As they head into the countdown for the AACTA Awards 2025, Michael Brooks and Hamish Lewis from Warner Bros. Discovery are rightfully excited about what is to come.
While Brooks is the GM of Warner Bros. Discovery ANZ and the MD of Warner Bros International Television Production Australia, he’s also the EP of the company’s scripted slate, working closely with Head of Scripted, Lewis.
The scripted department is just three years old but has already found critical success.
This year, the pair are looking at three nominations for their Foxtel/Binge series The Twelve and an incredible 15 nominations (see below for full list) for How To Make Gravy, an ambitious project to turn Paul Kelly’s iconic Australian song of the same name into Binge’s first ever original movie, starring Hugo Weaving, Daniel Henshall and Brenton Thwaites.
While both are clearly delighted by the number of nominations, they say they never doubted the the film’s potential.
“We’re really pleased,” says Brooks. “I think not surprised, in that we knew it would resonate because of the IP itself.
“Paul Kelly has got such a great following, so we knew from that perspective that we had something quite interesting and special. We also knew that director, Nick Waterman and Meg Washington, who adapted it for the screen, are fantastic as creatives.”
Daniel Henshall stars in How To Make Gravy.
“What’s great is that the nominations are across across the board, both crew and cast,” adds Lewis.
“We had pressure on our shoulders with an IP of that size and the love for it, so we put a lot of time and effort into choosing the right heads of department.
“So, we really went to get the best of the best in the country, and that also went to casting and Nikki Barrett is one of the best there is.
“We were creating these characters from scratch, essentially. I mean, there’s mentions of their names in the song, but there’s not a whole lot of detail to who these people are.
“A big part of Nick and Meg’s writing was uncovering who these people were, how they fell into the framework of the family and off the back of that, work in development and scripting.
“The first step was getting Paul’s buy-in,” says Brooks. “So that was a key part of this. Then the creative team all got Paul’s understanding of the direction of it and from there they felt confident to expand and create those characters and just did a brilliant job.”
The pressure of a Christmas movie
But did the fact they were making what is ultimately a Christmas movie add to the pressure?
“Look, it did,” acknowledges Brooks. “But I think ultimately, what was interesting was you had people that really knew and loved the song and and grew up with it, and Ali (Hubert-Jones, Commissioner and Executive Director, Content at Binge) was one of those people.
“But then you had people like me, who have spent a long time outside of Australia and and it wasn’t something I knew.
“So, we had to make a film that resonated with people that knew the characters, and others who just wanted to sit down and watch a great film’
“And so in a way, I think that helps, because you’re not just sort of zoned into this one kind of thing, like ‘Oh my god, it has to be this…
“One of the key objectives for us is that we were making content that has a global resonance.”
Despite that, the film has yet to be sold in any other territories, despite hints of an upcoming announcement, so does that mean it will garner a sequel?
“We might have differing opinions on this, but I would go with it as a single film,” says Brooks. “I quite liked how it resolved. But yes, you could easily (make a sequel), when you look at the family dynamic.”
“I think it would be down to Paul (Kelly) and where he wanted to move that world,” says Lewis, diplomatically.
How To Make Gravy
Working with Anh Do and Stuff The British Stole
So what is next for the three-year-old WBITVP -scripted department as we head into 2025?
The Twelve’s third season, The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer, will be out later this year on Binge but with no news on another season of the critically-acclaimed Love Me, what happens now?
“Well, when we started it was about trying to do projects that were going to be seen,” highlights Brooks. “And that could match and sit alongside other global content on streaming services.
“We wanted to be working with young, emerging talent. We wanted new faces on screen. So it these feels like we’re ticking those boxes.
“Before Gravy we hadn’t done a film, and we are obviously part of Warner Brothers, so that’s an interesting approach.
“Having said that, we’re not the studio of Warner Brothers, so we don’t get funding to make these films, we have to make them ourselves. So I think there’s a huge amount of risk in it, but with risk, you get a lot of reward if you can execute it.”
