Screen Australia today unveiled a bumper slate of both production and development funding for film, TV and online content, with $7.6 million shared across 102 projects.
These include 56 feature films, 30 television series and 16 online projects, with 10 projects supported for production and 92 for development.
Among the projects to get the Screen Australia greenlight is the next feature collaboration between director Goran Stolevski and Causeway Films – queer romance All The Boys Are Here, while the development slate includes Ludo Studio and Purple Carrot Entertainment’s DIVA, created by Jessica Magro and Jason Dewhurst, and Dreamboat, a feature comedy from writer Joan Sauer and producers Courtney Botfield and Kate Riedl.
In the coming months, Screen Australia will also announce funding for 11 major television series, with a combined $12 million in direct funding, with a total production value exceeding $117 million.
Director of narrative content Louise Gough is buoyant about the diversity of the slate, which encompasses several rounds of funding across the 2024/25 financial year, as well as the depth and direction of Australian storytelling more broadly.
“There’s such a eclectic, diverse range of stories coming from so many different pockets of this country and from people’s experiences,” she tells IF.
“These are the stories that we want to tell the world. This is the way that we want to talk about being Australian.”
One of the projects she is excited about is John Michael McDonagh horror feature Fear is the Rider, which received production funding and will shoot in NSW. Produced by Elizabeth Eves, Kate Glover, Nick Gordon and Trevor Matthews, it follows a woman pursued into the outback by a terrifying family of cannibalistic serial killers.
“It is a palpable, visceral, absolute rock and roll – even at script level – read. He’s a master filmmaker, and I think it’s going to be awfully, awfully brilliant,” Gough says.
She has similarly high hopes for Bluebottle, a Schoolies-set horror feature from Birdeater directors Jack Clark and Jim Weir, produced by Sweetshop & Green with Joel Edgerton as an EP.
“[It’s] righteous, terrifying, and even at script level, the writing is kinetic. It’s incredible. I’m pretty excited about seeing the progression of this team to a more robustly funded project and seeing what they can do,” she said.
The production funding slate also features the directorial debut of Tilda Cobham-Hervey, It’s All Going Very Well No Problems at All, which Gough describes as a “beautiful, heartwarming piece, but told with the idiosyncrasy of a true creator”. Produced by Liam Heyen, Dev Patel and Jomon Thomas, it follows Audrey, a young artist teetering on the edge of a quiet collapse, who finds solace and understanding through a profound connection with Harold, an elderly resident at the care home where she works.
Screen Australia’s recent industry survey found project funding was the most necessary support it and other industry bodies provide, though almost 70 per cent of respondents felt the ability to secure funding would worsen or significantly worsen in the next 3-5 years.
Gough says rounds are becoming increasingly competitive, with agency only able to fund around 30 per cent of applications that come through the door. Beyond its assessment criteria, sometimes decisions have to come down to ensuring slate diversity, including the state or geographic region projects originate from, their genre, and target audience.
“It is tough, because there are very good projects that either are not supported or supported at a reduction to the ask that they applied with,” Gough says.
In terms of trends across the 100 projects funded, she observes commissioning platforms, deal terms, scale of budgets and story concepts are reflective of what is happening in the market globally. There are an increased number of international partnerships on projects, with large-scale budgets and potential for global crossover. Positively, she notes “every applicant is thinking more about their audience”, whether that is niche or broad.
“For the right content, the right story, targeting the right audience, there are really bullish deals from international [partners] and extraordinarily competitive deals from our local commissioners,” she says.
She also feels there has been a maturation and expansion of storytelling craft within online-focused projects, and there is more “organic” collaboration overall between emerging and established practitioners.
While 46 per cent of respondents to Screen Australia’s industry survey felt that cinemagoing would be lower or significantly lower over the next 3-5 years, this is not reflected in the projects Gough is seeing.
“There is a swing around to theatrical,” she says.
“We’re seeing an incredible increase at narrative content production investment of feature applications.”
This includes bigger commercial offerings, early-career films establishing new voices, and family features, often with a strong market response.
“There’s a understanding of, with the shifting landscape in terms of commissioning for streaming and television, the power of the authored voice through feature. For the right film, at the right price point, people… will go to a cinema and enjoy a truly theatrical experience.”
The supported projects include:
- It’s All Going Very Well No Problems At All: This drama is the debut feature film from writer/director Tilda Cobham-Hervey (A Field Guide to Being a 12 Year Old Girl, I am Woman) and is produced by Liam Heyen (Jimpa, Latecomers), Dev Patel (Lion, Monkey Man), Jomon Thomas (Hotel Mumbai, Monkey Man) and Cobham-Hervey, with Natalya Pavchinskaya and Cyna Strachan executive producing. The film follows Audrey, a young artist teetering on the edge of a quiet collapse, who finds solace and understanding through a profound connection with Harold, an elderly resident at the care home where she works. Major production investment from Screen Australia and S’ya Concept in association with the South Australian Film Corporation, with support from the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund. Local distribution by Kismet. The film is a Mad Ones and Minor Realm production.
