Bunya Entertainment, an Australian TV producer, has announced that Sophia Zachariou is stepping down from her role as co-managing Director after five years. Bunya Entertainment, part of the Bunya Group companies, was founded by Zachariou in 2019 along with David Jowsey & Greer Simpkin.
Zachariou will complete the series “The Office” and Ladies in Black (ABC) before leaving Bunya Entertainment. Bunya Entertainment also produces the six-part half-hour comedy “The Moth Effect,” available on Amazon, and the comedy “Nice Shorts.”
Zachariou created 2020 the Bunya Talent Indigenous Hub with Netflix and Screen Australia. This Hub funded and developed 10 First Nations directors and writers to develop their TV projects. Later, the Hub expanded to include a collaboration with SAFC and Screen NT.
Jowsey Simpkin continues to be co-MD at Bunya Entertainment. They will continue to oversee the Bunya Group’s separate entities, Bunya Productions (Mystery Road, “Sweet Country,” and “Limbo”), as well as the distribution company Dark Matter.
“We’ve loved [Zachariou] vibrant contribution in the last five years. She leaves her company in excellent shape with a solid production and development schedule. “We wish Sophia all the best in her future endeavors,” Jowsey & Simpkin said.
LOVING LIMBO
“Limbo” won the FCCA Awards in Sydney on Monday. The FCCA Awards are given annually by the Film Critics Circle of Australia. The film “Limbo,” which won six of the nine awards in total, was also named best film by Ivan SEN. Simon Baker was awarded the Best Actor prize for his performance in the movie. Rob Collins won the award for Best Supporting Actor, and Natasha Wanganeen took home the award for Best Supporting Actress.
Zar Ebrahimiwon was the best actress for “Shayda,” and the film also won the best screenplay award from Noora Niasari. Rachel Ward won the Best Documentary Feature award for “Rachel’s Farm,” which she both directed and starred in.
HIGHER ORBIT
The Stars Collective, a film financing operation in Hollywood operated by China’s Starlight Media, has added Chinese director Lu Chuan (Kekexili Mountain Patrol,” City of Life and Death,” Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe”) to its mentor committee.
Stars-Hana Investment Fund is partnering up with “leading gaming companies including Tencentand DreamSky Technology owned by Tencent, as well as HYJZ and Forevernine,” in order to develop a series of video games simultaneously.
It reports that it is producing adaptations of future films and IP, including: “Every House is Haunted,” by Sam Raimi, Roy Lee, and James Wan; “The Burden,” by James Wan, Sam Raimi, and Don Murphy; “Hunting Season,” by James Wan, Don Murphy, and James Wan; James Wan’s “The Call of Cthulhu,” “Mass Extinction,” and “GMO;” “The Godfather,” with Jon Chu, and
Stars Collective has a 25-year exclusive license for all picture-related merchandise in Greater China, including the upcoming “The Garfield Movie.” This includes theme parks and stage rights.
TOKYO ENTERTAINMENT
Mitsubishi Estate and Tokyo Broadcasting System have broken ground on an entertainment industry hub in central Tokyo that will span 205,800 m2 (2.2 million square feet), including office, theatre, retail, and hotel space, property publication Mingtiandi reports.” We aim to become a base that delivers the best content to the world, including establishing facilities where entertainment-related companies, startup companies, and creators can gather,” the companies said in a statement. According to reports, the partners will commit JPY 200 billion ($ 1.34 billion) to this project.
The Akasaka Entertainment City is located in a traditional entertainment district. It also features an 18-storey block of 38,150m2 that will have 12 levels of hotel space and six levels for theatres. Mingtiandi stated that the developers planned to include a 4,900m2 plaza directly connected to Akasaka Station on Tokyo Metro’s Chiyoda Line.