MEDIA KIT As at 25.8.17

Home , Ashley Zukerman, Friday on My Mind, Harry Vanda, Stevie Wright, Ted Albert, The Easybeats

ABC TV presents a Playmaker Production

MEDIA KIT as at 25.8.17

About the Production

This landmark two-part mini-series tells the story of five young newly-arrived immigrants who met in a Sydney migrant hostel and formed the band that would take Australian rock’n’roll to the world. This is the story of The Easybeats.

Written by Christopher Lee (Howzat, Paper Giants, Gallipoli) and directed by Matt Saville (Seven Types of Ambiguity, Please Like Me, The Slap), Friday On My Mind stars AACTA award winner Ashley Zukerman (The Code, Manhattan) as Australian music industry pioneer and record producer, Ted Albert.

He is joined by an exciting line-up of talented newcomers, Christian Byers (December Boys) as Stevie Wright, William Rush (Waterloo Road) as George Young, Mackenzie Fearnley (Dance Academy: The Movie) as Harry Vanda, Du Toit Bredenkamp (Molly) as Dick Diamonde and Arthur McBain (Blue Eyes) as Snowy Fleet.

Produced by Diane Haddon, David Taylor and David Maher in association with the ABC, Screen Australia and Create NSW, Friday On My Mind tells the story of five young men from incredibly diverse backgrounds creating Australia’s iconic rock and roll sound and taking it to the world.

Sally Riley, ABC’s Head of Scripted Production and Executive Producer, said: “The Easybeats are truly iconic and hold such a special place in Australia’s musical history. The ABC is proud to team up with Playmaker, Screen Australia and Create NSW to bring audiences this incredible home grown story which will no doubt be just as upbeat as the band’s biggest hits.”

Playmaker Producers David Taylor and David Maher said: “We’re massive Easybeats fans so to be involved in bringing this incredible story to life is a real honour, and something we’re both proud and excited to be producing for the ABC.”

Synopsis

In 1964 when five young newly arrived immigrants met in a Sydney migrant hostel and formed a garage band, little did they know that they would take Australian rock’n’roll to the world. This is the story of The Easybeats.

Friday On My Mind is far more than a classic rags to riches tale. It is a story of identity, re-invention and belonging. It is a story with a powerful contemporary relevance which sees five disparate immigrant boys band together with an equally talented young visionary from the top end of town, to create Australia’s first truly international rock group – The Easybeats. Interwoven with a killer soundtrack, the series touches on themes of celebrity, damnation and redemption. It was a lot of fun being rock stars in the swinging sixties, a wild ride, but in their chase for riches and fame these five talented musicians each struggled with their own sense of self, and each member of the band found he had to confront the loss of identity that comes with overwhelming fame. Living in a foreign land, struggling to be understood, they were each lost in their own way. But ultimately, they found themselves at home. It was through their ground breaking music that they discovered they were essentially Australian. They belonged.

Key Cast

George Young William Rush

Harry Vanda Mackenzie Fearnley

Dick Diamonde Du Toit Bredenkamp

Stevie Wright Christian Byers

Gordon ‘Snowy’ Fleet Arthur McBain

Mike Vaughan Alex Williams

Gail Baxter Megan Hind

Maureen Fleet Georgia Kelly

with

Ashley Zukerman as Ted Albert

Key Crew

Director Matt Saville

Producers Diane Haddon

David Maher

David Taylor

Writer & Producer Christopher Lee

Casting Leigh Pickford

Maura Fay Casting

Production Designer Tim Ferrier

Director of Photography Simon Chapman ACS

Costume Designer Xanthe Heubel

Make Up & Hair Designer Jen Lamphee

Editor Mark Perry

Composer David McCormack

Part 1

In suburban Sydney in the early Sixties, five young immigrants form a rock band that creates a brand new sound – a homegrown, raw and highly energized rock’n’roll that takes Australia by storm.

In the early-1960s recent arrivals George Young (William Rush) and Johannes Van Den Berg aka Harry Vanda (Mackenzie Fearnley) find kinship in modern music with fellow migrants Stephen Wright (Christian Byers) and Dingeman Van Der Sluys aka Dick Diamonde (Du Toit Bredenkamp) in the knockabout world of Sydney’s Villawood Migrant Hostel. Determined to create their own band, the boys unite with Gordon 'Snowy' Fleet (Arthur McBain), who comes on board as their drummer and form The Easybeats.

