The film will generate about 720 jobs and $26 million in production expenditure.
Clive Spink will replace Andrew Smith, who will leave in August.
The grant will support the next generation of Aboriginal filmmakers.
Funding allows filmmakers to work as 'attachments' on a range of screen projects
"It just made sense to merge our talents and provide the Sydney market with an alternative," DSV founder Vic Kaspar says.
Screen Australia has foreshadowed a more stringent approach to investing in children's drama in light of the paltry viewing figures for programs aired on the commercial free-to-air networks' digital channels.
Non-Indigenous filmmakers who are keen to tackle Indigenous stories may want to attend the next session of Ozdox, the Australian Documentary Forum.
Screenwriters who want to think outside the conventional narrative box can learn a lot from neuroscience studies of monkeys.