Meet the Creators of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart
Featuring Actress Leah Purcell, Wrtier and Showrunner Sarah Lambert, Director Glendyn Ivin and Producers for Made Up Stories Jodi Matterson and Bruna Papandrea
Friday 9 February
2pm AEST
Hear from the creators of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart about how they adapted the best-selling novel for the screen. Set against the enchanting backdrop of Australian flora, the series follows the journey of a young woman, Alice Hart, as she grapples with her traumatic past and the symbolic language of flowers passed down through generations of women in her family. Discover how the creators transformed this poignant and beautifully written story into a visually stunning series. Join us for an in-depth look into the making of this emotional and evocative adaptation.
Featuring
Leah Purcell
A proud Goa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka Murri woman from Queensland, Leah Purcell AM is one of Australia’s leading actors, with award-winning roles in theatre, film, and television.
Leah headlines the upcoming BINGE drama series High Country on which she also serves as Executive Producer and Cultural Advisor. The series is produced by Curio Pictures in association with Rage Media.
Leah stars alongside Sigourney Weaver in the Amazon Studios miniseries The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. Other screen credits include: Shayda, Wentworth, Janet King, Redfern Now, The Proposition and Lantana.
Leah’s feature film directorial debut, The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson - for which she also starred in the lead role, wrote, and produced - received 13 AACTA Award nominations, with Leah winning the 2022 AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress, as well as an ADG Award for Best Debut Feature Film.
Throughout her career Leah has received 26 awards and 11 nominations for her work as an actor, writer, director, and producer as well as the 2021 Member of The Order of Australia (AM).
Jodi Matterson
Jodi Matterson serves as Managing Director of Australia, partner and producer of Made Up Stories.
Jodi recently produced THE LOST FLOWERS OF ALICE HART starring Sigourney Weaver for Amazon which set the record for the most watched Australian streaming series worldwide climbing to the top three in 42 countries and the top five in a further 78 countries and STRIFE starring Asher Keddie for Foxtel Binge which as officially become its biggest original launch ever.
Seasons 1 & 2 of the genre-bending romantic comedy WOLF LIKE ME for Peacock starring Isla Fisher, Josh Gad and Edgar Ramirez, ROAR starring Nicole Kidman and Judy Davis for Apple, NINE PERFECT STRANGERS, starring Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy for Hulu which has been their most watched original series of all time, THE DRY, from director Robert Connolly and starring Eric Bana which has broken records at the Australian box office, as well as the film adaptation of the international best-seller, PENGUIN BLOOM, starring Naomi Watts, which premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival and released by Netflix.
In 2018, Jodi produced Abe Forsythe’s LITTLE MONSTERS starring Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019 and was distributed by Neon and Hulu.
Upcoming film projects releasing in 2024 include: FORCE OF NATURE, the sequel to the feature film THE DRY with Eric Bana reprising his role as Aaron Falk and ADDITION based on the novel by Toni Jordan starring Teresa Palmer and Joe Dempsie.
Jodi is currently in production on THE LAST ANNIVERSARY, based on the book by Liane Moriarty, starring Teresa Palmer, Miranda Richardson and Danielle Macdonald for Binge, BBC and Sundance Channel, along with the second series of NINE PERFECT STRANGERS for Hulu starring Nicole Kidman, Christine Baranski and Annie Murphy.
Prior to Made Up Stories, Jodi produced her first film THUNDERSTRUCK in 2003 with director, Darren Ashton, starring Sam Worthington. Her second film RAZZLE DAZZLE screened at more than 20 international film festivals including Berlin.
NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN directed by Oscar Nominee Peter Templeman and starring Sarah Snook in her first lead role, DOWN UNDER from Abe Forsythe and 2:22 starring Teresa Palmer and Michel Huisman.
Jodi had also previously been one of the top producers for commercials in Australia with over sixty commercials with renowned Australian and International directors.
Glendyn Ivin
Working across feature films, television and commercials, Glendyn first gained recognition with his short film CRACKER BAG, which won the Palme d'Or for Best Short Film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003. Glendyn’s critically acclaimed and award-winning work includes feature films LAST RIDE, starring Hugo Weaving, and PENGUIN BLOOM, starring Naomi Watts, and prestige television series PUBERTY BLUES, THE BEAUTIFUL LIE starring Sarah Snook, THE SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY, International Emmy Award winner SAFE HARBOUR, THE CRY and most recently, THE LOST FLOWERS OF ALACE HART starring Sigourney Weaver.
Bruna Papandrea
Emmy® and Golden Globe® winning producer Bruna Papandrea is the Founder and CEO of Made Up Stories, a development, production and finance company that amplifies distinctive voices to tell unforgettable stories about the diversity of human experience, driven primarily by multifaceted females on and off-screen.
Through Made Up Stories, Papandrea has recently produced a number of television series including: Netflix’s hit shows PIECES OF HER starring Toni Colette and ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL starring Sienna Miller; the anthology ROAR for Apple TV+; and Spectrum Original’s LONG SLOW EXHALE and the genre-bending romantic comedy WOLF LIKE ME for Peacock, now in post on its second season. Papandrea and Made Up Stories have also produced HBO’s most watched series of 2020, THE UNDOING, the Amazon Prime Video series TELL ME YOUR SECRETS, UNDRESSED, an unscripted series for Australia’s Network 10 and Hulu’s NINE PERFECT STRANGERS, which has been Hulu’s most watched original series of all time. Last August Papandrea and team released the Amazon series THE LOST FLOWERS OF ALICE HART starring Sigourney Weaver and in December the team released the new Binge series STRIFE starring Asher Keddie.
On the film side, Papandrea and Made Up Stories have recently released LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE for Netflix, starring Mila Kunis which premiered at number one globally and kept the spot for two consecutive weeks. The company has also produced, Jennifer Kent’s AACTA-winning THE NIGHTINGALE, Abe Forsythe’s LITTLE MONSTERS, Glendyn Ivin’s PENGUIN BLOOM – a 2020 TIFF selection – and Rob Connolly’s THE DRY. In February the team will release FORCE OF NATURE, sequel to THE DRY, starring Eric Bana.
Prior to Made Up Stories, Papandrea launched Pacific Standard with Reese Witherspoon, producing GONE GIRL and the Oscar-nominated WILD. She also executive produced HBO’s Emmy and Golden Globe-winning series BIG LITTLE LIES.
Sarah Lambert
Writer, showrunner and producer Sarah Lambert has created some of Australia’s most critically acclaimed, iconic and audience-pleasing drama series in recent years. Most recently, Sarah was the writer and show-runner of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, the adaptation of Holly Ringland’s hit novel for Made Up Stories and Amazon Prime starring Sigourney Weaver, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Leah Purcell, Asher Keddie and Frankie Adams. The series has become a global hit, both critically and with audiences around the world breaking records for the most successful Australian Amazon original launch globally ever. It has been nominated for 12 ACCTA awards including Best Mini-series or Limited run series. Her work has writer of the series has been recognised with an AWGIE nomination for best screenplay in a Limited Run series.