SYNOPSIS
Laid-back suburban everyman Darren "Dazza" Cook loves to entertain his friends
and neighbours with his weekly backyard barbecues, utilizing the ancient
rum-barrel barbecue that family legend prescribes as having come from
Captain James Cook’s Endeavour.
Unexpectedly thrust into the limelight by his employer when an International BBQ Festival comes to town, Dazza needs to sharpen up his act, so enlists the guidance of the mysterious Scottish chef known only as “The Butcher”.
As Dazza hones his chops perfecting the perfect steak, his 12-year-old
son Jayden, is challenged to prove the dubious Cook
family ancestral link, with unexpected results.
CAST
SHANE JACOBSON
Shane Jacobson is a multi-award winning actor, entertainer, producer and author who has worked with some of the biggest names in show business including Geoffrey Rush, Jeremy Clarkson, Bryan Brown, Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving. His notable credits include The Bourne Legacy; Charlie & Boots with Paul Hogan; Time Of Our Lives; Top Gear; Oddball; The Dressmaker with Kate Winslet; and his huge 2006 hit film Kenny, now considered an Australian classic. He is currently starring and hosting The Seven Network’s hit family show Little Big Shots.
Shane can, and does, turn his hand to just about anything. As an author he has penned automotive pieces for Drive and his 2014 autobiography The Long Road to Overnight Success became an instant hit and number one bestseller. His second book Rev Head is out now with Harper Collins.
As a producer Shane has brought shows to the screen including Kenny’s World, Rock Soldiers, and Hangin’ with Hoges. He has hosted events and programs such as the
Australian Motoring Festival; Top Gear Live; Friday Night Crack Up; The Living Room; and Manspace, for which he is also the executive producer. As a singer he is a regular guest at the annual Carols by Candlelight and fronted 2015’s sell-out show A Night Out with Shane Jacobson and The Melbourne Ska Orchestra.
Amidst this incredible body of work Shane has always found time for people and causes close to his heart. He supports Hearts Kids Australia; HMAS Canberra; Entertainment
Assist; The Mirabel Foundation Parkinson’s Victoria; Variety; and is currently Chief Scout of Victoria.
MAGDA SZUBANSKI
Magda Szubanski is one of Australia’s most loved and respected actors. She is best known for her roles as Mrs Hoggett in the Academy Award and Golden Globe winning Kennedy Miller film Babe and its sequel Babe: Pig In The City, and also for her performance as Sharon Strzelecki in the hit television series Kath & Kim, and feature film Kath & Kimderella.
Magda has co-written and performed in some of Australia's most successful television comedy shows including Fast Forward, D-Generation and Full Frontal. She also co-wrote
and produced the series Something Stupid and Big Girl's Blouse for which she originally created the character of Sharon Strezlecki. Magda also wrote, produced and starred in the series Dogwoman.
Magda teamed up with the Babe creators again to voice the box office hit Happy Feet and its sequel Happy Feet 2. Her other film credits include Santa’s Apprentice; The Crocodile
Hunter: Collision Course alongside the late Steve Irwin; The Golden Compass opposite Nicole Kidman; and the Australian films Dr Plonk directed by Rolf de Heer; Bran Nu Dae by Rachel Perkins and most recently Ben Elton’s Three Summers.
In addition to her acting work, in 2015 Magda released her hugely successful first book, Reckoning, which has won several major awards including the 2016 ABIA Book of the Year.
MANU FEILDEL
Manu Feildel has become one of the most popular personalities on Australian television as co-host of the successful My Kitchen Rule series on the Seven Network, which debuted in 2010. The series has been nominated for several AACTA and Logie awards, winning Most
Popular Reality Program in 2014. He has also appeared on Ready Steady Cook, MasterChef Australia and Beat the Star. Manu won Dancing with the Stars in 2011, and so
won more hearts around Australia.
Manu released his fourth book More Please! in late 2016 following from his previous, hugely popular books, Manu’s French Kitchen, Manu’s French Bistro and French for Everyone. Also in 2016 Manu realized a dream of co-producing his first TV series, called Around the World
with Manu, which aired on 7Two.
