Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Screen Australia announces $1 million of story development funding for 33 projects

15/08/2022

15 08 2022 - Media release Screen Australia announces $1 million of story development funding for 33 projects

Bear the Dog

Screen Australia has announced over $1 million of development funding for 19 feature films, 13 television dramas and one feature-length project to be released online. The projects include the first feature film from Aunty Donna's production company Haven't You Done Well Productions with The Alien Abduction of Emily Hill; the producers of Nude Tuesday teaming up on dark dystopian comedy The Border; and a young-adult dramedy about out-and-proud teenager Terry facing his bullies in The Outrageously Fabulous World of Terry Logan.

Also announced today are the seven successful teams to receive development funding through SBS, NITV and Screen Australia's Digital Originals initiative for 2022, with more information below.

Screen Australia's Head of Development Louise Gough said, We're pleased to announce this exciting mix of projects from experienced creatives on track to take their premium and distinct Australian stories global, as well as from up and coming talent with bold concepts with the potential to cut through.

Knowing your audience is fundamental to a project's success, and we're pleased to see applications coming in with bespoke pathways to engage viewers for niche and wide audiences. We'd love to see more projects being conceived and developed for a range of ages, especially stories for children, families and young adults. We encourage online creators to engage with us for development funding as they move their projects towards production.

This slate includes the remainder of projects funded in the 2021/22 financial year during which Screen Australia supplied $2.4 million of story development funding.

Among the titles receiving funding are five projects that came through Screen Australia and Australians in Film's Untapped initiative in 2021: Deadname, How Did We F*ck This Up, Pasa Faho, Unloveable and Salty. More information about these projects is available here. The successful practitioners and projects for Untapped 2022 will be announced in the coming months.

The projects funded for development include:

The Alien Abduction of Emily Hill: A comedy from writers Michelle Brasier (Why Are You Like This) and Sam Lingham (Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun) and the first feature film from Aunty Donna's production arm Haven't You Done Well Productions alongside Pacific Electric Picture Company who previously collaborated on Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun. This sci-fi rom-com follows Emily whose fiance, mid marriage ceremony, is abducted by a beam from the sky, and when it makes the news Emily finds herself sucked into her own bright spotlight of fame. Niki Aken (The Hunting) is attached as executive producer and story editor, with Christiaan Van Vuuren (A Sunburnt Christmas) contributing in the writers' room.

Bear the Dog: A feature film from writer Stuart Beattie (Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan) about a dysfunctional wildlife ranger, Ash, who is paired up with an equally dysfunctional rescue Koolie named Bear, to help rehome koalas. With a bushfire threatening the local koala population, together they learn that the things that make them different are actually their superpowers. Beattie teams up with producer Tracey Vieira (A Perfect Pairing) and executive producers Tracey Robertson, Tracey Vieira and Nathan Mayfield who previously collaborated on Christmas on the Farm, along with executive producers Susan Cartsonis, Brent Emery and Suzanne Farwell (True Spirit).

The Border: A feature film from writer/director Eryk Lenartowicz and writer Yvette Underwood, whose short film Dots screened at Cannes Film Festival in 2018. The Border is a dark comedy set in a dystopian, over-populated city surrounded by a forest inhabited by a terrifying creature that feeds off human sacrifices. In a world where population is strictly controlled and unsanctioned procreation is punishable by death, hopeless romantic Matylda discovers that she is unlawfully pregnant after an awkward one-night stand with Vincent. They are forced to make a choice between the rules of the city and the creature in forest. The Border will be produced by Virginia Whitwell and Nick Batzias of Good Thing Productions (Nude Tuesday).

Two Nations: A feature film inspired by the true story of journalism's most audacious sting. A small town Australian dog food entrepreneur is recruited as a fake pro-gun lobbyist to infiltrate the world's most powerful gun lobby, the NRA. This grounded, comedic thriller is the story of one man searching for a purpose, one nation understanding how much dirty money is in its political system, and how two nations are irrevocably intertwined. This film is written and directed by Trent O'Donnell (No Activity), produced by Jungle Entertainment with Bridget Callow-Wright (Big Deal) a producer on the project and Jason Burrows (Wakefield) as executive producer.

Wildflowers: The second feature film from writer/director Thomas Wilson-White (The Greenhouse) about Will Beckett, a listless wallflower, who takes a job as an assistant on an international period film shooting in Tasmania and falls into a love affair with the famous male lead. Losing themselves in a gentle and profound romance, the lines between fact and fiction blur and both men are confronted with reality when their time together abruptly comes to an end. Anna Seifert-Speck (Ammonite) is on board as script editor.