The young guys break into the Sydney music scene and gain the attention of budding band manager Mike Vaughan (Alex Williams) and the entrepreneurial music publisher Ted Albert (Ashley Zukerman). Under Ted's stewardship the boys record their first smash hit songs as Friday On My Mind, and soon find themselves catapulted to phenomenal Australia-wide success. ‘Easy-Fever’ takes Australia by storm. 6

Part 2

After conquering Australia, The Easybeats take their music to the world.

In London success doesn't come easily – and when Ted (Ashley Zukerman) leaves, the boys come adrift. On the verge of collapse The Easybeats are introduced to smash hit producer, Shel Talmy (Matt Zeremes), and together they put out the monster international hit Friday On My Mind.

After touring Europe to huge acclaim The Easybeats return to Australia and following a smash hit homecoming tour Snowy (Arthur McBain) reunites with his wife and daughter and leaves the band. The guys hold together with a new drummer through a tour of America, but the writing is on the wall.

When they return home a second time they know The Easybeats phenomenon has come to an end.

Post script …

In 1970, on an informal handshake deal, Ted Albert, Harry Vanda and George Young formed an agreement to produce music. The partnership created many of Australia's most iconic songs and continued for 28 years.

In 2001 The Easybeats song Friday On My Mind was honoured by the Australasian Performing Rights Association as the Best & Most Significant Australian Song in the history of the association.

In 2004 Stevie Wright, Harry Vanda and George Young were the first musicians to be inducted into the Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In 2007 Australian Musician Magazine selected the meeting of Harry Vanda and George Young in the Villawood Migrant Hostel in 1964 as the most significant event in Australian pop and rock history.

George Young

Originally from Glasgow, and one of eight children that include brothers Malcolm and Angus (AC/DC), George is the rhythm guitarist, charismatic lead figure and principal songwriter for The Easybeats. Sometimes abrasive, George has astonishing talent, drive and clarity of vision.

WILLIAM RUSH is George Young William "Will" Rush is a British actor, born in Manchester, best known for his role in BBC One's Waterloo Road as Josh Stevenson.

Will trained at Manchester School of Acting and started his career in Channel 4's Shameless before going on to bigger roles in BBC's Grange Hill, The Street and Drop Dead Gorgeous. From 2009 to 2012 he played Josh Stevenson in Waterloo Road and made a guest appearance the following year.

Will is also an accomplished singer and musician and in 2016, he auditioned for series thirteen of the The X Factor and made it through to the six-chair challenge – the third of four elimination stages.

He moved to Australia in late 2016 and booked the role of George Young in Friday On My Mind at his first Australian audition.

Harry Vanda

Born Johannes Van Den Berg in The Hague, Netherlands 'Harry Vanda' is the lead guitarist. Easygoing, funny, generous and new to English, he initially stays in the shadows of the band, but later with George forges an outstandingly successful songwriting duo.

MACKENZIE FEARNLEY is Harry Vanda Mackenzie Fearnley studied acting at the Queensland University of Technology, graduating in 2015. While there he appeared in many theatre productions and short films including The Man Who Came to Dinner and The Hot L Baltimore.

On film Mackenzie appeared in the teen drama Dance Academy: The Movie as George.

Mackenzie is making his television debut in Friday On My Mind.

Dick Diamonde

Born Dingeman Van Der Sluys in the Netherlands, Dick Diamonde is the bass guitarist. Self-effacing and thoughtful, Dick is the band member most conflicted by fame – clashing with his parents over his musical career.

DU TOIT BREDENKAMP is Dick Diamonde Du Toit made his professional stage debut in 2015 playing the role of Rolf Gruber in GFO’s Sound of Music throughout its successful Australian tour.

Du Toit is a graduate from the Western Australian Academy of the Performing Arts (WAAPA) where he performed the roles of Claude Hooper-Bukowski in HAIR, Doc in West Side Story, Terry in Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, and Uncle Sam in Reefer Madness.

