Andy Anderson
Set among the turquoise waters and lethal wildlife of Australia’s Far North Queensland and the Torres Strait, The Straits is an exotic, darkly humorous crime drama. The Montebellos are not your average Australian family. Modern day smugglers, their family business is transporting drugs into Australia and guns and exotic wildlife out, making use of ties of blood and loyalty in the Torres Strait Islands.
Driving cross-country to a job interview, Colin takes a short cut and comes across a fatal road accident. One of the drivers, Jina, is shaken but unhurt; the other has been killed instantly. Beside the dead body is a briefcase full of money, which Colin turns in to the local police. But getting out of town proves a nightmare, as Colin's good deed causes a series of bizarre events to unfold.
An enigmatic young musician becomes the captive audience for a crusty old cab driver's hilarious dirty story on the taxi ride from hell.
An ex-Boer war guerrilla in New Zealand is sent out to bring back a Maori accused of killing a British soldier. Gradually they grow to know and respect one another but a posse, led by the British Commanding officer is close behind and his sole intention is to see the Maori hang. Written by Filmfinders 1903. A guerilla fighter from the South African Boer war called Arjan (Winstone) takes on a manhunt for Maori seaman Kereama (Morrison), who is accused of murdering a British soldier. What follows is a cat and mouse pursuit through the varied landscape of NZ with both hunter and huntee testing their bushcraft and wits against that of the other. Written by Anonymous
A group of unwitting teens are stranded near a strange wax museum and soon must fight to survive and keep from becoming the next exhibit.
The blood orchid - A rare flower that holds the secret of eternal life and a fortune to the pharmaceutical company that finds it. Led by a two-fisted soldier of fortune, a scientific expedition is sent deep into the jungles of Borneo to locate and bring back samples of the legendary plant. Battling their way upriver, the explorers brave poisonous insects, ferocious crocodiles and savage headhunters, unaware they're being stalked by an even greater danger: a nest of giant anacondas, voracious, fifty-foot-long flesh-eaters who'll stop at nothing to protect their breeding ground, the blood orchid's home.
Documentary tracing the attempts of a team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology Institue students to become rich playing blackjack at casinos throughout the United States and the attempts of the casinos' management to thwart them.
The story of Stuart Diver, the only person to survive the 1997 Thredbo tragedy that came about when a landslide engulfed a ski lodge situated in Australia's Snowy Mountains.
Numero Bruno is a warts and all biography of widely popular actor, musician and counter-cultural hero Bruno Lawrence. Lawrence's intense, charismatic screen presence was key to ground-breaking Kiwi films, Smash Palace, The Quiet Earth and Utu. Directed by Steve La Hood, this documentary features interviews with family and friends, and liberal excerpts from Lawrence's film and musical work, including performances by 70s alternative Aotearoa icons Blerta and clips showcasing his seminal collaborations with Geoff Murphy.
Fire is a fast-paced Australian action/drama series set around the lives and adventures of a team of firefighters working in the city of Brisbane. To these men and women, fire is not just about the flames, but a way of life, friendship and trust as strong as any blood- family. The initiation for any new recruit is tough and any moment of misjudgement, hesitation or fear could cost a life - that of a fellow fire fighter. The series was transmitted on the Seven Network between 1995 and 1996. It was shown in the UK & Ireland on Sky One. In 1999 and 2000, the series was shown on Channel 5. The leading cast members included: Andy Anderson, Georgie Parker, Peter Phelps, Shane Connor, Deborra-Lee Furness, Danny Adcock, Wayne Pygram, Tottie Goldsmith, Liddy Clark, Aaron Jeffery, Tayler Kane and Max Phipps.
John Stamford, an expatriate Australian, now a private detective in Singapore, becomes involved in a fake pharmaceuticals case and a dangerous love triangle.
Phoenix is an Australian police drama television series. Phoenix screened as two thirteen-part series on Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1992 and 1993. The first series of Phoenix in 1992 recounted the investigation of the bombing of the Victorian state police headquarters, loosely based on a real case in the mid-1980s, the Russell Street Bombing. It was aided by extensive research into police techniques and was lauded as one of the most realistic depictions of police investigation techniques, including both surveillance and forensics, as well as having an involving storyline. The series was notable for its dark visual tone and for its no-holds-barred attitude to violence and language. It spawned a second thirteen-part series, Phoenix II, in 1993 as well as a spin-off series, Janus, in 1994 devoted to the machinations of court cases. The series was created and produced by Tony McDonald and Alison Nisselle and screened by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The ABC have released Series 1 and 2 on DVD as a 4 DVD box set.
On a holiday to Mt Tarawera, teenager Jenny finds an odd shard of metal. In this third episode of the kids sci-fi series she meets its owner: 'Drom' — a survivor of an alien mission to deactivate a planet-annihilating space gun (aka Tarawera itself). They find themselves under siege from a Predator-like 'Guardian' of the gun. If Drom and Jenny and local kids Tessa and Lloyd can't defeat the mechanoid, catastrophe is imminent! The South Pacific Pictures series found international sales and cult repute.
The Haunting of Barney Palmer is a fantasy film for children about a young boy who is haunted by his great uncle. Young Barney fears that he has inherited the Scholar family curse; a suite of 80s-era effects ramp up the supernatural suspense. The film was a co-production between PBS (United States) and Wellington's Gibson Group, which resulted in Ned Beatty (Deliverance, Network) being cast. It was written by Margaret Mahy, based on her Carnegie Award-winning novel The Haunting, and an early fruitful collaboration between her and director Yvonne Mackay.
A young woman searches for her identity by joining a "free love" hippie commune, against the wishes of her darkly possessive widowed father. The tensions of small town New Zealand and individual conflicts generated by intolerance and fear, unleashes forces of violence and betrayal.
The Sullivans is an Australian drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran on the Nine Network from 1976 until 1983. The series told the story of an average middle-class Melbourne family and the effect World War II had on their lives. It was a consistent ratings success in Australia, and also became popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands, Gibraltar and New Zealand.
