Screen Australia announces over $17 million to be invested in 23 projects
18/07/2018
New Network 10 drama series Playing For Keeps
Six films, ten television series and seven online productions have received production investment from Screen Australia, totalling well over $17 million. Collectively the projects represent over $142 million in production across the country. The slate includes a movie adaption of Jane Harper's international hit novel The Dry to be directed by veteran filmmaker Robert Connolly and produced by Bruna Papandrea's (Big Little Lies) Made Up Stories. Plus fan-favourite Wyrmwood is set to terrify audiences anew with a virtual reality short film.
Aquarius Films (Lion, Berlin Syndrome) will make the move into children's television with the ABC tween series The Unlisted, and the team behind international award winning film 52 Tuesdays will create a new four-part SBS drama titled The Hunt. Also for SBS, Since 1788 Productions and Queensland's Ludo Studio have received funding to create online Indigenous-led comedy series Robbie Hood with Dylan River (Black Chook, Finke) attached to direct. 10 year Beached Aziversary, the third series of the online sensation Beached Az will go into production for the ABC from the creative team behind Bondi Hipsters.
This slate represents the most money we have ever invested in adult TV drama in a single round. Indeed in the ten years Screen Australia has been operating, the near $20m we have invested in adult TV drama in the 2017/18 financial year is an all-time record, said Graeme Mason, CEO of Screen Australia.
It truly is a remarkable time for Australian television, and it is clear local broadcasters and streaming services see our local stories as their point of difference in an incredibly crowded marketplace. Many of the titles in this round have the makings of returnable series, representing potentially years of work for not only the creative teams, but for the hundreds of cast and crew that it takes to get these stories to screens.
We don't have to look far for a case study of what Australian drama can deliver, with the critically acclaimed Mystery Road TV series having the highest video play measurement* on ABC iview for any drama since data capture began. What's more, Foxtel's Picnic at Hanging Rock is case in point that it's not just Australians that want our stories, with the global marketplace hungry for quality content. The cultural, creative and commercial dividends are clear.
Also in this slate we're thrilled to see Maziar Lahooti (Below) and Natalie Erika James (Relic) making their directorial debuts on new features. Interest in producing premium online content continues to increase, and it's certainly a space we're looking to support emerging talent to take creative risks.
Funded television drama projects include:
Streaming service Stan has commissioned its next original series titled Bloom. This supernatural 6 x 60 minute drama will be produced alongside Playmaker Media and written by Glen Dolman (High Life) with John Curran (Chappaquiddick, Tracks) directing. The series will centre on a small Victorian country town recently devastated by flood. When a strange plant appears that has the power to restore youth, the rejuvenated townsfolk must face the consequences of their new found youth and amend their deepest life regret. Film Victoria are invested in the production.
The Kates' (McCartney and McLennan) will return to the ABC with a second season of their satirical morning television show Get Krack!n. Produced by Tamasin Simpkin and Antje Kulpe, and executive produced by Token's Kevin Whyte (Please Like Me, Rosehaven, The Katering Show), season two of the series will be 8 x 25 minutes and continue to build on its commitment to encourage diversity in the writers room. Film Victoria are also on board to support the second season.
Rebecca Summerton and Sophie Hyde, the producer and directing duo behind Closer Productions have teamed up with a new drama series for SBS, The Hunt. The series will be Closer Productions' first long form television drama project with Sophie Hyde directing and Matthew Cormack (52 Tuesdays) and Niki Aken (The Secret Daughter) on board to write. The 4 x 54 minute female-centric drama centres on two high school teachers who discover students are sharing explicit photos of their underage friends and peers a revelation that puts unbearable stress on the tightly woven lives of four teenagers and their families. South Australian Film Corporation has also invested in the series.
Network Ten alongside the experienced television production company Screentime are set to bring audiences the juicy new 8 x 46 minute drama series Playing for Keeps. The plot is set to follow the male-dominated world of a football club where the real power is with the women. The creative team including writers Claire Phillips and Christine Bartlett are experienced in creating strong female-led dramas having worked on successful series Offspring and The Wrong Girl. Film Victoria have also invested in the production.
Aquarius Films (Lion, Berlin Syndrome) will make their foray into children's television with the highly anticipated tween series, The Unlisted. This 15 x 26 minute series, created by Justine Flynn, has a team of nine writers including Mithila Gupta, Timothy Lee, Tristram Baumber, Jane Allen and Greg Waters. Confirmed directors include Rhys Graham and Corrie Chen. This highly experienced team aim to create a smart action series for children.
A further four television projects were also approved and will be announced later this month.
An additional children's program Spongo, Fuzz and Jalape a also received completion funding.
Approved television drama blocklines can be found here
Approved children's television
LINK: | https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2018/07-18-scr... |
See more stories from screenaustralia |
Asia, Australia & Oceanic Stories
22/04/2024
SBS marks Earth Day with Australian TV milestone as The Cook Up with Adam Liaw becomes first show to measure its carbon footprint
SBS marks Earth Day with Australian TV milestone as The Cook Up with Adam Liaw b...
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...