Prior to his studies in Musical Theatre, Du Toit also completed a Bachelor of Music in Classical Piano at WAAPA, and was privileged to act as Musical Director for the WAAPA productions of Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, as well as a tribute show to Nick Enright called Enright in the Enright. For his efforts Du Toit was the recipient of the Hal Leonard Award for Special Contribution to the Musical Theatre course. Also an aspiring composer, Du Toit’s cabaret, The 7:02pm Project won the Julie Michael Award for Best Musical Cabaret.

Du Toit recently appeared in series three of the television series Janet King and played Russell Morris in the popular Channel Seven television series, Molly, based on the life of Molly Meldrum.

Stevie Wright

'Little Stevie' is The Easybeats front man – an acrobatic, and cheeky larrikin with an electrifying stage presence. Son of an Army Staff Sergeant, Stevie hails from Leeds, England. Stevie is a magnet for girls, but is reckless and self-destructive and suffers most from the perils of fame.

CHRISTIAN BYERS is Stevie Wright One of Australia’s rising young actors, Christian Byers attracted international attention starring as Spark in December Boys alongside Daniel Radcliffe.

Nominated for the AFI Young Actor Award for his performance as Ashmol in Opal Dream. Christian’s other film credits include Tim in The Tree, Jacob in Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueberger and Brislee in Miro’s Bilbrough’s Being Venice. His short film credits include Charlie in Sofya Gollan’s Gimpsey, Kris in Kettle and Jack in Purple Flowers.

Christian’s television credits include Reece in Ready for This and Woody in Puberty Blues: Series 2.

He has also featured as Elmo in Panic At Rock Island, James Cunneen in Blood Brothers, and as Jase Falconer in Underbelly: Badness. He has most recently been seen alongside Claudia Karvan and Toby Schmitz in the ABC legal drama Newton’s Law for the ABC.

Gordon ‘Snowy’ Fleet

Originally from Liverpool, and a few years older than the rest of the band, Snowy is The Easybeats drummer. Married to Maureen and with a daughter Mandy, Snowy faces the most difficult balance of all The Easybeats … caught between his family and the band.

ARTHUR McBAIN is Gordon ‘Snowy’ Fleet Arthur McBain was born in Liverpool and trained at the Oxford School of Drama where he performed at some of the most renowned theatres in London including The Royal Court and Soho Theatre.

Upon graduating, he was cast in the acclaimed play Dunsinane for the National Theatre of Scotland and The Royal Shakespeare Company with which he did two international tours.

He's recently worked with the BBC, Lyric Hammersmith and shot the lead part in indie film Blue Eyes.

Ted Albert

Scion of the Alberts Music Publishing family, Ted is a quiet, intelligent, elegant businessman, who also has a bold entrepreneurial side and a driven creative heart. Breaking new ground and learning recording from the ground-up, Ted signs up The Easybeats knowing this is the group capable of taking Australian rock music to the world.

ASHLEY ZUKERMAN is Ted Albert For his work in season one of The Code, Ashley Zukerman earned the Best Actor in a Television Drama award at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts awards as well as a TV Week Logie Award nomination for Most Outstanding Actor. Ashley starred in two seasons of WGN America’s drama series, Manhattan, based on The Manhattan Project, a covert research and development operation to build the world’s first atomic bomb in the unknown city of Los Alamos, New Mexico during World War II. Created by Sam Shaw, the series follows a group of brilliant but flawed scientists and their families who find themselves in the midst of this geopolitical race.

His international work continues with series recurring role of Peter MacLeish in the Disney-ABC series Designated Survivor opposite Keifer Sutherland. Fear The Walking Dead for AMC, Masters of Sex on Showtime and Four Stars for CBS. Prior to Ashley’s award winning performance in The Code, he was perhaps best known in Australia for playing Michael Sandrelli on the long-running Australian series, Rush, for which he was nominated for a TV Week Logie Award in the Most Outstanding New Talent category. He also had prominent roles on SyFy's recent miniseries Childhood’s End, based on the Arthur C. Clarke novel, FOX’s Terra Nova and HBO’s Emmy- winning series, The Pacific. His other Australian television credits include Lowdown and The Slap. In his big screen debut, Ashley starred opposite Sophie Lowe in the Michael Henry- directed thriller, Blame, which premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.

