Off the Record: New film from Adelaide producer Victoria Hill garnering Oscar buzz
In this week’s Off the Record, a new film from Adelaide producer Victorian Hill generates Oscar buzz, find out which Adelaide council fell into chaos at its first meeting since local government elections and what does Sanjeev Gupta have in store for Whyalla on Monday?
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
In this week’s Off the Record, new film from Adelaide producer Victorian Hill generates Oscar buzz, find out which Adelaide council fell into chaos at its first meeting since local government elections and what does Sanjeev Gupta have in store for Whyalla on Monday?
Reformed Hill takes the prize
Raised in Adelaide in a well-known political family, Victoria Hill has herself achieved renown as an actor and producer of award-winning movies.
But her fame is poised to reach new levels as her latest co-production, First Reformed, is mentioned as a contender for an Oscar best picture nomination.
Starring Ethan Hawke as a minister of a small congregation in upstate New York grappling with mounting despair, First Reformed scooped up two awards at last week’s prestigious Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York City.
Hawke won best actor and paid tribute to Hill in his acceptance speech. Director Paul Schrader also was honoured for his screenplay.
Los Angeles-based Hill is a producer and financier through Fibonacci Films, the film investment house of fellow Australian Greg Clark.
She also played the key supporting female role to Amanda Seyfried. Following the Gotham awards, the industry buzz is that First Reformed will be nominated for February’s Oscars — Hawke for best actor and Schrader for best screenplay.
Hill, 44, studied drama at Flinders University and in 1996 established Adelaide-based Brink Productions with seven friends.
She is the daughter of former defence minister and South Australian Liberal senator Robert Hill and former UNICEF Australia president, professional psychologist and educator Diana Hill.
Victoria’s grandfather, Murray Hill, was a minister in Steele Hall and David Tonkin’s Liberal state governments.
In 2006, Hill played Lady Macbeth and co-produced an Australian film version of Shakespeare’s most brutal and violent play, Macbeth.
Ominously, at the time she said Macbeth could have been set in Parliament House, because there were numerous parallels.
“When do you … decide that you’re prepared to sacrifice your leader in order to forward yourself and what are the consequences?” Hill pondered in 2006, six months after her father ended a 25-year parliamentary career.
Perhaps Lady Macbeth saw before her the dagger that was plunged into Robert Hill’s erstwhile colleagues Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull, unleashing turmoil within the Liberal Party.
Not so much a secret ballot as a *!&%*$^! ballot
It's been less than a month after the inner eastern Adelaide community voted in a new Norwood, Payneham & St Peters Council and Mayor Robert Bria has already pulled out the big stick to discipline his charges.
Last Monday night, a NP&SP elected member wrote something Off the Record can only assume was highly offensive about another colleague on a ballot paper as the council looked to fill a committee position.
Bria cancelled the count dead in its tracks after reading the note.
"It's an unacceptable ballot," he said, clearly fuming.
"The process should be treated with the respect it deserves... very disappointing."
A few days later he was still pretty angry, telling Off the Record: “They deliberately sabotaged a ballot. It was a very, very selfish act.
"I'm very unimpressed, it's sad and disappointing.
"I cannot understand why they would resort to that behaviour, there is no need for that. I was absolutely furious, it's an extreme level of selfishness and unprofessionalism which shows disrespect for colleagues and the process."
Sadly, he wouldn’t elaborate on which councillor was involved or what was said, although Off the Record believes it to be …(name deleted on legal advice) who wrote... (also deleted on legal advice.).
Things didn’t improve after Bria’s intervention.
When a recasting of ballots was called, the council ran out of ballot papers.
Let's hope it's a minor blip for the new NP&SP.
— Ben Cameron
AG-vertising
In her first act as the Art Gallery of South Australia’s new director, Rhana Devenport has demolished its trademark North Terrace pillars … at least from the institution’s logo.
In place of the familiar portico and spelled out name, the gallery shall henceforth be branded simply as AGSA in a bold sans-serif typeface.
“We are in the post-Parthenon phase, as you can see from our new branding,’’ Devenport said at this week’s 2019 program launch.
However, the new director hasn’t quite had time to get her local bearings, claiming her artist friend Robyn Stacey’s Ray of Light touring exhibition attracted 5000 visitors in Mount Gambier, which wasn’t bad for a population “of 3000’’.
That figure may have been missing a zero, since SA’s second biggest city actually boasts more than 27,000 residents.
Whyalla waits for Gupta’s latest gift
Whyalla is the place to be on Monday, with Sanjeev Gupta inviting all and sundry to town for what he’s dubbed the “Whyalla Big Reveal”.
Naturally this begs the questions of what constitutes a big reveal. After all Gupta has already rolled out a billion dollar energy plan, including 780,000 solar panels to be installed just outside town, is refurbishing the steelworks, and planning to put pumped hydro in the mines surrounding Whyalla.
Pause to take a breath: and you’ve said you want to build a new copper smelter in the region, are planning to build a bigger battery than the Tesla big battery, and have national plans to extend your energy footprint to up to 10GW of power.
What more does he have up his sleeve?
The Big Reveal, which will be attended by Premier Steven Marshall and potentially even PM, Scott Morrison is planned for the Ada Ryan Gardens, just a stone’s throw from the foreshore, which Gupta has lamented are sorely under-utilised.
And he’s right, the Whyalla coastline is both pretty great, and underdeveloped.
Therefore our money is on some sort of tourism development being announced, along with an update on the steelworks refurbishment.
It could be any number of things however.
Gupta says he wants Whyalla to be a great place to live as well as work, and the long term plan is for property developments to aid in this vision.
It’s a lot to absorb for a town on the brink of ruin not that long ago.
Surely Sanjeev must be odds on favourite to be Santa Claus in this year’s Whyalla Christmas pageant. he’s certainly not being shy about giving out lots of presents to the locals so far.
Actual Saint
Is TV experience a prerequisite to work in Police Minister Corey Wingard’s office? Off The Record’s spies sent in a pic of his chief of staff Larissa Mallinson, from her acting days.
It’s a shot of her as a surgeon in the closing credits of the old Seven drama All Saints. Mallinson, who declined to comment, has extensive political experience for the Liberal party in NSW, and ran for the federal seat of Throsby in 2013. . Another staffer Sam Hooper was on The Apprentice and Wingard is a former TV journo..
But it’s not all smooth.
On Tuesday, Jessica Rasic, who works in the Whips’ office, invited MPs to a SAPOL briefing on speed gun legislation he wanted to rush through Parliament The only hitch?
The emailed invitation arrived at 9.11am, more than 10 minutes after the briefing began.
Battle to save animals on the brink at Outback reserve
Conservationists are battling to save animals at an Outback reserve from the effects of the worst drought in recent memory, and have received a funding boost to redouble their efforts.
Country tradie to face court over incomplete work
A country tradesman will face the Elizabeth Magistrates Court over allegations he was not licenced and refused to refund money to clients.