SAM NEILL TO STAR IN SCREENTIME'S JESSICA

Sam Neill will star in the multi-million dollar mini-series Jessica, to be 
produced in Australia by Screentime.  Production of the 2 x 2 hours mini-series, 
in association with Geneva-based Powercorp, commences in Sydney on March 3.

Jessica - based on the best selling Bryce Courtenay novel - is produced by 
Screentime with investors Powercorp , Network Ten Australia, the Film Finance 
Corporation of Australia, The Movie Network and the NSW Government through the 
New South Wales Film & Television Office.

Executive Producers are Des Monaghan and Bob Campbell, producer is Tony Buckley 
(The Potato Factory, Heroes' Mountain, Caddie), and director is Peter Andrikidis 
(My Husband My Killer, Grass Roots, Wildside).
 
The mini-series stars internationally acclaimed actors Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, 
The Piano, The Horse Whisperer, Dirty Deeds, The Dish,) and Lisa Harrow (The 
Last Days of Chez Nous, Kavanagh QC, Come In Spinner).  The title role will be 
played by up-and-coming Australian actress Leeanna Walsman (Love is a Four 
Letter Word).

The series also features John Howard (Always Greener, SeaChange) and Tony Martin 
(Blue Murder, Wildside).
 
"Funding a multi-million dollar mini-series of this complexity and scale with 
such an outstanding cast headed by Sam Neill requires the partnership of a large 
number of organisations both in Australia and overseas," Jessica executive 
producer, Des Monaghan said.  "I am delighted that the development of Jessica 
has been such a strong collaboration between Screentime and our international 
and Australian partners."

Jessica is the dramatisation of an extraordinary life.  It is a sweeping saga of 
love, deceit and sacrifice set during the early years of the twentieth century 
in the farmlands around Narrandera - then a frontier town in rural New South 
Wales, Australia.

Screentime, headquartered in Sydney and with offices in Auckland and Dublin, 
developed the worldwide television phenomenon Popstars and the hot new 
television format Stripsearch.The Real Full Monty.   Screentime produced the 
international mini-series The Potato Factory based on an earlier Bryce 
Courtenany novel and its current drama slate includes the hit television series 
MDA for ABC Television in Australia.