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Mako Mermaids is a spin-off of the popular TV series about mermaids, H2O: Just Add Water, and for years it has been unclear if season 5 of Mako Mermaids will ever see the light of day. The spin-off first premiered in Australia with the title Mako: Island of Secrets, and its most recent episode aired in 2016. Mako Mermaids follows the story of Zac (Chai Hansen), a teenager who becomes a merman after falling into magic water. While Zac learns how to adjust to being a merman, three mermaids named Lyla (Lucy Fry), Nixie (Ivy Latimer), and Sirena (Amy Ruffle) become curious about human life.

The Mako Mermaids cast also includes Isabel Durant as Ondina, Allie Bertram as Mimmi, Gemma Forsyth as Zac's girlfriend Evie, Linda Ngo as Weilan, and Alex Cubis as Eric. In the most recent season of Mako Mermaids, H2O: Just Add Water star Cariba Heine appears as Rikki.

‘The Masked Singer.’

Network 10 is sticking to tried-and-true formats next year, its schedule and investment in local content unaffected by the pandemic-induced advertising downturn.

While all the new and returning shows unveiled today were commissioned before the Federal Government’s media reforms scrapped the local content sub-quotas, executives say that had no bearing on its strategy for 2021.

New to the slate next year are Making It Australia, an adaptation of the NBCUniversal format, a local version of the UK’s The Dog House and The First Inventors, a co-commission with Nitv. (See separate story).

The network continues to commission children’s dramas, with the second series of Jonathan M. Shiff Productions’ The Bureau of Magical Things, the Stephen Jaggi Company’s teen mystery drama Dive Club (a co-commission with Netflix) and a third show yet to be announced. All will premiere on 10 Shake.

“We will deliver a 50-week schedule next year,...

‘The Masked Singer.’

Network 10 is sticking to tried-and-true formats next year, its schedule and investment in local content unaffected by the pandemic-induced advertising downturn.

While all the new and returning shows unveiled today were commissioned before the Federal Government’s media reforms scrapped the local content sub-quotas, executives say that had no bearing on its strategy for 2021.

New to the slate next year are Making It Australia, an adaptation of the NBCUniversal format, a local version of the UK’s The Dog House and The First Inventors, a co-commission with Nitv. (See separate story).

The network continues to commission children’s dramas, with the second series of Jonathan M. Shiff Productions’ The Bureau of Magical Things, the Stephen Jaggi Company’s teen mystery drama Dive Club (a co-commission with Netflix) and a third show yet to be announced. All will premiere on 10 Shake.

“We will deliver a 50-week schedule next year,...

‘The Bureau of Magical Things.’

Shooting of the second series of Jonathan M. Shiff Productions’ The Bureau of Magical Things resumed in Queensland on June 29, one of the first to restart after the lockdown.

Directors Evan Clarry and Martha Goddard completed the first 10 of 20 half-hour episodes last week and Grant Brown is now directing the remaining 10.

The company’s founder tells If about the new shooting protocols, the extra costs involved and the need to rewrite scripts, and his fears that live action children’s TV is doomed unless the TV Producer Offset is doubled to 40 per cent.

Q: I assume you are using the COVIDSafe guidelines, adapted to the specific needs of your production?

A: Our Covid-Safe guidelines and on-set protocols are extensive and are based on the Australian Screen Production Industry Guidelines as well as those provided by Queensland Health and basic workplace safety requirements. There was extensive...

Julian Cullen and Kimie Tsukakoshi in ‘The Bureau of Magical Things.’ (Photo credit: Mark Taylor)

Screen production in Queensland is set to restart with the second season of Jonathan M. Shiff Productions’ The Bureau of Magical Things and a rom-com feature from the Steve Jaggi Company.

The cameras will roll on Shiff’s children’s fantasy, which was shut down in March, on June 29 on the Gold Coast.

On the same day, Jaggi and director Christine Luby will begin shooting This Little Love of Mine in Cairns. Scripted by Georgia Harrison, it’s a co-production with Nicely Entertainment, an La-based distribution and production company recently launched by former Gaumont exec Vanessa Shapiro.

Jaggi is producing with Kelly Son Hing and Spencer McLaren; the cast will be announced next week.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Shiff’s 20-part series is employing more than 200 cast and crew and injecting more than $8.5 million into the State’s economy.

