Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Screen Australia announces development funding for 42 projects

05/08/2020

05 08 2020 - Media release Screen Australia announces development funding for 42 projects

Toni Collette, Tony Briggs

Screen Australia has announced 14 feature films, eight online projects and 20 television dramas that will share in $1.6 million of Story Development funding.

The latest slate includes Toni Collette's directorial debut with feature film The Best Of, and an anthology of Shakespeare's works re-imagined by teams of creators including Leah Purcell, Elise McCredie and Anchuli Felicia King called Shakespeare Now.

Screen Australia's Head of Development Nerida Moore said, While this has been a turbulent, challenging time for many in the industry, it hasn't stopped the drive, passion and imagination of Australian creative teams. In fact we have continued to see applications coming through with really strong and distinctive content, with the application numbers across March-June this year up 76% on the same period last year.

It's exciting to see re-imaginings of well-loved stories such as Shakespeare Now and an animated series inspired by The Sapphires. And we continue to support storytelling on all platforms, with two online series from comedians Gabriel Willie (better known as Bush Tucker Bunjie) and Chloe Black who are each creating their first scripted narrative comedies.

This slate is the final funding awarded in the 2019/20 financial year. During this period Screen Australia received 534 Story Development applications across the Premium and Generate Funds, up 41% from the 378 applications received in 2018/19. In the last 12 months, Screen Australia has provided funds to a total of 110 projects out of a pool of 508 projects that were creatively assessed. This included 50 through the Generate Fund for lower budget projects and 60 through the Premium Fund for higher budget projects from established creators.

Moore continued, We are really pleased to see more ambitious television projects in the pipeline, with 32 television projects funded through the Premium stream in the past 12 months, up from 12 projects last year.

In April 2020 Screen Australia launched the Premium Plus Fund to provide late-stage development funding to high-budget projects with firm market interest that were impacted by COVID-19. In this time, the agency funded 17 projects. Recipients include ABC drama The Newsreader and feature film You Won't Be Alone. The fund closed on 31 July 2020.

The latest projects funded for development include:

A six-part online series from popular YouTuber Bush Tucker Bunjie (Gabriel Willie) called Bush Tucker Bunjie Gold Coast Adventures. This comedy follows the over-confident, multi-talented Bunjie take up a variety of fish out of water jobs with his mob of annoying cousin in-laws, as he tries to build his bank balance to match his Gold Coast lifestyle. Written by Willie and Angelina Hurley, this project will be produced by EJ Garrett (Gumbi Gumbi) and Dena Curtis (Grace Beside Me) with Mark O'Toole (Black Comedy) on board as story producer.

Television comedy Colourful Faces, an eight-part series about a crew of misfit actors and their manipulative agent who try to exploit the industry's thirst for diversity on their road to success. Led by an Aboriginal actor who won't take Aboriginal roles, a fallen Bollywood Diva and a Chinese comedian who isn t funny, this band of hustlers set out on a chaotic and politically incorrect quest to get ahead. The creative team features writer/producers Bjorn Stewart (Killer Native) and Rami Fischler (Spread the Word), and producer Amanda Reedy (Superwog).

A six-part television comedy called DNA Dad (working title), centred on neurologically diverse young man Michael who discovers his biological father is UK actor Ben Miller, and travels to London to meet him. The connection leads both men to discover the true meaning of family. The creative team includes writer/director Darren Ashton (Hardball), writer/producer Ben Miller, producer Joanne Weatherstone (Hardball) and executive producer Catherine Nebauer (Hardball).

Six-part dramedy New Animal, from writer Marieke Hardy (Laid), based on the upcoming debut novel by Ella Baxter. The television series follows 28-year-old oddball Amelia who works as a cosmetician at a family funeral parlour. After the sudden death of her mother, she is drawn into the local BDSM community in an attempt to deal with her grief. New Animal will be produced by Jason Stephens and Helen Bowden of Lingo Pictures (Lambs of God).

Shakespeare Now, an anthology of adaptations of Shakespeare's works for television, including Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Macbeth, Love s Labour s Lost, A Midsummer Night s Dream, Richard III, The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night. The works are led by teams of all-female creatives including Anya Beyersdorf (It s Me), Corrie Chen (Five Bedrooms), Lucy Coleman (Hot Mess), Elissa Down (Feel the Beat), Anchuli Felicia King (play White Pearl), Michelle Law (Homecoming Queens), Claire McCarthy (The Luminaries), Elise McCredie (Stateless), Leah Purcell (The Drover s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson), Amelia Roper (The Great), Sarah Scheller (The Let Down), Nadine von Cohen, Vivienne Walshe (Everything s Gonna Be Ok), and Rachel Ward (Palm Beach). This project is executive produced by ABC's Sally Riley; Lucky Chap Entertainment's Margot Robbie, Brett Hedblom, Tom Ackerley and Josey McNamara (Maid); and Tracey Robertson, Nathan Mayfield and Kerrin McNeil of Hoodlum Entertainment (Harrow). It will be developed with the support of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Toni Collette's directorial debut with The Best Of, a feature film based on the novel by Graeme Simsion (The Rosie Project) and written for the screen by comedian and writer Mark Watson. This romantic comedy follows amateur musician turned IT specialist Adam Sharp who
LINK: https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2020/08-05-scr...
See more stories from screenaustralia

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 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...

