Category: Features

  • Costumes – a gift between two countries

    Costumes – a gift between two countries

    While researching one weekend, I came across a small news item from 1898: I immediately launched a new browser tab to see what I could find out. The story behind the gift became fascinating to me. Emails to fashion educators I followed on Instagram ensued and provided a couple of leads but they ran cold…

  • Sit down with Costumer, Gloria Bava

    Sit down with Costumer, Gloria Bava

    Gloria Brava has created some of the most memorable costume designs for director Baz Luhrman.

  • Sit down with Director, Andrew Peat

    Sit down with Director, Andrew Peat

    I talked to Andrew Peat, Director of soon-to-be-seen film, Scotch – A Golden Dream. With a family connection to Scotland, it seemed inevitable to explore the subject. My grandfather emigrated from Scotland to the United States. I spent a year as an Exchange Fellow at the University of St. Andrews (where Prince William met Kate…

  • Natalie Kalmus : Prolific

    Natalie Kalmus : Prolific

    Natalie Kalmus was a pioneering colourist in the early days of Hollywood, following the introduction of Technicolour. She was in some respects a celebrity of the time, given that she was the only colourist in film working with the new technology; all the big name US newspapers wanted to speak with her. Mrs Kalmus is…

  • Australians making waves on Netflix

    Australians making waves on Netflix

    Australian actors Katherine Langford, Ben Lawson and Damon Herriman are across all of our screens and devices.

  • Van Gogh – the man, the myth, the muse

    Van Gogh – the man, the myth, the muse

    2019 is starting out with a bang for art lovers. With two exciting feature films to be released soon about Vincent Van Gogh – AT ETERNITY’S GATE and LOVING VINCENT – it’s worth examining other past films central to the topic. 1. CHINA’S VAN GOGHS Documentary, 2016, China https://chinasvangoghs.com/ Director Yu Haibo charts the true-life…

  • Bess of Hardwick – the third player in the struggle between Elizabeth and Mary

    Bess of Hardwick – the third player in the struggle between Elizabeth and Mary

    The upcoming feature Mary, Queen of Scots chronicles the rivalry between two women battling for the throne of England. During the Tudor era, Elizabeth and Mary lived in one of the most brutal times of British history, some say the most. While not the focus, there is a third woman in this story who was…

  • Global film and television demand 2018 – Rightstrade

    Global film and television demand 2018 – Rightstrade

    This month, Rightstrade gave a teaser into their statistics dashboard by releasing the Global Demand for Film & TV Genres for 2018. It’s an interesting snapshot. Horror genre leads the way again, no surprise there. But what was second? Comedy? Sci-fi? No. Documentary came in second, with a demand of 262% in Australia and the…

  • It’s a sweet life, George.

    It’s a sweet life, George.

    Or, what do sugared almonds and George Clooney have in common? Sulmona in Abruzzo, Italy has been a manufacturer of the traditional sugared almond for centuries. Officially called confetti, one of its oldest confectioners, Confetti Mario Pelino, was established in 1783. The company has been called upon to grace many wedding table from celebrities to…

  • ‘The Glitter and the Gold’ by Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan – Book review

    2017 saw at least two big starring films about the UK prime minister Winston Churchill – Churchill with Brian Cox and The Darkest Hour with Gary Oldman, for which he collected the Best Actor Oscar. Both prompt further learning and Mary S Lovell’s tome to the Churchills is a strong recommendation. On a quarter way through…