‘The Bureau of Magical Things’.

A second season of Jonathan M. Shiff’s Aacta Award-winning children’s series The Bureau of Magical Things will enter production next month in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

With major investment from distributor Zdf Enterprises, Screen Queensland and Screen Australia, the series will air on Network 10 locally, as well Zdf Germany and Nickelodeon, who previously bought the first season for the Us and 170 other territories.

The 20-part second season will continues the adventures of Kyra, a teenage girl who acquired magical powers when caught in a clash between an elf and a fairy. In this new series, when Kyra and Darra embark on a quest to find a legendary lost temple, Kyra’s orb magic accidentally awakens a dangerous object causing fairy and elf magic to malfunction. As the danger escalates, Kyra must risk everything to deal with a threat that endangers the...

Alison Whyte in ‘The Kettering Incident’ (Photo: Ben King).

Celebrating 30 years in the acting profession, Alison Whyte is happy to offer advice to young or other aspiring actors.

Perhaps best known for her roles in Network 10’s Playing for Keeps, Foxtel’s The Kettering Incident and Satisfaction and Jocelyn Moorhouse’s The Dressmaker, the Vca graduate proffers these tips:

– Learn to live with rejection and remain optimistic: “It’s easy to get pessimistic if you are unemployed. Isolate one problem and know that it won’t affect the rest of your life.”

– Look after yourself mentally when you are playing roles that require grieving or other deep emotions.

– Don’t think about working overseas until you have a solid list of credits under your belt.

On the subject of mental health, in June Whyte finished performing in the Malthouse Theatre production of Nick Enright and Justin Monjo’s five-hour adaptation of Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet.

Boasting animation, live-action shows and tween series, Zdf Enterprises’ Zdfe.junior division offers a diverse catalog of domestic and international productions.

The unit is attracting strong global interest with such titles as “The Worst Witch,” “The Bureau of Magical Things”

and “Find Me in Paris,” particularly on the VOD front, says Zdfe president and CEO Fred Burcksen.

Zdfe’s recent kids’ titles have all attracted leading VOD partners.

Nickelodeon was quick to pick up global linear and non-linear rights to Jonathan M. Shiff Prods.’ Australian teen fantasy series “The Bureau of Magical Things.” Co-produced by Zdf and Zdfe, the show is already set for season two.

Hulu nabbed U.S. streaming rights to Cottonwood Media’s tween drama “Find Me in Paris,” about a Russian ballerina in 1905 Paris who is flung into the future by a magical pendant and forced to adapt to modern technology, fashion and teen slang while...

‘Jirga’ won the Aacta for Best Indie Film.

Director Benjamin Gilmour’s Jirga took home the inaugural Aacta Award for Best Indie Film – designed to honour films made under $2 million – at the Aacta Industry Luncheon in Sydney yesterday.

The film, produced by John Maynard, beat out Strange Colours, Brothers’ Nest, West of Sunshine and The Second. Starring Sam Smith as a former Australian soldier who returns to Afghanistan seeking forgiveness, Jirga is also Australia’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the upcoming Academy Awards.

Some 35 awards were given away at yesterday’s Aacta event, hosted by actress Kat Stewart and comedian Nazeem Hussain. Other key feature film winners were Sweet Country and Ladies in Black, which each took home three gongs.

David Tranter and Steven McGregor won Best Original Screenplay for Sweet Country, while film’s director and Dop Warwick Thornton was honoured with the award for Best...

Kimie Tsukakoshi in ‘The Bureau of Magical Things’ (Photo: Mark Taylor).

Nickelodeon has acquired Jonathan M. Shiff Productions’ live-action children series The Bureau of Magical Things, with the series set to premiere on October 8 in the Us and to go on to air on its channels and branded blocks across 170+ countries and territories.

The 20 x 30 series was shot in Queensland with support of Screen Australia, Screen Queensland and City of Gold Coast, and first aired on Ten’s Channel Eleven in July. It was also pre-sold to German public broadcaster Zdf, with Zdf Enterprises taking worldwide distribution rights.

Kimie Tsukakoshi (The Family Law) stars as a Kyra, an ordinary teenage girl who is caught in a clash between an elf and a fairy then becomes magically transformed. Mia Elizabeth Cullen, Julian Cullen, Rainbow Wedell, Jamie Carter, Christopher Sommers, Melanie Zanetti and Nicholas Bell also star.

