Australian independent production house Photoplay has appointed Karen Radzyner as its head of development. The company is the only Australian firm to have a show selected for MipTV’s CanneSeries.
Radzyner joins Photoplay from Dragonet Films. She previously produced two award-winning TV mini-series – Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s “Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo” (with Southern Star in 2011) and Nine’s genre anthology “Two Twisted.” She also held roles at Scott Free Films in London, as part of a Screen Australia fellowship, Australian public broadcaster SBS, federal funding body Screen Australia and regional arts agency Create NSW.
She will work alongside head of scripted, Linda Micsko, to spearhead the company’s recently established longform arm Photoplay Film+TV.
Radzyner also brings with her a significant slate including: “Appetite”; a co-production with Synchronicity Films and development partner Cineflix Rights with support from Screen Australia; an ABCMe YA action-adventure with development co-funded by Screen Australia; and a feature film with Transmission and Screen NSW support.
Photoplay’s short-form series “It’s Fine, I’m Fine” was announced this week as part of the select lineup for CanneSeries Competition at MIPTV 2022. From creator Stef Smith, and funded by Screen Australia and Create NSW, the show follows a suburban psychologist as she helps her patients explore the mess, humor, melancholy and unexpected magic of life. Series writers include Ana Maria Belo, Arky Michael, Anna Lindner, Cecilia Morrow, Chris Bunton, Jeanette Cronin, Michael Gupta, Nick Coyle, Stef Smith and Wendy Mocke.
“Appetite” is a co-production with emerging showrunner Mohini Herse’s Fell Swoop Pictures, about an unlikely trio of food delivery riders who find themselves entangled in a mystery to uncover the truth about the death of a fellow rider in the streets of Sydney. It will start production in mid-2022 through Digital Originals, a joint initiative of Screen Australia, SBS and NITV. “Appetite” was created, written, directed and produced by Herse with writers Neilesh Verma and Grace Tan, the series is also directed by Neil Sharma and produced by Radzyner, alongside executive producers Sleena Wilson, Jomon Thomas and Elise McCredie.
Photoplay has previously collaborated with production companies Bunya Productions and Aquarius Films as executive producers on their feature films “Goldstone” “Berlin Syndrome” and “Sweet Country.”
Photoplay’s MD, Oliver Lawrance said: “We are hugely fortunate to have Karen Radzyner onboard, she is such a talented producer with a genuine passion and energy for telling cinematic stories that demand an audience and deserve to be told. Her positive influence at Photoplay is already being felt. It’s truly an exciting time and I can’t wait for us to bring our first stories to the screen together.”
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