“We’ve got an animation project with Anh Do that we’re doing, which is based on his WeirDo books. So that’s different. We haven’t done a series like that before and that’s exciting.
Anh Do’s WeirDo books are currently being made into an animated series.
“And, of course, we’re adapting Stuff The British Stole with Wooden Horse into a drama,” says Lewis. “We’re working with Ben Chessell (Offspring, Giri Haji) as the setup director, and Anchuli Felicia King (Deadloch, The Sympathiser) is a writer and show runner.
“We’ve got an internationally respected team on board, and a really exciting premise that we’ve developed off the back of a factual documentary.
“We’re taking that to market very soon and it will be big, be loud, be fun and propulsive! I think it’s going to get the world talking, both from a creative drama point of view, and raise a lot of questions that are quite topical at the moment.
“We wanted to really dial in on an important story under the umbrella of a really fun drama series. I think we’ve executed it. Anchuli Felicia King and Ben Chessell are both brilliant at drama and comedy, so we’re able to merge the tone slightly and create something quite fun.”
There’s also another production due to be officially announced after the AACTAs.
‘It’s a perfect partnership. I think we hold each other accountable across every element of it.’
It’s clear Brooks and Lewis are a dynamic partnership. They spend evenings texting about TV shows they love (Lewis is a huge fan of Severance, Brooks is waiting to be convinced) and Brooks has thoroughly enjoyed helping Lewis develop his career in the scripted arena.
“Sometimes these partnerships that happen within the company environment, are really few and far between,” he says. “Hamish had came from a scripted background, but was here working in unscripted but had a passion for drama, and I just said to him, ‘Look, you’ve got the drive, so let’s go and sort of figure this out.'”
“And I think its just worked. I can’t be in the every day of everything, so he has to be. So there’s a bit of trust there, but sensibilities just align.”
“It’s a perfect partnership,” adds Lewis. “I think we hold each other accountable across every element of it, but it also helps that we are, for the most part, creatively aligned.
“If Michael sends through notes, then virtually they are word-for-word my notes, and vice versa. Obviously you want some kind of combat every now and then to keep things exciting, but I think our end game is always the same.”
The launch of Max
With 2025 being a huge year for Warner Bros. Discovery ANZ and the launch of Max, do the pair think anything will change for them and their slate?
Brooks, who is also the GM of Warner Bros. Discovery ANZ is careful in his response, “The way it’s seen is that this is another global streamer coming into the market, so that breeds opportunities.
“But I think at the same time, Max is going to commission the best ideas from the best producers and it doesn’t matter where they come from because that’s what they’re going to do. They’re competing.
“I think for us, we’re going to have to just make sure we’re really developing in the right place with the right partners and the right people and and do everything we can, but yes, they’re going to choose the best projects.”
How To Make Gravy, full list of AACTA nominations, 2025
- Best Film
- Best Direction in Film (Nick Waterman)
- Best Lead Actor in Film (Daniel Henshall)
- Best Supporting Actor in Film (Hugo Weaving)
- Best Supporting Actor in Film (Damon Herriman)
- Best Supporting Actress in Film (Kate Mulvany)
- Best Screenplay in Film (Meg Washington, Nick Waterman)
- Best Costume Design in Film (Christina Validakis)
- Best Production Design in Film (Benjamin Fountain, Peter Kodicek)
- Best Original Score in Film (Sam Dixon)
- Best Sound in Film (Craig Walmsley, Stuart Morton, Diego Ruiz, Sam Hayward)
- Best Casting in Film (Nikki Barrett)
- Best Original Song (Dream On, Meg Washington, Electric Fields & The Prison Choir)
- Best Original Song (Fine, Meg Washington, Brendan Maclean & The Prison Choir)
- Best Soundtrack (Meg Washington)
Keep on top of the most important media, marketing, and agency news each day with the Mediaweek Morning Report – delivered for free every morning to your inbox.