Prime Video Announces New Series, Top End Bub, Follow Up to Hit Australian Film Top End Wedding
ZDF Studios will distribute the Goalpost Pictures Production internationally
Sydney, Australia / Mainz, Germany - April 3rd, 2024
Prime Video, Goalpost Pictures, ZDF Studios, Screen Australia, Screen Territory, and South Australian Film Corporation today announced that new romantic comedy series, Top End Bub, will be joining Prime Video’s growing slate of International Originals. Going into production in May 2024, Top End Bub sees Miranda Tapsell (Love Child, The Sapphires, The Artful Dodger) and Gwilym Lee (Bohemian Rhapsody, The Great) return to lead the cast.
Following the 2019 box office hit Top End Wedding, filmed in the Northern Territory, comes the new eight-part series Top End Bub. The series will be created, executive produced and written by Top End Wedding writers Joshua Tyler and Miranda Tapsell, and produced by Goalpost Pictures. The series will be filmed in the Northern Territory and Adelaide, and will launch on Prime Video in Australia and New Zealand. Top End Bub will be distributed internationally by ZDF Studios.
Top End Bub revisits Lauren, a dynamic Indigenous lawyer ticking off life goals in Adelaide. She’s married to Ned, a handsome husband who makes fresh croissants. What else could a person need? After Lauren’s eight-year-old niece is orphaned, the show follows the couple reluctantly abandoning their big-city goals and moving to the Top End (where the outback meets the tropics) to raise the child. While Lauren and Ned juggle the responsibility of becoming unexpected parents and try to keep their marriage together, Lauren must come to terms with her responsibilities within her culture as she transforms from an individualist to the linchpin of her family.
“Prime Video are proud to be bringing back the beloved, hilarious and heart-warming characters of Top End Wedding with the television spin-off Top End Bub for Prime members in Australia and New Zealand,” said Sarah Christie, senior development executive at Amazon MGM Studios. “Miranda Tapsell and Joshua Tyler have created a series that speaks straight to the heart, and celebrates the messiness and beauty of family, love, and community. We are thrilled to be working with them, along with producers Goalpost Pictures and directors Christian van Vuuren and Shari Sebbens, in capturing the stunning and uniquely Australian world of the Top End.”
“Words can’t describe how excited I am to bring Lauren, Ned and the Top End back to your screens!” said Miranda Tapsell. “We all love a happy ending, but what happens after happily ever after? We can’t wait for you to find out!”
“It’s been fun to dive back into the world of Top End Wedding, a world that means so much to us and to our audience,” said Joshua Tyler. “A romantic setting full of funny characters who face heartbreaking challenges in heartwarming ways. I am thrilled to be collaborating with such an incredible team.”
“Top End Bub is going to be a truly special show, full of wit, warmth, resilience and above all love,” said Grainne Brunsdon, Chief Operating Officer, Screen Australia. “We are absolutely delighted to support this beautiful story crafted by Miranda, Joshua and the Goalpost Pictures team, which will undoubtedly recapture the magic that took Top End Wedding to global success.”
“Top End Bub is an absolutely charming addition to our slate,” said Yi Qiao, Director Drama, ZDF Studios. “Viewers will enjoy the sharp and funny observations of two city slickers woefully adjusting to life in the Outback, surrounded by Lauren’s vast family and a host of colourful characters.”
Goalpost Pictures’ Rosemary Blight is Executive Producer, and the series will be directed by Christian Van Vuuren and Shari Sebbens.
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About ZDF Studios
ZDF Studios is a commercial subsidiary of ZDF, one of the largest TV broadcasters in Europe. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Mainz, Germany, the ZDF Studios Group operates more than 30 direct and indirect subsidiaries and affiliates in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom spanning TV production, distribution and services. The parent company, ZDF Studios, is responsible for global programme distribution, realisation of international co-productions, acquisition of licences and merchandising of successful programme brands under its own name, for ZDF and third parties. ZDF Studios has the largest German-language programme inventory in the world and a constantly growing range of international productions, consisting of series and mini-series, television films, documentaries and children's programmes.
The companies of the ZDF Studios Group cover the entire value chain from the development of scripted and unscripted TV content to production, marketing and monetizing, including TV and streaming licences as well as merchandising and online rights. The positioning of ZDF Studios as an integrated media company enables the development of innovative, outstanding and high-quality programmes and makes the Group an attractive workplace for German and international talent to flourish in a very inspiring and creative environment.
Contact ZDF Studios
Christine Denilauler (VP Marketing and Corporate Communications), ZDF Studios GmbH, Erich-Dombrowski-Str. 1, 55127 Mainz/Germany, Tel.: +49 6131-9911130, email: christine.denilauler@zdf-studios.com, www.zdf-studios.com
About Goalpost Pictures
Goalpost Pictures is one of Australia’s leading independent producers of feature films and TV drama. Their credits include the worldwide #1 Box Office hit THE INVISIBLE MAN, produced with Blumhouse for Universal, written and directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Elisabeth Moss; the internationally acclaimed BLACK SNOW, for Stan and Sundance Now, created by Lucas Taylor, and winner of the 2024 Screen Business Export Award at the Australian Screen Producer Awards; the Amazon Original movie FIVE BLIND DATES for Prime Video Australia, written by Shuang Hu and Nathan Ramos Park; the box office hit films TOP END WEDDING, written by Joshua Tyler and Miranda Tapsell and directed by Wayne Blair, which had its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2019; and 2012’s THE SAPPHIRES, also directed by Wayne Blair, which premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival; the critically acclaimed drama series NEW GOLD MOUNTAIN which premiered in Australia on SBS Television in 2021; the film CARMEN, directed by Benjamin Millepied, starring Melissa Barrera and Paul Mescal, which premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival; and the award-winning series CLEVERMAN which had its world premiere at the 2016 Berlin Film Festival before broadcasting on ABC Television in Australia, SundanceTV in North America and BBC3 in the UK. Goalpost is currently in production of the second series of BLACK SNOW, which sees Travis Fimmel reprise his leading role.