19 10 2021 - Media release Screen Australia announces development funding for 21 projects
Yael Stone in High Maintenance (Photo credit: David M. Russell/HBO)
Screen Australia has announced 14 feature films, six television dramas and an online project that will share in over $600,000 of Story Development funding. The projects include Beth, a spin-off of television series High Maintenance starring Yael Stone, and comedic crime series The Pastor's Wife from the producers of hit ABC series Wakefield.
This slate includes 11 projects supported through the Generate Fund and 10 through the Premium Fund.
Screen Australia's Head of Development Nerida Moore said, This is an exciting mix of projects and it's great to support creatives expand on their careers and take on new challenges, including producer Alex White working on her first TV series, and writer Arka Das and writer/director Hannah Hilliard on their debut feature films.
Last week it was announced that Moore will depart the agency in December after nine years. The new Head of Development Louise Gough will start in the role on 15 November 2021.
The shared vision we are working towards is an inclusive industry where the best Australian talent can tell their stories to all Australians and global audiences. To this end, I'm grateful for the support of the industry while we made some seismic but necessary changes to open up eligibility and support storytelling on all platforms. It's a privilege to have supported so many fabulous creative projects and people along the way, said Moore.
The funded projects include:
Beth (working title): A spin-off from the HBO series High Maintenance. Beth will follow the feisty, freewheeling thirty-something dog walker (played by Yael Stone), who has just returned to Sydney after 10 wild years in New York. This comedy is created by Alex White (Babyteeth), Eden Falk, Charlie Garber (Sando), Lexi Freiman (author of novel Inappropriation) and actor Yael Stone (Orange is the New Black). It will be directed by Falk, written by Garber and Freiman, produced by White and executive produced by the original creators of High Maintenance, Katja Blichfeld, Ben Sinclair and Russell Gregory.
Khana: The debut feature film written by Arka Das, one of the writers of anthology feature film Here Out West, which is set to open Sydney Film Festival 2021. Khana follows young migrant worker Ronny who clocks long hours as a dish-pig at an Indian restaurant in Sydney's Western suburbs. When the opportunity arises to achieve his dream of becoming a chef, he feels his life is about to change. However, Ronny quickly finds his dream has become a prison and he is drawn into the dark underworld of indentured labour where freedom comes at a hefty price. Blake Ayshford will work with Das as a script consultant during development and the film will be produced by Co-Curious (Here Out West).
Mimesis: A science-fiction feature film about gifted computer scientist Beth Francis, who resurrects her dead sister in the form of an Artificial Consciousness. Once brought to life, Beth's virtual sister struggles with her new identity and draws Beth and her mother into an exploration of the days leading up to her unexplained death, changing their relationship forever. Mimesis is the debut feature film from writer/director Hannah Hilliard, whose 2010 short film Franswa Sharl won the prestigious Crystal Bear for Best Short Film at Berlin Film Festival. Hilliard is joined by writer Ian Shadwell (Under the Volcano) and producer Kristian Moliere (The Babadook).
The Pastor's Wife: An eight-part television series from Jungle Entertainment, the producers of Wakefield and Mr Inbetween, and international boutique distributor and producer APC Studios. This comedic crime series follows a usually meek and mild-mannered pastor's wife and a rat-bag teen who together go down a rabbit-hole of some seriously ungodly behaviour, in order to get away with murder. The creative team features creator/writer Romina Accurso (Spreadsheet), producer Bridget Callow-Wright (Over and Out) and executive producers Romina Accurso, Shay Spencer and Laurent Boissel.
The Sweet Above: A feature film about the true story of an aeroplane race from Melbourne to London in 1932, and how locals from the New South Wales town of Albury defied the odds to become aviation heroes. This adventure drama is created by the team behind A Sunburnt Christmas, with writers Elliot Vella, Gretel Vella and Timothy Walker and executive producers Fiona Eagger, Deb Cox, Mike Jones, Drew Grove and Michael Smith.
For the complete list of development funding approvals refer to television, online and feature film breakdowns.
ABOUT STORY DEVELOPMENT FUNDING Teams with projects for any platform including TV, film and online, can apply for development funding from two program strands the Generate Fund and the Premium Fund.
The Generate Fund is for lower budget projects with an emphasis on new and emerging talent, or experienced talent wanting to take creative risks. The Premium Fund is for higher budget projects of ambition and scale from successful screen content makers.
Related MaterialsDownload PDF
Media enquiries Lidia Williams | Acting Senior Publicist
61 2 8113 1091 | 61 468 784 170 | [email protected]
Catherine Swan | Publicist
61 2 8113 5886 | 61 447 984 755 | [email protected]
All other general/non-media enquiries Sydney 61 2 8113 5800 | Melbourne 61 3 8682 1900 | [email protected]
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Grass Valley today announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP to transform its newsroom produc...
02/06/2026
Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, announces its new Model 385 Mic/Intercom Beltpack. The Mode...
02/06/2026
The Riedel Group today announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 2...
02/06/2026
More signals, higher quality, and outstanding ingest and streaming flexibility deliver professional results in a small, all-in-one footprint...
02/06/2026
farmerswife will be featured on the Modena Media & Entertainment stand at this year's Mediatech Africa 2026, giving visitors an opportunity to explore the l...
02/06/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17 19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Trust has become a commercial issue With global advertising spend forecast to exceed US$1 trillion this year*, the commercial consequences of weak governance co...
02/06/2026
June sees Ireland's cultural calendar in full bloom, as RT Supporting the Arts showcases a vibrant and wide-ranging programme spanning music, theatre, visu...
02/06/2026
After The Traitors Ireland launched in 2025, Irish audiences proved to have a taste for the global hit reality show. This Bank Holiday Monday fans can indulge e...
01/06/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
01/06/2026
Designed to solve a common problem in broadcasting, the automated workflow detects, identifies, removes, and documents copyrighted music
AudioShake has introdu...
01/06/2026
The sports-analytics company combines its data with proprietary AI to help leagu...
01/06/2026
Category line-up & sponsors announced
Photo: Paul Clarke
The Production Music Awards (PMA) have announced that submissions are now officially open ahead of...
01/06/2026
New hybrid sample/synthesis instrument revealed
Excite Audio have just released the latest instalment in their Evolve series, which has been developed in co...
01/06/2026
Latest TONEX expansion captures three rare vintage amps
The newest addition to IK Multimedia's ever-growing TONEX line-up introduces a set of three incr...
01/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
01/06/2026
SBS confirms its broadcast sponsors for FIFA World Cup 2026
1 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has secured Hyundai, Hisense, Macca's, Rexona, bet365, Com...
01/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Days 2026 guided by the motto From Earth to ...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Luxembourg, June 1, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, launched fast and reliable multi-orbit satelli...
01/06/2026
Agentic AI is getting physical.
At COMPUTEX on Tuesday, NVIDIA announced NVIDIA JetPack 7.2 and NVIDIA NemoClaw support on NVIDIA Jetson.
JetPack 7.2 brings a...
01/06/2026
Financial institutions have spent years building AI: fraud models, credit models...
01/06/2026
Mardi 2 juin 14h00
FilmLight (ARRI), 10 rue Ren Boulanger, 75010 Paris
Rejoignez-nous pour d couvrir comment FLAPI (l'API FilmLight) peut transformer e...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Wins 15 Awards at the Canadian Screen Awards - See Pho...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19 10 2021 - Media release Screen Australia announces development funding for 21 projects 
