Screen Australia announces $7.5 million in production funding for seven projects
14/01/2019
Jacki Weaver
Screen Australia has announced $7.5 million in production funding for two feature film projects, four television series and one web series. The slate includes a new comedy feature film starring Jacki Weaver and Jack Thompson called The Chain Breakers, a crime drama series for Network 10 adapted from Michael Robotham's acclaimed novel The Secrets She Keeps, and an online series from comedy group Aunty Donna based on their award-winning live show Glennridge Secondary College.
2018 was a remarkable year for Australian television with series including Mystery Road and Mr Inbetween proving popular with audiences here and overseas. said Sally Caplan, Head of Content at Screen Australia. In an increasingly busy marketplace it's great to see that three of the four funded television projects are new concepts, and the majority of them have female central characters.
Australian films took over $55m at the box office last year, and we already have a very strong pipeline of titles scheduled for production or release in 2019. The Chain Breakers is a notable addition to the slate, led by a cast of Australian screen luminaries, and I'm confident the themes of mateship and the challenges of growing old will resonate with audiences. Whilst political thriller Lone Wolf will captivate viewers with its strong script and innovative storytelling techniques.
We're delighted to be supporting a new web series from comedy group Aunty Donna whose absurdist sketch videos first captured our attention through the ABC Fresh Blood and Google Skip Ahead Initiatives. Aunty Donna's commitment to developing their own audience and making their own success is impressive and I look forward to seeing this team take their unique brand of comedy to new heights.
Funded television drama projects include:
Halifax Retribution: An eight-part series from Beyond Lonehand for the Nine Network that will star Rebecca Gibney as she reprises her role of forensic psychiatrist Jane Halifax. When Jane Halifax receives a letter threatening a terrible retribution against her family, she finds herself back in a world she thought she had left behind profiling a diabolical killer. Writers include Roger Simpson (Brothers in Arms), Oscar nominee Jan Sardi (Shine), and Mac Gudgeon (The Secret River) all of whom worked on the original series.
Hungry Ghosts: A four-part drama series from Matchbox Pictures for SBS that explores the lives of three generations of Vietnamese Australian families dealing with the aftermath of war. The story begins on the eve of the Hungry Ghost Festival in Melbourne, when a powerful amulet is broken and a vengeful spirit is unleashed bringing the dead with him. The series will be directed by Shawn Seet (Deep Water) and produced by Stephen Corvini (Safe Harbour), Timothy Hobart (Wanted) and Debbie Lee (The Family Law) and written by Timothy Hobart, Michelle Lee, Alan Nguyen, Jeremy Nguyen, and John Ridley. This project was financed with support from Film Victoria.
The Secrets She Keeps: A six-part noir series by Lingo Pictures for Network 10 adapted from author Michael Robotham's acclaimed novel of the same name. Written by acclaimed television writers Sarah Walker (All Saints, Bad Mothers, The Wrong Girl) and Jonathan Gavin (Offspring, Puberty Blues, Rush) the series follows two women from vastly different walks of life with one thing in common explosive secrets that could destroy everything they hold dear. Their worlds collide in one shocking act that cannot be undone.
The funded children's drama television project is:
Itch: A 10-part children's live action-adventure series from Komixx that follows Itchingham Lofte, known as Itch, a science obsessed teenager who pursues an unusual and sometimes dangerous hobby of collecting all the elements on the periodic table. When Itch discovers a new element with extraordinary powers he is forced to go on the run to protect it from sinister organisations who want it for their own ends. The series is produced by Amanda Morrison (The Art of Ian Strange) and Tania Chambers (A Few Less Men) and is written by Ron Elliott, Heather Wilson, Roger Monk, Jessica Brookman, Melanie Halsall and Dan Berlinka. The series was financed with support from Screenwest, Lotterywest and the West Australian Regional Film Fund.
The full list of funded television drama blocklines can be found here
Funded feature film projects are:
Lone Wolf: A political thriller and contemporary adaptation of Joseph Conrad's novel The Secret Agent that uses surveillance, phone and computer camera coverage to tell the story. Written and directed by Jonathan Ogilvie (The Tender Hook) it follows the story of Winnie, a young woman overprotective of her disabled brother Stevie, who runs a struggling political bookshop with her boyfriend Conrad. Her efforts to provide security for her brother are obliterated when Conrad becomes entangled in an act of terrorism.
The Chain Breakers: A comedy about four Vietnam veterans famous for escaping out of a POW camp, who find themselves in a new hell: The Hogan Hills Retirement Home for Returned Veterans. Each of them have an unrealised dream they want to achieve, so they band together to escape again. The incredible cast includes James Cromwell, Dennis Waterman, Jacki Weaver, Shane Jacobson and Jack Thompson. The feature is written by Luke Preston (Wasted) and will be produced by Antony I. Ginnane (Patrick) and David Lightfoot (Wolf Creek) and directed by Mark Lamprell (A Few Less Men). A cross between Grumpy Old Men and The Great Escape, this comedy-drama is about four mates reconciling after years apart to teach each other that it's never too late to chase your dreams. This project was developed with support
LINK: | https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2019/01-14-pro... |
See more stories from screenaustralia |
Asia, Australia & Oceanic Stories
18/04/2024
Alone Australia goes from strength to strength
Alone Australia goes from strength to strength 18 April, 2024 Media releases The program again delivers for SBS with significant uplifts in digital BVOD vi...
