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Monday, October 06, 2008
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Strong local content, by John Elder and Tom Reilly - The Age - 5th October 2008
Cheap and nasty — and even worse, boring — is what Australian-made free-to-air television was looking like for a few years. Big Brother with its turkey-slapping pants down was probably the lowest point … along with that great trite hope of locally made drama, The Alice, a pretty-looking stinker with its travelogue photography and toothless characters born from a drongo dreaming.
"It was looking pretty ordinary for a while," says commentator Greg "Media Man" Tingle. "But what a difference a year makes. We now have what's almost an epidemic of Australian-made shows. Just look at Underbelly on Nine, Rush on Ten, and Packed to the Rafters on Seven. They're mixing it with the best foreign imports and coming out on top.
"There are so many quality shows being produced, it's hard to keep up with them."
Tingle says the unsettled mood of the free-to-air networks during the late '90s and early 2000s — unnerved by the threat of cable TV and the internet revolution — has been turned around such that "there's a feeling we're entering a golden age of Australian television".
Seven's homey sitcom Packed to the Rafters has been watched by an average of 2 million viewers since it debuted Tuesdays at 8.30pm just after the Olympics. Many of those viewers stay tuned for the enduring hospital soap All Saints. Seven is also quite gleeful about the 1.6 million who regularly watch Monday's gritty City Homicide.
At Nine, where the ratings are sustained right now by endless repeats of Two and a Half Men, the good ship Sea Patrol held its own in the first half of the year with more than 1 million viewers. And we learned that almost 600,000 Victorians had not yet downloaded Underbelly illegally when they tuned in to the first pixellated episode last month; add them to the million interstate viewers who watched in April, and it may have earned back its legal fees.
While the two newest cop dramas, Nine's The Strip and Ten's Rush, are struggling, the numbers show that Australians have rediscovered the habit of watching dramas with a local accent.
The turning point came a year ago, Tingle says, with the return of David Gyngell to the helm of Channel Nine. "What the Australian networks desperately needed was a creative boost to competition," he says. "Without a strong Nine asserting itself, the industry doesn't flourish. The other thing that's happened is the networks have stopped just looking at numbers and started focusing on quality. That's what healthier competition has achieved."
Dr Vincent O'Donnell, an honorary fellow at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology's School of Applied Communication, agrees Australian TV has had a resurgence in the past year as a result of increasing competition between broadcasters.
"Historically, Channel Nine was always regarded as the home of well-written drama shows that were well-received by audiences, while Seven liked to consider itself as the broadcaster which excelled at sports," he says. "But a few years ago those perceptions started to change as Nine faltered. I believe when they commissioned Underbelly, it was probably as a result of that shift. It was an attempt to reassert themselves in this area of fast-moving, well-written drama."
O'Donnell says commissioning a big-budget program such as Underbelly "is a gamble for networks but one which hopefully they'll continue to make.
"A big-budget drama like that would cost … $300,000 to $400,000 for an hour of television. If a network bought a drama in from America, they'd probably get something for little more than a tenth of that. But it's important to remember that Australian audiences have always tuned in to these well-written locally produced shows, so hopefully networks will have to keep investing in them, even if they do cost a lot."
According to Geoff Brown, executive director of the Screen Producers Association of Australia, the Underbelly strategy was the result of a change in attitude to project financing by the major industry players. "A few years back, the Film Finance Corporation made a decision it would invest in 13-part Australian mini-series, along with the network licensees. What it did was ramp up budgets and led to shows like Underbelly, with substantially better production values and better writing.
"In film production, the critical relationship is between producer and director; in television, it's between producer and writer. We have very good writing teams in television, and certainly the investment in writing is one of the main reasons why the current crop of Australian productions are doing so well. A good idea doesn't work without good writing."
Brown points to programs such as The Circuit, Rush, Sea Patrol and East West 101 as examples of good writing translating to success with viewers and critics. "We make the best drama for the cheapest dollar anywhere in the world. We have to compete with the CSI franchise, which costs … $5 million to $6 million an hour to make. For the high-end of Australian drama, you're looking at $600,000 an hour … so our stories have to be more narrative-driven."
Brown says Australia has a history of producing good television "but the networks lost their way in the '90s and early part of this millennium. They backed away from Australian drama in particular and put their focus on infotainment and reality programming. They kept serving up more Big Brothers and in the end this didn't work for the networks. The audience has shown itself to be more sophisticated … and now Seven and Nine are re-establishing their brands on the back of good old Australian drama."