The Outrageously Fabulous World of Terry Logan: An eight-part television series about smart, funny 14-year-old Terry Logan who is out and proud at school but is bullied mercilessly for it. Terry finds the courage to face up to a world of bullies with his very own brand of outrageous fabulousness. This dramedy is created and w
LINK: https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2022/08-15-scr...
See more stories from screenaustralia

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

08/07/2026

Aqueduct Racetrack Goes Silent

The end of the Big A' marks the demise of one more iconic sports venue and its signature sound After 132 years as one of the preeminent horse-racing track...

08/07/2026

Memphis Athletics, Learfield Continue Long-Term Partnership

Memphis Athletics and Learfield have signed a long-term renewal to their 25-year relationship, which sees Learfield's Tiger Sports Properties continue repre...

08/07/2026

T-Mobile Brings ABS Challenge System, 5G Batting Practice Cams to 2026 MLB All-Star Game in Philadelphia

MLB All-Star Week returns to Philadelphia for the first time in 30 years as Amer...

08/07/2026

SVG Enterprise Launches Inaugural Enterprise Video Summit, Oct. 19 in New York

Former Wall Street Video event expanded to include all Enterprise sectors SVG Enterprise has announced the inaugural Enterprise Video Summit, taking place Oct....

08/07/2026

Wrigley Field Revamp: Chicago Cubs Upgrade LED Videoboards To Match New 1080p Control Room

An offseason project enhanced eight video displays around the venue in time for ...

08/07/2026

A Beacon on Biscayne Bay: Miami Heat Reflect on Ambitious Renovation at SVG Venues & Teams Summit

Kaseya Center has a ton of new features that weren't available to the indust...

08/07/2026

FIPRESCI Establishes Jury at Sundance Film Festival

The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) and the Sundance Film Festival are pleased to announce the establishment of a FIPRESCI jury beginning wi...

08/07/2026

Universal Audio introduce Black Box HG-2 & elysia karacter

Latest analogue-emulation plug-ins revealed Universal Audio have just added two new analogue-emulation plug-ins to their DSP-powered UAD line-up. Developed ...

08/07/2026

Pitch Innovations release Loop2Kit

Turn any audio loop into a playable kit Pitch Innovations have recently introduced an interesting new tool that's capable of creating playable kits from...

08/07/2026

MonkeyC update Rando sampler plug-in

Adds new keyboard-split function MonkeyC have recently launched an update that overhauls their powerful software sampler. Described as the sampler that mad...

08/07/2026

Strymon unveil the TimeLine MX

Four new delay algorithms & dual-engine functionality Strymon have just announced that the much-anticipated MX version of their hugely popular delay pedal i...

08/07/2026

Well over half of Australia have tuned in to watch the FIFA World Cup on SBS

Well over half of Australia have tuned in to watch the FIFA World Cup on SBS 7 July, 2026 Media releases Australia's Round of 32 match against Egypt a...

08/07/2026

SBS and Koorie Heritage Trust announce three-year partnership to celebrate First Nations cultures and communities

SBS and Koorie Heritage Trust announce three-year partnership to celebrate First...

08/07/2026

Rohde & Schwarz and China Mobile Research Institute jointly demonstrate generative AI user experience testing

Rohde & Schwarz and China Mobile Research Institute jointly demonstrate generati...

08/07/2026

Fox TV Stations Bypass Satellite for Live Game Show Run

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/07/2026

Fox Television Stations Extreme Reach and LTN Bring Live...

Collaboration demonstrates how managed IP distribution and cloud-based syndication workflows can support live television at national scale Fox Television Stati...

08/07/2026

New ARRI ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme camera seamlessly delivers up to 8x HFR via SDI for live productions

New ARRI ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme camera seamlessly delivers up to 8x HFR via SDI fo...

08/07/2026

Did You Know? Redshift for Cinema 4D: The Power of the Distance Node

Did You Know? Redshift for Cinema 4D: The Power of the Distance Node Marc Potocnik July 8, 2026 0 Comments The Did You Know? Redshift for Cinema 4D ...

08/07/2026

LARA Wizard Touchpanel gets major configuration upgrade

Lightware is introducing the biggest update yet to the LARA Wizard Touchpanel configuration experience, designed to help integrators work faster while deliverin...

08/07/2026

DMC Production Reimagines Live OB with Calrec

DMC Production has turned to Calrec in its quest to redefine outside broadcasting with a flexible approach to live production that reverse engineers the convent...

08/07/2026

FCC Probe of 'The View' Racks Up 77,611 Comments

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/07/2026

NAB Releases New Radio and TV Station Self-Inspection Guides

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/07/2026

Ross Production Services Standardizes on Clear-Com Intercom Systems

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/07/2026

Reel FX Animation Adopts Foundrys Flix on Doctor Dolittle...

