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Drive Live with Alexander Gavrylyuk

Drive Live with Alexander Gavrylyuk

Australian-Ukrainian pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk joins Vanessa Hughes in the Eugene Goossens Hall on Drive Live.
He shares fond memories of growing up in countryside Ukraine, visiting his grandmother in the summer, and reflects on the sounds of the local folk music scene that were formative to his musicianship, alongside the strict practice routine that shaped him into the piano virtuoso that he is today.
Alexander is making his debut with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in a program of Gershwin & Shostakovich, touring around Australia now.
MUSIC:
Piano Sonata No. 10 in C major, K. 330: I. Allegro moderato by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Étude in C-sharp minor, Op. 2, No. 1 by Alexander Scriabin
Performed by Alexander Gavrylyuk (piano)
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Together is a horrifying look at co-dependency. It's based on the director's relationship
Together is a horrifying look at co-dependency. It's based on the director's relationship

ABC News

time35 minutes ago

  • ABC News

Together is a horrifying look at co-dependency. It's based on the director's relationship

Australian director and writer Michael Shanks has the disembodied torso of Hollywood A-lister Dave Franco hanging on his study wall. It's a prosthetic, of course, from Shanks's upcoming film, Together, which stars Franco and his real-life wife, Alison Brie, as a couple whose relationship is on the rocks. "I found it in storage after the film wrapped," Shanks says. "He was wrapped in plastic, like Laura Palmer. I was like, 'No, he's got to be on my wall.'" In part, that could be because Together has proven to be a breakout moment for the Melbourne local. Shanks has spent more than a decade building a profile as a writer, director and special effects artist. He's racked up millions of YouTube views on his cinematic parodies, landed a script on the coveted Black List (Hollywood's list of best unproduced screenplays), and his award-winning short film, Rebooted, is adorned with more laurel leaves than a forest. But Together has surpassed all of that. 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Shanks has long dreamed of seeing his work on billboards, but becoming an international name has brought both positives and negatives. Back in May, while still riding the Sundance high, Together was hit with a US copyright lawsuit from production studio StudioFest which claimed the film ripped off ideas from Patrick Phelan's 2023 black comedy, Better Half. In response, Shanks released a public statement asserting not only how painfully personal Together is to him, but also that he registered his script to the Writers Guild of America in 2019 — three years before Shanks was connected with Franco, and a year before StudioFest's filings claim Phelan's script was sent to Franco and Brie's representatives. "To now be accused of stealing this story — one based on my own lived experience, one I've developed over the course of several years — is devastating and has taken a heavy toll," his statement read. Shanks told ABC Entertainment that being a public figure has taken some adjustment. 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"I'd love for there to be pathways for younger filmmakers to tell stories they're passionate about, rather than the generation above, that are still kind of locked in some of those positions. "Hearing stories from younger people and from people of more economically diverse backgrounds, that's the stuff that I'd be really keen to see." Together is in cinemas now.

Carrie Bickmore, Logies: Former Project host reflects on Gold Logie 2015
Carrie Bickmore, Logies: Former Project host reflects on Gold Logie 2015

Daily Telegraph

time2 hours ago

  • Daily Telegraph

Carrie Bickmore, Logies: Former Project host reflects on Gold Logie 2015

Don't miss out on the headlines from TV. Followed categories will be added to My News. Winning the Gold Logie in 2015 is a bit of a blur for Carrie Bickmore. While the then co-host of The Project gave the appearance of being effortlessly confident as she accepted her award with a speech about the need for more awareness of the toll of brain cancer, it was a different story behind the scenes. Having welcomed her daughter Evie just six weeks earlier, Bickmore was sleep-deprived, and secretly grappling with the anxiety that has dogged her since she was 19 years old and starting out in radio. 'I reckon I thought more that night about having a panic attack than I did enjoying the dinner or chatting to people – or the feeling of winning,' she tells The Watchlist. 'It's why it's beautiful to have this legacy of the beanie campaign from that night. It forces me to think about it more often and remember it.' 'I'm somebody that just likes an awards night!' Carrie Bickmore on the Logies. Picture: Michelle Tran for The Watchlist Soon after her speech, Bickmore made a mad dash to her baby, who was being looked after by her mum Jennie in a nearby hotel room. 'Mum met me in the lift and was like, 'You're just in time to feed her, great timing.' So it's funny – behind the glamour, there's all this other stuff happening.' Indeed, as she points out, Bickmore can tell what time photos of her were taken on the night 'purely based on the size of my cleavage'. 'When I was having the dress made, I didn't think about the fact that I needed to breastfeed. 'So as the night wore on, my boobs just got bigger and bigger.' A lot has happened since Bickmore was on the Logies dais. She has raised nearly $27 million for cancer research via her charity, Carrie's Beanies 4 Brain Cancer, and shifted focus to her drive-time radio show Carrie & Tommy for the Hit Network. Carrie Bickmore is on the cover of The Watchlist. Picture: Michelle Tran for The Watchlist She tells The Watchlist that while she does miss being on TV, 'Our radio show is filmed every day. A lot of people watch our show rather than listen to it. So weirdly, I don't really feel like I've left.' In any case, she'll attend tonight's ceremony as a guest. 'For me, it will forever hold a very special place in my heart,' she says of the Logies. Carrie Bickmore at the Logies last year. Picture: Jonathan Ng 'A special place in my heart!' With THAT Gold Logie in 2015. Picture: News Corp Australia 'But also, I just really like seeing friends I've made over the years from different networks. 'I like celebrating the industry that has provided me [with] so much and has such incredibly talented, creative people in it. 'And I'm somebody that just likes an awards night.' As for the show that brought her that Gold Logie a decade ago, Bickmore says she misses the people she worked with across her 14 years on The Project. And she believes that viewers feel the same way since the show was axed in June: 'The show is going to leave a massive hole. Not just from a TV perspective, but for its place in people's hearts.' And if she does eventually make a more permanent return to TV? Bickmore says it will be on her terms. 'I don't have that desire to prove myself,' she explains. 'I'm only going to do something that I really love, and right now, that opportunity hasn't popped up. 'I'm so happy doing what I'm doing that I just feel really at peace with where I'm at in my career. 'I've got so many creative ideas. The next thing I do, if I'm honest, I might even just create myself.' The TV Week Logie Awards air at 7pm tonight on Seven and 7Plus. Read the full story and see the cover shoot with Carrie Bickmore in today's issue of The Watchlist, inside The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (Victoria), The Sunday Mail (Queensland) and Sunday Mail (SA). For more from The Watchlist and Stellar, click here. Originally published as Carrie Bickmore weighs up TV return: 'I don't feel like I've left'

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