Some analysts point to a lack of quality programs from the US — a result of the writers' strike that crippled Hollywood — as a key reason behind the resurgence of Australian-made drama.
"This makes our local offerings even more appealing," says one industry insider. "There was also a hiatus where few local programs were being made, so again, when new ones came around, there was even more interest in them.
"The shows are actually good. The networks have invested heavily in them: probably figuring that they have to meet their local content quotas, they might as well invest and do it properly. The scripts and the acting have reflected this willingness to take it seriously and make hits."
And that added slice of healthy self-image — attributed to the efforts of former prime minister John Howard — is another reason audiences are keen to watch shows for Australians, by Australians, about Australians.
"We're not selling shrimps on the barbie any more," says Greg Tingle. "We're a more sophisticated society and our television programs demonstrate that.
"Our locally made shows are hot exports in their own right, and they help sell the country. Our entertainment is part of the tourism spiel … the rest of the world sees us moving ahead with quality. The confidence for that was certainly bolstered under the previous government."
Jonathan Nolan, chief executive of Pisces All Media, which runs the Hottest on TV website, agrees. "No matter what else you might say about him, John Howard made Australians feel great about themselves. It really started with the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but Howard actually presided over a cultural shift that saw the death of the cringe factor — the adolescent craving for approval from America and Britain," he says.
"Even the dumbest talking-heads on TV have the confidence not to cringe and fawn all over celebrities visiting from overseas. Compare that to the old days, with Molly Meldrum constantly saying how wonderful it was that such-and-such a pop star was in the country."
Nolan says evidence for this new-found confidence can be seen in private investment in television production. "We had a sheltered workshop here, where everything was driven by government grants. All that did was compomise quality. That's no longer the case. People invest in these shows because they believe in them, not just because they're getting a tax break …
"The pay-off is that we now perform extremely well on the overseas market. You get a show selling well overseas — like Stingers or Police Rescue — (and) you have an earner for life. At the Roma Fiction Fest (a television awards and buying festival) in July, there were buyers from all over Europe looking at the Australian shows with the greatest interest.
"The Italian shows looked like something from the '70s … they were desperately clinging to their own culture, while the Australian shows were more sophisticated and well-placed for the international market."
Dr Sue Turnbull, co-ordinator of the Media Studies Program at La Trobe University, says the Australian push into the global market was pioneered in the '80s by Neighbours, Home and Away and older programs such as The Sullivans and Prisoner. One British critic whinged at the time that UK television was overrun by Australian content. "There were 11 different Australian soap operas being shown on British TV in a week," says Turnbull.
In the '90s, the Australian invasion died down such that only Neighbours and Home and Away held a significant audience. We were making some good shows, but the Brits weren't interested. "There was the great failure of Sea Change to find a market in the UK. It never got a release."
Now, Aussie producers are deliberately targeting the global market ahead of local viewers. A second series of Sea Patrol was planned ahead of the first series release, with a view to an international release — which it gained through Hallmark.
Turnbull says that the later episodes of Kath & Kim were blatantly written for the UK, featuring appearances by Kylie Minogue "and the fellows from Little Britain".
While Australian-made "usually goes well at home — from the days of Graham Kennedy on IMT to Packed to the Rafters — audiences won't watch bad Australian TV. Like The Alice."
With MICHELLE GRIFFIN
(Credit: The Age)
Media Man Australia Profiles
Television
"It was looking pretty ordinary for a while," says commentator Greg "Media Man" Tingle. "But what a difference a year makes. We now have what's almost an epidemic of Australian-made shows. Just look at Underbelly on Nine, Rush on Ten, and Packed to the Rafters on Seven. They're mixing it with the best foreign imports and coming out on top.
"There are so many quality shows being produced, it's hard to keep up with them."
Tingle says the unsettled mood of the free-to-air networks during the late '90s and early 2000s — unnerved by the threat of cable TV and the internet revolution — has been turned around such that "there's a feeling we're entering a golden age of Australian television".
Seven's homey sitcom Packed to the Rafters has been watched by an average of 2 million viewers since it debuted Tuesdays at 8.30pm just after the Olympics. Many of those viewers stay tuned for the enduring hospital soap All Saints. Seven is also quite gleeful about the 1.6 million who regularly watch Monday's gritty City Homicide.
