Disney+ Unveils Debut Australia And New Zealand Slate: Miranda Otto, Jesse Spencer, Guy Pearce Set For Dramas
17.05.2022 - 13:23
/ deadline.com
Miranda Otto, Jesse Spence and Guy Pearce are among the high-profile stars featuring on Disney+’s debut slate in Australia and New Zealand.
Announced at an event at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the 2022/23 slate comprises three dramas, four documentaries and two lifestyle/general factual entertainment series. Several are for Disney+’s adult vertical Star.
On the scripted drama front, The Clearing is adapted from JP Pomare’s novel ‘In the Clearing’ and is inspired by Australian cult The Family and its founder Anne Hamilton-Byrne, one of the few female cult leaders in history.
Teresa Palmer (A Discovery of Witches), Miranda Otto (The Usual Suspects) and Guy Pearce (Jack Irish) lead the cast, alongside the lies of Hazem Shammas (Safe Harbour), Mark Coles-Smith (Mystery Road), Tom Budge (Bloom).
Written and created by Matt Cameron (Jack Irish) and Elise McCredie (Stateless)alongside co-writer Osamah Sami (Ali’s Wedding), it comes from Wood Horse’s Jude Troy (The Other Guy) in association with Egeria.
McCredie, Cameron, Troy and director Jeffrey Walker (Young Rock) serve as executive producers alongside Wooden Horse’s Richard Finlayson and Egeria’s Elizabeth Bradley. Filming will take place in Victoria in the coming months. Gracie Otto (The Other Guy) is also a director.
The Artful Dodger is billed as a “premium character drama set in 1850s Australia,” set 15 years after the events of Oliver Twist. The eight-episode series follows the adult double life of Charles Dickens’ famous prince of thieves – Dodger – now a surgeon, but who can’t shake his predilection for crime.
Sony is co-producing with Beach Road Pictures and Curio Pictures (formerly Playmaker Media) (with Jo Porter). Jeffrey Walker (Young Rock) serves as director