On stage, Ashley portrayed Joe Pitt in the Belvoir Street Theatre's production of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America for Eamon Flack. The production went on to win Best Play at the 2014 Helpmann Awards. Previously, he appeared in acclaimed productions of As You Like It, The History Boys, This Is Our Youth and B.C., for which he received a Green Room Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2009. 14

Mike Vaughan

The Easybeats manager, Mike is a smooth young real estate agent with no experience in the music industry when he first meets the band. With ambition and connections, he identifies the talented boys, introduces them to Ted Albert and manages the band’s entire career.

ALEX WILLIAMS is Mike Vaughan A 2011 graduate from West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).

Immediately upon graduating Alex secured the lead role of Julian Assange in Matchbox/Network 10/NBC’s Underground, a telemovie based around the early life of Assange. The telemovie was written and directed by AFI Award winning filmmaker Robert Connolly (Balibo, The Slap) and produced by Helen Bowden (Producer), and Tony Ayres (Executive Producer) of Matchbox Pictures. Featuring a stellar cast opposite Alex including Golden Globe winner Rachel Griffiths and Emmy Award Winner, Anthony LaPaglia.

Subsequently Alex was nominated for a prestigious 2013 TV Week Logie Award for Best New Talent for his work in Underground.

In 2013 Alex filmed a lead role in John V. Soto’s The Reckoning opposite Luke Hemsworth and Johnathan LaPaglia, before filming the highly anticipated mini-series, Never Tear Us Apart: The Untold Story of INXS, appearing as Kirk Pengilly for Network Seven/Shine Australia.

In 2014 Alex starred in the feature film, Paper Planes alongside Sam Worthington and Anthony La Paglia, directed by Robert Connelly, before filming a supporting role in telemovie Catching Milat for Shine Australia. Alex was also a 2014 finalist for the Heath Ledger Scholarship.

In 2015 Alex filmed a role in Channel 10’s Peter Brock mini-series.

Most recently, Alex has made his debut with The Bell Shakespeare Company in the title role of Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, directed by Peter Evans. He then went on to play the role of Damis in Tartuffe, directed by Kate Cherry for Queensland Theatre Company in conjunction with the Black Swan State Theatre Company. 15

Matt Saville Director

Matt Saville is an award-winning director for film and television.

Matt recently directed on season four of Please Like Me, Josh Thomas’ multi-award- winning comedy series for the ABC. Matt also directed the first three series of Please Like Me, and has won an ADG Award for Best Direction in both 2014 and 2015 for his episodes “Portuguese Custard Tarts” and “Scroggin”. His other recent directing credits include the series Seven Types of Ambiguity for Matchbox and ABC, and Eddie Perfect’s comedy pilot The Future is Expensive for Goalpost Pictures and ABC iView.

In 2011, Matt directed the highly acclaimed mini-series realisation of Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet, produced by Screentime for Showtime Australia. He was one of the directors on the award-winning ABC series, The Slap, adapted from the bestselling novel by Christos Tsiolkas – Matt’s episode “Harry” was awarded an AACTA for Best Direction in Television. Matt’s other television credits include Foxtel’s Tangle; Chris Lilley’s cult hit series We Can Be Heroes, which screened on the Sundance Channel in the US and won the Rose d’or for Best Comedy Series; The King based on the life of comic genius Graham Kennedy which won three AFI Awards; The Surgeon; and East of Everything.

Matt wrote, directed and produced his latest feature film A Month of Sundays, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015 – a festival he is all too familiar with after his feature Felony (written by and starring Joel Edgerton) premiered there two years earlier. Felony also screened at the Newport Beach International Film Festival, Montclair Film Festival and Louisiana International Film Festival. Noise, Matt’s first feature, premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for nine AFI Awards including Best Film, Best Actor, Best Screenplay and Best Director.

That same year, Noise was voted Best Australian Film by the Australian Film Critics’ Association, and won six Film Critics’ Circle of Australia Awards, including Best Direction and Best Film.

