Jodi Matterson’s New Indie Silent Firework Lands Development Pacts With ‘Wolf Like Me’ & ‘Alice Hart’ Makers & Top ‘Bluey’ Exec

EXCLUSIVE UPDATE 4.17am PT, July 2: We’ve got more details on Jodi Matterson’s new indie, Silent Firework.

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The indie has developed partnerships with a pair of execs that Australian exec Matterson worked with at former company Made Up Stories, and another with a key exec behind kids series Bluey . Additionally, we hear Matterson has raised a capital fund on the financing side.

Matterson will work with Wolf Like Me writer, creator and director Abe Forsythe and Glendyn Ivin, who directed all seven episodes of Prime Video drama series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart . It is also in development on projects with Libbie Doherty, who is an executive producer of Bluey and ex-Head of Children and Family at Australian pubcaster the ABC.

Forsythe is an actor, producer and director whose credits include 2019 horror comedy Little Monsters , which starred Lupita Nyong’o and Josh Gad. More recently, he created and wrote Stan and Peacock comedy-drama Wolf Like Me , which also starred Gad, along with Isla Fisher.

Ivin won a Short Film Palme D’Or at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival and more recently directed the Made Up Stories film Penguin Bloom , along with episodes of numerous TV series.

Doherty exited the ABC in May after a decade, during which time she oversaw the pubcaster’s mega-hit Bluey . She also has credits for the likes of 2013’s Nowhere Boys .

PREVIOUSLY, 1.23am PT, July 2: Jodi Matterson has left Made Up Stories, the Australian production house run by Bruna Papandrea and Steve Hutensky, to launch her own venture.

Matterson is setting up a business called Silent Firework, which will operate out of Australia. “I am so excited to be taking on the challenge to continue to tell bold, entertaining stories with collaborators old and new,” she said. “Made Up Stories has been such an enormous part of my life, and I am immensely proud of the work that we have made together as a company.”

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Further detail on Silent Firework isn’t yet forthcoming, but her is CEO and producer of the Sydney-based company. It has been registered on the Australian Securities & Investments Commission since April.

Matterson had worked with Papandrea and Hutensky for seven years, during which time they teamed for TV series and films such as Wolf Like Me , Nine Perfect Strangers season one, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart , Strife season one, The Dry and Penguin Bloom . Principal photography on Nine Perfect Strangers season two has just wrapped, while The Last Anniversary is in post. Pre-production on Strife season two has begun.

Matterson had joined Made Up Stories as Managing Director, Australia, in 2017 soon after she tried to secure the rights to Jane Harper’s novel The Dry and found out Papandrea had beaten her to them. She brought Little Monsters with her, which became the company’s second film.

Made Up Stories began life in LA, but Matterson’s addition gave it a foothold in Papandrea’s naive Australia, where it has gone on to make the likes of Strife and The Last Anniversary .

Made Up Stories co-founders Papandrea and Hutensky, said a statement: “We’re so grateful for the terrific partnership with Jodi over the last seven years. Jodi was integral in establishing Made Up Stories in Australia as we grew from our beginning in Los Angeles to now operating across the US, Australia and the UK. We wish her the best in the next chapter of her career.”

Her exit comes amid a hot streak for Made Up Stories, which currently has in post The Last Anniversary , the Australian series for streamer Binge that marks a latest collaboration with Kidman and Per Saari’s Blossom Films and Fifth Season, and in pre-production a second season of Australia magazine drama Strife . Principal photography on Nine Perfect Strangers season two has just wrapped, we hear. In March, we revealed the producer had sold an untitled thriller package written by Natalie Krinsky, starring and produced by Kim Kardashian, and reported Peacock had picked up limited series The Good Daughter , starring Jessica Biel. It is also developing Fiona McIntosh’s novel The Peal Thief into a feature film.

Last year, the company put itself up for sale, but in a recent interview with Deadline, Papandrea said it was no longer looking for outside investment. Made Up Stories has offices in LA, Sydney and London.

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