LATEST NEWS & MEDIA
LATEST NEWS & MEDIA
ABC’S ‘CRAZY FUN PARK’ UNDER WAY
Working under Producer Joanna Werner (Werner Productions, who were behind hit series ‘The Newsreader’) and series creator Nicholas Verso, Sarah will be directing one of the episodes of upcoming horror-comedy series ‘Crazy Fun Park’. The series tells the story of Chester, an introverted teen who makes the incredible discovery that his recently deceased best friend, Mapplethorpe, is one of a group of ghoulish teens who haunt the abandoned fun park on the edge of town.
SARAH FINISHES UP ON ABC’S ‘FIRES’ (Matchbox/nbcu)
Sarah has just finished up on some B Unit directing, and a Director’s Attachment on ABC/NBCU’s new drama series ‘FIRES’, an anthology series written around the Black Summer fires. Attached to director Kim Mordaunt (fresh off Wakefield), Sarah spent 3 months on the ambitious production, also assisting with vehicle tracking shots, VFX plate filming and direction, as well as working with the producers to seek relevant real-world footage to honour the story of the beastly fires that couldn’t be restaged.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CHILDREN’S BOOK SERIES… FOR ADULTS
Sarah is currently chipping away at an exciting new children’s book project which aims to be an abstract, dreamlike, illustrated series which appeals to both children and adults. The series explores the adventures of a non-gendered characters as they explore worlds of metaphors based on gorgeous life lessons relevant today. Partnering up with illustrator and artist Jenny Zhao, book number 1 titled ‘The Ladder In The Sky’ is now under way. That’s all we can say for now.
‘BULLDOG’S ALLEY’ SERIES CONCEPT SHORTLISTED FOR STAGE 1 DEVELOPMENT FOR STAN/FILM VIC INITIATIVE
Sarah has been spending the last few months in the writer’s room for Stan, as part of a new initiative to produce global series content that competes on the world SVOD stage. Her series concept - ‘Bulldog’s Alley’ - is about a heist that goes wrong in an Australian small-town bowling alley. It’s a present-tense-but-80s-inspired drama which blends the sensibilities of films like Pulp Fiction and Fargo, whilst integrating character-based complexities of shows like Big Little Lies. Sarah has just submitted her deliverables for Stage 1, and will find out about Stage 2 in November 2019.
SHORT FILM ‘BARREN’ RELEASED ONLINE
AFTER SCREENING AT PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FEST
At long last, Barren is now viewable online. The 21-minute film screened at the Portland International Film Festival, and has gained much media publication over the last 2 years due to the film’s interesting origins. Written on an 800km walk from Melbourne to Adelaide, Sarah wrote this gorgeous film about the power of running away before you can truly come home. A tale of grief, chance, and a little pink bear.
SARAH’S SPOT ‘MUMMA’S ECOSA MOMENT’
REACHES OVER 10 MILLION VIEWS
It’s official. ‘That Ecosa Mattress Ad with the vibrator joke’ has gone viral. Across YouTube and Facebook, the little spot that Sarah wrote and directed herself through Monster & Bear has accumulated over 10 million views. Wanna see what the fuss is about? Don’t take our word for it… See what people are saying about the 3 minute ad they can’t stop watching at the link below:
SARAH ACCEPTS FILMVIC DIRECTOR’S ATTACHMENT
ON NETWORK 10’S ‘MY LIFE IS MURDER’
Sarah has just accepted a two and a half month long director’s attachment through FilmVic’s Key Talents Placement Register, where she’ll be shadowing director Mat King (Bloom, Wentworth, Pine Gap, The Wrong Girl) and working alongside Lucy Lawless.
DEE-BRIEF ACCEPTED INTO SICILY WEB FEST
The momentum around web series-turned-TV series Dee-Brief is showing no signs of slowing down as the show makes it into our first international screening.
Don’t forget to watch the full series online now via 10Play.
SHORT FILM ‘ALLIE’ RECEIVES BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
AND OVERALL THIRD PLACE AT TROPFEST 2019
Produced by Sarah (alongside Jessica Galea), and directed by Cassie De Colling, ‘Allie’ is a short film that was crammed into the final moments of 2019. Little did the crew know, the film would receive accolades in two categories at Tropfest 2019. A special congrats to David Franjic - the cinematographer who took out Best Cinematography and took this film to a whole new level. Skip to the 2:07:00 mark at the link below to see the full film now:
DEE-BRIEF ACQUIRED BY NETWORK 10 FOR
10 PEACH & 10 PLAY
Woo hoo! The little female-driven web series that could is now viewable on 10Play, and went to broadcast as a 90 minute, chapterised telemovie on December the 7th.
FRANKIE MAGAZINE FEATURE:
HOW TO MAKE A SERIES
In light of recent webseries success with Dee-Brief, Sarah (alongside Producer Jessica Pearce) had a chat with Frankie Magazine about 'How To Make A Webseries'. Apparently these words classified as "Words From The Wise".
1st place in women's advertising competition:
the brewin' transfer
As a side project to recent webseries project, Dee-Brief, Sarah partnered up with Two Birds Brewing to create a fun, improvised spot to taste test the six hero beers of the Two Birds range. Little did we know this bad boy would take out first prize at Good Beer Week's Brewin' Transfer, an award targeted toward female-driven advertising content.
sarah features on 'i made this':
an entrepreneurial podcast series
Sarah started her own production company Monster & Bear in 2013, but has known journalist Alissa Thibault for a lot longer than that. As far back as primary school, in fact. In Alissa's podcast series I Made This, we go for a trip down memory lane, and get right back to the roots of Sarah's competitive drive, and explore the more difficult and unspoken times around taking large risks and starting your own business.