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
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
09/05/2025
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Studio Technologies said the Harvard University athletics department has integrated Dante-enabled equipment from the vendor into its broadcast ...
09/05/2025
NEW YORK ITN, a provider of a local linear supply side platform, and Magnite, a independent sell-side advertising company, have announced that they working toge...
09/05/2025
LEEDS, U.K. Nugen Audio has launched a new speech intelligibility plug-in, DialogCheck and offered up quotes from technologists working at places like Netflix p...
09/05/2025
AJA I/O Gear: The Heart of Broadcast Solutions' VEGO Mobile Editing Solution
Brie Clayton May 8, 2025
0 Comments
When working remotely on broadcas...
09/05/2025
What do they teach in an Advanced Adobe After Effects Course?
Roland Kahlenberg May 8, 2025
0 Comments
There aren't many advanced After Effects co...
09/05/2025
Larry Jordan Sits with Trevor Morgan of OpenDrives at NAB 2025
Brie Clayton May 8, 2025
0 Comments
Trevor Morgan, COO of OpenDrives, shares how the co...
09/05/2025
Berklee Popular Music Institute Announces UK Festival Debut and Tour Dates For the first time, BPMI will bring Berklee-affiliated artists and students to the ...
08/05/2025
A sinister fairy infiltrates a desperate family in Kenneth Dagatan's In My Mother's Skin, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Photo co...
08/05/2025
As expected, continued weak demand from key sales markets and declining economic...
08/05/2025
A new three-part series is coming to BBC iPlayer and BBC One
(Image: The Christie Archive Trust)
The BBC has announced Agatha Christie's Endless Night, a...
08/05/2025
For skyward-bound operators, training focuses on the unique aspects of flying ISR missions, including the management of onboard surveillance equipment and the e...
08/05/2025
The cable industry has told the Federal Communications Commission it supports the National Association of Broadcasters' proposal to allow broadcasters to us...
08/05/2025
WASHINGTON The Consumer Technology Association has continued its opposition to mandates requiring that NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0 tuners be included in new TV sets, sa...
08/05/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real time visualization, has named Paul Maroni as Vice Pres...
08/05/2025
This year's UK Pavilion in hall 5, once again managed by Tradefair, will provide visitors with the unique opportunity to discuss and be involved in cutting ...
08/05/2025
Rohde & Schwarz will showcase its latest energy-efficient transmitters and 5G Broadcast technologies, designed to support network operators and content provider...
08/05/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group has tapped Bill Nardi as vice president of station operations, responsible for overseeing the day-to-day broadcast operations ...
08/05/2025
SEATTLE LumaTouch is partnering with CNN Academy to improve mobile storytelling techniques and support training across all of CNN Academy's training simulat...
08/05/2025
WASHINGTON The Society of Broadcast Engineers has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission that support a proposal by the National Association ...
08/05/2025
Senior adviser to the United States Agency for Global Media Kari Lake has announced that One America News Network (OAN) will provide newsfeed services for fre...
08/05/2025
EdMon Expands as AI-Driven Post Production Workflows Gains Traction in Sweden an...
08/05/2025
Using Luma Mattes in Adobe Premiere Pro
Graham Quince May 7, 2025
0 Comments
This very quick tutorial shows you how to take an RGB clip and apply its ...
08/05/2025
OpenDrives Unveils Free Your Data' Initiative with New Astraeus Cloud-Nativ...
08/05/2025
Student Spotlight: Grigori Balasanyan The Armenian composer, who was named Boston Conservatory at Berklees 2025 student commencement speaker, talks about his ...
08/05/2025
08 May 2025
VEON Shareholders Re-elect Board at 2025 AGM, Founder Augie Fabela ...
08/05/2025
Comedy and entertainment channel U&Dave bring back their #1 ranked programme of ...
08/05/2025
May 8th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Unveils New Premieres Spanning Film and Music
Slick Rick's Victory with Idris Elba a...
08/05/2025
May 8th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Announces Lineup for Inaugural Storytelling Summit
11-Day Industry Event Launches with Tal...
08/05/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on AI in Workflows, Pushing Boundarie...
08/05/2025
Creating Alternative Brand Experiences: Live Sports in the Age of Fortnite, Meta...
08/05/2025
PGA TOUR's David Piccolo: Advanced Graphics and Virtual Production Tools are...
08/05/2025
Tech Focus: Advancing Immersion in Sports Broadcasting with AR and Virtual Produ...
08/05/2025
Expect even more chaos this July with Harriet Webb leading the returning cast, p...
08/05/2025
Back to All News
Now in Production: Comedy Action Film Husbands in Action'...
08/05/2025
TenneT relies on Arvato Systems for market communication
Energy industry: Impressive market communication know-how and system integration expertise
G tersloh...
08/05/2025
When Taiki Hamamoto, 22, came across a Hanafuda deck at his local game shop, he was intrigued. He had grown up playing the traditional Japanese card game with f...
08/05/2025
The Liveline is now open , said Joe Duffy earlier today, as he previewed this af...
08/05/2025
RT , in association with the BBC, Screen Ireland and Cineflix Rights has reveale...
08/05/2025
Artificial intelligence is helping identify and treat diseases faster with better results for humankind. Natural disasters like wildfires are next.
Fires in th...
08/05/2025
Calling all wiseguys - 2K's acclaimed Mafia franchise is available to stream...
08/05/2025
As AI use cases continue to expand - from document summarization to custom software agents - developers and enthusiasts are seeking faster, more flexible ways t...
07/05/2025
Discovering music should feel effortless and fun. That's why Spotify continu...
07/05/2025
SBS and NITV mark National Reconciliation Week with compelling premieres recogni...
07/05/2025
SBS commences search for a new Western Sydney production hub location
7 May, 2025
Media releases
SBS has today launched a Request for Expressions of Intere...
07/05/2025
Warsaw, Poland - April 28, 2025 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, has released its latest March All Screens Video Landscap...
07/05/2025
LONDON Movie fans hoping to save money by waiting until their favorite new films appear on streaming services will have to wait a bit longer now, according to a...
07/05/2025
MECCA, Saudi Arabia Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA) has selected Grass Valley to provide a major technology upgrade of its broadcast facility here....
07/05/2025
Sony and Nevion provide guidance on IP network architecture options for live pro...
23 11 2023 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $900,000 in development funding for 31 projects 