18/04/2024
Screen Australia and Dynamic Television announce new Scripted Initiative
18 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and Dynamic Television announce new Scripted Initiative Savage River Screen Australia and Los Angeles-based telev...
16/04/2024
ABS Agility Beyond Space announces Appointment of Mark Rigolle as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
ABS Agility Beyond Space announces Appointment of Mark Rigolle as its Chief Ex...
11/04/2024
Alone Australia Ep 2 reaches over 1m Australians
Alone Australia Ep 2 reaches over 1m Australians 11 April, 2024 Media releases The program continues to consistently grow week-on-week in linear audience w...
11/04/2024
Screen Australia and Meta launch fourth year of First Nations Creators Program for Instagram
11 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and Meta launch fourth year of First...
10/04/2024
Screen Australia announces over $2.3 million for nine documentaries
10 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $2.3 million for nine documentaries Guardians of the River Screen Australia has announced nine doc...
09/04/2024
Groundbreaking NITV documentary series Our Law expands across Australia from Thursday 9 May
Groundbreaking NITV documentary series Our Law expands across Australia from Thu...
09/04/2024
Psst; inflo transcribes with Whisper
Techtel, the creators of inflo, today announced that a new speech to text transcription engine from openai called Whisper, is available to inflo customers who a...
04/04/2024
Manu Feildel, Miranda Otto and Pat Rafter join life-changing new season of Who Do You Think You Are?
Manu Feildel, Miranda Otto and Pat Rafter join life-changing new season of Who D...
04/04/2024
Alone Australia season 2 continues to redefine Australian TV viewing through on-demand digital consumption
Alone Australia season 2 continues to redefine Australian TV viewing through on-...
27/03/2024
Living Black, the longest-running Indigenous current affairs television program in Australia, returns for its 21st year with new guests
Living Black, the longest-running Indigenous current affairs television program ...
26/03/2024
Crime is relative in SBS's new Canneseries nominated crime-family dramawith a difference
Crime is relative in SBS's new Canneseries nominated crime-family drama with...
25/03/2024
SBS gears up for Season 2 of Alone Australia with the creation of Alone Cologne'
SBS gears up for Season 2 of Alone Australia with the creation of Alone Cologne...
22/03/2024
SBS Learn partners with the Islamic Museum of Australia to support classrooms in understanding Ramadan and Eid with new teacher resource
SBS Learn partners with the Islamic Museum of Australia to support classrooms in...
21/03/2024
Screen Australia announces over $1.6 million in support of the games industry
21 03 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $1.6 million in support of the games industry Which Way Up: Galaxy Games Screen Australia has anno...
18/03/2024
Screen Australia and VicScreen launch new Screen Careers initiative
18 03 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and VicScreen launch new Screen Careers initiative LTR Denise Eriksen, Esther Coleman Hawkins, Caroline Pitcher, K...
15/03/2024
The Creators 2024 Participants Announced
15 03 2024 - Media release The Creators 2024 Participants Announced The Creators program recipients. L-R Thomas Duncan-Watt, Vanessa Gazy, Sarah Lambert, Lea...
14/03/2024
SBS to mark Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr with all Australians
SBS to mark Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr with all Australians 14 March, 2024 Media releases Content in 22 languages*, a collection of movies to stream free on d...
14/03/2024
Notice of Nominees for Directors (Resolution planned, June 19, 2024)
March 14,2024 -- KDDI Corporation KDDI Corporation resolved at a meeting of the Board of Directors held today to change (newly appointed, retire) a director ...
13/03/2024
Screen Australia announces dramas Critical Incident and Sunny Nights for Stan
13 03 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces dramas Critical Incident and Sunny Nights for Stan Critical Incident: Akshay Khanna and Zoe Boe. Photo c...
07/03/2024
Explore the afterlife with SBS podcast Grave Matters'
Explore the afterlife with SBS podcast Grave Matters' 6 March, 2024 Media releases Most of us are woefully unprepared for one of life's few certai...
06/03/2024
Multi-award winning electronic music duo to represent Australia at this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Malm, Sweden
Multi-award winning electronic music duo to represent Australia at this year'...
06/03/2024
GITAI and KDDI Successfully Demonstrates Robotics Construction Capabilities for Lunar Communications Towers
Developing Lunar 3GPP Mobile Network Technologies for Moon Exploration GITA...
04/03/2024
SBS announces new development fund to discover Australia's biggest and riskiest new factual hit
SBS announces new development fund to discover Australia's biggest and riski...
28/02/2024
Yumi Stynes returns for season two of SBS podcast SEEN'
Yumi Stynes returns for season two of SBS podcast SEEN' 26 February, 2024 Media releases Eight new trailblazers join feminist Australian icon Yumi Sty...
