News| Jan 20, 2022

Shantae Barnes-Cowan as Shanika - Firebite_ Season 1, Episode 1 - Photo Credit: Ian Routledge/AMC+

The unique South Australian Outback town of Coober Pedy is proving to be a character in itself in Warwick Thornton’s new critically acclaimed vampire series Firebite, now streaming in the US and Australia on AMC+.

Filmed on-location in the famous opal mining town as well as at the South Australian Film Corporation’s Adelaide Studios, Firebite takes a new spin on the vampire genre, following two Australian First Nations hunters Tyson (Rob Collins, Cleverman, Extraction) and Shanika (South Australian actor Shantae Barnes-Cowan), as they battle the last colony of vampires in the middle of the South Australian desert. The series also stars Yael Stone (Orange Is the New Black) and Callan Mulvey (Avengers: End Game).

The high octane series was created with Coober Pedy specifically in mind, the town’s many underground caves and tunnels creating the perfect hideout for a colony of sun-fearing vampires.

“The pitch for Firebite was always Coober Pedy, it was always vampires in the mining tunnels, the mining tunnels leading to the towns,”

Brendan Fletcher – writer/director/producer
Shantae Barnes-Cowan as Shanika – Firebite Season 1, Episode 1 –
Photo Credit: Ian Routledge/AMC+

“South Australia is pretty unique in that you can have a world like Coober Pedy that looks nothing like anywhere else on the planet, then you can be down the next day in the South Australian Film Corporation’s Adelaide Studios, and you’re working in a state-of-the-art studio environment. I can’t imagine shooting Firebite anywhere else except South Australia.” Fletcher goes on to say.

Firebite has scored rave reviews since its premiere on 16 December for its fun, action-packed, gritty take on the vampire genre, getting four stars from both The Sydney Morning Herald and The Guardian, and declared a “refreshing twist on the vampire subgenre” by Indiewire and “arrestingly good” by Paste Magazine.

Firebite is created, directed and written by Thornton (Samson and Delilah, Sweet Country) alongside Fletcher (Mad Bastards), with Tony Krawitz (The Tall Man, Dead Europe) joining as director. The series is produced by South Australian producer Paul Ranford (Stateless, True History of the Kelly Gang) alongside Dena Curtis (Elements, Grace Beside Me), who is co-producing. Executive producers for See-Saw Films are Emile Sherman and Iain Canning, alongside Rachel Gardner, Thornton and Fletcher. Firebite is an AMC Studios original production with See-Saw Films.

Firebite is streaming now on AMCPlus, with episodes dropping weekly.