“The Bureau of Magical Things...

'Mako Mermaids' (photo courtesy of Jonathan M. Shiff Productions).

The Australian Greens have launched a campaign to support local children.s television, arguing the government should strengthen the requirements on commercial broadcasters to produce and air such content.

Launched yesterday, the #SaveKidsTV campaign has been backed by Screen Producers Australia and the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (Meaa)..

The Greens. arts and youth spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, said Aussie children.s television was .in a fight for its life...

.Children.s television has played a crucial role in our country and the development of young Australians for generations, but the media landscape is undoubtedly shifting..

.New players like Netflix and Stan have changed the way that all of us, including young people, consume media and they can't be allowed to leave children.s TV behind..

.In an ever-connected and global world, our children need safe places where they can...

Storm Boy.

Screen Australia has unveiled the recipients of its last production investment funding round of 2016. $15 million is shared between seven films and eight television projects, including anticipated titles such as Fred Schepisi.s Andorra and the Shawn Seet remake of Storm Boy..

.We are delighted to be supporting TV projects from so many of the major players all in one round including Foxtel, Channel Seven, Network Ten, the ABC and Sbs," CEO Graeme Mason said. "And in film we look forward to seeing the latest from acclaimed talents Fred Schepisi, Jonathan Teplitzky and John Maynard."

The successful feature film projects are:.

– A contemporary re-imagining of 1976 classic Storm Boy from writer Justin Monjo (The Secret Daughter, Spear), director Shawn Seet (Deep Water, The Code) and Ambience Entertainment producers Michael Boughen and Matthew Street (Tomorrow When the War Began). This time around we meet Mike .Storm Boy. Kingley as a grandfather...

Screen Australia has foreshadowed a more stringent approach to investing in children.s drama in light of the paltry viewing figures for programs aired on the commercial free-to-air networks. digital channels.

Head of production Sally Caplan cited Mako Mermaids, which attracted 200,000 viewers when the. first 15 episodes aired at 4 pm on Fridays on Network Ten.s primary channel in 2013.

Following the change in legislation allowing children.s programs broadcast on the multi-channels, Ten moved the show to 8 am Fridays on Eleven,. drawing just 21,000, which improved. to 41,000 after it was shifted to Sundays at 11 am.

The agency invested $2.9 million in the series, Caplan told a Screen Australia forum in Sydney on Tuesday evening. Jonathan M. Shiff Productions produced a second series and Netflix acquired the rights to both seasons for multiple territories...

Caplan said .we have to rethink. that level of investment which is not justified given the ratings on the multi-channels.

Former Rgm agents Tracey Silvester and Theresa Huska have launched Independent Management Company with the backing of music and theatre impresario Paul Dainty.

The move marks the biggest shake-up in the talent agency business since Natasha Harrison and Lee-Anne Higgins departed Shanahan Management three years ago and formed United Management with Trish McAskill and Catherine Handley.

More than a dozen Rgm clients have crossed to Independent Management. They include Olivia DeJonge, Sigrid Thornton, Dustin Clare, Rick Donald, Sharni Vinson and Chai Romruen.

Us-born, Perth-raised Devon Terrell, who left Rgm earlier this year, has landed the lead in Codes of Conduct, HBO.s drama pilot from Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave). Terrell, who graduated from Nida last year, is playing a young black man who enters New York high society.

Huska, who had been with Rgm for 10 years, departed in June. She had known Dainty, whom she met via an Rgm client,...

Screen Producers Australia executive director Matt Deaner has called on the ABC to preserve its commitments to adult and children.s drama in the face of the efficiency audit ordered by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Deaner also made an impassioned plea to the Australian government not to meddle with TV quotas and screen industry funding.

.The ABC needs to publicly loudly and proudly reassure the production community and the Australian public that there has not been and will not be a reduction in the level of investment it makes in children.s content,. Deaner told the Kidscreen summit in New York today.

.In particular, 2012/13 budget levels must be maintained in order for ABC to successfully deliver on its two children.s channels, as was the intention of Government.

.In the search for operational efficiencies the programming budgets to drama and children.s must be ring-fenced and openly and proudly defined...

