Arenafilm Melbourne, Burberry Productions and Southern Arc Films are set to share $750,000 in Slate Funding support, Film Victoria announced today.
Film Victoria’s Slate Funding program enables established local production companies to develop a portfolio of high quality, marketable projects. It offers financial support towards the cost of overheads incurred while developing film and television projects, allowing producers to build strong, sustainable businesses from which the entire screen industry will benefit.
Jane Watson, acting CEO, Film Victoria, said, ‘My congratulations go out to Arenafilm, Burberry Productions and Southern Arc Films. The teams behind the companies are some of Australia’s most successful producers, and I’m confident our Slate Funding support will see them take their businesses to the next level. We recognise the importance of broadening the scope and viability of Victorian production companies, and through the Slate Funding program we aim to give producers the opportunity to develop a pipeline of new film and television projects that will generate significant economic and cultural benefits.’
Arenafilm Melbourne is a new arm of Arenafilm, Robert Connolly and John Maynard’s company that has been producing successful Australian feature films for more than 20 years. Arenafilm has a number of high profile credits to its name including Jane Campion’s debut feature film Sweetie, Rowan Woods’ The Boys and most recently Richard Roxburgh’s Romulus, My Father. In recent years, Robert Connolly also established himself as a successful writer and director, and received an AFI Award for Best Screenplay for both Three Dollars and The Bank. John Maynard has been an active independent film distributor for 25 years and has had three films in competition at the Cannes Film Festival – an unrivalled Australian record.
Burberry Productions has produced more than 160 hours of high quality television production across a number of genres including children’s series, sketch comedy, animation and drama. Titles include The Wayne Manifesto, Sleepover Club, Last Man Standing and Bootleg. Managing director Ewan Burnett has 26 years experience in the Australian film and television industry and has occupied positions with Crawford Productions and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation. Burnett’s productions have won three AFI and three ATOM awards, a BAFTA, a Logie and two AWGIE awards. Burberry’s latest production, the animated television series Animalia, begins screening on Channel 10 this month.
Southern Arc Films was established in 2007 as part of the Arclight Group of Companies, with the goal of producing up to three feature films per year. Its company principles include Gary Hamilton, whose 28 year career includes some of Australia’s biggest films such as Strictly Ballroom and Chopper; Nigel Odell who founded Instinct Entertainment in 1998 and also produced Strange Bedfellows; and Ian Gibbins whose CV includes roles at Nickelodeon TV Australia and Beyond Films Australia.
Jane Watson said, ‘Film Victoria is committed to developing sustainable screen businesses in this state and our programs extend far beyond the benefits of one-off funding for projects. We look forward to seeing the projects that are developed as a direct result of this funding initiative.’
[release from Solid Ink Communications]