
13 04 2022 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $1 million to develop 31 projects
Girl, Interpreted
Screen Australia has announced over $1 million of development funding for 15 television dramas, 11 feature films and five online projects. These include science fiction drama Immersion from Lion director Garth Davis; a queer family drama from writer/director Sophie Hyde called Jimpa; plus successful online series Girl, Interpreted expanding into television, and a unique comedy from the Northern Territory, The Hairy Marys.
Louise Gough, Screen Australia's Head of Development said, Screen Australia is delighted to be able to support such a fantastic mix of originals and adaptations from established and new talent. We're pleased to see a diversity of themes and genres, from coming of age, to gripping thrillers, queer quests and absurdist comedy, that have the potential to connect with a wide range of audiences.
Now five months into the job as the new Head of Development, it's thrilling to see the stories that are being developed, the hands they are in, the formats being written for, and the audiences these stories seek to connect with. We look forward to continued engagement with talent and the content they are developing, Gough continued.
Of the 31 projects, 22 have been funded through the Generate stream and nine have been funded through the Premium stream.
The projects funded for development include:
Immersion: An eight-part television series from director Garth Davis (Lion) and writer Matt Vesely (Aftertaste). When an investigation into his daughter s illness leads to signs of a shadowy government agency experimenting with the subconscious, a police detective becomes trapped in an immersive reality. This science fiction drama will be executive produced by Academy Award winning producer Emile Sherman (The King's Speech) and director/producer Samantha Lang (It All Started with a Stale Sandwich).
Jimpa: An inter-generational queer family drama from award-winning writer, director and producer Sophie Hyde (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, 52 Tuesdays). The film follows non-binary teenager Frances who joins their parents on a life-changing trip to Europe to visit their gay Grandpa Jim, or Jimpa'. Hyde is joined by writer Matthew Cormack (52 Tuesdays), producer Liam Heyen (You and Me, Before and After) and executive producer Audrey Mason-Hyde.
The Hairy Marys: A six-part comedy online series set in the remote Northern Territory town of Nhulunbuy, where sassy and intelligent single mums Queen Nwa and Revolution roll through the punches of their chaotic lives as carers to their children on the spectrum. They are tired of caring and not being cared for, as well as tired of the chin hairs that come with middle age. Sisterhood and humour gets them through some heartbreaking moments. This series is created and written by Tamara Whyte (Wirridji) and Michelle Crozier and will be produced by Whyte and Serena Hunt (Phi and Me).
Agrippina: A feature film from writer/director Amanda Blue (Deep Water The Real Story) and producers Darren Dale and Erin Bretherton (Total Control) of Blackfella Films. Set in the 1980s, this coming-of-age drama follows a teenage girl who escapes the restrictive confines of her migrant suburban community to discover love, her sexuality and acceptance in Kings Cross. Awakened by what she's seen, she starts living a truer version of herself.
Girl, Interpreted: A six-part television series based on the AACTA Award-nominated online series of the same name. Girl, Interpreted centres on a Chinese graduate with an expiring visa who picks up work as a Mandarin interpreter to stay in Australia. Literally caught between two cultures, she finds herself ungracefully stomping on cultural landmines and confronting her definition of home and success. This comedy drama is written by Grace Feng Fang Juan, creator of the online series, and Nikki Tran.
Bruny: A six-part series adapted from the best-selling novel by Heather Rose, Bruny is a political thriller about love, loyalty and the new world order. When the massive almost completed Bruny Island bridge is blown up, Astrid returns home to Tasmania after 20 years working as a UN negotiator to help damage control for her politician brother. Torn between loyalties to family, community and governments, she is forced to take covert action to save the remote island she has returned to. This series will be written for the screen by playwright Suzie Miller, and will be produced by Sue Maslin (The Dressmaker) and Charlotte Seymour (Other People s Problems). Writers Adam Thompson (Little J & Big Cuz) and Niki Aken (The Hunting) joined the creative team in the recent story room held in Hobart and funded with the assistance of Screen Tasmania.
Snack: A six-part online comedy about a depressed and socially anxious Banana who tries to win back their human ex-girlfriend by going to therapy with an unorthodox psychologist. The series sees the Banana accidently confronting their fears, letting go of the relationship they thought made them whole, and acknowledging the uncomfortable truth that the best version of themselves might still be a bit shit and maybe that's okay. Snack will be written by comedians Frankie McNair, Harris Stuckey and Scout Boxall, and directed by Natalie van den Dungen (The Listies Work for Peanuts). It is produced by Emma Sharp and Evan Munro-Smith, and executive produced by Max Miller (Glennridge Secondary College).
