Ned Kelly launches Bevan-Fellner ops in Oz
Adam Dawtrey
19 November 2001
source: Cahners Business Information London

Ned Kelly, starring Heath Ledger and directed by Gregor Jordan, will be the first film to be produced by WTA, the new Australian arm of Working Title Films. The London-based production powerhouse, which is part of Universal Pictures, has tapped Tim White to head its operations Down Under. White, former head of the ill-fated Fox-Icon joint venture in Australia, has spent the past year quietly ramping up WTA's development slate.

First project
Ned Kelly is the first fruit of that labor. Adapted from Robert Drewe's book Our Sunshine, it tells the true story of the 19th century outlaw whose exploits made him an Australian folk hero. The screenplay is by John Michael McDonagh. The pic reunites Ledger and Jordan, who previously worked together on the 1999 Oz B.O. smash Two Hands, which White also exec produced. Jordan has since directed Buffalo Soldiers for Film-Four, while Ledger has gone on to become a Hollywood star in pics such as A Knight's Tale and the upcoming Four Feathers. Ned Kelly is scheduled to start shooting in April on location in Victoria, Australia. The project was brought to WTA by Endymion Films' Nelson Woss, who will produce with Lynda House. White will act as exec producer, along with WT co-chairmen Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner. Universal will handle worldwide distribution.

"With the many extraordinary films and filmmakers to have emanated from Australia in recent years, we are thrilled that our first production in the country is with such a gifted director and actor," says Bevan. "This is a natural progression for us," adds Fellner. "The Australian film industry boasts an eclectic mix of dynamic actors and highly creative filmmakers. The fact they are English-speaking does, of course, contribute to the great potential Australian films have in the international marketplace." White and Bevan previously worked together as producers of Vincent Ward's Map of the Human Heart, back in 1992.

"Now I face the exciting challenge to make films in Australia that have the same bold, innovative and idiosyncratic stamp that has put Working Title films so firmly on the world map," White comments. Like Working Title itself, WTA will span bigger-budget international pics such as Ned Kelly, and lower-budget local fare. "There's a really exciting pool of actors from Australia and New Zealand with international careers, such as Cate Blanchett, Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Frances O'Connor and Heath Ledger," says White. "All of those actors are looking for roles which would bring them back home, and we certainly see ourselves (as) one of the entities in Australia that will be able to attract some of this talent back. "And with the smaller films, I hope very much that we would be involved in finding the next Cate Blanchett," he adds.

Going slow
Perhaps chastened by his experience at Fox-Icon, which managed to produce nothing in three years, White is playing his development slate close to the vest, and setting no ambitious targets for productivity. "I'd be thrilled if we could do one film every 18 months," he says. "It was important for us to launch with a film of the importance and scale of Ned Kelly.' We are determined that this should not be just another PR exercise, not just another failed beachhead."