Creators:
John EdwardsDirected by:
Daina ReidCinematography:
Bruce YoungComposer:
Stephen RaeCast:
Tony Barry, Matt Day, Maeve Dermody, Millie Rose Heywood, Simon Lyndon, Ian Meadows, Nathan Page, Jessica Tovey, Kate Box, Meegan Warner, Benedict Samuel (more)Plots(1)
In early 1972, 30-year-old journalist and editor, Ita Buttrose and 35-year old Kerry Packer, heir to what was then Australia's most ruthlessly powerful and influential publishing family, got together to create a magazine that became one of the most dramatic sensations in Australian publishing history. CLEO went on to help define women, Australia and the relationship between the two. Research and marketing analysis showed the project would be a failure and the magazine was vehemently opposed by the powerful head of the Packer clan, the domineering Sir Frank Packer (known to his employees as "God"), yet Ita and Kerry, knowing the consequences of failure would be dire, decided to back their gut instincts anyway. With courage and a stubborn belief in each other the odd couple went for it, and the result was a magazine that not only surfed the emerging 70s zeitgeist, but led the way in articulating for women a new way of thinking about themselves and their place in cultural Australia. Women readers found in CLEO a manifesto for a new confidence and an argument against the entrenched patriarchy that had for too long defined the relationship between the sexes. Filled with intelligence, wit, and a 'go for it' attitude, the fledgling CLEO took off on its first issue, taking Kerry, Ita, and a hand-picked bunch of iconoclastic staffers along for the ride. CLEO was a women's magazine with a libido and a curiosity about almost everything... (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
(more)Cast
Tony Barry
Australia
Best movies:
Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller (1988)
Australia (2008)
The Irishman (1978)
Matt Day
Australia
Best movies:
Shackleton (2002) (TV movie)
Muriel's Wedding (1994)
Scoop (2006)
Maeve Dermody
Australia
Best movies:
Ripper Street (2012) (series)
Beautiful Kate (2009)
Hilma (2022)
Simon Lyndon
UK
Best movies:
The Well (1997)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Blackrock (1997)
Ian Meadows
Australia
Best movies:
Underbelly Files: The Man Who Got Away (2011) (TV movie)
Mao's Last Dancer (2009)
Scare Campaign (2016)
Nathan Page
Australia
Best movies:
Escape from Pretoria (2020)
The Boys Are Back (2009)
Accidents Happen (2009)
Jessica Tovey
Australia
Best movies:
Tracks (2013)
Adoration (2013)
Panic at Rock Island (2011) (TV movie)
Kate Box
Australia
Best movies:
The Little Death (2014)
The Black Balloon (2008)
The Daughter (2015)
Meegan Warner
Best movies:
Scare Campaign (2016)
The Veil (2016)
The Caretaker (2016)
Benedict Samuel
Australia
Best movies:
The Walk (2015)
The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)
Childhood's End (2015) (series)
Toby Schmitz
Australia
Best movies:
Underbelly Files: The Man Who Got Away (2011) (TV movie)
The Rage In Placid Lake (2003)
Somersault (2004)
Queen Elizabeth II (a.f.)
UK
Best movies:
Dead Alive (1992) - a.f.
The Brain (1969)
A Private Function (1984)
Olivia Pigeot
Best movies:
Somersault (2004)
The Three Stooges (2000) (TV movie)
Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010)
Rick Donald
Australia
Best movies:
Halifax f.p. (1994) (series)
Dripping in Chocolate (2012) (TV movie)
Richard Healy
Best movies:
Jessica (2004) (TV movie)
Danny Deckchair (2003)
Asher Keddie
Australia
Best movies:
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Rams (2020)
Fortress (1985)
Cheree Cassidy
Best movies:
Zombie Tidal Wave (2019)
Kate Fitzpatrick (a.f.)
Australia
Best movies:
The Return of Captain Invincible (1983)
A World Apart (1988)
Mumbo Jumbo (1999) (TV movie)