ABC2 multi-platform comedy twentysomething has been commissioned for a second series while short animated film A Cautionary Tail will be made into an interactive app for tablets.
They are two of four projects to receive funding through Screen Australia's latest Multi-platform Production Program funding round. The other two are: The Voyage, a serious game for the Australian National Maritime Museum, which will give players the chance to captain a convict ship to Van Diemen’s Land in the early 1800s; and Ringbalin, an interactive documentary which will take users on a virtual pilgrimage along the Murray, telling the river’s history through Indigenous eyes.
Screen Australia chief executive Ruth Harley said: “These four titles join a growing list of dynamic, original Screen Australia-supported projects that capitalise on the changing landscape for content creation. We have both established players and new talent collaborating and telling stories through interactive documentary, games, apps and multi-platform television.”
TWENTYSOMETHING SERIES 2
Synopsis: Best friends Jess and Josh are back home from their overseas adventure to find all the same twentysomething questions waiting for them. But with the reality of thirtysomething looming, this series sees them finally asking “What are we destined to do?”
Format: Multi-platform TV series
Production Company: High Wire Films & Production Company: Electric Living Productions
Executive Producer/Producer: Nicole Minchin
Co-producers: Jess Harris, Josh Schmidt, Annie Flynn
Directors: Jess Harris, Mika Tran
Writer: Jess Harris
Marketplace: ABC2
A CAUTIONARY TAIL
Synopsis: A Cautionary Tail is now an interactive experience. The app takes you into the animated world of the award-winning short film starring Cate Blanchett and David Wenham about a girl born with a tail that must choose between conformity and self-expression.
Format: Interactive animation for tablet devices
Production Company: Rawr Media
Producer: Pauline Piper
Director: Simon Rippingale
Writer: Erica Harrison
Marketplace: Penguin, ABC Commercial
RINGBALIN: RIVER STORIES
Synopsis: Ringbalin is an interactive documentary for online screens, exhibition and mobile devices that reinterprets Australia’s greatest river system, the Murray-Darling, through the stories of the world’s oldest living Indigenous culture.
Format: Interactive documentary
Production Company: Goodmorningbeautiful Films
Executive Producer: Sue Maslin
Producers: Julia de Roeper, Jocelyn Pederick, Benjamin Pederick
Writer/Director: Benjamin Pederick
Digital Producer: Jennifer Wilson, The Project Factory
Marketplace: Adelaide Film Festival, Ronin Films, Murray-Darling Basin Authority, South Australian Tourism Commission, Tourism Australia, WOMAD
THE VOYAGE
Synopsis: A multiplayer serious game where users adopt the role of Captain of a convict transport ship from Britain to Van Diemen’s Land, becoming responsible for hiring, provisioning and navigating. They face the trials and tribulations of an actual voyage including adverse weather, disease, insanity, rebellion, mutiny and piracy.
Format: Serious game
Production Company: Roar Film
Producers: Craig Dow Sainter, Steve Thomas, Kath Symmons
Director: Will Barry
Writer: Paul Callaghan
Game Design Consultant: Morgan Jaffit
Marketplace: Australian National Maritime Museum
Contact this reporter at bswift@www.if.com.au or on Twitter at @bcswift.