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FIREFLIES

Shooting has commenced this week on Southern Star, John Edwards newest telemovie Fireflies for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The four-week shoot takes place in both Sydney and regional New South Wales.

Produced by four-time Logie winner John Edwards (The Secret Life of Us, Police Rescue) and directed by Rowan Woods (Farscape, The Boys), Fireflies tells the story of a township facing a terrifyingly hot summer and the subsequent impact the heat of danger can have on the lives of its people.

Whether you’re new in town, or there for generations, when you're facing the driest, hottest summer in decades, it pays to belong.

It seems while the volunteers of the Lost River Rural Fire Brigade extinguish fires, the relations amongst its residents continue to smolder.

Two-time Logie Award winner Libby Tanner (All Saints) stars as Lost River’s newest resident Lill, permanently moved to the 25-hectare weekender she and her husband Perry, John Waters (Young Lions, All the Rivers Run), have been setting up for a couple of years. Lill learns that if you want a community you have to work for it and joins the Brigade.

Jeremy Sims (Secret Men’s Business, Idiot Box) stars as Backa Burke, the “good bloke” at the station, who is in a tempestuous marriage with Russian émigré Svettie, Natalia Novikova (Russian Doll, Venus Factory); their shop is going under and relations are tense.

Nadia Townsend plays Fifi who has just found out she's going to have a baby with Joey, Christopher Morris, and she doesn't want to marry him just to make it all respectable.

Fireflies is written by John O’Brien (MDA, Water Rats) – recipient of four AWGIE Awards.

ABC Head of Drama & Narrative Comedy, Robyn Kershaw, says the telemovie reflects the reality of danger facing many Australians each year.

"Fireflies is a story drawn from the reality faced by hundreds of towns throughout Australia. We're thrilled to have attracted such tremendous actors to express and pay tribute to the lives of thousands of unsung Australian heroes," said Kershaw.

Producer, John Edwards, says Fireflies is a character-driven show filled with heart and action.

“What Police Rescue was for the ‘80’s and ‘90’s, this will be for the new century,” said Edwards.

Fireflies is a Southern Star, John Edwards production in association with the Film Finance Corporation of Australia for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Press Release
June 24, 2003