Sweet Milk Lake: A darkly comedic feature following 27-year-old Jake, a soft-spoken trans-man, who is mistaken by his estranged and dying father for his hyper-masc twin brother Sam, a cis-man, upon returning to the rural town where he spent his childhood summers. As Sam, Jake has his father's approval and is one of the boys for the first time. This privilege proves
More from Screen Aus
28/06/2022
28 06 2022 - Media release Screen Australia, NZ On Air and TikTok announce the r...
21/06/2022
21 06 2022 - Media release Impact Australia returns to Melbourne
Impact Founders Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Tyler Mitchell
The highly coveted screenwriter acc...
14/06/2022
14 06 2022 - Media release AFI announces 2022 Screen Australia-AAA-Onbass Fellow
The AFI Conservatory, Julia Corcoran
The American Film Institute (AFI) has a...
30/05/2022
30 05 2022 - Media release Comedy, crime, coming of age among this year's Digital Originals contenders
Digital Original series A Beginner's Guide to G...
27/05/2022
27 05 2022 - Media release Loss and laughs collide in new ABC series Limbo
Writers Lucas Taylor and Tamara Asmar
Ghosts, grief, loss and laughs will collide ...
23/05/2022
23 05 2022 - Media release Noora Niasaris feature film debut Shayda announced
Writer/director Noora Niasari (Photo credit: Sherwin Akbarzadeh)
From a unique ...
18/05/2022
18 05 2022 - Media release Eric Bana and the team behind box office hit The Dry return for Force of Nature
The Dry
Made Up Stories, Screen Australia and VicS...
10/05/2022
10 05 2022 - Media release Screen Australia announces $5.5 million of production funding for eight projects
Online series No Ordinary Love
Screen Australia h...
26/04/2022
26 04 2022 - Media release SBS Emerging Writers' Incubator returns for Australian screenwriters
2021 writers (top L-R) Sebastian Chan, L le Teoman, Nichol...
14/04/2022
14 04 2022 - Media release Three Thousand Years of Longing joins Elvis at Cannes Film Festival 2022
Dr George Miller
Screen Australia congratulates Dr George...
13/04/2022
13 04 2022 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $1 million to develop 31 projects
Girl, Interpreted
Screen Australia has announced over $1 million...
08/04/2022
07 04 2022 - Media release #MATCHED Season Two wraps production and will launch on TikTok
#MATCHED cast and crew
#MATCHED, the Australian series that became ...
06/04/2022
06 04 2022 - Media release Applications now open for Talent Gateway and Global Producers Exchange 2022
Screen Australia and Australians in Film (AiF) have ann...
01/04/2022
01 04 2022 - Media release ABC Kids greenlights second season of Kangaroo Beach
Kangaroo Beach
ABC, Screen Australia and Cheeky Little Media are pleased to a...
31/03/2022
31 03 2022 - Media release Screen Australia appoints Christopher Sharp as Head of Scripted
Christopher Sharp
Screen Australia is pleased to announce that Chr...
30/03/2022
30 03 2022 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $2.7 million for 9 documentaries
The Wiggles
Screen Australia has announced more than $2.7 million...
24/03/2022
24 03 2022 - Media release Screen Australia announces dramas Black Snow and Year Of for Stan
Year Of
Screen Australia and Stan have announced two new Austral...
10/03/2022
10 03 2022 - Media release Screen Australia launches Games: Expansion Pack fund to support Australian games
L to R: Ron Curry (CEO, IGEA), Matt Giblin (Senior...
09/03/2022
08 03 2022 - Media release Rachel Griffiths discovers Australia's Great Southern Landscapes on ABC
Rachel Griffiths
ABC and Screen Australia are delighte...
08/03/2022
08 03 2022 - Media release Screen Australia launches Credit Maker program for fe...
08/03/2022
08 03 2022 - Media release Stuff The British Stole TV series coming to ABC and CBC
Marc Fennell
Walkley award-winning journalist Marc Fennell (Mastermind, Th...
03/03/2022
03 03 2022 - Media release Succession's Ashley Zukerman to star in Australian sci-fi thriller In Vitro
Talia Zucker, Ashley Zukerman
Ashley Zukerman (Dan...
03/03/2022
03 03 2022 - Media release Stan Original Series Bali 2002 currently in production
Claudia Jessie, Rachel Griffiths, Richard Roxburgh
Stan, the 9Network and S...
28/02/2022
28 02 2022 - Media release Back to Back Pictures launch animated series First Responders on ABC
First Responders (Photo credit: Rhian Hinkley)
Back to Back P...