Matt first rose to prominence directing comedy for television. He worked on both skitHouse for Channel Ten and Big Bite for the Seven Network. In 2003, his award- winning short comedy feature Roy Höllsdotter Live screened at an array of festivals and on SBS. The film was voted Best Short Film at the 2003 Lexus IF Awards, where Matt was also honoured with the Best Rising Talent Award. Matt also wrote the libretto for a contemporary opera, Crossing Live, which was performed by Chamber Made Opera in September 2007. Matt has also directed commercials, and is currently developing a number of feature projects.

Diane Haddon Producer

One of Australia’s most highly regarded producers, Diane Haddon’s list of credits includes the multi award winning Playmaker production The Code which aired to critical acclaim on the ABC in 2014 and 2016. Having commenced her career at the ABC as a producer’s assistant, Diane quickly worked her way through the ranks with credits including television dramas GP, Police Rescue and Bordertown as script supervisor, as researcher on a number of programs including the arts program Review and as associate producer of series one of the popular documentary series Race Around the World.

Diane continued her television career outside the ABC as production manager on the BBC & UKTV sitcom Supernova series 1 and 2, and drama series All Saints, Cops LAC, Crownies and the telemovie Wicked Love. Diane was line producer on series three of the Showtime drama Love My Way, the Fox World Australia drama Make or Break and the Playmaker telemovie Blood Brothers. Diane also series produced the Nickelodeon adventure reality series Camp Orange series 3 and 4, and the Playmaker series Hiding.

Christopher Lee Writer & Producer

A former journalist and foreign correspondent, Christopher Lee was creator and writer of the ABC drama series Stringer, head writer then script executive of the ABC/BBC drama series Police Rescue and co-writer of the ABC mini-series The Bodysurfer for which he won an AFI Best Screenplay Award. As head writer he wrote four of the six Cody telemovies for the Seven Network. He was co-creator and head writer of the Network Ten drama series Big Sky and co-creator and head writer of the Network Ten serial Echo Point. He wrote the SBS teleplay That Man’s Father and co-wrote the ABC telemovie Secret Men’s Business. He was script executive for the Showtime drama series Love My Way and an originating writer of the Network TEN series The Secret Life of Us.

More recently Christopher wrote the four-hour mini-series Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo for the ABC; Howzat! Kerry Packer’s War for the Nine Network; and the eight-hour mini-series Gallipoli for Endemol and the Nine Network.

He is a four-time AWGIE Award winner: for the documentary Saturday, Saturday; the SKY UK and Seven Network four-hour mini-series Do or Die; the telemovie pilot for the TEN/Channel 4 UK drama The Secret Life of Us and for an episode of the Network Ten Police drama series Rush which he co-created and script produced.

He has written drama-documentaries for BBC Radio and worked as a script consultant in New Zealand, Singapore and New York. He has lectured in screenwriting at Canberra University, NIDA and the Australian Film, Television and Radio School.

Christopher is an award-winning short story writer, author of the novel Bush Week published by Angus & Robertson; writer of the book Howzat! Kerry Packer’s War published by University of New South Wales Press; and the novel Seasons of War published in 2015 by Penguin Australia.

He is a recipient of the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award, the Foxtel Fellowship for Excellence in Screenwriting and the Centenary Medal for Services to Australian Television.

PLAYMAKER was established in 2009 to produce writer-driven drama for broadcasters both locally and internationally.

Principals David Taylor and David Maher are award winning and Emmy nominated producers with extensive experience across all genres of production.

PLAYMAKER’s credits include the multi award winning series The Code for ABC TV, the TV Week Logie Award winning House Husbands and Love Child for Channel NINE, The Wrong Girl for Network TEN chosen for Iquiyi, Hiding for ABC TV, the multiplatform drama series SLiDE for Foxtel, and the telemovies Wicked Love starring Rebecca Gibney and Blood Brothers starring Lisa McCune for Channel NINE.

PLAYMAKER’s SCRIBE program, an initiative to develop show-running talent, has produced four original commissioned drama series since it began in 2011 and the company was recently announced as the Media Super Production Business of the Year at the 14th Annual Screen Producers Australia Awards.