26 07 2021 - Media release Screen Australia announces development funding for 28 drama projects
Comedy duo Hot Department are developing online series HOME
Screen Australia has announced 12 feature films, 13 television dramas and three online projects will share in $975,000 of Story Development funding.
The projects include a television series inspired by the 1999 film Two Hands from director Gregor Jordan, and a family feature film from the producers of Bluey called Staycation.
Screen Australia's Head of Development Nerida Moore said, Screen Australia is really proud to be supporting this impressive mix of projects. This includes fresh genre-bending comedies HOME and Our Haunt, and beautiful romantic drama 10 Moments that will bring together 10 chapters from a great team of exciting creative voices. It's also wonderful to support more children's content with Big Serious Studios' Goo Zoo set to invite children into the world of microbiology as part of the company's aims to deliver more STEM content for kids.
This slate is the final development funding awarded in the 2020/21 financial year. During this period Screen Australia received 397 Story Development applications across the Premium and Generate Funds. In the last 12 months, Screen Australia has provided funds to a total of 83 projects out of a pool of 387 projects that were creatively assessed. This included 45 through the Generate Fund for lower budget projects, and 36 through the Premium Fund for higher budget projects from established creators. There were also two projects funded through the Premium Plus Fund for critical late-stage development funding to high-budget projects with firm market interest that were impacted by COVID-19 (note this fund closed in July 2020).
Moore continued, One year on it's great to see the success of projects that we were able to support during the initial impacts of COVID-19 through our Premium Plus Fund, including The Newsreader which is set to air on the ABC next month and New Gold Mountain which is coming to SBS later this year.
The latest projects funded for development include:
10 Moments: An anthology feature film telling the love story of Chris and Ben, two very different men who have a special connection. Ten key moments, from when they first meet through the years that follow, will be brought to the screen by 10 different writer/directors across a range of genres. The creative team currently includes writer/directors Neil Triffett (EMO The Musical), Roger Monk (The Unusual Suspects), Adrian Chiarella (Black Lips) and Brendon McDonall (The Dam). The film will be produced by Michael McMahon (Cut Snake) and Mat Govoni (Lone Wolf) and executive produced by Tony Ayres (Clickbait).
Goo Zoo: A 26-part animated children's series set in a petri dish, in a world populated by microbes. Following the fun and wacky adventures of Tina the Amoeba, this television series from Big Serious Studios will bring to life an amazing microscopic world. Goo Zoo will be directed by Charlotte Rose Hamlyn (Kangaroo Beach) and David Peers (Happy Feet 2). Hamlyn will also write alongside Bruce Griffiths (Spongo, Fuzz & Jalapena), Maria Lewis and Roshelle Fong, with ARIA Award-winning band Art Vs Science lending their musical talents. The series will be produced by Katrina Peers (Legend of the Guardians).
HOME: An eight-part series written by Patrick Durnan Silva and Honor Wolff of award-winning comedy duo Hot Department (featured on At Home Alone Together). HOME is a comedy series inspired by the classic 90's sitcom, set in an absurd and elastic universe. Whiplashing through a mixture of odd, horrendous and hilarious scenarios and characters, The Funkles nuclear family is pushed to the verge of implosion. HOME will be directed by Hot Department director Liam Fitzgibbon, and executive produced by Jono Mastrippolito (A Life in Questions: Wisdom School with Aaron Chen).
Our Haunt: An eight-part television series about a hapless couple who buy an old Surry Hills terrace to do it up, but instead find their haunted house wants to do them in. Unable to afford to leave, they re forced to become bumbling investigators of the previous occupants murders - flashing back to the counter-culture 70s and razor-gang 20s. This horror-dramedy series will be written, directed and produced by Daniel Reisinger whose 2018 series Sideswiped, featuring the likes of Jason Sudeikis, has gained over 50 million views online. The creative team also features writer/directors Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke whose credits include Haunting Of Bly Manor and Cargo, as well as Romina Accurso (The Heights).
Remembrance: An interactive virtual reality (VR) project that will allow audiences to explore the memories of a shell-shocked World War I veteran, in a quest to find the source of his repressed trauma. This project sees writer/director Anna Brady team up again with producer Lester Francois, whose 2018 VR project RONE screened at South By Southwest Festival and Cannes NEXT.
Staycation: A family feature film from the producers of Bluey which follows the dysfunctional Moore family, whose dream holiday is cancelled so they try to survive their summer break at home on a staycation'. Tempted by the luxuries of the rich Smith family across the road, they begin living at their neighbours' house and impersonating the Smiths. But they soon discover the other family are under witness protection. The creative team features writer/director Daley Pearson (Bluey), writers Donick Cary (Parks and Recreation) and Kim Huffman Cary, and producer Charlie Aspinwall (Bluey).
Two Hands (working title): An action-charged comic revenge thriller for television inspired by Gregor Jordan's 1999 feature film of the same name. Writer/director Jordan (Ned Kelly) is developing the series with writers Melissa Bubnic (Shameless
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
29/05/2026
Experimental HIV vaccine achieves a long-sought goal In a first for the field, all non-human primates given a new series of vaccines generated antibodies capabl...
28/05/2026
Thomsons Climate Crisis Toolkit is already being put to work, helping journalist...
28/05/2026
FOX Sports' MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy ...
28/05/2026
One of the most memorable postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
26 07 2021 - Media release Screen Australia announces development funding for 28 drama projects 
