Sam Smith's queer awakening

Sam Smith sat down with Marc Fennell to talk about their queer awakening at Mardi Gras, fame, and why being on the cusp of a breakdown feels ‘good.’

Morgana Muses: Porn star at 52

For her 47th birthday Morgana booked a hotel room and an escort. She wanted the night of her life… because it was going to be her last.

This is the story of how porn saved Morgana Muses' life.

A Little Note about SBS Viceland

Hi,

As you may have read, on November 15, my tv home SBS2 will be transforming into a new channel in partnership with the one-time hipster bible turned Peabody and Emmy-winning youth publisher Vice.

The channel will be called....

My nightly programme The Feed will be a lynchpin of the channel alongside a bunch of shows. Some of those will be from Vice and some you already know from SBS2.

For me, It’s been super interesting to see the reaction to the SBS Viceland announcement. I kinda expected the usual “Ugh, why is SBS selling a channel to some US hipster douchebag corporation owned by Murdoch” garbage that comes with these things.

Translation: "Open your eyes, sheeple!"

For the incredibly-easy-to-Google record, 21st Century Fox has a 5% stake in Vice Media who, in turn, SBS is partnering with to build a new channel which SBS 100% owns and operates. No precious publicly owned spectrum is being auctioned off to Uncle Rupert. We are creating something new out of two broadcasters that have an incredible amount in common.

And special note for my beloved ABC colleagues who seem to forget that the ABC's entire publishing arm ABC Books is an actual part of News Ltd. I know this because they are lovely and I've released two books with them... which you should absolutely buy. #RIPMySoul. 

And as for the hipster douchebag charge….. just you wait. When the Viceland move was first discussed internally at SBS months ago I took the time to go through all of the shows that Viceland had produced and I was floored. SBS will make an announcement very soon about the shows  that will launch on the channel but let me assure you that I have seen stunning programmes on music, sexuality, feminism, technology, sports, food, alcohol, terrorism and yes, good ole fashioned drugs that simply blew me away. Beautiful filmmaking, great characters and stunning storytelling. There are programmes that both revel in hipsterism and utterly challenge it by showing you a world that almost never gets shown on tv. And certainly never shown with this panache.

For those wondering how the Viceland content fits within the SBS charter....

How is Viceland as SBS2 in line with SBS's charter?

— Gus (@gusk) October 4, 2016

....I totally get it. It seems like an odd fit, right? Except when you see the content you will realise that the whole goal of Viceland is to explore a multicultural world through the prisms of music, sex, the environment, film, food and more. It’s globally focussed, it’s diverse, it’s fun and defiantly open-minded journalism and entertainment. As some of you know, I've been a passionate SBS presenter since I was a teenager with questionable choice in neckwear (see below). I believe deeply in SBS's capacity to capture the diversity of the world in a way that is informative and utterly entertaining.  Frankly, this move will bring SBS2 far more in-line with our charter than some of our existing content.  Certainly not "losing our way" as some have suggested. 

Marc Circa A Time We'd Rather Forget.

Is a lot of the Viceland content produced by UK & US producers? Yeah. But we’re also bringing you a lot of those iconic programmes that only SBS can. That’s why it’s a partnership.

Oh and as an aside: By simple virtue of having The Feed, SBS Viceland will still have more first-run, live, original primetime Australian content per week than ABC2 has ever had per week.

Ever.

Don't get me wrong, I love my weekly dose of Good Game and those sassy Tom Tilley specials but - on a per week basis - they don't add up to 3 years of live, nightly original journalism, comedy, forums and documentaries that The Feed has (and will) deliver.  

Come November 15, SBS Viceland & The Feed will bring you Walkley and Logie-nominated Australian storytelling every night that is diverse, fun and generally bats way above its average for a multichannel. And as for the shows around us on the channel and on SBS OnDemand? Well, as I said….  just you wait.  

Or give us a call and tell us what you want to see.

Down Under director Abe Forsythe on racism, comedy & kebabs

Down Under is bound to be one of the most talked about Australian films of 2016. The black comedy is set in the aftermath of the infamous 2005 Cronulla riots and has divided critics, challenged theatres and - it has to be said - made many, many people laugh. So, we took the director out for kebabs to talk about whether dangerous filmmaking is doable in this day and age. 

Inside South Park Studios with Trey Parker & Matt Stone

Just how do you make an episode of South Park in six days? And what happens when you drop acid at the Oscars? Matt Stone and Trey Parker are getting set to bring the excellent blockbuster musical The Book of Mormon to Australia. For the first time ever they let Australian cameras into their studios to see how it's done. 

