Freehand, SLR and Hoodlum are among the 12 production companies selected to receive funding from Screen Australia’s new All Media Program.
The $3-5 million program, which is made up of production investment through the All Media Production stream and development support through the Digital Ignition stream, was launched earlier this year by the government agency to encourage interactive or multiplatform, innovative storytelling.
The projects selected in the All Media Production stream include two short-form series for both TV and online, two games, a tablet app, an online documentary and a multiplatform comedy drama. Such projects are: Australian Encounters (Suitcase Murphy), Macguffin's Curse (Brawsome), Peleda (Vishus Productions) and Wonderland (Chocolate Liberation Front).
Receiving development funds through the Digital Ignition strand included Monkeystack’s Double Happy Versus The Infinite Sadness, an app for mememe’s Dirtgirlworld Interactive Garden, and Iron Helmet’s online strategy game Neptune’s Pride.
“There are some terrific projects in the mix, representing the broad range of genres and types that the All Media Program hoped to encourage,” Screen Australia’s chief Ruth Harley said in a statement.
“We have new talent through to established players collaborating and telling stories through interactive documentary, games, web series, apps and multi-platform television.”
Eighty applications – 56 Digital Ignition and 24 All Media Production – were received. The second round of the All Media Program closes on February 10, 2012. More information can be found here.
ALL MEDIA PRODUCTION
AUSTRALIAN ENCOUNTERS
Suitcase Murphy
10 x 3 min animated history series
Producer Duncan Imberger, Josh Moore
Executive Producer Sue Maslin
Marketplace ABC
Synopsis Based on Shane Maloney’s column in The Monthly magazine, this series tells 10 fascinating true encounters between a renowned Australian and an international mover and shaker, presenting a fresh perspective on some intriguing moments in the grand narrative of Australian history.
GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU
SLR
App for tablet devices
Producer Suzanne Ryan
Digital Producer John Guest (The Farm)
Writer Melanie Alexander
Director Steve Moltzen
Creative Director Jo Boag
Marketplace Disney (TV series)
Synopsis Following the heart-warming adventures of Big & Little Nutbrown Hare and their wildlife friends, this app for pre-schoolers is designed to bring the much loved classic book to life in an innovative and appealing way.
MACGUFFIN’S CURSE
Brawsome
Puzzle game for computer and handheld devices
Producer Andrew Goulding
Check Credits Andrew Goulding, Ben Kosima
Marketplace Steam
Synopsis MacGuffin’s Curse puts you in the shoes ofmagician-come-thief Lucas MacGuffin who swipes a mysterious amulet in a bungled heist, which not only triggers the troubled city of Feyre into automated lockdown, but also curses him with the power to save it from corruption.
MICRO NATION
Freehand
15 x 4.5 min / 1 x 62 min comedy series
Producer Linda Ujuk
Head Writer/Director Andrew Garrick
Marketplace Network Ten
Synopsis The forgotten island nation of Pullamawang has seceded from mainland Australia and is home to a cast of larger-than-life characters including young citizen Emma who desperately wants to leave. The absurd habits and comfortable lives of the islanders are thrown into disarray and conflict by the discovery of diamonds, thwarting Emma’s dreams of escaping to the wider world.
PELEDA
Vishus Productions
Online game and short animation series
Producer Luke Jurevicius
Writer/Directors Luke Jurevicius, Nathan Jurevicius
Game Developer Fiasco
Marketplace ABC
Synopsis Peleda is set in a highly stylised fantasy world that pits good against evil as players try to reclaim the land from an evil queen.
THE STRANGE CALLS
Hoodlum
6 x half-hour comedy drama
Producers Tracey Robertson, Nathan Mayfield
Writer/Director Daley Pearson
Marketplace ABC2
Synopsis Hapless city cop, Toby Banks, is demoted to night duty in the sleepy beachside village of Coolum, only to find himself investigating strange late night phone calls that reveal the bizarre truth of the town – a place where men turn into chickens, mermaids fall in love with locals and cats return from the grave…
WONDERLAND
Chocolate Liberation Front
Interactive documentary
Producers Dan Fill, Frank Verheggen
Writer/Directors David Elliot-Jones, Lachlan McLeod, Louis Dai
Mentor Director Alex West
Marketplace SBS
Synopsis Wonderland explores the extraordinary and hard-hitting story of the sudden growth and subsequent implosion of Australia’s Indian student industry.
DIGITAL IGNITION
DIRTGIRLWORLD INTERACTIVE GARDEN APP
mememe
Augmented reality app for touch screen devices
Producer Cate McQuillen
Writer Cate McQuillen
Director Pete Gately
Synopsis Using augmented reality, this application for touch screen devices will bring kids’ gardens to life and allow them to experience nature like never before.
DOUBLE HAPPY VERSUS THE INFINITE SADNESS
Monkeystack
Online adventure game and transmedia property
Producer Justin Wight
Writer Simon Butters
Director Troy Bellchambers
Technical Director Shane Bevin
Synopsis Double Happy follows the adventures of two disturbingly cheerful rabbits as they set forth in a quest to save their world from the clutches of an all-consuming sadness.
THE HIVE
Smith & Nasht
Transmedia project including serious game and documentary
Producer Simon Nasht
Writer/Director Annamaria Talas
Web Developer Moonshine Agency
Synopsis The Hive seeks to explore and test the hidden codes of cooperation: whether the collective ‘hive mind’ of humanity can collaborate for the greater good, or whether we will be doomed by self-interest.
NEPTUNE’S PRIDE
Iron Helmet
Online strategy game
Producer Jay Kyburz
Synopsis Players take on the role of leaders of their star system in an unstable galaxy where no one is to be trusted. While fleets manoeuvre for position, the real battle is fought at the negotiating table. What promises will you make, and will you keep them? Are you the hero in this story, or the villain?
QUICK QUEST
Defiant Development
Action-role playing game for touch screen devices
Producer Morgan Jaffit
Synopsis Quick Quest sends players on task-driven fantasy-themed quests through a ‘rune-gate’ in order to face the challenges that lie there, with each mission influencing the wider narrative context of the political machinations of the town of Tyr.