AACTA-nominated writer/director Ryan Cauchi and Matt Ferro (The Matrix, Happy Feet) have joined forces to create a scripted Maltese-Australian horror drama series, with 15 x 1-minute episodes to be released exclusively on TikTok.

A recipient of Screen Australia, NZ On Air and TikTok’s ‘Every Voice’ initiative, Greystanes is currently in production, for release in October 2023.

Set in Western Sydney in 1995, Greystanes tells the story of 11-year-old Samantha and her older brother Marius. While visiting their Maltese grandmother during school holidays, the siblings discover a dark family secret and encounter Il-Ħaddiela, a sinister creature from Maltese folklore, connected to it. With their nanna leading the way, the family must come together to fight the creature − and its curse.

Under the scares and thrills, the series explores generational relationships, Maltese-Australian culture and the migrant Australian experience.

Writers and producers Ryan Cauchi (left) and Matt Ferro

Currently in pre-production and filming later this month in Greystanes, New South Wales − a stronghold for the Maltese community - the series stars AACTA-nominated Maltese-Australian actress Frances Duca (Ali’s Wedding) as nanna, young theatre star Chloe Delle-Vedove (Disney Theatrical Productions Mary Poppins and Frozen) as 11-year-old Samantha, and newcomer Tigran Tovmasian as her 17-year old brother Marius, alongside a largely Western Sydney-based cast and crew.

“Greystanes is big on mystery, thrills and chills, while also giving voice to the Maltese-Australian community, which has gone largely unrepresented in Australian scripted content. It will celebrate the Maltese immigration experience as part of the story of Modern Australia the rich history of Maltese culture and folklore and its untapped horror film potential,” series creator Cauchi says.

Cauchi is the recipient of the Michael Ajakwe Award for Innovation at Sydney Web Fest 2022, a 2022 Screen Producers Australia (SPA)/TikTok ‘Got a Minute’ finalist and a 2022 AACTA nominee for best digital short video.

Loosely based on his own childhood, Cauchi is a proud resident of Western Sydney and is excited to be filming in Greystanes, where his own Maltese immigrant father grew up.

Greystanes is big on mystery, thrills and chills, while also giving voice to the Maltese-Australian community, which has gone largely unrepresented in Australian scripted content

Writing and producing with Cauchi is Matt Ferro, the producer of the Academy Award-winning visual effects of The Matrix, associate producer of the Academy Award-winning animated film Happy Feet, a producer of the Frank Lowy documentary feature What Will Become of Us, and an executive producer of NBC Universal's top-rated series Fashion Bloggers and its follow-up, Style Squad. As a writer/director, his The Story of Three Sisters opened the 2022 Jewish International Film Festival's Short Film Programme.

The series is co-produced by Maltese-Australian actor, director and producer Julian Ramundi (Wellmainia, Back to the Rafters) and line-produced by AACTA-nominated producer Tsu Shan Chambers (Unsound).

Practical and creature effects are provided by eight-time Archibald finalist and filmmaker Nick Stathopoulos and Lewis P. Morley, one of the special effects geniuses behind the infamous animatronic giant boar in the 1984 cult classic Razorback.

Greystanes releases via three weekly episodes over five weeks, beginning on Halloween, October 31, 2023, exclusively on TikTok, at @GreystanesSeries.