A SCREENTIME production for ABC TV MEDIA KIT As at 27.11.13 Catherine Lavelle Kris Way For Screentime ABC TV Publicity T 02 9405 2880 T 02 8333 3844 M 0413 885 595 M 0419 969 282 E [email protected] E [email protected] © 2013 Screentime Pty Ltd, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Screen Australia and the South Australian Film Corporation Honouring the Centenary of the commencement of World War One A moving new six-part miniseries based on true stories of Australian and New Zealand nurses at Gallipoli and the Western Front. Over 3,720 Australian and New Zealand nurses served overseas during World War One. Fifty-six were awarded the Royal Red Cross. Two hundred and ten were awarded the Associate Red Cross. Only seven ANZAC nurses were awarded Military Medals. 2 Remarkable women, doing extraordinary work in terrible times. A Screentime, a Banijay Group company, production for ABC TV, ANZAC Girls tells of extraordinary young women who witness the brutality of war and rise to meet the challenge. Through shocking hardship they experience exceptional friendship, love, success and heartbreak. In World War One over three and a half thousand young Australian and New Zealand women served as nurses with the two fledgling nations’ army services. Nearly three hundred were decorated for courage beyond the call of duty. Remarkable women, doing extraordinary work in terrible times. ‘Naturally enough the eyes of the world are on the firing line and sometimes the work of the nurses, from the very firing line to the hospital, is overlooked. It was ever thus. Those who scar the tree of life, a great thinker once said, are remembered by the scars, but those who water its roots have nothing by which they may be known. But theirs is the tree.’ Christchurch Star, 3rd November 1915 3 About The Production With a stellar ensemble cast, ANZAC Girls stars Georgia Flood (House Husbands, Wentworth, Tangle), Antonia Prebble (White Lies, Outrageous Fortune, The Blue Rose), Laura Brent (A Few Best Men, Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader), Anna McGahan (House Husbands, Mystery of a Hansom Cab, Underbelly: Razor), and Caroline Craig (Underbelly, Dangerous Remedy, Blue Heelers). The supporting cast includes John Waters (Offspring), Dustin Clare (Spartacus), Todd Lasance (Spartacus), Rhondda Findleton (All Saints), Hannah Marshall (Packed To The Rafters), Madeleine Jevic (Upper Middle Bogan) and Charles Mayer (Ghosts Of Old Shanghai). A six-part miniseries based on the book The Other ANZACS by Peter Rees, ANZAC Girls also stars recent NIDA graduates Thomas Cocquerel, Brandon McClelland and Honey Debelle, WAAPA graduate Charlotte Hazzard, as well as Sebastian Freeman and Sara West. Drawing on the diaries, letters, photographs and historical achievements of many women who witnessed the brutality of war, ANZAC Girls honours the Centenary of World War One with the unique and rarely told history of the war through the nurses who served amidst bombing raids, poison gas and terrible disease - saving lives and transforming the spirits of the soldiers. 4 Executive produced by Screentime’s Des Monaghan and Greg Haddrick with the ABC’s Carole Sklan and David Ogilvy, the landmark series was written by Felicity Packard and Niki Aken, and series produced by Lisa Scott and produced by Felicity Packard. Filmed in South Australia, and directed by Ken Cameron (Dangerous Remedy, Brides of Christ, Bangkok Hilton) and Ian Watson (Janet King, Killing Time, Love My Way), with cinematography by Geoffrey Hall (Drift, Red Dog, Chopper), ANZAC Girls was production designed by Scott Bird (as production designer - Janet King and Nim’s Island 2 and Emmy Award winning art director of The Pacific), with costume design by Mariot Kerr (Drift, Red Dog, Lucky Country) and hair & makeup by Fiona Rees-Jones (The Rover, The Mule, December Boys). With the creation of historically accurate features, environments and landscapes paramount to the realisation of the story, ANZAC Girls utilised the talents and expertise of Tim Crosbie and the team at Rising Sun Pictures (The Great Gatsby, The Wolverine) to create the visual effects for the series. ABC TV Head of Fiction Carole Sklan said, “Reaching across one hundred years the story of these young women and their friendship, courage, romance and achievement touches us with a shocking immediacy. Their voices are as delightful as their story is inspiring.” 5 Executive Producer Des Monaghan said, “It is a privilege to bring to the screen the story of these remarkable women who are in many ways the unsung heroes of the ANZAC story.” ANZAC Girls was produced with the support of Screen Australia and the South Australian Film Corporation. With Village Roadshow and All3Media as distributors, additional funds have been supplied by New Zealand On Air and PRIME Television New Zealand. ABOUT SCREENTIME Screentime, a Banijay Group company, is a specialist television production company with an outstanding list of over 40 productions including Popstars and four seasons of RBT. Their award winning and celebrated dramas include six series of Underbelly, The Underbelly Files, The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant, Society Murders, Jessica, My Husband My Killer, A Model Daughter: The Killing of Caroline Byrne, Breakers, MDA, Crownies, Brothers In Arms and the critically acclaimed Tim Winton’s cloudstreet. The company recently completed production of Janet King for ABC TV, Fat Tony & Co for the Nine Network, the documentary series Outback Coroner for Foxtel, the 3 part series Taking On The Chocolate Frog for STUDIO and is in production of Flying Miners for ABC TV. 6 … through shocking hardship formed lasting bonds of love and friendship. ANZAC Girls is based on real events and real people - Alice (Georgia Flood), Elsie (Laura Brent), Olive (Anna McGahan), Hilda (Antonia Prebble) and Grace (Caroline Craig). Like their brothers, fathers, lovers and husbands, these ANZAC Girls are our heroes. But they were also just ordinary girls – our sisters, our daughters, ourselves – looking for adventure, love, fun and friendship. Beginning in the heady pre-Gallipoli days in Egypt, moving through the devastation of that campaign and the utterly unexpected casualty count, through the bitter months on the barren island of Lemnos, to the long hard years of the war in Europe and the Western Front, ANZAC Girls is personal, intimate and raw. Our nurses’ world may be dominated by the war, by the army and by the hospitals, but they are bright, beautiful and lively young women in the prime of their lives. They have come to do their bit and serve their country, but they have also come seeking adventure and love. 7 Key Cast Sister Alice Ross King Georgia Flood Sister Hilda Steele Antonia Prebble Sister Elsie Cook Laura Brent Sister Olive Haynes Anna McGahan Matron Grace Wilson Caroline Craig Supported by Lieutenant Harry Moffitt Dustin Clare Major Sydney ‘Syd’ Cook Todd Lasance Major Xavier Leopold Charles Mayer Colonel Thomas Fiaschi John Waters Lieutenant Frank Smith Thomas Cocquerel Lieutenant Norval ‘Pat’ Dooley Brandon McClelland Sister Kit McNaughton Honey Debelle With Guests Matron Nellie Gould Rhondda Findleton Sister Clarice Daley Sara West Major John Prior Leon Ford Sister Millicent Parker Hannah Marshall Sister Florence Tilly Charlotte Hazzard Sister Meg Hayes Madeleine Jevic Major Lionel Quick Nathaniel Dean Major Archibald Springer Brad Williams General William Birdwood Nicholas Bell 8 Key Crew Executive Producers Des Monaghan Greg Haddrick Series Producer Lisa Scott Producer Felicity Packard Episodes Directors Ken Cameron 1, 2 and 3 Ian Watson 4, 5 and 6 Writers Felicity Packard 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 Niki Aken 2, 3 and 5 Director of Photography Geoffrey Hall ACS Production Designer Scott Bird Costume Designer Mariot Kerr Makeup & Hair Supervisor Fiona Rees-Jones Editors Anne Carter 1, 2 and 3 Denise Haratzis 4, 5 and 6 Visual Effects Supervisor Tim Crosbie Rising Sun Pictures Composer Bryony Marks 9 Episode One ‘Adventure’ Writer Felicity Packard Director Ken Cameron The ANZAC girls arrive in Egypt just after the outbreak of World War One and soon realise that war is not quite the “splendid adventure” they initially thought. In Cairo 1915, Australian nurses Alice Ross-King (Georgia Flood), Elsie Cook (Laura Brent), Olive Haynes (Anna McGahan), Matron Grace Wilson (Caroline Craig) and New Zealander Hilda Steele (Antonia Prebble) arrive for duty in World War One. After a brief romance with Aussie Lieutenant Frank Smith (Thomas Cocquerel), Alice and her fellow Sisters endure a baptism of fire at a Clearing Station in Port Said – their first rush of war wounds. It is during this trial that Alice catches the attention of a British Surgeon, Major Xavier Leopold (Charles Mayer). Believing that Elsie too has her sights on Frank and Xavier, Alice and Elsie’s friendship gets off to a rocky start. As it turns out, Elsie is in fact married, which disqualifies her from serving in the Australian Army Nursing Service. When this is exposed, it looks like Elsie’s tour of duty is over. However, pragmatic, persuasive Elsie convinces Principal Matron Nellie Gould (Rhondda Findleton) to let her stay on regardless. While Alice, Elsie, Olive and Hilda have become firm friends and adjusted to rather exacting military rules and regulations, their biggest challenge begins on April 25, 1915 with the botched Gallipoli landing. Hilda cops the first wave of wounded on the Hospital Ship Sicilia, anchored mere kilometres from Anzac Cove. Back in Egypt, Alice, Elsie and Olive work tirelessly through convoy after convoy. During which Elsie faces her worst nightmare – her husband Syd Cook (Todd Lasance) arrives injured. Amongst the carnage, Alice meets tall and thoughtful Aussie Lieutenant Harry Moffitt (Dustin Clare). They bond over poetry and philosophy and Alice finds that her coquettishness has evaporated. Frank, injured at Gallipoli, proposes to Alice; but despite Alice and Harry’s tension over politics, Alice realises that she is no longer interested in other men.