The finalists for the Screen Producers Australia Awards have been announced.

The awards, which recognise the creation of outstanding screen content by Australian screen businesses, will be presented on Wednesday 20 November at 6.30pm at the Palladium, Crown Hotel in Melbourne during the Screen Forever Conference.

Tickets for the Awards, the Screen Forever Gala Party and the Afterparty are included in the Full Conference Pass and the 2-day Pass. The finalists are:

Feature Film Production

Porchlight Films & See-Saw Films, Dead Europe Porchlight Films, Lore Fg Film Productions, Patrick

Light Entertainment Television Production

FremantleMedia Australia, Grand Designs Australia High Wire Films, The Agony of Life Shine Australia, The Voice

Drama Television Production

Every Cloud Productions, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries See-Saw Films, Top of the Lake Southern Star Entertainment, Offspring

Interactive Production

The Project Factory, Offspring: Moving In Envelop Entertainment, Precinct 13 mememe productions, dirtgirlworld

Children's Television Production

Sticky Pictures, The Dukes of Bröxstônia Werner Film Productions,...

Shooting Mako - Island of Secrets.

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When veteran cinematographer Don McAlpine gave his Raymond Longford Award acceptance speech at the 2012 Aacta luncheon he couldn.t have known that his remarks would spur producer Jonathan M. Shiff to make the leap into digital acquisition.

.I sat in the audience and saw this great master .Jedi. and when he talked about his excitement of shooting Mental on digital and all of the excitement of entering an industry at this point... I just thought if this guy is so excited about digital formats, then we should make the jump..

The then-temporary closure of the Village Roadshow Film Lab while shooting upcoming Ten series Reef Doctors (on 35mm film stock) also encouraged the producer to go digital on H20 spin-off series, Mako . Island of Secrets. After a range of camera tests, the Arri Alexa was selected.

.It produced really good on-screen results: it handled...

They’re all about providing amazing programming options for kids, and Netflix has just signed a deal for a new series called “Mako Mermaids.”

According to a report, a total of 26 episodes of the “H2O: Just Add Water” spinoff from Australia will go live on the streaming site on July 26th.

Per the synopsis, “Mako Mermaids revisits an enchanting world of magic and adventure introduced in ‘H2O – Just Add Water,’a long-running Australian series from Jonathan M. Shiff Productions that has captured the imagination of young audiences in over 120 countries and has become a huge favorite of Netflix members in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland and the Nordics.”

“Following on where ‘H2O – Just Add Water’ left off, mischievous teen mermaids Lyla, Nixie and Sirena, guardians of Mako Island, fail to stop 16 year old boy Zac from falling into the sacred Moon Pool and becoming a Merman. Risking being cast out forever,...

What do kids find as fascinating as ponies and talking cars? Netflix is hoping the answer to that question is mermaids, live action mermaids, in fact. The media subscription giant has acquired the rights to make available on their instant streaming video service in the U.S. the series called Mako Mermaids. The Australian series will premiere simultaneously in its country of origin and on Netflix in July.

G’Day mer-people! The deal gives Netflix exclusive first run rights to run the kids series which comes from Jonathan M. Shiff Productions. Netflix will make Mako Mermaids available from streaming in the USA and Canada, as well as in England, Ireland, Scandinavia, Benelux and Latin America.

The Australian premiere of the live action kids show is also still a go on Network Ten on July 26. We also hear that Zdf Enterprises, the show’s international distributor, will air Mako Mermaids German-speaking territories.

Netflix continues to ramp up its post-SpongeBob/Dora kids offerings. A week after sealing a huge deal with DreamWorks Animation for original content, the subscription service has inked an exclusive distribution pact for Mako Mermaids — a spinoff of the Australian teen drama H20: Just Add Water, which is a worldwide hit in syndication and is available on Netflix. All 26 half-hour episodes of Mermaids, from Jonathan M. Shiff Prods., will premiere July 26 in the Us and the streaming service’s other territories. The series centers on teenage Zac, who is camping on Mako Island and is secretly watched by three young mermaids tasked with guarding the isle. After an encounter with magical water, he becomes a fish-tailed merman, causing problems for the mermaids. The news comes less than a month after the expiration of Netflix’s content deal with Viacom — whose programming now streams exclusively on Amazon’s service — and...