At Nine, where the ratings are sustained right now by endless repeats of Two and a Half Men, the good ship Sea Patrol held its own in the first half of the year with more than 1 million viewers. And we learned that almost 600,000 Victorians had not yet downloaded Underbelly illegally when they tuned in to the first pixellated episode last month; add them to the million interstate viewers who watched in April, and it may have earned back its legal fees.
While the two newest cop dramas, Nine's The Strip and Ten's Rush, are struggling, the numbers show that Australians have rediscovered the habit of watching dramas with a local accent.
The turning point came a year ago, Tingle says, with the return of David Gyngell to the helm of Channel Nine. "What the Australian networks desperately needed was a creative boost to competition," he says. "Without a strong Nine asserting itself, the industry doesn't flourish. The other thing that's happened is the networks have stopped just looking at numbers and started focusing on quality. That's what healthier competition has achieved."
Dr Vincent O'Donnell, an honorary fellow at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology's School of Applied Communication, agrees Australian TV has had a resurgence in the past year as a result of increasing competition between broadcasters.
"Historically, Channel Nine was always regarded as the home of well-written drama shows that were well-received by audiences, while Seven liked to consider itself as the broadcaster which excelled at sports," he says. "But a few years ago those perceptions started to change as Nine faltered. I believe when they commissioned Underbelly, it was probably as a result of that shift. It was an attempt to reassert themselves in this area of fast-moving, well-written drama."
O'Donnell says commissioning a big-budget program such as Underbelly "is a gamble for networks but one which hopefully they'll continue to make.
"A big-budget drama like that would cost … $300,000 to $400,000 for an hour of television. If a network bought a drama in from America, they'd probably get something for little more than a tenth of that. But it's important to remember that Australian audiences have always tuned in to these well-written locally produced shows, so hopefully networks will have to keep investing in them, even if they do cost a lot."
According to Geoff Brown, executive director of the Screen Producers Association of Australia, the Underbelly strategy was the result of a change in attitude to project financing by the major industry players. "A few years back, the Film Finance Corporation made a decision it would invest in 13-part Australian mini-series, along with the network licensees. What it did was ramp up budgets and led to shows like Underbelly, with substantially better production values and better writing.
"In film production, the critical relationship is between producer and director; in television, it's between producer and writer. We have very good writing teams in television, and certainly the investment in writing is one of the main reasons why the current crop of Australian productions are doing so well. A good idea doesn't work without good writing."
Brown points to programs such as The Circuit, Rush, Sea Patrol and East West 101 as examples of good writing translating to success with viewers and critics. "We make the best drama for the cheapest dollar anywhere in the world. We have to compete with the CSI franchise, which costs … $5 million to $6 million an hour to make. For the high-end of Australian drama, you're looking at $600,000 an hour … so our stories have to be more narrative-driven."
Brown says Australia has a history of producing good television "but the networks lost their way in the '90s and early part of this millennium. They backed away from Australian drama in particular and put their focus on infotainment and reality programming. They kept serving up more Big Brothers and in the end this didn't work for the networks. The audience has shown itself to be more sophisticated … and now Seven and Nine are re-establishing their brands on the back of good old Australian drama."
Some analysts point to a lack of quality programs from the US — a result of the writers' strike that crippled Hollywood — as a key reason behind the resurgence of Australian-made drama.
"This makes our local offerings even more appealing," says one industry insider. "There was also a hiatus where few local programs were being made, so again, when new ones came around, there was even more interest in them.
"The shows are actually good. The networks have invested heavily in them: probably figuring that they have to meet their local content quotas, they might as well invest and do it properly. The scripts and the acting have reflected this willingness to take it seriously and make hits."
And that added slice of healthy self-image — attributed to the efforts of former prime minister John Howard — is another reason audiences are keen to watch shows for Australians, by Australians, about Australians.
"We're not selling shrimps on the barbie any more," says Greg Tingle. "We're a more sophisticated society and our television programs demonstrate that.
"Our locally made shows are hot exports in their own right, and they help sell the country. Our entertainment is part of the tourism spiel … the rest of the world sees us moving ahead with quality. The confidence for that was certainly bolstered under the previous government."