Emma Stone Interview

There's at least one thing that you won't see in The Amazing Spider-Man: The Rise of Electro when it opens next week. And that is the character last made famous by Kirsten Dunst: Mary Jane Watson. She was due to be reprised by Shailene Woodley (best known for Divergent, The Descendants and being the new J.Law). All of her scenes have sadly been cut from the final edit of the big budget sequel though. In the above interview Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone talk about why her scenes were dropped. 

The interview then shifts into what my wife has since declared to be Shameless-Flirting-With-Emma-Stone-You-Sleep-On-The-Couch-Tonight territory as the comedienne talks about moving to Hollywood at the age of 15 after convincing her parents with the aid of a Powerpoint presentation and clipart.

More importantly, she also made this face: 

Which was pretty great. 

George R. R. Martin: Game of Thrones

Meet the man responsible for murdering all your favorite characters. The Feed host Marc Fennell interviews George R. R. Martin about Piracy, Porn and Procrastinating from writing the 6th book. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SBS2Australia Twitter: https://twitter.com/sbs2 Tumblr: http://sbs2australia.tumblr.com/

Inside The Making of Big Hero 6

Roy Conli 20 year veteran of Walt Disney Animation talks about Bog Hero 6 and where the studio has gone right and wrong. Will the first animated Marvel film be Disney's next Frozen-sized hit? Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SBS2Australia Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefeedsbs Tumblr: http://sbs2australia.tumblr.com/

Joel Edgerton on Felony & Exodus

I really don't get enough opportunities to bring up eye make-up in interviews. Joel answers the campaign to boycott his new movie Exodus.  He talks about having Ridley Scott draw eyeliner on him and having a giant sphinx with his face moved to Bondi. 

His labour of love Felony is an exceptionally good film. Here's my full triple j review. 

A great movie that wraps around you until you feel as guilty as the characters themselves

up all night to get loki

He's invaded New York with aliens, he went to school with Princes William and Harry and is the star of Thor, The Avengers plus the brand new THOR 2. The Feed's Marc Fennell talks to Thor 2 star Tom Hiddleston. The Feed airs weeknights at 19:30 on SBS 2.

Julian Assange is easily the most internationally recognised person running in the 2013 Australian Federal election. But ever since he set up the Wikileaks Party, it's been plagued by resignations and a preferences scandal. Has Assange already blown his chance to become a Senator and what is really motivating his political run?

Oh, and what does Assange think of Benedict Cumberbatch playing him in a movie? Well, he's not a great fan of the accent.  

the feed: datamining your vote

How do you feel about political parties knowing exactly what tv shows you watch, or changing the look of their website based on what particular electorate you're in?

sharlto copley on elysium

Sharlto Copley was the star of the groundbreaking Oscar Nominated movie District 9 - a giant immigration metaphor about alien refugees parked above South Africa. Now he's back with the same director Neill Blomkamp with a new movie Elysium. It shows a future where the rich live in orbit and earth is a glorified slum. Poor folk like Matt Damon give up their life savings to get to the rich habitat and Copley plays a government agent aiming to stop them. Sharlto Copley talks Elysium with The Feed's Marc Fennell.

therapy with jesse eisenberg

toni collette teaches me an indian accent

Admit it: you've always wanted to see Toni Collette school someone in how to do an indian accent. Also she teaches me about meditation and then we end up in hospital. kinda. Also we talk about her brand new film The Way Way Back. Which is quite excellent. 

seth rogen & evan goldberg

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg spill the beans on why Green Hornet was a difficult movie too make, why life is much easier when studio executives are distracted by Spiderman, What important lessons you can learn from watching marrionettes have sex... oh.. and demon dick. So. Much. Demon. Dick.  

Enjoy! 

the feed: marc forster on world war z

I sat down with Marc Forster (Stranger Than Fiction, Quantum of Solace)  to talk about his controversial new production World War Z.

the feed: hands on with google glass

First there were smart watches, then came the fitness wristbands, sleep analysers, and high-tech clothing. Despite all the recent attention on wearable technology nothing has captured the imagination of geeks and futurists worldwide like Google Glass. Google Glass is not available for purchase in Australia, and just a select group of people around the world have had the opportunity to test the product. But in an Australian TV first Marc Fennell goes hands on with Google Glass to see if the technology stands up to the hype. The Feed airs weeknights at 19:30 on SBS 2.