Spies, rills and Blinky Bill: Screen Australia funding supports anr great stories at matter

In its latest round of production investment, Screen Australia today announced funding of more than $12 million for 12 projects, which will generate over $80 million worth of production.

From popular adaptations and classic favourites, to innovative original content, this funding round supports a true breadth and depth of Australian storytelling talent across all forms of narrative content, said Screen Australia Head of Production Sally Caplan.

We have backed some of our great contemporary writers, directors and producers, alongside some exciting new voices. The projects target audiences as diverse as Australia is today, with projects which are ambitious, risk-taking and culturally important, revealing we have no shortage of great stories to tell. Who could resist Blinky Bill, the story of music biz legend Molly Meldrum and a neo cold-war thriller set in Canberra?

TV drama Secret City is based on the best-selling novel The Marmalade Files and upcoming sequel The Mandarin Code. Set amidst rising tension between China and America, the six-part series follows Helen, a political journalist, who uncovers a conspiracy which leads her into the underground world of political deception with deadly consequences. From Matchbox Pictures, the political thriller will be adapted for screen by writers Belinda Chayko, Matt Cameron, Marieke Hardy, Alice Addison, Tommy Murphy, Kris Mrksa and Greg Waters, and producer Joanna Werner (Dance Academy) for Foxtel.

An old favourite will be revived in The Blinky Bill Movie. From Greenpatch Productions, the film will reacquaint old and engage new audiences with the iconic Australian koala. The big-screen adaptation follows Blinky (Ryan Kwanten), as he sets out to find his missing father and gathers friends, Nutsy and Jacko, along the way. Written by Fin Edquist, produced by Barbara Stephen and directed by Deane Taylor, the film presents cultural qualities that will introduce a modern version of this Australian children's literary icon whose legacy extends back to the 1930s.

Original children's television series My Life in 50 Words or Less from Big Chance Films follows five Indigenous kids venturing a long way from home to the city to pursue their dreams. For the ABC, the 14-part series will be written by Liz Doran, Jon Bell, Nakkiah Lui, Josh Mapleston and Kristen Dunphy, produced by Joanna Werner and Miranda Dear, and directed by Rachel Perkins.

Also appealing to a youth audience and based on the award-winning animated television series of the same name comes Dogstar: Christmas in Space from Media World Pictures for the Nine Network. The Christmas adventure telemovie will be written by Philip Dalkin and Doug MacLeod, produced by Colin South, and directed by Scott Vanden Bosch.

Theatrical documentary The Guadagnini Project, by writer/director Scott Hicks (Shine) and producer Kerry Heysen from Fiddlestick Films, journeys into a world of rarefied musical instruments and the dealers, philanthropists and musicians who seek them out.

Molly is a television drama based on the life of well-known Australian music aficionado Ian Molly' Meldrum. From M4 Entertainment with writers Matt Cameron and Liz Doran, producers John Molloy and director Kevin Carlin, this two-part telemovie will explore the humble beginnings of Molly's life from Quambatook to his rise to become one of the most powerful names in Australian music. It will screen on the Seven Network.

Also for the small screen, four-part series telemovie The Principal is a gritty drama revolving around a high school in Sydney's tough south-west. From Essential Media & Entertainment for SBS, the program will be written by Kristen Dunphy and Alice Addison, produced by Ian Collie and directed by Kriv Stenders (Red Dog).

From Goalpost Pictures and New Zealand's Pukeko Pictures comes a unique six-part high-concept genre series for the ABC. This innovative science-fiction television series, Project CM (working title), follows two estranged Indigenous brothers at a crossroads and a community struggling to co-exist with non-human creatures living among them. The series is a New Zealand and Australian co-production, written by Jon Bell, Jonathan Gavin and Michael Miller, and produced by Rosemary Blight with Ryan Griffen, Lauren Edwards and Angela Littlejohn.

Lightstream Pictures will receive funding for the feature thriller 2:22, about Dylan Boyd, an air traffic controller whose life is derailed following a series of uncanny events all taking place at 2:22pm, which threaten the life of the woman he loves. Paul Currie will write, produce and direct the film, along with writer Todd Stein and producer Steve Hutensky.

Acclaimed theatre writer/director Simon Stone makes his feature debut, with producers Jan Chapman and Nicole O'Donohue, on The Daughter, about a man who returns home to uncover a long-buried family secret, and while attempting to right the wrongs of the past, his actions threaten to shatter the lives of those he left behind years before. The film stars Geoffrey Rush and Ewen Leslie.

Writer/director Abraham Forsythe and producers Jodi Matterson and Ben Latham-Jones will be funded for the feature film Down Under. From Eddie Wong Films with Ealing Studios and Londinium, the comedy is set during the Cronulla race riots.

Completion funds will be provided to Ticket to Ride for their project The Little Death, from writer/director Josh Lawson and producers Jamie Hilton, Michael Petroni and Matt Reeder. The film is a funny and candid story about the secret sex lives of ordinary people.

FEATURE FILMS: PRODUCTION FUNDING

2:22

Lightstream Pictures Pty Ltd

Producers Paul Currie, Steve Hutensky

Executive Producers Bruce Davey, David Whealy, Bill Mechanic, Jackie O'Sullivan

Director Paul Currie

Writers Todd Stein, Paul Currie

Australian Distributor Icon Film Distribution

Internati

LINK:	http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/news_and_events/2014/mr_140806_drama...
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