- Jidoo & Ibis: Inspired by the real-life shenanigans between the creator’s father and the hungry bin chickens who flock to his garden, Jidoo & Ibis is from writer/producer Wendy Hanna (Beep & Mort) with writers Michael Drake (Beep & Mort) and Clare Madsen (Little J & Big Cuz). It is a 40-part animated series in development for young pre-schoolers about unexpected problems and unexpected friendships – told through the relationship between grumpy Grandpa Jidoo and an all too familiar larrikin, Ibis.
- CEEBS: This 18-part comedy for TikTok is from director Harry Lloyd (Rock Island Mysteries) and writers Betiel Beyin and Leigh Lule, some of the team behind Turn up the Volume. Nikki Tran (Girl, Interpreted) and Amie Batalibasi (Blackbird) are producing. CEEBS follows recent high-school graduates, Zion and Ruby, as they run for ‘Youth President’ to save their local youth centre from imminent closure – all while trying to ensure their lifelong friendship doesn’t get caught in the crossfire. It has received principal production funding from Screen Australia in association with VicScreen.
- DIVA: Inspired by a true story, DIVA is created by producer Jessica Magro (Bad Ancestors) and executive producer Jason Dewhurst, working alongside producer Lauren Brown (Thou Shalt Not Steal) and writer Nick Coyle (Bump, It’s Fine, I’m Fine). It is also executive produced by Charlie Aspinwall and Daley Pearson. This eight-part series in development from Ludo Studio and Purple Carrot Entertainment follows 21-year-old Elly as he attempts to balance his strict, religious Samoan life and his secret queer identity as a professional wrestler in drag.
- Dreamboat: A feature comedy in development celebrating the enduring power of BFFs, second chances, and embracing life’s next chapter, from writer Joan Sauers (Ladies in Black, Wakefield), producers Courtney Botfield and Kate Riedl, script editor Megan Simpson Huberman and script consultant Zoë Coombs Marr. In Dreamboat, Suzy’s plans for a cruisy retirement are capsized when best friend, Val, takes her on a cruise to Antarctica.
- All The Boys Are Here: From Causeway Films (Talk to Me), this queer romance feature film is created by writer/director Goran Stolevski (Of An Age, You Won’t Be Alone) and produced by Kristina Ceyton and Samantha Jennings of Talk to Me. It is about a New York novelist who, while attending a family funeral in Vienna, discovers a German relative’s illicit queer love affair with a Jewish man during WW2 – sending him on a journey through the past that changes his future. It has received major production investment from Screen Australia in association with the Polish Film Institute, with Maslow Entertainment distributing and New Europe Film Sales and Charades managing international sales.
- A Model Family: A 10-part comedy in development for the whole family from some of the team behind The Disposables, including creator/writers Keir Wilkins and Sonia Whiteman, creator/writer/producer Renny Wijeyamohan, creator/producer/executive producer Karen Radzyner, producer Linda Micsko (The Office Australia) and executive producer Oliver Lawrance, with Guy Edmonds (Spooky Files) and Emmanuelle Mattana (Fwends) attached as writers. In A Model Family, five ultra-lifelike AIs have escaped from a secret research facility in the Australian countryside and must pass for a human ‘nuclear’ family to survive.
- Fear is the Rider: This horror-thriller is from the team behind The Forgiven, including writer/director/producer John Michael McDonagh, producers Elizabeth Eves, Kate Glover, Nick Gordon and Trevor Matthews, and executive producer Natalie Coleman. In Fear is the Rider, a lone woman searching for her missing mother is pursued into the Australian Outback by a terrifying family of cannibalistic serial killers, with only an ex-con and a young girl willing to help her. Major production investment from Screen Australia and financed with support from Screen NSW’s Made in NSW Fund. Local distribution by Umbrella Entertainment, with international sales by Film Constellation and CAA.
- After All: From writer/director/producer Jess Murray (Moments of Clarity) and writers Tom Ward and Declan O’Byrne-Inglis, After All is a six-part comedic adult YouTube animation set against a post-apocalyptic wasteland. After living in a bunker for most of their lives, mutant filmmakers Flynn and Marshall venture out to make “the best movie ever made”, but quickly realise that stardom is not as important as friendship. It has received principal production funding from Screen Australia and financed with assistance from Screen Tasmania.
- Bluebottle: A thriller-comedy feature film from director Jim Weir and writer/director Jack Clark of Birdeater, producers Gal Greenspan (Moja Vesna), Rachel Forbes (Strange Creatures) and Ryan Bartecki (The Novice), and executive producers Joel Edgerton (Boy Swallows Universe), Ari Harrison (Lesbian Space Princess, The Moogai) and Jane Badler. During the final night of ‘Schoolies’ in an isolated coastal town, three local dropouts battle three handsome older men for the affection of three private school girls – tackling social issues of class, consent and identity. Major production investment from Screen Australia, with Co Created Media co-financing and Umbrella Entertainment distributing locally.
To see the full list, visit the below: