23 11 2023 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $900,000 in development funding for 31 projects
Wishes
Screen Australia has announced 18 feature films, 10 television dramas, two online projects and one virtual reality (VR) project that will share in over $900,000 of story development funding.
Among the funded projects are children's animation series Wishes, following five-year-old girl Lucy and her young Guardian-creature Kino; feature film Dust from the playwright of the critically acclaimed Prima Facie, Suzie Miller; the latest comedy/drama series from Celeste Barber, Codependent; and the second iteration of acclaimed virtual reality series, Lustration 2.0.
Included in this slate are 16 projects that have been supported through the Generate Fund, 13 through the Premium Fund and two through the Online Development Fund.
Screen Australia Head of Development Bobby Romia said, This diverse slate of projects reflects a rich tapestry of creativity, from animated family adventures to thought-provoking dramas. It presents a wealth of opportunities to showcase and nurture the incredible talent we have here in Australia.
We're committed to continuing our drive to invest in ambitious, quality content for audiences far and wide and I'm excited to see these teams transform their visions into compelling narratives, said Romia.
The projects funded for development include:
Codependent: An eight-part comedy/drama that follows marriage counsellor Darcy (Celeste Barber), a total romantic who lives in a beautiful coastal Australian town and is fully entrenched in her tight-knit community. But Darcy is forced to face her own relationship demons when her husband leaves her for someone new - untangling 15 years' worth of an intertwined life while continuing to share empathetic nods with her troubled clients. Attached is writer/producer Celeste Barber and writer Belinda King whose credits include Wellmania, with Alexandra Keddie (The Housemate) producing.
Dust: From Bunya Productions and playwright of the critically acclaimed Prima Facie Suzie Miller, Dust is a feature film set during an environmental crisis on the day a strong wind completely covers Perth with a massive red dust cloud - triggering a wakeup call that forces a group of individuals to look in new directions, grappling with the core of what matters most. The film positions itself as a look into how humanity deals with chaos, how we navigate vulnerability and how it is in reaching toward each other that we find the essence of our humanity. Dust is from director John Sheedy (H is for Happiness, Runt), writer Suzie Miller (Prima Facie play) and producers Greer Simpkin and David Jowsey, whose credits include Limbo.
Lustration 2.0: This six-part VR drama fantasy series is a follow-up to the critically acclaimed Lustration VR series. This second iteration follows Bardolph and Gallus, who are two protectors of The Between, a realm where the dead go in order to cleanse or lustrate' themselves before crossing over to pure happiness. But when an evil target slips through their grasp, everyone and everything in The Afterlife begins to unravel. Lustration 2.0 is from writer/director/executive producer Ryan Griffen (Lustration, Cleverman), writer Hannah Belanszky, producer Carolina Sorensen (I m Wanita) and executive producers Nathan Anderson (Lustration, Awake: Episode One), Wolfgang Bylsma (Lustration) and Wadooah Wali.
Matriarch: In this horror feature film, self-made woman Connie (29) moves into her husband Calvin s (35) traditionalist Chinese family home for the third trimester of her pregnancy. As cultural differences and tensions rise surrounding the impending birth of her son, Connie finds herself at the centre of a demented ritual to appease an ancient and decrepit god. Matriarch is co-written and directed by Jayden Rathsam Hua (Sushi Noh, The Key of B) and co-written and produced by Ivy Mak (Swift Street, Sydney Sleuthers).
Metal Fish Falling Snow: A feature film based on Cath Moore's award-winning novel follows the story of 12-year-old neurodiverse Dylan, who is driven across the Australian outback to live with her Grandfather William when her adored mother dies suddenly. Accompanied on her journey by her mother's boyfriend Pat, along the way Dylan struggles with what it means to be of colour, and must confront her fears and falsehoods about the skin she is in. Metal Fish Falling Snow is a drama and magic realism film directed/produced by Olivia Peniston-Bird and written/produced by Cath Moore, whose credits include Graceful Girls and Sister Song.
Pick Up: From Kindling Pictures and inspired by a true story, Pick Up follows Koen, a musician on the cusp of fame, battling a chronic illness. Introduced to fecal transplants, he begins an intense daily poo pick up from strangers. As his life grows increasingly public, Koen struggles to maintain his donors expectations while navigating the bizarre world of bodily waste, upon which his health now depends. Pick Up is an eight-part series about the intricate dance of transaction and intimacy, the complexities of falling in love and the daily demands of a chronic illness. Pick Up is created, written and directed by Taylor Ferguson, whose credits include Fake and Year Of. Emelyne Palmer and Imogen Banks (Fake, Safe Home) are producing and executive producing respectively.
Senescence: This eight-part science fiction series follows ambitious 26-year-old dropout Mia as she gets caught in a battle whilst trying to save her mother from a degenerative illness. Senescence is written, directed and produced by Madeleine Parry (The Angels: Kickin Down the Door), written by Maddison Connaughton and produced by Peter Hanlon (The Angels: Kickin Down the Door). Joan Sauers is attached as script editor.
What I Like About Me: This romantic comedy young adult film is
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
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...
15/06/2026
Detach from Direct-Attached: How Remote Editing with EVO Keeps Creative Teams Mo...
14/06/2026
Library captures 1960s R&B/pop drum sound
Following on from their recent wave of plug-in effects, Iconic Instruments have just launched an all-new virtual d...
14/06/2026
HBO Comedy Rooster Shot with URSA Cine 17K 65
Brie Clayton June 14, 2026
0 Comments
Large format brings viewers intimately close to characters.
Black...
13/06/2026
Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets
Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...
13/06/2026
Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts
MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
23 11 2023 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $900,000 in development funding for 31 projects 
