Australian pop princess Kylie Minogue wins major award for courage after her battle with cancer

Rita Wilson (left) and Kate Capshaw present the Courage Award to Aussie singer Kylie Minogue at "An Unforgettable Evening" for EIF's Women's Cancer Research Fund in Los Angeles. Picture: Matt Sayles/Invision/AP) Source: AP

The Sunday Telegraph reports

Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue has received a major award in the United States.

The 44-year-old cancer survivor was honoured with a courage award at a benefit gala at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

It is eight years since the star was diagnosed with breast cancer and it was her strength facing the disease which captured the world's hearts.

“It's so weighty that my initial response was I didn't know if I [deserve] this, because frankly you don't tend to think of yourself as being courageous when there are countless people who are more courageous each and every day than I'll ever be in my life,” Minogue told Rolling Stone.

Later though, Minogue realised her struggle with cancer was far bigger than her as an individual.

“I realized in my story there was a lot of courage, and from the people around me as well – my parents, my brother and sister, the rest of my family, friends and from myself, of course. So I'm very honored to be presented with the award, and I can only accept on behalf of anyone who has been through or is going through this kind of ordeal, because you do have to dig deep.”

Minogue wore a floor-length Grecian gown at the ceremony, An Unforgettable Evening benefitting EIFs Women’s Cancer Research Fund, attended by some of the biggest names in show business.

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are honourary chairs of the fund with the awards hosted by talkshow host Chelsea Handler.

Fashion designer Carolina Herrera was presented the Nat King Cole Award for her charitable works and contributions.

Chris Hemsworth Steven Spielberg's new leading man for Robopocalypse

Chris Hemsworth played the Huntsman in the Snow White movie earlier this year, which debuted at number one at the US box-office. Source: Supplied

Maria Lewis, The Daily Telegraph, reports

There’s no stopping Chris Hemsworth's meteoric rise in Hollywood.

The Aussie A-Lister has landed the coveted leading role in Steven Spielberg’s next film Robopocalypse.

Deadline reports that the Academy Award-winning director has cast Hemsworth - best known for playing superhero Thor - in the big budget blockbuster.

The Disney-Fox-DreamWorks’ actioner is set in the aftermath of a robot uprising, hence the title, and will be released in cinemas worldwide on April 25, 2014.

The news comes after what has been a huge 2012 for Hemsworth who starred in the biggest film of the year so far - The Avengers - and had another box-office smash with Snow White and the Hunstman.

Terra Nova props to go under the hammer

MONSTER SERIES: A time-travelling family battled dinosaurs in the Steven Spielberg-produced Terra Nova. Source: Supplied

The Daily Telegraph reports

Fans of the Steven Spielberg-produced TV show Terra Nova can now bring the science fiction drama into their homes with props and costumes set to be auctioned Saturday in eastern Australia.

The show, which first aired in the US in September 2011, was a look at an overpopulated world in the year 2149, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

In an attempt to save the world, people were recruited to travel back in time to join the Terra Nova colony in the prehistoric past where they co-existed with dinosaurs.

Filmed in southeast Queensland in Australia against a backdrop akin to a futuristic, high-tech version of the hit Jurassic Park movies - two of which were directed by Spielberg - Terra Nova's pricey pilot reportedly cost $20 million.

During the 11-episode first season, Terra Nova averaged 7.5 million viewers, among which 2.6 million were aged 18 to 49 - the age bracket coveted by advertisers, The Hollywood Reporter said.

However, the series failed to perform as well as network executives had hoped and was canceled in March this year - leaving enough costumes and props to fill 17,350 square feet (1,612 square meters) of floor space.

"I've done the same thing with props and costumes from other shows I have closed in the past and they seem to be very successful," co-producer Ellen Blum told the Bulletin.

"I've learned you never know what use some people have for things."

Items available for purchase include everyday furniture and homeware, outlandish costumes and polystyrene sculptures.

Terra Nova made headlines following its premiere, when eagle-eyed viewers noticed that the "sonic pistols" used by officers in the show were in fact modified Nerf guns.

The ups and downs of Terra Nova

Picture courtesy of Encore Magazine

Excerpt of a story by Colin Delaney, Encore Magazine (shortened version)


Filmed on the Gold Coast, Steven Spielberg’s latest TV offering, Terra Nova is the most expensive show ever made.

Between floods, inflation and fired staff, the production has had as many dramas off screen as on.

Confidence was suitably high for Fox when the bankable Spielberg wanted to tell a story that blended an apocalyptic future with time travel and dinosaurs. Spielberg was in his element.

It began strongly. Fox, rather than commissioning just a pilot, went ahead and commissioned an entire 13 episodes. Emmy-winning director/producer Jon Cassar (24), is one of a multitude of executive producers on Terra Nova. He says it was a smart thing to do on Fox’s behalf. “When you’re making a sci-fi show you don’t just find a set, you have to build it and if you’re going to the expense of building it you may as well commit to 13 episodes.”

The decision was made to film on the Gold Coast and in its Hinterland after a major scout of locations around the world.

Filming has injected a lot of money into the region. Cassar doesn’t have an exact figure but, “a good percentage of our total budget has been spent here, minus post and things we’re doing in the States. Obviously you’re biggest expenditure is production when you’re doing any TV series and because our production is 100 per cent in Australia, a lot of it is spent here.”

Rumours abound the Gold Coast nearly lost Terra Nova after Queensland’s heavy flooding that struck as the pilot was in full swing in December and January.

The rainfall caused damages and delays. “Luckily we were on higher ground with our sets,” says Cassar. “It blocked access to some of our sets but what did hurt was the rain that came with those floods. That was tough. When they were shooting the pilot it became very difficult dealing with that amount of rainfall.” The rainfall caused the shoot to stop temporarily but the rumours to totally abandon Queensland were false. Says Cassar, “the only reason we would have left is if the sets got destroyed, then that question would have come up but it didn’t happen so we were okay. We’ve had unbelievably great weather since we’ve been doing the series.”

Terra Nova premiered on Channel Ten on Sunday, 2 October.

Paradise Lost to film in Sydney with Bradley Cooper and Alex Proyas

Story by Nick Goundry

A big-budget version of Paradise Lost is coming to Fox Studios in Sydney and could rejuvenate Australia’s global appeal. Major international projects have been scarce in the country recently, with local producers largely blaming the Aussie dollar, so this is terrific news for the national industry.

Paradise Lost is expected to feed nearly AUD90 million into the local economy and create 1,300 jobs in New South Wales (NSW). There’s also the additional benefit of the involvement of rising Hollywood superstar Bradley Cooper and high-profile director Alex Proyas.

Andrew Stoner, acting NSW Premier and Minister for Trade and Investment, said: “To filmmakers and producers around the world, I say NSW is open for business once more – we are determined to make NSW number one again. Paradise Lost will see the next generation of post-Avatar motion capture work undertaken right here in Sydney.”

Proyas commented: “I’m delighted to have found such overwhelming support here in NSW for such a unique film offering unparalleled exposure for NSW cast and crew to the cutting-edge technology that will be used in the making of Paradise Lost.”

The film’s schedule includes 72 weeks of post-production, which will use Australia's generous 30% post incentive scheme. Details haven’t been released of exactly what benefits the film will receive, although part of the deal involves having effects company Digital Domain setting up a base in Sydney.

Terra Nova, which has Steven Spielberg onboard as a producer, committed to a season-long shoot in Queensland, but it’s the only other major international production that has been filmed in Australia recently.