Nicole BradyMay 28, 2009
Latest related coverage
'Blown away' Tsiolkas takes prize
CHRISTOS Tsiolkas' acclaimed novel The Slap is to be made into a television series.
Matchbox Pictures yesterday announced that after a competitive bidding process it had purchased the rights to produce a television adaptation of the novel, which is set in Melbourne.
Tony Ayres, one of five partners at Matchbox, said he hoped the series would be able to unfold over eight episodes just as the novel was told through eight chapters, each from the perspective of a different character.
"We'd like to honour that in terms of our realisation," Mr Ayres said. "We're very keen for Christos to be involved in the making of the show."
Matchbox is now talking to local television networks about investing in the series. The program seems a likely fit for the ABC, which in the recent federal budget received a $70 million funding increase for local drama production.
ABC TV's head of arts and entertainment, Courtney Gibson, could not be reached for comment. The ABC has won good ratings for its screenings of BBC adaptations of tales by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and Alan Hollinghurst.
The Slap is mostly set in Northcote and Fitzroy, where Mr Ayres said the series would be shot. Script development was likely to begin soon with production starting early next year, meaning the earliest the series could go to air would be the second half of 2010.
Mr Ayres said the book lent itself to television rather than film.
"The Slap is about intimate human relationships and television is such a fantastic medium for that," he said.
"There is a breadth to the way television drama can cover a topic and bring you intimacy and connection to a whole world, which is much harder to do in a feature film in 90 minutes."
In making the series, Mr Ayres said he would be drawing inspiration from top-shelf American productions such as The Sopranos, The Wire and Mad Men.
"People are talking about television in the way they used to talk about movies and books, it's what seems to be the cultural capital of our age," he said.
Matchbox Pictures is currently filming a feature film Lou, starring John Hurt. Its production Saved recently screened on SBS.
The Slap will be produced by Mr Ayres, Helen Bowden and Michael McMahon, with Penny Chapman as executive producer.
Latest related coverage
'Blown away' Tsiolkas takes prize
CHRISTOS Tsiolkas' acclaimed novel The Slap is to be made into a television series.
Matchbox Pictures yesterday announced that after a competitive bidding process it had purchased the rights to produce a television adaptation of the novel, which is set in Melbourne.
Tony Ayres, one of five partners at Matchbox, said he hoped the series would be able to unfold over eight episodes just as the novel was told through eight chapters, each from the perspective of a different character.
"We'd like to honour that in terms of our realisation," Mr Ayres said. "We're very keen for Christos to be involved in the making of the show."
Matchbox is now talking to local television networks about investing in the series. The program seems a likely fit for the ABC, which in the recent federal budget received a $70 million funding increase for local drama production.
ABC TV's head of arts and entertainment, Courtney Gibson, could not be reached for comment. The ABC has won good ratings for its screenings of BBC adaptations of tales by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and Alan Hollinghurst.
The Slap is mostly set in Northcote and Fitzroy, where Mr Ayres said the series would be shot. Script development was likely to begin soon with production starting early next year, meaning the earliest the series could go to air would be the second half of 2010.
Mr Ayres said the book lent itself to television rather than film.
"The Slap is about intimate human relationships and television is such a fantastic medium for that," he said.
"There is a breadth to the way television drama can cover a topic and bring you intimacy and connection to a whole world, which is much harder to do in a feature film in 90 minutes."
In making the series, Mr Ayres said he would be drawing inspiration from top-shelf American productions such as The Sopranos, The Wire and Mad Men.
"People are talking about television in the way they used to talk about movies and books, it's what seems to be the cultural capital of our age," he said.
Matchbox Pictures is currently filming a feature film Lou, starring John Hurt. Its production Saved recently screened on SBS.
The Slap will be produced by Mr Ayres, Helen Bowden and Michael McMahon, with Penny Chapman as executive producer.
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