Stan has announced a blockbuster new slate of Stan Originals as part of its ongoing commitment to deliver more locally produced original films and series.
The announcement comes just days after Mediaweek spoke with Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany about their “drama drought”. Delany wasn’t too concerned that Stan could overtake Foxtel with more Australian program commissions. Although Foxtel’s lifestyle content performed well, Delany noted some of the local drama commissions had smaller audiences. One of the exceptions of course is Wentworth, with a final season launching this week.
The Stan announcement follows the 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 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.
Other Stan Originals previously announced and coming soon include:
• 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 HBO Max and the BBC
• 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.
New 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 line-up of originals.”
The new slate of upcoming Stan Original Series and Films:
• Bad Behaviour – Commencing production in 2021
Based on the book by Australian writer Rebecca Starford, the Stan Original Series Bad Behaviour is a 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). 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 (above) 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 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 writing team of Jessica Tuckwell and Kelsey Munro on the series.
Top photo: Cailah Scobie, Stan CCO
See also: Stan extends WarnerMedia supply pipeline for blockbuster movies, classic TV