Before television and film, there was his massively successful career as a chef. Legendary Australian restaurateur Tony Bilson approached Manu to open his new venture Bilson’s at Sydney’s Radisson Hotel in 2004. In its second year of opening, the restaurant won two chef's hats, and in its third year, this accolade had increased to three hats. In 2008 Bilson's won three chefs hats for the third year running. Manu made the leap of faith in March 2009, opening his first restaurant L’etoile in Paddington, Sydney, were he was awarded a chef's hat in August 2009. That same year he also won the “Shoot the Chef” competition for the Sydney Good Food Month.Food Month.
JULIA ZEMIRO
French born-Australian Julia Zemiro is an acting graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts. Best known as the host of the long-running SBS hit TV program RocKwiz, Julia’s also
includes her co-hosting the Eurovision Song Contest (2008-2016) for the SBS and her celebrity interview program, Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery, for ABC-TV, now in its sixth
series, which she also co-produces.
She has been the host for international touring artists such as Stephen Fry, documentary-maker Louis Theroux and medical guru Michael Mosley. Julia was the BBC UK choice for the exclusive Australian television interview with Peter Capaldi on his worldwide press tour for Dr Who. She also co-hosted the science program Stargazing Live with Brian Cox for ABC/BBC this year.
Guest appearances include QI; Room 101; Agony Aunts; Thank God You’re Here; co-hosting What A Year with Bert Newton; and the title of Australia’s Brainiest TV Star.
She appeared in the award winning film An Accidental Soldier directed by Rachel Ward, and the acclaimed television series Conspiracy 365. Julia also works as a corporate host and MC for a wide variety of charity and corporate events.
JIM KNOBELOCH
James (Jim) Knobeloch is an American actor best known for his role as Jake Slicker on Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman which ran for six seasons on CBS in the 1990s, and which also
spun off a number of telemovies and specials.
Jim amassed a plethora of theatre credits in New York and on tour from the 1970s to the 1990s after commencing his screen credits in the iconic Heavens Gate.
He came to Australia to film the series Ponderosa for PAX in 2002 and has subsequently been involved in a number of local and international film and TV productions.
FREDERIK SIMPSON
Frederik Simpson, known as Freddy, is 13-years-old and attends Trinity Anglican College in Albury, NSW. He has taken part in two Opera Australia Chorus projects in Albury – The Magic Flute in 2015 and The Marriage of Figaro in 2016. Freddy also sang in the School Spectacular Choir in 2015 - the last to be held at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.
Last year he played Pinocchio in the Byte-Sized production of Shrek the Musical and this year took the stage as a flying monkey in Albury Wodonga Theatre Company’s production of Wicked. He most recently has appeared in Livid’s production of Les Miserables opening in Albury, playing the part of Gavroche.
Freddy makes his feature film debut in The BBQ starring Shane Jacobson, Julia Zemiro, Magda Zubanski, Nicholas Hammond and Manu Fiedel, playing the part of Jayden (Shane's son).
Freddy is a keen rugby union player, competitive waterskiier and budding artist.
NICHOLAS HAMMOND
Nicholas Hammond has been acting in films since he first appeared in Peter Brook’s Lord of the Flies at age ten in 1963. World famous as Friedrich Von Trapp in the classic 1965 film The Sound of Music, he has played featured or starring roles in 40 films and movies for television, including Emerald City; Paradise Road; Mao’s Last Dancer; The Rage In Placid Lake; and On The Beach.
His more than 175 television shows include the mini series
Gallipoli; A Difficult Woman; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; The Challenge; and Cyclone Tracy; the TV series The Jesters; MDA; Salem’s Lot; Farscape; Flipper; and his own prime time series The Amazing Spiderman, which screened from 1977 to 1979, creating the role of Peter Parker.
Nicholas has starred in numerous plays in New York, Los Angeles, London and around Australia. He has also won many awards as a screenwriter, twice winning the Gold Medal at the New York International Film and Television Awards, and winning Best Factual Programme at the Royal Academy of Television Awards for the BBC documentary he
produced, wrote and starred in, Climb Every Mountain with Nicholas Hammond.
