.
ScreenWest CEO, Ian Booth, said he was delighted to see WA co-production opportunities of this calibre being undertaken and he was looking forward to the production of this exciting series that will bring together talented film-makers from Singapore and Canada, in a project that utilises Western Australia's outstanding cast and crew and our unique landscapes.
Stormworld was created by UK writer John Goldsmith and Paul Barron. The Canadian co-producers are Stephen Hegyes and Shawn Williamson of Brightlight Pictures, with Ian Hogg of TheatreRed as Co-Executive Producer. The series will be directed by Edward McQueen-Mason and BAFTA award-winning director Mark DeFriest. Series writers include David Ogilvy, Robert Greenberg, Kelly Lefever, Coral Drouyn, Vanessa Yardley, Bryan McQueen-Mason, Alex Burrows and Victor Gentile. The series is scheduled to enter Principal Photography in January 2008.
GWE and TheatreRed have already begun development on a new drama series entitled tyger, tiger, to follow into production after Stormworld. The two companies are also negotiating a co-production documentary series about modern civil aviation. Producer, Paul Barron explained that GWE regarded Stormworld as both an exciting project in its own right, but also as the first project in an ongoing production slate that would combine Singaporean and Australian finance and creative personnel with international partners.
