The Western Australian state government has chipped in $175,000 of production funding into the adaptation of Tim Winton's feature film The Turning.
The 17 interlinked short stories contained in the book will each be overseen by directors including Cate Blanchett, David Wenham, Robert Connolly, Justin Kurzel, Mia Wasikowska, Benedict Andrews, Jonathan auf der Heide, Tony Ayres, Shaun Gladwell, Rhys Graham, Ian Meadows, Yaron Lifschitz, Claire McCarthy, Ashlee Page and Stephen Page.
Culture and Arts Minister John Day, who announced the WA government funding as he launched the Revelation Perth International Film Festival’s Get Your Shorts On! program, said six of the short stories would be filmed in WA.
“ScreenWest’s Stepping Stone Initiative provides opportunities for WA filmmakers to develop their skills further – the six films shot here will require WA directors, producers, directors of photography, an editor, together with several internship opportunities. This project will provide strong industry development and it is significant that ScreenWest is able to provide the opportunity for practitioners to work on a national production of such scale alongside Cate Blanchett and David Wenham.”
The West Australian reported that the production will begin its shoot before the end of August.
Earlier this year, Screen Australia also announced that it was funding the project. Connolly, who earlier this month stepped down from the board of Screen Australia, is producing the project alongside Maggie Miles.
Tim Winton's iconic novel Cloudstreet was also filmed in WA in 2010 and the pay-TV mini-series was recently recognised with ASTRA awards for ‘Most Outstanding Drama' and ‘Most Outstanding performance by an actor – Female' for Kerry Fox's performance as Orel Lamb.
Contact this reporter at bswift@www.if.com.au or on Twitter at @bcswift.