This section is dedicated to reporting all the latest news about Baz Luhrmann's current and upcoming projects. This section is updated as and when information is released. All news updates are stored on this page on a monthly basis before being transferred to my 'News Archives', a link to which can be found at the bottom of this page. Please feel free to contact me if you have any news! Click on the banner below to visit my Australia section:

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17 April 2008

Official Site Online!

- The official Australia site is now online at australiamovie.com, featuring this amazing promotional still!
 For dozens of other stunning images from the movie, visit this Live Journal page and also IESB.net.

'Australia' Podcasts and Competition!

- Australia promotion has suddenly stepped up a huge notch with the release of podcasts and an amazing competition! Apple has teamed together with 20th Century Fox and Bazmark to present a series of podcasts focussing on the making of Australia. Two podcasts are already available to download, with eight more to follow through until October. Podcasts will feature different aspects of moviemaking and, excitingly, we will get to view never before seen footage from the film! It is an interactive movie promotion, and includes the opportunity of a lifetime for one lucky student, and a heap of Apple prizes for runners-up! Full details, along with links to the podcasts, can be found at the Apple website's 'Set to Screen Series' page.

I think fans will agree that this is the best movie news we've had yet! Two podcasts of footage we've never seen, more podcasts to follow, a competition for some lucky students to win plenty of incredible prizes, partnership with the very popular Apple, a huge promotional strategy, and universally positive online feedback!

Also, for an amusing read, click here for a blogger's review of the podcasts (and the wonderful Baz!) :)

For more on the podcasts and competition, check out the introduction on the Apple website, which reads as follows:

Learn moviemaking from a master. Great movies are full of adventure, and Australia, the next film from Oscar-nominated director Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!, William Shakespeare’s Romeo+Juliet), is no exception. But making a movie is an even bigger adventure—an adventure in creativity—and with the Apple Set to Screen Series, you can be a part of it.

Every few weeks through October, a new podcast episode from Baz and his production team will introduce you to another aspect of moviemaking, starting with on-set still photography, then moving on to costume design, cinematography, scoring, and more. You’ll get insights from the artists at work on Australia, watch them in action, view footage the rest of the world hasn’t seen yet, and follow along as the movie comes together.

Here’s where you come in. Five of the episodes arrive with something extra: a creative challenge for you. Each time one of these episodes is released, you’ll have three weeks to complete the challenge and post it to the Apple Student Gallery. If your project is one of the best (10 from high schoolers and 10 from college students), you’ll win an iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod touch, or a MacBook Pro. And if your work is chosen as the most creative of all, you’ll be going on yet another kind of adventure—a trip for two to Australia. Five challenges mean you’ve got five chances to win.

Oh, and one more thing. Submit the top project for the final challenge, and Baz himself will plan your trip to Oz, meet you there, and take you along on the promotional tour for the film in the U.S. Your project will even be included on the DVD release of Australia.

Start your journey now. Subscribe to the Set to Screen Series, and iTunes will automatically download each new episode that’s posted. Once you’ve watched an episode, come back here to check out the notes about the featured member of the production team, and—if there’s a challenge for that episode—get all the details you’ll need to participate. So start exploring your creativity. You could wind up
anywhere, even Down Under.

The Apple site also features the following inspiring letter from Baz, dated 13 April 2008:

Dear Students,

As a young aspiring filmmaker, I had many opportunities and a great deal of support from established filmmakers. There was a genuine reaching out to the up-and-coming, where we were allowed not just to observe, but to participate in the creative process.

It is with this in mind that I would like to open the door to all students who are interested in the art of filmmaking. Bazmark and Fox have partnered up with the good people at Apple to allow you to participate in the creative journey and realization of our new motion picture, Australia, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. The film will be in the theaters November 14.

For those who do participate, there is also the very real possibility of winning prizes including digital filmmaking equipment, a trip to Australia, and ultimately the opportunity for a talented student to join us in the marketing and release phase of Australia. During this process, the work you create will find an audience of millions by being included in the DVD release of Australia.

What do you need to do? Be fearless, follow the links on the right, get your video camera, and get on with it.

All the best,

Baz Luhrmann

Australiamovie.net Update

- As many visitors would have already noticed, my affiliate website, australiamovie.net, is currently offline due to a crippling virus attack. We are working on getting our site back online as soon as possible and, when we do, it will be better than ever and feature all of the amazing movie images and videos that have been released. Sorry for the inconvenience, and please check back soon! :)

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Click here to view my News Archives,
a collection of previous monthly news
updates dating from 2002 to present.

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