Jonathan Nolan, chief executive of Pisces All Media, which runs the Hottest on TV website, agrees. "No matter what else you might say about him, John Howard made Australians feel great about themselves. It really started with the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but Howard actually presided over a cultural shift that saw the death of the cringe factor — the adolescent craving for approval from America and Britain," he says.
"Even the dumbest talking-heads on TV have the confidence not to cringe and fawn all over celebrities visiting from overseas. Compare that to the old days, with Molly Meldrum constantly saying how wonderful it was that such-and-such a pop star was in the country."
Nolan says evidence for this new-found confidence can be seen in private investment in television production. "We had a sheltered workshop here, where everything was driven by government grants. All that did was compomise quality. That's no longer the case. People invest in these shows because they believe in them, not just because they're getting a tax break …
"The pay-off is that we now perform extremely well on the overseas market. You get a show selling well overseas — like Stingers or Police Rescue — (and) you have an earner for life. At the Roma Fiction Fest (a television awards and buying festival) in July, there were buyers from all over Europe looking at the Australian shows with the greatest interest.
"The Italian shows looked like something from the '70s … they were desperately clinging to their own culture, while the Australian shows were more sophisticated and well-placed for the international market."
Dr Sue Turnbull, co-ordinator of the Media Studies Program at La Trobe University, says the Australian push into the global market was pioneered in the '80s by Neighbours, Home and Away and older programs such as The Sullivans and Prisoner. One British critic whinged at the time that UK television was overrun by Australian content. "There were 11 different Australian soap operas being shown on British TV in a week," says Turnbull.
In the '90s, the Australian invasion died down such that only Neighbours and Home and Away held a significant audience. We were making some good shows, but the Brits weren't interested. "There was the great failure of Sea Change to find a market in the UK. It never got a release."
Now, Aussie producers are deliberately targeting the global market ahead of local viewers. A second series of Sea Patrol was planned ahead of the first series release, with a view to an international release — which it gained through Hallmark.
Turnbull says that the later episodes of Kath & Kim were blatantly written for the UK, featuring appearances by Kylie Minogue "and the fellows from Little Britain".
While Australian-made "usually goes well at home — from the days of Graham Kennedy on IMT to Packed to the Rafters — audiences won't watch bad Australian TV. Like The Alice."
With MICHELLE GRIFFIN
(Credit: The Age)
Media Man Australia Profiles
Television
Saturday, October 04, 2008
O.J. Simpson found guilty - Las Vegas Sun - 4th October 2008
LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- O.J. Simpson is going to prison.
A predominantly white, predominantly female jury has found the former All Star running back guilty following a run-in last year with a pair of memorabilia dealers.
The jury delivered its verdict just moments ago after a long day of deliberations.
The nine-women and three-man jury started discussing the fate of Simpson and his co-accused, Clarence "C.J." Stewart, at 8:30 a.m. this morning. The group elected to stay late this evening in effort to reach a conclusion and after nearly 14 hours of discussions, they indicated that they had agreed upon a verdict.
Simpson's lawyers, Yale Galanter and Gabriel Grasso, are expected to appeal the verdict. They have already moved, unsuccessfully, for several mistrials.
District Court Judge Jackie Glass will likely deliver Simpson's sentence in November or in early December.
Simpson and Stewart were charged with 11 felonies (Conspiracy to commit kidnapping; conspiracy to commit burglary; burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon; and two counts each of first degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon; robbery with use of a deadly weapon; assault with a deadly weapon; and coercion with use of a deadly weapon). They also faced one gross misdemeanor, conspiracy to commit a crime.
The trial began on Sept. 15 and over three weeks of proceedings the court heard from 22 different and often colorful witnesses.
Key state witnesses, including alleged gunmen, Michael McClinton and Walter Alexander, provided contradictory testimony.
McClinton said he and Alexander both wielded handguns during the confrontation, but never pointed the weapons at anybody. Alexander said his gun never left his waistband. Both said Simpson asked them to bring the weapons to the raiding party, but Simpson's lawyers denied their allegations.
One of the victims, Bruce Fromong, and the middleman who arranged the contentious meeting in his hotel room, Thomas Riccio, both said that McClinton pointed his gun directly at them.
Simpson and Stewart never testified, but through their lawyers denied their clients had any knowledge that guns were to be used in what they claimed was intended to be a simple reconnaissance mission.