28/02/2024
Screen Australia announces over $810,000 in development funding for 29 projects
28 02 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $810,000 in development funding for 29 projects Willy Screen Australia has announced 23 feature fi...
27/02/2024
Michael Ebeid AM appointed as new Screen Australia Chair
27 02 2024 - Media release Michael Ebeid AM appointed as new Screen Australia Chair Michael Ebeid AM and Megan Brownlow The Hon. Minister for the Arts, Tony...
26/02/2024
KDDI, Sony Honda Mobility Start Collaboration to Drive Connected Businesses Globally
Supporting AFEELAs entertainment experience and global launch with a communicati...
21/02/2024
Screen Australia and Australians in Film Announce Applications Open for UNTAPPED 2024
21 02 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and Australians in Film Announce App...
21/02/2024
Sony and KDDI Accelerate Efforts to Promote Digital Transformation in the Broadcasting and Media Industries
Aiming to deliver new video-related solutions utilizing 5G SA this year Son...
21/02/2024
KDDI Teams Up with Kyoto Sanga F.C. to Start Demonstration Test for Fan Engagement Services with Smartphone Game
Support the team with gifts while enjoying AR games in the stadium KDDI COR...
21/02/2024
U and Google's Gemini model to Provide Generative AI Services for Everyday Use
KDDI CORPORATION February 21,2024 -- Tokyo, February 21, 2024 From February 2...
20/02/2024
The Approval of SORACOM's Listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market
KDDI CORPORATION February 20,2024 -- KDDI announces that its consolidated subsidiary, SORACOM, INC. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Ken Tamagawa, herei...
15/02/2024
Alone Australia Season 2 Returns 27 March | Meet the Cast
Alone Australia Season 2 Returns 27 March | Meet the Cast 15 February, 2024 Media releases Smash hit series Alone Australia returns Wednesday 27 March on S...
15/02/2024
NITV's flagship footy show Over the Black Dot returns Tuesday 5 March, live and in high definition
NITV's flagship footy show Over the Black Dot returns Tuesday 5 March, live ...
15/02/2024
Screen Australia announces over $560,000 for crew and gamemaker skills programs
15 02 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $560,000 for crew and gamemaker skills programs Liz Keogh Palmer (Australian Production Design Guil...
13/02/2024
2024 is a landmark year for SBS's award-winning current affairs line-up, covering the most impactful local and global stories
2024 is a landmark year for SBS's award-winning current affairs line-up, cov...
13/02/2024
Six Australian projects bound for South by Southwest Festival in the US
22 01 2024 - Media release Six Australian projects bound for South by Southwest Festival in the US Audrey, Birdeater, The Moogai Six Australian screen projec...
12/02/2024
Screen Australia and YouTube Australia Launch Skip Ahead 9
12 02 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and YouTube Australia Launch Skip Ahead 9 Uncovering Street Dance: Australia from Skip Ahead 8. Photographed by Ry...
08/02/2024
Screen Australia and ABC announce Bay of Fires is back for season two
08 02 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and ABC announce Bay of Fires is back for season two Marta Dusseldorp as Stella in Bay of Fires ABC, Screen Austr...
07/02/2024
4 in 10 Australians battling sleep issues as nation's sleep crisis grows
4 in 10 Australians battling sleep issues as nation's sleep crisis grows 7 February, 2024 Media releases Dr Michael Mosley and the sleep scientists fro...
06/02/2024
Six screen creatives selected for the 2024 SBS Emerging Writers' Incubator initiative
Six screen creatives selected for the 2024 SBS Emerging Writers' Incubator i...
02/02/2024
SBS Scripted TV Lunch sessions return for another year of connecting with creatives
SBS Scripted TV Lunch sessions return for another year of connecting with creati...
02/02/2024
Financial Results for the Third Quarter of the Fiscal Year Ending March 2024
February 2,2024 -- KDDI Corporation KDDI announced the financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2024. Summary In the third q...
31/01/2024
Filming Begins on SBS' Romantic Original Drama Four Years Later' in India
Filming Begins on SBS' Romantic Original Drama Four Years Later' in Ind...
30/01/2024
A stellar 2024 for SBS podcasts kicks off with The SBS Book Club' and Humans of the Australian Deaf Community'
A stellar 2024 for SBS podcasts kicks off with The SBS Book Club' and Huma...
29/01/2024
The host with the most, Adam Liaw, is back with an all new inviting season of The Cook Up
The host with the most, Adam Liaw, is back with an all new inviting season of Th...
22/01/2024
Eddie's Lil' Homies premieres on NITV and Netflix on Friday 16 February
Eddie's Lil' Homies premieres on NITV and Netflix on Friday 16 February 22 January, 2024 Media releases Animated comedy series inspired by AFL grea...
22/01/2024
Five Australian projects bound for South by Southwest Festival in the US
22 01 2024 - Media release Five Australian projects bound for South by Southwest Festival in the US Audrey, Birdeater, The Moogai Five Australian screen proj...