• by Sara
• on May 16, 2022
• with 0 Comments
• filed under Little Europe Lunacy News & Press Sons of Summer

Hello Isabel fans! We have quite a few career updates for you today. A new article by IF states that Isabel is a part of an upcoming film titled Little Europe, directed by Franco Di Chiera. You can read about the project below!

In addition, we finally have a title for the Untitled Daniel Askill project Isabel filmed a while back – Lunacy. The plot reads “Six strangers receive an alluring invitation to a rainforest retreat from an enigmatic host, but find themselves trapped by a mysterious force in a surreal psychological test.” There’s currently no release information, but the project now has a post-production status – so hopefully we’ll learn something new soon.

And as if that wasn’t enough – Isabel also has a new project listed on her IMDB, titled Sons of Summer! According to the movie website, they’re currently filming. No plot or other information has been released yet, but it co-stars Temuera Morrison, Christopher Pate, Joe Davidson, Phillip Avalon, Alex Fleri, Jonathan Weir, Victoria Fleri and Alex McTavish. Clive Fleury is the director, with Phillip Avalon and Greg Clayton writing the script.

We’ll of course update you with anything new related to any of the three projects – we love seeing Isabel booked and busy!

Australian-born ex- James Bond actor George Lazenby has signed on to a new Cold War spy drama from Franco Di Chiera that is set to be pitched at the Marche du Film in Cannes this week.

Based on true events that occurred at the Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre in rural Victoria, Little Europe picks up in 1952 when a spy from ASIO is killed by a Russian assassin, who steals plans for Operation Hurricane, Britain’s first atomic bomb test due to take place in Australia.

ASIO’s director-general (Lazenby) recruits Italian-Australian cop, Joe Rossi (Vince Colosimo) to pose as a new arrival at the Bonegilla Migrant Camp with a mission to identify key communist agitators. As Joe struggles to assimilate and is ostracised by his fellow Italians who are suspicious of him, he enters the murky waters of espionage and grows uncertain of who the enemy really is, placing his assignment and himself in danger. The cast also includes Isabel Lucas as Cynthia, a Soviet spy camp administrator that manipulates the migrants to carry out communist activities.

The script was written by Di Chiera and Jason Agius, whose grandfather’s experience at Bonegilla inspired parts of the plot. Sabella Sugar, of Ultrafilms, is producing the project.

Little Europe is one of fifteen worldwide submissions selected by artificial intelligence platform Largo.ai to pitch at the Cannes Marche du Film.

Di Chiera told IF he approached Lazenby after being reminded of his presence in front of the camera on separate occasions.

“Our memories of him were jolted with the release of the latest James Bond film because they brought out all the former James Bonds to attend the premieres in the UK and US,” he said.

“We thought it was fortuitous he was still working and coincidentally I was walking around our area in South Yarra and there was a big billboard for the Melbourne Gin Company, where he was the subject.

“I thought, ‘oh god I better reach out to him’ because I just seemed to be confronted with him everywhere and thought it must be a sign.

“The wonderful thing is it’s a bit of a play on the idea that from 007 he got promoted to ASIO.”

Di Chiera is hoping to finish principal photography on the project before Christmas, depending on financing.

Of the five-week shoot that is being planned, he said four would be set around the camp, which offered a “pressure cooker” environment.

“I’m interested in (US director) Sidney Lumet’s films as a reference because he often had characters that were stuck in really oppressive and claustrophobic environments, where people’s values get blurred and there are questions over who really is the enemy in this world,” he said.

Di Chiera and Sabella are presently in discussions with distributors about the film.

• by Sara
• on May 02, 2022
• with 0 Comments
• filed under Bosch & Rockit Event Photos Gallery

The 2022 Gold Coast Film Festival wrapped up today, with a closing ceremony and special screening of Isabel’s new film ‘Bosch & Rockit’. Isabel wore a black mini-dress paired with black ballet slippers, a glitzy evening jacket and a gold chain shoulder bag, and showed hew new bangs for the first time in public! I’ve added the first photos we could find to the gallery, but we expect to have more in a couple of days.

For ‘Home & Away’ fans, fellow past cast members Sharni Vinson and Lincoln Lewis were both in attendance at the premiere. I haven’t found any photos of Sharni with Isabel yet (nor am I certain they actually met up at the event) (edit, by Ann: they did indeed! You can find a really cute photo of all 3 of them in our gallery here – and they even met up with a 4th Home & Away alumni, Todd Lasance!)