Simpson's attorneys said their client and his associates went to the Palace Station on Sept. 13, 2007, to recover personal items that had been stolen from him. The Heisman Trophy winner had no desire to take any items not belonging to him, they said, though the defense acknowledged other memorabilia items -- including 30 to 50 Joe Montana lithographs and 24 baseballs signed by Pete Rose and Duke Snider – were taken by mistake.
An audio recording of the six-minute altercation secretly taken by Riccio captured the voices of Simpson and others promising to return anything that wasn't theirs. Prosecutors said several of the items, including the autographed baseballs, were never recovered.
Today's decision comes 13 years to the day after another jury deemed Simpson not guilty in the double-murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
A subsequent civil suit found Simpson liable for the deaths, however, and placed a $33.5-million judgment against him.
Simpson and his lawyers are expected to give a press conference shortly. Members of the jury will also be invited to address the media, though it was not immediately clear how many, if any, jurors will speak publicly about the trial.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Casino News Media
A predominantly white, predominantly female jury has found the former All Star running back guilty following a run-in last year with a pair of memorabilia dealers.
The jury delivered its verdict just moments ago after a long day of deliberations.
The nine-women and three-man jury started discussing the fate of Simpson and his co-accused, Clarence "C.J." Stewart, at 8:30 a.m. this morning. The group elected to stay late this evening in effort to reach a conclusion and after nearly 14 hours of discussions, they indicated that they had agreed upon a verdict.
Simpson's lawyers, Yale Galanter and Gabriel Grasso, are expected to appeal the verdict. They have already moved, unsuccessfully, for several mistrials.
District Court Judge Jackie Glass will likely deliver Simpson's sentence in November or in early December.
Simpson and Stewart were charged with 11 felonies (Conspiracy to commit kidnapping; conspiracy to commit burglary; burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon; and two counts each of first degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon; robbery with use of a deadly weapon; assault with a deadly weapon; and coercion with use of a deadly weapon). They also faced one gross misdemeanor, conspiracy to commit a crime.
The trial began on Sept. 15 and over three weeks of proceedings the court heard from 22 different and often colorful witnesses.
Key state witnesses, including alleged gunmen, Michael McClinton and Walter Alexander, provided contradictory testimony.
McClinton said he and Alexander both wielded handguns during the confrontation, but never pointed the weapons at anybody. Alexander said his gun never left his waistband. Both said Simpson asked them to bring the weapons to the raiding party, but Simpson's lawyers denied their allegations.
One of the victims, Bruce Fromong, and the middleman who arranged the contentious meeting in his hotel room, Thomas Riccio, both said that McClinton pointed his gun directly at them.
Simpson and Stewart never testified, but through their lawyers denied their clients had any knowledge that guns were to be used in what they claimed was intended to be a simple reconnaissance mission.
Simpson's attorneys said their client and his associates went to the Palace Station on Sept. 13, 2007, to recover personal items that had been stolen from him. The Heisman Trophy winner had no desire to take any items not belonging to him, they said, though the defense acknowledged other memorabilia items -- including 30 to 50 Joe Montana lithographs and 24 baseballs signed by Pete Rose and Duke Snider – were taken by mistake.
An audio recording of the six-minute altercation secretly taken by Riccio captured the voices of Simpson and others promising to return anything that wasn't theirs. Prosecutors said several of the items, including the autographed baseballs, were never recovered.
Today's decision comes 13 years to the day after another jury deemed Simpson not guilty in the double-murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
A subsequent civil suit found Simpson liable for the deaths, however, and placed a $33.5-million judgment against him.
Simpson and his lawyers are expected to give a press conference shortly. Members of the jury will also be invited to address the media, though it was not immediately clear how many, if any, jurors will speak publicly about the trial.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Casino News Media
Australian Rugby Team Enters Bookmaking Joint Venture - 2nd October 2008
The Gold Coast Titans, an Australian professional rugby league football team, has entered the bookmaking world in a joint venture with Betezy, an online Northern Territory-licensed bookmaker.
Michael Searle, chief executive for the club, told The Herald-Sun that the deal, which is estimated to make the Titans up to $3 million in three years, could fully cover the loss of league club funding.
The Australian paper also reports that since the announcement of the deal, the National Rugby League is in now under pressure to set up its own agency.
