A league of her own (will be televised)

As a peach tinged sky slowly sours to grey, a schoolgirl, her arms spread wide, meanders down a dirt track framing a lush sugarcane field.

In the distance her family home stands silent and alone, no neighbours in earshot to hear the violent claps from the storm brewing above or below.

In August this year the television adaptation of Australian author Holly Ringland’s debut novel The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart was released by Prime Video.

Writer and series showrunner Sarah Lambert and Made Up Stories executive producer Jodi Matterson carefully transformed Ringland’s tale of domestic abuse, power, betrayal and intergenerational trauma from page to screen, laying bare its beauty and raw emotion.

“The show is unlike any Australian drama we’ve seen. It’s so emotionally rich,” Amazon Studios senior development executive Sarah Christie tells FW.

“I think the universality of themes that it represents around female friendship and resilience in, you know, the ability to overcome tragedy. These are stories that people all around the world have lived through and want to understand and see represented on the screen.”

Christie is right. The seven-part miniseries is the most successful Australian original worldwide for the American-headquartered streaming service. It had the biggest opening weekend viewership globally for any Australian launch.

“Deadloch has just been Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, which we all know is the internet equivalent of winning an Emmy Award.”

The incomparable American actress Sigourney Weaver leads the stellar local cast of Leah Purcell, Asher Keddie and Alycia Debnam-Carey, to name but a few.

Weaver plays the role of June, the thorny matriarch, dutiful gardener and glue between the series characters.

“We knew (June) was sort of the anchor we wanted to cast around and Sigourney Weaver was always the name that we spoke about,” Christies says.

“She was first on (production company) Made Up Stories’ list and we were just thrilled when the scripts were sent to her that the story sort of resonated strongly with her as it did with us and she came on board in that role but also as an executive producer.”

The light and dark of Lambert’s take on Ringland’s story is not the only win for Christie and Amazon this year. With rich female led storylines on the rise.

Madeleine Sami and Kate Box in character in the hit TV series Deadloch.

Crime-comedy Deadloch proved such a hit that a dictionary of Australian terms was created for an international audience.

“There was a Vanity Fair article which spoke about new terms that people over in the States had learned from watching the show,” Christie says.

“We localise all of our shows, which means we dub and subtitle them in all of the languages where they launched and reached.

“So we had to put together a whole dictionary, and it was pages and pages, I think it was seven pages long of just terminology in the show that was distinctly Australia. I think that just really excited us, and it obviously spoke to people as well – that sense of specificity and entering a new world and learning something new about a different culture outside of their own.”

“It’s a really exciting time to work in the television industry because there has been such a shift towards investing in new and different perspectives in the last decade or so.”

Deadloch, starring the phenomenally talented Kate Box, came to Christie in a pitch. It’s the brainchild of the quick-witted writing and acting duo of Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan, affectionately known as “The Kates”.

They are the team behind clever sketch comedy series The Katering Show and the follow up, Get Krack!n. The subversive feminist crime series, which was affectionately termed during production as ‘Funny Broadchurch’ has been given high praise from critics.

“The Kates” Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan.

“Deadloch has just been Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, which we all know is the internet equivalent of winning an Emmy Award. Some may say that statement is incorrect but to those people we say, ‘You’re wrong’,” the Kates wrote in August.

Despite praise being heaped on both Lost Flowers and Deadloch, Christie acknowledges there was a time when a studio might have passed on both projects.

“It’s a really exciting time to work in the television industry because there has been such a shift towards investing in new and different perspectives in the last decade or so,” she says.

Next in line for Amazon is a twist on the iconic series, The Office, with a female lead cast for the first time in the show’s lengthy run.

“This will be the 14th version of The Office and the first female lead which we are so proud and excited about,” Christie says.

“It actually originated with Bunya Productions and BBC when they originally pitched the show to Prime Video. The lead character was a key point of difference and that was something we all really wanted to get behind.”

Australian comedian Felicity Ward is set to star in the Australian version of The Office, due for release in 2024.

Aussie comedian Felicity Ward has been cast in the key role as Hannah Howard, taking the corporate mantle from Ricky Gervais’s David Brent and Steve Carell’s Michael Scott.

“It was a long search. It’s a loved piece of IP and when we’re looking at taking that and finding and honouring that IP, but finding a new and fresh distinctive way in,” Christie says.

“That’s a huge focus for us throughout development and we want it to feel distinctly Australian but kind of still a flawed boss. She’s as cringeworthy and makes questionable decisions in the same way that David Brent and Michael Scott do.

“We felt (Felicity) just embodied the characteristics of this boss. She’s funny, but she also has heart and vulnerability. It’s a big responsibility taking on that role… Felicity gave it her all, she’s such a generous performer.”

The Australian version of The Office will be released in 2024.