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Quintessentially Victorian drama taking shape

  12 May 2017

The re-imagining of the timeless Australian novel and the movie of the same title, Picnic At Hanging Rock will plunge the audience into the enigmatic disappearance of three schoolgirls and one teacher on a picnic field trip, through a six-part drama series.

Celebrated as an iconic female-driven story, Picnic At Hanging Rock brings together a stellar cast of international and Australian talent, including Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games), Yael Stone (Orange Is The New Black, Deep Water), Lola Bessis (Cassandra, Swim Little Fish Swim), Anna McGahan (The Doctor Blake Mysteries, Anzac Girls) and Sibylla Budd (Tomorrow When The War Began, Winners & Losers).

Supported through Film Victoria’s Production Incentive Attraction Fund and produced by FremantleMedia for Foxtel, Picnic At Hanging Rock boasts a strong contingent of talented Victorian crew and creatives, including directors Michael Rymer and Amanda Brotchie.

A range of unique Victorian locations provided an unparalleled backdrop to this modern classic such as Clunes, Macedon and Woodend, along with historic properties throughout Melbourne.

The production also provided valuable skills development opportunities for two early career Victorian female directors, made available by Film Victoria’s industry placement program.

Film Victoria chatted to the Executive Producer Jo Porter about adapting the cult classic into a series, the strong female cast and crew and how the Victorian landscape provided evocative filming locations.

How do you improve on what is already a well-loved cult classic? Are there any key differences between the original work and the series, ie: have you reshaped characters?

It would be hard to improve on Peter Weir’s film and we have not set out to try. We’ve very much focused on the book as our source content and excavating all the additional material that sits in there in a delicious and contemporary way. Our point of difference also sits around a more female gaze on the story in the way it has been told by our two extraordinary writers Bea Christian and Alice Addison, and our brilliant establishing director Larysa Kondracki.

Celebrated as an iconic female-led story, Picnic At Hanging Rock brings together a strong female cast and 50 per cent female crew.  Was this always something you set out to achieve and can you talk us what this has brought to the production?

In going back to the novel we have consciously chosen to make this a story told through a female lens and that includes our writers, establishing director, and in many cases our heads of departments. It is very much a female story at its heart.

It must be a unique experience to film in the unworldly environment of the rocks. How was shooting on location in Hanging Rock?  What other Victorian locations did you use for filming?

We are so delighted that we have been able to realize the entire production in Victoria, the setting for Joan Lindsay’s novel. We felt it was important, and again gives the production a point of difference from the film. The Victorian landscape that Joan Lindsay brought to life so vividly, we wanted to capture that in our rendering of the novel.  We have filmed in regional Victoria including Clunes, Macedon and Woodend, and locations throughout Melbourne such as Werribee Mansion, Labassa in Caulfield, Ripponlea in Elsternwick and Como House in Toorak.  The support of Film Victoria has been second to none, as has Parks Victoria and the National Trust.

How was your experience working with the two early career Victorian female directors, bringing fresh perspectives to the production process as part of Film Victoria’s director placements?

One of the great thrills in what I get to do is working with emerging talent knowing that they are the next generation.  It’s been wonderful to see the two female directors’ attachments Clare Plueckhahn and Meleesha Bardolia (pictured below) join us not as passive observers but important members of the creative team. They have been very hands on with their directors. I know speaking to them both they have been delighted how involved they have been, more than they thought they would be at the start.

Your career is filled with ratings and critical hits. How and when do you know that you have a good concept for a project? 

From the outset, the response to the idea of adapting the original novel of Picnic At Hanging Rock captured the imagination of ourselves, our broadcast partner Foxtel and everyone who’s become attached to the project. That gives you great confidence that you are creating something quite special, and you’re heading in the right direction.  Ultimately of course, it’s for the audience to decide and we hope that people who are fans of the novel will see that we love it as much as they do and demonstrate our respect with our screen adaption.

Picnic at Hanging Rock will premiere on Foxtel Showcase later this year.