21/05/2026

CBS Sports Expands WNBA Tip-Off Show To Cover Half of 20-Game, Regular-Season Package

Game Creek Video Columbia and Celtic, NEP Supershooter 8 will house onsite produ...

21/05/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Christina Zelin, Rowan University

Freshly graduated, this upstart producer, director, and camera operator is already working as an AP on videoboard shows for the Philadelphia Phillies In the li...

21/05/2026

Media Links Announces Channel Partnership with Clearcast Asia Ahead of BroadcastAsia 2026

Media Links has announced a channel partnership with Clearcast Asia, a broadcast...

21/05/2026

SiriusXM and NASCAR Announce Multi-Year Broadcasting Agreement Renewal

SiriusXM and NASCAR have announced a multi-year renewal of their broadcasting agreement. SiriusXM will continue to carry live broadcasts of every NASCAR Cup Ser...

21/05/2026

Audio-Technica Hosts High-Density Wireless Microphone Demo at Technica House in New York City

Audio-Technica held a demonstration event at its Technica House location in New ...

21/05/2026

RTL Deutschland Selects Ateme Frame-Rate Conversion Technology for Live Event Workflows

Ateme has announced that RTL Deutschland has selected Ateme's software-based...

21/05/2026

BCC Live Deploys LiveU LU900Q for Record-Breaking IRONMAN Texas Broadcast

LiveU has announced that BCC Live deployed the LU900Q intelligent production unit for the first time during the 2026 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas North Americ...

21/05/2026

Mark Aitken to Receive 2026 ATSC Mark Richer Industry Leadership Medal

ATSC has announced that Mark Aitken, President of ONE Media and Senior VP of Advanced Technology at Sinclair Broadcast Group, will receive the 2026 Mark Richer ...

21/05/2026

BBright Outlines MXL Integration Strategy for Software-Defined Broadcast Workflows

BBright has published a technical analysis of the Media eXchange Layer (MXL), de...

21/05/2026

Esports World Cup 2026 to Be Held in Paris, France

The Esports Foundation has announced that the 2026 Esports World Cup (EWC) will be hosted in Paris, France, from July 6 through August 23. The event marks the f...

21/05/2026

Chyron Announces PRIME Scorebug and Expanded Chyron LIVE Scorebug Capabilities

Chyron has announced PRIME Scorebug, a scorebug solution built on the PRIME Platform for on-premises sports production, and has expanded Chyron LIVE with purpos...

21/05/2026

Media Links Integrates Xscend Platform with DataMiner at BroadcastAsia 2026

Media Links has announced the integration of its Xscend IP transport platform with Skyline Communications' DataMiner xOps platform. The integration will be ...

21/05/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Nova Lume CEO Jim Casey on Bringing Flexible IP Intercom to Live Production

As live sports productions continue to demand more flexible, scalable, and cost-...

21/05/2026

SVG Rewind: ESPN's Use of POVORA Wireless Tilt Control CapCam Gives College Football Fans a First-Person View of the Game

In advance of this year's Sports Emmy Awards, SVG is taking a deep dive into...

21/05/2026

Join Shade in Miami and Atlanta for Post-Production Networking Events

Hey Miami & Atlanta post-production folks! Shade is hosting a free private suite at a Braves game (6/2) and Marlins game (6/5) and have about a dozen extra tic...

21/05/2026

Phoenix Suns, Mercury, and Gray Media Extend Broadcast Partnership Through 2030

The Suns and Mercury become the first NBA and WNBA teams to make games available under a single broadcast partner across both over-the-air and streaming....

21/05/2026

Apple TV, MLS to Produce First Major Pro Sporting Event Shot Entirely on iPhone 17 Pros

iPhones are part of the the regular production rotation for Friday Night Baseba...

21/05/2026

SVG Rewind: AIQ: Where Data Meets Dirt Technology Brings Real-Time Data Analysis to Rodeo

In advance of this year's Sports Emmy Awards, SVG is taking a deep dive into...

21/05/2026

Filmmakers' Favorites: Sundance Film Festival Alums on Welcome to the Dollhouse

Heather Matarazzo as Dawn Wiener in Todd Solondz's Welcome to the Dollhouse...

21/05/2026

Create, Control, and Personalize Your Listening Across Every Moment

Spotify has always been about helping you find something you want to listen to. And over the years, we've learned your taste and the moments that matter to ...

21/05/2026

You Know Every Song. We Saved You Two Tickets. Introducing Reserved.

