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 ...

09/10/2026

nxtedition makes A B I S debut in Mumbai

nxtedition will exhibit for the first time at Asias Broadcasting & Infotainment Show (A.B.I.S) in Mumbai, bringing its integrated production platform and latest...

09/10/2026

Today's AI Isn't the Answer

Today's AI Isn't the Answer Andy Marken October 8, 2026 0 Comments Let's say you're telling the truth, and this is all a dream. - Do...

09/10/2026

Ikegami to Introduce New UHK-X700VN Camera at NAB New York, Offering Advanced Creative Features

Ikegami to Introduce New UHK-X700VN Camera at NAB New York, Offering Advanced Cr...

09/10/2026

ATSC Members Approve B2X Candidate Standard

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/10/2026

Davicom Has a New Owner

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/10/2026

Clear-Com Scales Up Communications for Rock in Rio

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/10/2026

Hippos, meerkats and dolphins, oh my! Season 12 of The Zoo returns to RT One and RT Player Monday 12 October

Witness world firsts, new arrivals and the work that goes on behind the scenes a...

09/10/2026

Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026

September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026 New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...

08/10/2026

Life Safety, Part 2: From Noise to Nice: The Evolution of Speech Intelligibility in Stadium Sound

Modern venues have come a long way since the tinny, echoing audio of the mid 20t...

08/10/2026

ESPN's First Super Bowl Adds Disney+ to U.S. Distribution Mix

ESPN's first Super Bowl production will stream in English and Spanish on Disney+, while the ESPN App carries the full slate of game, ManningCast, studio, an...

08/10/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Addison McGhee, Auburn University

From high-school videoboards to War Eagle Productions, the Opelika native is learning how to lead shows and capture big moments The future of live sports produ...

08/10/2026

Prime Video to Become Exclusive Global Home of Emmy Awards Beginning in 2027

The Television Academy and Prime Video have announced a six-year agreement making Prime Video the exclusive global home of the Emmy Awards beginning with the 20...

08/10/2026

Techex to Demonstrate Hybrid Satellite and IP Delivery Platform at NAB Show New York

Techex will exhibit at NAB Show New York 2026 (Booth 623, Javits Center, October...

08/10/2026

X Games Appoints Steve Rogers as Chief Operating Officer

X Games has announced the appointment of Steve Rogers as Chief Operating Officer. Rogers previously served as COO of World Supercross and spent nearly a decade ...

08/10/2026

Fonn Group Appoints Trevor Spielmann as Sales Director, DACH

Fonn Group has appointed Trevor Spielmann as Sales Director for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Spielmann joins from EVS, where he held sales and business de...

08/10/2026

Perfect Game Introduces New Studio Show on the Road With Launch of PG Central

The flagship program will originate from major PG events with a four-camera production, live distribution across PGTV, social platforms Perfect Game is bringin...

08/10/2026

Uplynk White Paper: The IP Convergence Framework for Distribution

Innovation rarely happens in a vacuum. More often, it happens at the point of collision: when worlds that have run on separate tracks begin to converge. That is...

08/10/2026

Gravity Media Op-Ed: Gravity Media's Next Act - From Service Provider to Strategic Content Partner

For decades, the production and broadcast services business has run on a familia...

08/10/2026

Uplynk, Zixi, BroadView Software, and Grass Valley Publish Satellite-to-IP Distribution Framework

Uplynk, Zixi, BroadView Software, and Grass Valley have published The IP Converg...

08/10/2026

NFL Announces Ninth Annual Big Data Bowl Powered by AWS

The NFL has announced the return of the Big Data Bowl, the league's analytics competition, now in its ninth year and again powered by AWS. Registration is o...

08/10/2026

Eutelsat Renews Partnership with Tldiffusion dAlgrie on EUTELSAT 7 West A

Eutelsat has renewed its partnership with T l diffusion d'Alg rie (TDA), Algeria's national broadcasting network operator, for continued distribution of...

08/10/2026

Disney+ to Stream Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027

Disney will livestream Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027, alongside the game's broadcast on ESPN and ABC. All Disney subscribers in the United States wi...