Foundry today announced that Reel FX Animation Studios has adopted Flix to standardize their pipeline and streamline processes across departments. Flix is a vis...

08/07/2026

The right team. The right time.' How The Killings at Parrish Station stuck to their creative guns

The right team. The right time.' How The Killings at Parrish Station stuck t...

08/07/2026

Australians in Film and Screen Australia launch FUTURE VISION Forward to elevate Australian television to the global stage

Australians in Film and Screen Australia launch FUTURE VISION Forward to elevate...

08/07/2026

RT to air award-winning documentary TESTIMONY

Film follows the courageous fight for justice by survivors of Ireland's Magdalene Laundries & Mother and Baby Homes TESTIMONY airs Wednesday 22 July at 9...

08/07/2026

NVIDIA Nemotron Achieves Benchmark-Leading Performance With LangChain Deep Agents Harness

NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Ultra is offering leading performance at lower cost than top c...

07/07/2026

Open call: Apply for the Media Innovation Europe Validation Booster

Applications are now open for the Validation Booster, a six-month acceleration programme supporting journalists, media organisations, content creators, media in...

07/07/2026

HAND Issues Persistent Digital IDs to 50 Top 2026 MLB Draft Prospects

The Universal Talent Identifier (HAND) has issued HAND IDs to 50 top prospects ahead of the 2026 MLB Draft, including consensus top-ranked players Roch Cholowsk...

07/07/2026

Cisco and McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team Extend Technology Partnership

Cisco and the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team have announced an extension of their partnership, expanding the scope from networking and communications to incl...

07/07/2026

LucidLink Announces Enhanced Integration with Adobe Frame.io

LucidLink has announced a workflow integration with Adobe Frame.io that gives production teams unified access to Frame.io projects alongside supporting producti...

07/07/2026

Chyron Appoints Ahmed Magd as Middle East Sales Director

Chyron has announced the appointment of Ahmed Magd as Sales Director for the Middle East. Magd joins from previous senior commercial roles at Riedel Communicati...

07/07/2026

Leader Electronics T&M Equipment Used in Live Broadcast of Pope Leo XIVs Visit to Sagrada Famlia

Leader Electronics of Europe has announced that its PHABRIX Qx rasterizer and Le...

07/07/2026

eCLUTCH Secures EMEA and MENA Broadcast Rights for Esports World Cup 2026

eCLUTCH has announced it has acquired broadcast rights to the Esports World Cup 2026 for EMEA and MENA, covering the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans, Sweden, a...

07/07/2026

Riedel and ARRI Support Cinematic Live Production at Eurovision Song Contest 2026

Riedel Communications and ARRI supported ORF's host broadcast of the Eurovis...

07/07/2026

ARRI Releases ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme With High-Frame-Rate SDI Output for Live Production

ARRI has announced the ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme, a camera that adds high frame rate ...

07/07/2026

IBC 2026: LiveU To Exhibit With LU900Q, Sony Integration, EcoSystem Expansion

LiveU will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 7.C24), showcasing the LU900Q Intelligent Production Unit, expanded Sony collaboration, and additions to its open IP-video...

07/07/2026

Peacock Advances Spanish-Language World Cup Streaming With Visin de Campo, Dolby Vision, Real-Time Highlights

Telemundo's coverage is packaged with Multiview, Catch Up with Key Plays, in...

07/07/2026

Australian Rugby League Commission Secures $5.3 Billion Media Rights Deal with Foxtel, Nine, and Sky NZ

The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) has announced a seven-year media r...

07/07/2026

BYUtv Partners With Big 12 for Football Media Days Production

Produced onsite at The Star in Frisco, TX, live coverage of the two-day event airs on ESPN platforms The season for Football Media Days is here, and the Big ...

07/07/2026

Rogers To Become 100% Owner of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment

Rogers Communications Inc. has announced an agreement to acquire the remaining 25% ownership stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) from Kilmer Spo...

07/07/2026

Mobile TV Groups Nick Garvin on Success of MTVG Production Platform at New Mountain Media Center

End-to-end broadcast solution includes fleet of mobile units, Cloud Control, and...

07/07/2026

SVG Executive Perspectives 2026: Industry Leaders Discuss Biz and Tech Trends for the Year Ahead

Sports-production-tech experts sound off on the state of the industry...

07/07/2026

Mix Buddy instrument mixer from Heritage Audio

New mixer aimed squarely at instrument-level sources Heritage Audio have clearly been busy recently, as alongside their all-new Tubestrip, they've also ...

07/07/2026

Heritage Audio unveil the Tubestrip

New channel strip combines popular hardware designs The latest arrival to the Heritage Audio line-up brings together a selection of their praised hardware d...

07/07/2026

Clear-Com Powers Ross Production Services Mobile Productions

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......