14 TELEVISION TUESDAY JULY 25 2017 Frost lands role on Home and Away

Alison Brie (Mad Men, Community) stars in the new Netflix comedy drama Glow which delves into the world of women's wrestling in the 80s. Picture: NETFLIX

Sam Frost lands role in Home and Away. Picture: JUSTIN LLOYD

FORMER reality star and and personally to constantly radio host Sam Frost an- grow, learn and evolve. I have nounced she’d taken the next chosen to live my life embrac- Sisters are doing step in her showbiz career this ing opportunities and chal- week — by scoring a role on lenges with open arms. It may Home and Away. work, it may not ... but at least I And while most of Frost’s can say I was brave enough to fans were excited to see their give it a shot.” beloved Bachelorette on the Former star Kate Ritchie small screen again, a lot of peo- said the best advice she ever it for themselves ple weren’t as happy. got was handed to her “thanks Australian Acting Academy to the old guy in the hat, who I artistic director Brendan Glan- think still runs the Bait Shop Wenlei Ma Holland said the company cultural representation, some- ville — who trained Home and over there”. also works with producers on thing that has been pushed Away actor Charles Cottier — “Be punctual. Know your IT feels flippant to call it a its existing shows to expand through the casts of Orange is said he was disappointed in the words. And try not to bump trend. Women aren’t a trend. “We’re the diversity of the team be- the New Black and GLOW, decision. into the props. That served me But there’s been a definite hind the camera. Notably, the both produced by Jenji Kohan. “To me it demonstrates that well for twenty years, so I’m move towards more female-led looking for final six episodes of House of Cultural diversity is particu- Home and Away has lost faith sure it won’t do Sam any harm and female-created TV shows Cards season five were directed larly important for a company in its writers if directors are re- either. I wish her all the very in recent years. It’s almost as if stories for and by women, with Robin Wright whose customer base is global sorting to this kind of stunt, best,” Ritchie said. TV bosses finally realised that by women.” taking charge of two. House of (with the exception of China, rather than using their story- A spokesman from Channel women make up half the popu- Cards now also has a female North Korea and Syria). lines to pull viewers,” he said. Seven said Frost’s “audition lation and would like to see CINDY HOLLAND co-showrunner in Melissa Gib- To that, Holland also point- Plenty of people on the blew us away”. themselves reflected on TV as son, who, with Frank Pugliese, ed to Dear White People, which Home and Away Facebook “In joining the cast of Home fully formed characters rather women. We’re just fortunate took over when creator Beau wasn’t created by a woman but page also lashed out at the de- and Away, Sam will be in great than as window dressing. that in this period of time, Willimon left. features at the centre of its cision with one claiming the company and is about to enjoy Shocking, isn’t it? we’re able to launch a number One of the common threads story, a female African-Ameri- casting was “an insult to a wonderful phase of her ca- Now we have a slate of TV of series, approximate to each of many of these shows is that can character, the upcoming trained actors”. reer,” they said. with multifaceted female char- other. Any time we can en- the female friendships, while Spike Lee TV series, She’s But despite all the backlash, Home and Away is responsi- acters who are flawed and joy- courage people to take risks not frictionless, have been Gotta Have It, based on his Frost herself has embraced the ble for launching the careers of ful, including the likes of and try new things, break about warmth and support, 1986 film, and Ingobernale, a social media firestorm, taking countless Aussie stars, includ- Orange is the New Black, Girls, down the conventional wis- rather than the backstabbing Mexican political drama star- to Instagram to explain why ing Kate Ritchie, Chris Hem- The Girlfriend Experience, dom of the kind of program- and petty dynamic women ring Kate del Castillo. she deserves a place on the sworth, Steve Peacocke, Isla GLOW, Grace and Frankie, Un- ming that can succeed, we’re have often been tagged with. One series that doesn’t get long-running soap. Fisher and Melissa George. breakable Kimmy Schmidt, all for it. Asked if it was a strategy on name-checked by Holland is Captioning a photo with the Frost’s new role will also put Search Party, UnReal and In- “We’ve been patient and the part of Netflix to promote Girlboss, despite its impressive words “Be BRAVE”, the reality her among the likes of show secure. finding great female stories by positive female relationships female-driven pedigree. TV veteran wrote, “I am not stalwarts Ray Meagher, Lynne What’s remarkable about predominantly female voices, on screen, Holland responded: The series starred Britt afraid to challenge myself, to McGranger and Ada Nicode- those shows is that they were most recently with GLOW and “It’s not an explicit strategy on Robertson, was created by Kay push through barriers. I work mou. She will begin filming the all created or co-created by fe- Gypsy and even with some for- our part but I think it certainly Cannon and produced by incredibly hard professionally beloved Aussie soap this year. male writers. eign language series such as is on the part of our creators Charlize Theron, based on So- A commitment to female Las chichas del cable (Cable and the audiences are res- phia Amoruso’s book of the and multicultural voices in Girls) coming out of Spain. ponding to that. same name. front of and behind the camera “Audiences are hunkering “It was clear from the first It was, however, cancelled New Netflix series fails is something Netflix wants to for a community that they can meeting we had with [Grace not long after its first season emphasise, Cindy Holland, relate to and characters they and Frankie stars] Jane dropped earlier this year. The NOSTALGIA is a powerful verting, non-offensive way to vice-resident of original pro- can identify with and root for. [Fonda] and Lily [Tomlin] that show received tepid reviews thing. spend four hours if you have gramming, told news.com.au. They’re looking for an empow- these are two women who and was mired in Amoruso’s Friends From College is the time to spare and don’t “We want to provide pro- ering series.” have known each other for real-life bankruptcy scandal. steeped in nostalgia but defi- mind watching people behav- gramming that’s reflective of Female-driven TV shows decades had mutual respect Girlboss is one of the few nitely veers towards the ing badly. our audience. Even with our aren’t exactly “new”. Series and admiration for each other, Netflix originals to have got swamp end. It’s also got a nostalgia-fu- first lot of programming in like Murphy Brown and The and that as soon as turned the the chop, the other prominent The Netflix comedy series elled soundtrack that will have 2013, Orange was something Mary Tyler Moore Show blazed camera on, that would show ones being Sense 8 (after two boasts an incredible cast and you pining for the days of 90s. that stood out to us as having the trail. But there does seem through and audiences would seasons, though there is an up- scene-stealing cameos. So, Friends From College is strong female characters. to be more of an avalanche love them for it.” coming movie special), The But despite its talent — the not without its charms — you “We’re constantly on the now which could in part be But the diversity question Getdown (one season), Blood- series fails to really land. will find yourself laughing out search for great programming credited to the sheer volume of isn’t only about female rep- line (three seasons) and Marco Though it is a perfectly di- loud, even if you don’t want to. that’s by, for and about scripted TV in production. resentation — it’s also about Polo (two seasons).

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