Netflix today announced "Mako Mermaids," a new adventure from the creators of global hit teen series "H2O: Just Add Water," is splashing down on July 26 exclusively on Netflix in July. "Mako Mermaids" revisits the world introduced in "H2O: Just Add Water," a long-running Australian series from Jonathan M. Shiff Productions that has captured the imagination of young audiences in over 120 countries and has become a huge favorite of Netflix members in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland and the Nordics. "We are thrilled to be the exclusive home of 'Mako Mermaids' in all Netflix territories," said Netflix Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos. "'H2O' hit an amazing chord with teens around the world who love the clever mixture...

The Hunter has lead the Aacta Awards with 14 nominations including best film.

The film, by Daniel Nettheim, is also up for best direction, adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound, production design, costume, original music score, and visual effects. Meanwhile, Willem Dafoe, Frances O’Connor, Sam Neill and Morgana Davies are all up for acting awards.

The film has currently made just over $1m at the local box office.

It’s the first year for the re-launched AACTAs, formerly the AFI awards.

The technical awards will be given out at a luncheon on 15 January at the Sydney Opera House, with an evening ceremony for the more ‘public-friendly’ awards held at the Opera House on 31 January.

Running against The Hunter for best film is Red Dog, Mad Bastards, The Eye of the Storm, Snowtown and Oranges and Sunshine.

The Eye of the Storm, was second in the nominations race with 12, of which six are...

H20: Just Add Water producer Jonathan M. Shiff is now dipping his toes into the family drama pond. Today, the renowned kids TV producer, also known for such series as Ocean Girl and The Elephant Princess, is starting production on new show Reef Doctors, starring four-time Gold Logie Award winner Lisa McCune (Blue Heelers, Sea Patrol). The 13x1-hour action adventure family drama follows Sam (McCune) . a Gp single mother with a freespirit and a determination who has an unusual hobby: venom. Running the remote Hope Island Clinic, Sam is an accomplished doctor, who, with her team, looks after the residents of all the neighbouring islands, as well as the holiday makers and thrillseekers who visit the area. The residents of the tiny island pull together through thick and thin, proving...

Producer Jonathan Shiff has announced his new children’s series Lightning Point, in association with Network Ten, Nickelodeon Australia and German public broadcaster Zdf.

The series, about two irresponsible girls from another galaxy who become galactic castaways in a quiet coastal town, will start shooting at the Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast, on November 8.

The producers hope to replicate the success of Shiff’s previous effort, H2O: Just Add Water. It will be his 11th production in Queensland, and the 23rd for his company Jonathan M. Shiff Productions.

International distribution will be in charge of Zdf Enterprises.

Cannes -- Germany's Zdf Enterprises has made a killing with its crime series at Miptv, with France's TF1 taking the second season of procedural "Verdict Revised;" Rti in Italy nabbing "The Fifth Commandment" and "Hamburg Dockland" and Finland's Yle locking up 47 hours of Zdf criminal content.

  Non-fiction shows, one of Zdf's traditional strengths, were also strong performers. The History Channel in the U.K. bought event docs "The Battle Against Rome" and "The Lisbon Earthquake" and Zdf signed a 8-doc package deal with the History networks in Spain and Germany.

Long-running teen mermaid series "H20, Just Add Water," a co-production between Zdf Enterprises and Australian producer Jonathan M. Shiff landed several new deals, including ones with Antena 3 in Spain, Prisvideo in Portugal, Russia's TNT and the Zapp channel in Holland. Zapp also picked up "The Jungle Book," a new 3D animated take on the childrens classic. "Jungle Book" also closed...

Cologne, Germany -- Nickelodeon International has picked up tween fantasy series "The Elephant Princess" from Zdf Enterprises for Nickelodon's channels across Europe, Africa and Latin America.

Nickelodeon also secured extensive online content for the series, consisting of 26 half-hours, about an ordinary teenage girl Alex (Emily Robins) who discovers she actually has magical powers and, in a parallel universe, she is the heiress to the throne.

"The Elephant Princess" will premiere on Nickelodeon in the U.K. in the spring before starting its international rollout. The series is produced by Jonathan M. Shiff, whose "H20 -- Just Add Water" about Australian teen mermaids, was a hit for both Nickelodeon and Zdf Enterprises.