21/02/2022
21 02 2022 - Media release Four new dramas commissioned through the Digital Originals initiative
Appetite: Mohini Herse, Neilesh Verma, Grace Tan, Karen Radzy...
21/02/2022
21 02 2022 - Media release New Australian drama series Safe Home announced for SBS
Safe Home writers Jean Tong, Anna Barnes, Michelle Law
SBS and Screen Aust...
21/02/2022
21 02 2022 - Media release SBS and Screen Australia announce new documentary fro...
17/02/2022
17 02 2022 - Media release Grainne Brunsdon appointed Head of Content at Screen Australia
Grainne Brunsdon
Screen Australia is pleased to announce the appoin...
14/02/2022
14 02 2022 - Media release Screen Australia and Binge announce Colin from Accounts
Patrick Brammall, Harriet Dyer
Screen Australia, BINGE and Screen NSW have...
11/02/2022
11 02 2022 - Media release CEO's 2021 Year in Review and 2022 Preview
Love on the Spectrum, Penguin Bloom, Dive Club
In 2021 the screen industry continue...
03/02/2022
03 02 2022 - Media release A historic contingent of seven Australian projects se...
02/02/2022
02 02 2022 - Media release Applications now open for Untapped 2022
Destin Daniel Cretton, Meg LeFauve, Marta Cunningham and Silas Howard
Australians in Film ...
31/01/2022
31 01 2022 - Media release Seven new documentaries commissioned through the Curious Australia initiative
The Alexander Ball (Photo credit: Somefx)
SBS, Natio...
24/01/2022
24 01 2022 - Media release Screen Australia, SBS and NITV announce Digital Originals are back for 2022
Iggy & Ace, The Tailings
Screen Australia, SBS and Nat...
19/01/2022
19 01 2022 - Media release Screen Australia and Google Australia announce Skip Ahead recipients
L to R: Luke Goodall and Marc Gallagher, Mithuna Yoganathan, S...
13/12/2021
13 12 2021 - Media release Three Australian projects selected for Sundance Film Festival 2022
You Won't Be Alone
Goran Stolevski's feature debut You ...
07/12/2021
08 12 2021 - Media release Aussie drama production reaches record-breaking $1.9 billion expenditure
Claudia Karvan, The Hon Paul Fletcher MP, Minister for Com...
29/11/2021
29 11 2021 - Media release Screen Australia announces $1.8 million for 9 online projects
Black AS Rebooted
A monster that leads you through nightmares on Tik...
25/11/2021
25 11 2021 - Media release ABC and Screen Australia announce drama series Significant Others
Creator Tommy Murphy
ABC and Screen Australia are pleased to ann...
25/11/2021
25 11 2021 - Media release New comedy Summer Love checks in to the ABC in 2022
Top L to R Wayne Hope and Robyn Butler, Alison Bell, Bjorn Stewart, Kodie Bed...
25/11/2021
25 11 2021 - Media release Sam Neill to headline an all-star Australian cast for drama series The Twelve
The cast of The Twelve (L to R): Brooke Satchwell, Ka...
25/11/2021
25 11 2021 - Media release Two of Australia's favourite documentaries return to the ABC in 2022
Miriam Margolyes
ABC and Screen Australia are pleased to ...
15/11/2021
15 11 2021 - Media release Screen Australia, NZ On Air and TikTok announce recip...
03/11/2021
03 11 2021 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $3.7 million for 13 documentaries
Harley & Katya
Screen Australia has announced six documentaries ...
03/11/2021
03 11 2021 - Media release Ambitious horror comedy Crazy Fun Park starts production
Writer/director Nicholas Verso and producer Joanna Werner
ABC, Screen Aus...
20/10/2021
20 10 2021 - Media release Tassie-noir drama series Bay of Fires greenlit for ABC
Marta Dusseldorp plays Stella Heikkinen (Photo credit: Adam Gibson)
ABC and...
13/10/2021
13 10 2021 - Media release Louise Gough appointed Head of Development at Screen Australia
Louise Gough
Screen Australia is pleased to confirm the appointment...
01/10/2021
01 10 2021 - Media release Crime drama Savage River coming to ABC
Director Jocelyn Moorhouse
New crime drama Savage River was announced today, developed and ...
30/09/2021
30 09 2021 - Media release Children's series Beep and Mort starts production in Adelaide
Beep and Mort
The ABC and Screen Australia are pleased to announ...
28/09/2021
28 09 2021 - Media release Six emerging screen creatives announced for 2021 Emer...