Getting concert tickets today can feel like a race you're set up to lose. You show up at the right time, refresh endlessly, and still miss out. Too often, ...

21/05/2026

Books on Spotify: New Updates for Listeners and Authors

In 2022, Spotify entered a new chapter by introducing audiobooks to our platform. Since then, we've grown our catalog to include more than 700,000 titles, e...

21/05/2026

Investor Day 2026 Remarks From Spotify Co-CEOs Alex Norstrm and Gustav Sderstrm

Opening remarks ALEX Good morning everyone, I'm Alex [Norstr m]. GUSTAV And I'm Gustav [S derstr m]. ALEX Whether you've been following our j...

21/05/2026

Spotify's 2026 Investor Day Recap: Raising Ambition for the Next Era of Media

Today, Spotify hosted our third Investor Day in New York City, offering the fina...

21/05/2026

Spotifys Investor Day 2026: Ambitioniert in die nchste ra der Medien

Spotify hat heute seinen dritten Investor Day in New York City veranstaltet und der Finanzwelt tiefere Einblicke in das Gesch ft, die Produktstrategie und die l...

21/05/2026

Rcapitulatif de l'Investor Day 2026 de Spotify : Des ambitions renouveles pour la prochaine re des mdias

Aujourd'hui, Spotify a organis son troisi me Investor Day New York. En pl...

21/05/2026

Il riepilogo dell'Investor Day 2026 di Spotify: eleviamo le ambizioni per la prossima era dei media

Oggi, a New York City, Spotify ha presentato il suo terzo Investor Day, offrendo...

21/05/2026

Resumen del Investor Day 2026 de Spotify: elevando la ambicin para la prxima era de los medios

Hoy Spotify celebr su tercer Investor Day en Nueva York, donde ofrecimos a la c...

21/05/2026

Rangkuman Investor Day Spotify 2026: Meningkatkan Ambisi untuk Era Media Berikutnya

Hari ini, Spotify menyelenggarakan Investor Day yang ketiga di New York City, me...

21/05/2026

2026 (Investor Day):

2026 : (Investor Day) , , . ...

21/05/2026

2026 :

20 2026 ...

21/05/2026

Resumo do Investor Day 2026 do Spotify: elevando a ambio para a prxima era da mdia

Hoje, o Spotify realizou seu terceiro Investor Day em Nova York, oferecendo co...

21/05/2026

2026: Spotify

Spotify Investor Day ...

21/05/2026

Spotify'n 2026 Investor Day zeti: Medyann Yeni a in Byk Hedefler

Spotify bug n, 20'nci y l d n m m z kutlad m z bu y lda, finans camias na, i modelimiz, r n stratejimiz ve uzun vadeli vizyonumuz hakk nda daha detayl ...

21/05/2026

Cinematic Motion & Ethereal Flows for Sonuscore's The Score

Two new Story Packs join orchestral instrument line-up Sonuscore have just introduced two new additions to The Score, marking the instrument's first maj...

21/05/2026

Heavyocity release Oblivion Drums

30,000 samples, 99 presets & 504 loops Heavyocity are well known for their hard-hitting cinematic instruments, and their latest release is no exception to t...

21/05/2026

Rohde & Schwarz AI powered voice to data: The future of air traffic control takes flight at Airspace World 2026

Rohde & Schwarz AI powered voice to data: The future of air traffic control take...

21/05/2026

Redefining Persistent and Affordable Airpower for Special Operations Forces

SKY RAIDER II INTERNATIONAL's modular open systems architecture delivers expanded operational reach and mission flexibility....

21/05/2026

From Payload to Platform: Autonomous ISR Where It Actually Matters

ASO-enabled WESCAM MX-10 systems conduct systematic wide-area maritime search patterns, autonomously managing sensor scan operations to expand coverage, reduce ...

21/05/2026

Sports content accounts for fastest-growing portion of top global SVOD catalogs

HBO Max, a new addition to Gracenote Data Hub, is home to the most sports programming among major streamers NEW YORK May 21, 2026 New analysis by Gracenote...

21/05/2026

Study: Nearly Half of U.S. Viewers Watch Video With Captions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/05/2026

Apple TV to Capture MLS Game Entirely on iPhone 17 Pro

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/05/2026

MPTS 2026 Draws Record Numbers for Landmark 10th Annivers...

The UK's leading event for the creative industries united thousands of professionals for two days of networking, debate, industry insight and getting hands-...

21/05/2026

Recreating Doug Trumbull's Slitscan VFX - After Effects Mastery

Recreating Doug Trumbull's Slitscan VFX - After Effects Mastery Graham Quince May 21, 2026 0 Comments In this After Effects tutorial, I'm divi...

21/05/2026

Cavalry: An Array of Fun Stuff

Cavalry: An Array of Fun Stuff Simon Ubsdell May 21, 2026 0 Comments Arrays are a really powerful feature of Cavalry and here we'll go over some o...

21/05/2026

Chyron Launches PRIME Scorebug

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...