Margot Robbie’s Shakespearean series sets a date with Queensland
THE founders of Brisbane’s Hoodlum Entertainment have a ‘really good problem’ with their Shakespearean co-production with Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap.
Confidential
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THE founders of Brisbane’s Hoodlum Entertainment are hoping to bring their new Shakespearean series, a co-production with Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment, to Queensland by the end of 2019.
Nathan Mayfield and Tracey Robertson say they have been working closely with Robbie’s team in Los Angeles to compile the 10-episode series for ABC Studios International, which will retell the work of Shakespeare from female perspectives.
The series was announced earlier this year.
“We are so excited about that. We are really unearthing some amazing talent,” Mayfield said.
“We’ve got a really good problem in that we have so many good stories. It’s now just working out which ones do we start with.”
Robertson added: “We are writing now and then I think the first half of the year that’s when we will get everything laid out and hopefully the second half of the year we will be in production.”
The pair were full of praise for Robbie’s team in Los Angeles, where Robertson is now based, despite admitting Robbie was “so busy”.
“They are super nice, super normal. Champions,” Mayfield said. “It’s really fun”.
Mayfield said the goal was to shoot the series in Queensland, similarly to the ABC drama Harrow and Netflix series Tidelands, which were both shot in Brisbane.
“We will always be here. It makes sense for us to always be here. It just depends then when the stories take us,” he said.
The pair hit the red carpet in Brisbane on Sunday for the world premiere of Tidelands, a deal six years in the making to become Australia’s first Netflix original, distributed to more than 190 countries from Friday.
Meanwhile Harrow, which also reached a global audience, is four weeks into filming on its second season in Brisbane.
Mayfield said while there was no decision around a second season of Tidelands, they had already laid out up to six seasons.
“For us it’s always really important and terrifying as well because it’s about delivering on a promise and making sure that the stuff we do and the stories we tell are of that global standard,” Mayfield said.
“The really interesting thing about Netflix is that they are supportive around building long-term strategies and stories that can go on forever and that’s what Tidelands was from the beginning.
“I remember when we pitched it and they said to us ‘we love this show’ and then they sort of said to us ‘OK so what happens in season two?’ and we said ‘OK, well are you ready for it’.”
Tidelands stars Charlotte Best, Elsa Pataky and Aaron Jakubenko.
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