08/10/2026

RHStv to Stream Clemson vs. Coastal Carolina Baseball at Myrtle Beach Fall Showdown

RHStv and Red House Streaming have announced an expansion of their partnership w...

08/10/2026

Gray Media to Simulcast 15 Timberwolves Games Free Over-the-Air in Minnesota and Wisconsin

Gray Media has announced a distribution agreement with TEGNA and DAZN to simulca...

08/10/2026

SMPTE Media Technology Summit Returns to Pasadena Nov. 16-19; Get 10% Off With SVG Promo Code

SVG readers can save 10% on registration and receive a complimentary Solutions H...

08/10/2026

PROTON Camera Innovations Named Recipient of 2026 Technology and Engineering Emmy for FPV Drone Systems

PROTON Camera Innovations GmbH has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology a...

08/10/2026

Silver Lining: Sharing Tales From the Trenches of Cloud-Based Production with NBC Sports, MLB, NHL, and Warner Bros. Discovery

Industry leaders discuss real-world cloud workflows for live game production, pl...

08/10/2026

Dolby Atmos Coming to Formula 1 on Apple TV Beginning with 2026 U.S. Grand Prix

The next-gen audio technology joins Dolby Vision as part of Apple TV's immersive F1 experience...

08/10/2026

Free Leonard Peltier Proves That the Fight for Justice Is Just Beginning

David France, Jesse Short Bull, Mato Wayuhi, N. Bird Runningwater, Jodi Archambau, Jhane Myers, Paul McGuire, Amber Morning Star Byars, Holly Macarro, Nick Tils...

08/10/2026

Sound Particles update Energy Panner 2 & Brightness Panner 2

Dynamic panning plug-ins get an upgrade Sound Particles have just announced major updates for two of their popular dynamic panning plug-ins. Energy Panner 2...

08/10/2026

The DMNO ON from UDO Audio

New expandable instrument boasts full DMNO engine UDO Audio have just announced the upcoming release of a new, expandable synth that packs the power of the ...

08/10/2026

ADAM Audio introduce the Sub8 PRO & Sub10 PRO

Two new subwoofers added to monitoring line-up ADAM Audio's monitoring range has just been expanded with two new DSP-equipped subwoofers, the Sub8 PRO a...

08/10/2026

Clear-Com Powers Critical Communications at Rock in Rio 2026

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

08/10/2026

NAB New York 2026 Preview

Calrec gives broadcasters freedom of choice at NAB Show New York We're looking forward to meeting up with you all at NAB New York on 21st-22nd October. Cal...

08/10/2026

ESPN Unveils First Studio W Refresh

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Pay-TV Operators Ask FCC to Pause TV Station Ownership Cap Rules

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Calrec Brings New Consoles, Software to NAB Show New York

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Mediagenix Bows AI Content-Aware Scheduling

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Ikegami to Unveil UHK-X700VN Camera at NAB Show New York

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Ed McGivern Joins USSI Global as Chief Revenue Officer

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Globecast Brings Media Orchestration and C-Band Transitio...

Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, will showcase its next generation of media orchestration services at NAB S...

08/10/2026

Clear-Com Powers Critical Communications at Rock in Rio 2...

Clear-Com played a critical role in the production communications infrastructure for Rock in Rio 2026, one of the world's largest and most recognized music...

08/10/2026

Sohonet Launches ClearView Rush: A Leap Forward in Studio Review, Built for Creative Executives

Sohonet Launches ClearView Rush: A Leap Forward in Studio Review, Built for Crea...

08/10/2026

NAB Show New York Returns to Javits

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

FCC to Vote on Restrictions for Device Testing, Spectrum for D2D and Drones

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

World First' as DTM Deploys Riedel Private 5G for On-Track Coverage

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

LiveU Cranks Up Connectivity Across Tour de France

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Ikegami to Introduce New UHK-X700VN Camera at NAB New Yor...

Ikegami announces a major expansion to its range of broadcast-quality live production cameras. Scheduled for introduction on Ikegami booth 708 at NAB New York, ...