Screen Australia invests further $5m in production funds for 15 new projects
Screen Australia has invested a further A$8.1m in 15 projects
Screen Australia has invested a further A$8.1m (US$5.4m) in production funding for 15 projects that include television, feature film and online content.
In television the funded projects include the psychological six-part series Watching You commissioned by streaming service Stan and based on J P Pomare’s novel The Last Guests.
The show has been created for television by Alexei Mizin and Ryan van Dijk, produced by Jason Stephens and Bree-Anne Sykes and exec produced by Helen Bowden, Cailah Scobie and Alicia Brown.
The project has received major production investment from Stan and is financed by Screen NSW via the Made in NSW Fund with additional financing in association with and distributed by ITV Studios.
New digital projects include online series Hoops, from the creative team behind the TikTok documentary Transathletica and Displaced, a six-part comedy sci-fi series for YouTube.
New features that have been funded include Zac Power, a co-pro from producers Flying Bark and Cheeky Little Monkeys. The animated family feature is based on the popular book series of the same name.
Screen Australia also announced a development pool of A$1.7m in funding for 27 television dramas, 23 feature films and six online projects. Of these, 24 projects have been supported through the Generate Fund, 26 through the Premium Fund and six through the Online Development Fund.
The projects include online action adventure series Amy the Pirate; family music drama feature Piano Mums; Skip Ahead project Life of Kea that has been developed into a television drama series; and a second season of the TikTok docuseries Sextistics, which continues to explore the statistics to create a snapshot of gender, sexuality and identity within Australia.
In the last financial year Screen Australia has invested more than A$85m across all 57 funding programmes, including more than A$5.5m through the First Nations Department.
“Demands on Screen Australia support remained high, with the agency supporting just under a third of all applications received. We’ll continue to seek ways to provide impactful support within our limited capacity, prioritising audience connection, industry value and cultural relevance,” said Screen Oz CEO Deidre Brennan.