Media Man Australia Profiles
NRL
Sports Betting
Sports News
Michael Searle, chief executive for the club, told The Herald-Sun that the deal, which is estimated to make the Titans up to $3 million in three years, could fully cover the loss of league club funding.
The Australian paper also reports that since the announcement of the deal, the National Rugby League is in now under pressure to set up its own agency.
Media Man Australia Profiles
NRL
Sports Betting
Sports News
Tatts shows interest in NSW Lotteries, by Miranda Maxwell - Reuters - 3rd October 2008
Gaming group Tatts Group Ltd has room on its balance sheet for acquisitions, with the lottery in New South Wales top of its wish list, the company said.
The New South Wales government may decide to sell the lottery to raise cash after seeing a steep drop in income from property taxes as house prices fall and less homes exchange hands.
A decision could be made public on November 11 when the government announces revised budget measures.
"Were mindful that there's a lot of chatter about NSW lotteries. We want to keep ourselves fresh and ready for that. It could be $500 million-plus there if we can get hold of it," Tatts Group chief executive Dick McIlwain said in an interview on Friday.
In the first half so far, Mr McIlwain said Tatts had seen a strong start and maintained its forecast for less than 10 per cent profit growth for the full year.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Gaming
Sports Betting
Casino News Media
The New South Wales government may decide to sell the lottery to raise cash after seeing a steep drop in income from property taxes as house prices fall and less homes exchange hands.
A decision could be made public on November 11 when the government announces revised budget measures.
"Were mindful that there's a lot of chatter about NSW lotteries. We want to keep ourselves fresh and ready for that. It could be $500 million-plus there if we can get hold of it," Tatts Group chief executive Dick McIlwain said in an interview on Friday.
In the first half so far, Mr McIlwain said Tatts had seen a strong start and maintained its forecast for less than 10 per cent profit growth for the full year.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Gaming
Sports Betting
Casino News Media
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Shane Warne not happy with musical - The Daily Telegraph - 22nd September 2008
Producers of the new Shane Warne musical be warned - the big fella ain't happy.
The Aussie spin king has hit out at the show's creators, saying there should be a law against it.
Speaking from London, where he is playing in the World Series of Poker Europe tournament, Warne said he was "disappointed" that Shane Warne The Musical has gone ahead without his permission.
"I have had 13 unauthorised biographies done in my life and the first one I read was completely wrong," he said.
"You should have permission off anyone to write about their life."
The 24-song show, from the team behind the hit musical Keating!, features tunes with titles such as Take the Pill and What an SMS I'm In.
"I'm a pretty easy target for a few cheap jokes but I brought some of that on myself," he said.
(Credit: The Daily Telegraph)
Greg Tingle comment
Warne's winning a few hands in Poker with the Pacific Poker and World Series connection, but is spinning out on damage control back down under in Australia. This raises the question... should he give the poker matches a break, focus on PR and crisis management in Australia, or consider switching brands. I would bet money that the likes of Virgin Games or PKR would like to have Warnie on board, but it sounds like he better make the trip across the Asia Pacific first to sort out the musical. Who is Warnie's agent these days, and what are they doing about it?
Media Man Australia Profiles
Shane Warne
Pacific Poker
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
The Aussie spin king has hit out at the show's creators, saying there should be a law against it.
Speaking from London, where he is playing in the World Series of Poker Europe tournament, Warne said he was "disappointed" that Shane Warne The Musical has gone ahead without his permission.
"I have had 13 unauthorised biographies done in my life and the first one I read was completely wrong," he said.
"You should have permission off anyone to write about their life."
The 24-song show, from the team behind the hit musical Keating!, features tunes with titles such as Take the Pill and What an SMS I'm In.
"I'm a pretty easy target for a few cheap jokes but I brought some of that on myself," he said.
(Credit: The Daily Telegraph)
Greg Tingle comment
Warne's winning a few hands in Poker with the Pacific Poker and World Series connection, but is spinning out on damage control back down under in Australia. This raises the question... should he give the poker matches a break, focus on PR and crisis management in Australia, or consider switching brands. I would bet money that the likes of Virgin Games or PKR would like to have Warnie on board, but it sounds like he better make the trip across the Asia Pacific first to sort out the musical. Who is Warnie's agent these days, and what are they doing about it?
Media Man Australia Profiles
Shane Warne
Pacific Poker
Poker and Casino News
Casino News Media
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