• by Sara
• on March 28, 2022
• with 0 Comments
• filed under

• by Sara
• on March 28, 2022
• with 0 Comments
• filed under

• by Sara
• on March 25, 2022
• with 0 Comments
• filed under Gallery Home and Away Screencaps Tasha Thursdays

Hello Izzy fans! This week’s Tasha Thursday is unfortunately a mixed one, as we’ve got some bad news. The reason it’s coming to you late (as well as it only being three episodes this week) is because the drive Sara has kept the 2004 episodes of the show on broke earlier this week. She has tried everything, but no luck. It has now been sent for repair, and we’re crossing our fingers they can retrieve the data, but for now we don’t have access to any episodes between #3714 and #3866. That means, that unless it gets repaired quickly, we’ll have no choice but to continue from #3866 on next week’s Tasha Thursday.

Still, we’ll have plenty more episodes to bring you! We will also add more event photos from Isabel’s years on the show, with the remaining 2005 events + all 2006 events hopefully being up by next week’s TT. Stay tuned!

• by Sara
• on March 21, 2022
• with 0 Comments
• filed under Bosch & Rockit News & Press

Isabel’s latest film ‘Bosch & Rockit’ will be screened at the 2022 Gold Coast Film Festival! It’s said that the cast & crew will be in attendance, so hopefully we’ll have some new Isabel photos next month… This year’s Film Festival takes place from 20 April-1 May.

In its 20th year, Gold Coast Film Festival (GCFF) will span the entire city, from Coomera to Coolangatta. The programme features world and Australian premieres, preview screenings and filmmaking talent in its line-up of films, pop-up cinemas, red carpet screenings, industry panels, filmmakers Q&As and special events. Celebration screenings will be peppered throughout the 20th anniversary festival including ‘Scooby Doo’ and ‘Blue Crush’ each celebrating their 20th anniversaries.

Meanwhile, the red carpet will be rolled out at HOTA, Home Of The Arts, as cast and crew assemble for the Opening Night film (and Queensland premiere of) ‘How To Please A Woman’. The film, from award-winning director Renee Webster, features an all-star Australian/international cast including Sally Philips, Erik Thomson, Tasma Walton and Cameron Daddo. It’s a delightfully entertaining, at times outright hilarious film about second chances.

Then, to close things off will be ‘Bosch & Rockit’, a coming-of-age story set against Australia’s surf coast. Cast and crew will assemble on the red carpet for this debut feature/Queensland premiere from Tyler Atkins, starring Luke Hemsworth, Isabel Lucas, Leeanna Walsman and upcoming pro-surfer Rasmus King. More films are set to debut throughout the festival, too. Films such as the world premiere of ‘The Curious Case Of Dolphin Bay’ and the Australian premiere of ‘Waterman’, a documentary narrated by Jason Momoa. (Read more)

• by Sara
• on March 17, 2022
• with 0 Comments
• filed under Event Photos Gallery Home and Away Screencaps Tasha Thursdays

Back to regular schedule, we’re bringing you a new Tasha Thursday! We explained on our twitter profile why we took a short break from this feature, but we’re ready to start it back up now. This week I’ve gone through episodes #3699 to #3710, and added caps of the five episodes featuring Tasha – #3702, #3704, #3705, #3706 and #3708. In addition to the new caps, Ann and I have added a bunch of old event photos of Isabel from the years she was on Home & Away. These are either promotional events for the show, or events she attended with other cast members. Almost all our 2004 and 2005 event folders have been updated, and you can view all the new additions here. Based on tags on some of the photos, some seem to come from old fansites which have sadly closed, so credits to Home and Away Web, isabellucasfan.org, i-lucas.org, isabellucasonline.org, isabellucas.net and Home and Away Central!

The episodes screencapped this week saw a lot of action for Tasha! She, Robbie and Kim borrowed Irene’s car without asking to get to Kim’s job interview in the city, but crashed and completely smashed the car. They attempted to flee the scene, but Robbie’s left glasses at the scene of the crash busted them in the end. They then participated in a school lock-in to protest Hyde’s regime at the high school, but being locked in freaked Tasha out. Kim managed to calm her down, exacerbating Robbie’s fears that he’s losing her to him… It’s fun to watch how Isabel got longer and more difficult scenes as time progressed, she really grew as an actress with every episode of the show!

• by Sara
• on March 17, 2022
• with 0 Comments
• filed under Activism Instagram

Hello Izzy fans! We haven’t been able to find any new Isabel news/videos/photos lately, so we’ve taken her time off to get a small break ourselves. For those who don’t follow Isabel on Instagram, she has been very busy the last few weeks helping out in the flooded areas in Queensland and NSW. They’ve been hit with some catastrophic floods, which has resulted in many people losing their lives, their homes and all their possessions. Isabel has used her platform to encourage people to help if they’re able to, as well as to inform people in affected areas how they can seek help themselves. Several small organisations have been created to help those who are affected, and the community spirit shown through Isabel’s stories have been incredible.

I’m attaching an article from The Guardian which explains how you can help below, but if you would rather 1) help on the ground yourself, or 2) donate to smaller charities who show through their social media accounts exactly how your donations are spent, I recommend checking out Isabel’s pinned Instagram stories “floods”.

Isabel also seems to have adopted two dogs, and have encouraged others who are able to, to do the same. With the animal shelters being hit by the floods, there are unfortunately many animals without a safe home at the moment.

Is it better to donate to established charities such as the Red Cross or to crowdfunding campaigns? And should you give money, or goods?

More than $13m has been donated to support those affected by the devastating floods in Queensland and New South Wales, and most of the money has been directed towards peer-to-peer fundraising efforts such as GoFundMe. Many of those crowdfunding campaigns have been set up by people living in the flooded regions to cover urgent costs and fund relief and rescue efforts, including more than $20,000 raised to run a rescue helicopter.

Since 24 February, more than $9.6m has been donated across 1,700 fundraisers on the peer to peer platform GoFundMe. About 22% of all donations has been directed towards fundraisers based in the NSW northern rivers region. In Mullumbimby alone, 50 different campaigns have raised a total of $400,000.

One fundraiser, which aimed to deliver food to those affected by the floods across the region, raised $173,834 before turning off donations – far outstripping its fundraising goal of $5,000. But as the waters begin to subside and formal relief agencies move in to begin the long process of helping communities recover, those community-run efforts are being replaced by formal charities.

As of 9 March, the Red Cross Queensland and NSW flood appeal has raised $3.86m, and St Vincent de Paul has raised $162,000. The Salvation Army, which is aiming to raise $10m for flood relief, has repurposed $1m of funds from its Red Shield Appeal to begin initial recovery efforts.

So what should you do if you want to help? Read More

• by Sara
• on February 17, 2022
• with 0 Comments
• filed under Gallery Home and Away Tasha Thursdays

Happy Tasha Thursday! Today we’ve added 1600 new screencaps of Isabel as Tasha in Home and Away episodes #3689 to #3699 (she was not in any of the episodes between last week’s #3684 and #3688). Ann is on a holiday at the moment and I have a lot of work offline, which is why we haven’t been able to do anything but screencaps the last couple of weeks. But next week we hope to launch our new episode guide, as well as share more video clips from the show!

The war between the Summer Bay High students and principal Hyde continued in this batch of episodes, and Tasha got cozy with the principal’s son Kim Hyde – breaking Robbie’s heart in the process! They were eventually able to make up, and their relationship seems to be stronger than ever. Tasha also traveled to the city to help Kane win Kirsty back, which got her in a lot of trouble with Flynn…

• by Sara
• on February 13, 2022
• with 0 Comments
• filed under Bite The Hand Gallery Short Films

Isabel has had a short film titled “Bite The Hand” listed on her IMDB profile for a while now, so today I tried to do some research on the project to find out more about it. It looks like they completed the filming during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the project went into post-production last fall. At the project’s Australian Cultural Fundraiser page, director Minka Bleakley wrote that they would pursue festival submissions following the post-production of the film. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like they managed to raise the funds they had targeted, so I’m not sure if this will have impacted their festival pursual or not…

I will keep searching for information on the project, and let you know if I come across anything new! For now, I’ve been able to find two production stills featuring Isabel from the film which you can find in our gallery. Isabel portrays the character Pixie, and the rest of the cast list includes Paul Henri as Chris, Matt Levett as Dusty and Gabrielle Miller as Nadine.

‘Bite the Hand’ is a short film that follows a young mother struggling to come to terms with her shifting identity. Shot in Northern NSW, the film explores the disconnect between a mother and child isolated from the world.

Words by director, Minka Bleakley: In making this film, I have had the opportunity to explore my anxieties about motherhood through Nadine. I have gotten to feel through certain fears surrounding the bond that a mother has with her child, and what one does when that bond seems fragile, even breakable. There is a significant deficit of stories that address this idea of conflicting identities in motherhood, and of stories that approach the deeply realistic frustrations of motherhood and failure. I hope to fill that deficit with ‘Bite The Hand.’

This project is for all people, and I hope that many will have the opportunity to see it. We intend to complete post-production towards the end of August or the beginning of September, after which we will pursue festival submissions.

This project is deeply important to me for a myriad of reasons, though perhaps first among them is for the necessary social commentary. Far too many women feel alone in their experiences of motherhood, they feel unsupported by a social system not built to address a culture that has transformed the way people parent. This film aims to show a woman struggling with motherhood, and it does not shame, judge, or criticize her for it. Media far too often portrays unachievable ideals of mothers and shies away from a darker dialogue that examines the very real struggles of mothering. This, in turn, isolates women and new mothers, who can feel daunted by the expectations society has thrust upon them. I hope that this story will share a new perspective, one that is necessary for the reshaping of what mothering looks like. I hope that others will share my passion to readdress how women, particularly mothers, are represented in media, and that their contribution might be put towards this goal.

Donations will be used towards all post-production expenses, including editing, sound design, colour work, promotional materials, and festivals. We hope that this film will find a home in the international festival market, and will go on to be seen by many people around the world.