Screen Australia has committed almost $360,000 in funding to assist 15 filmmaking teams and three new internships.
The announcement, made earlier today, confirmed eight new projects will receive Screen Australia support while another seven teams will benefit from continued funding.
The new projects to receive support include I Am Jack, Confessions of a Super Man, Long Tan, Mulan, Common Foe, and Soundtrack.
Three internships, developed through Screen Australia’s Talent Escalator Project, will send Australian filmmakers overseas to further develop their chosen crafts.
Writer/director Alex Murawski will work alongside Bruce Beresford in Los Angeles for three months on Beresford’s latest production Bonnie and Clyde.
Natalie Lindwall will gain six months experience in the UK working with Ecosse Flims as a development producer, and producer Raquelle David will spend six months in Toronto working with Niv Fichman at Rhombus Media.
Also through the Talent Escalator Program, Screen Australia will assist directors Cris Jones, Vicki Sugars and Julietta Boscolo, in travelling to the Netherlands to develop their feature projects at the Binger Director Lab.
See below for the full list of announced feature projects in development or visit the Screen Australia website: http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au
SINGLE-PROJECT DEVELOPMENT: FEATURE DEVELOPMENT
BAD ANGEL
Genre Comedy
Producers Antonia Barnard, Nicholas Cole
Director Kriv Stenders
Writer Shaun Grant
Synopsis The transformation of Angelo d'Angelo, a New York hit man who is unwittingly embraced into the bosom of a simple, rural Australian community. For the first time, Angelo learns that love and family are just as effective as any weapon he's ever known.
COMMON FOE
Genre Action
Producer/Writer Rob Gibson
Writer/Director Josh Reed
CONFESSIONS OF A SUPER MAN
Genre Horror Drama
Producer Marian Macgowan
Writer/Director Angela How
Synopsis Brian, an indulged Australian Chinese teenage sociopath, records his violent life via a superhero comic strip of his own creation. When Brian's desire for his father's mistress ends in their death, his mother acts to finally stop her son.
DOWNRIVER (AKA SCRATCH THE SURFACE)
Genre Thriller Drama
Producer Jannine Barnes
Writer/Director Grant Scicluna
Synopsis Seventeen-year-old James is released from juvenile detention and travels back to the scene of his crime to find the body of the young boy he killed when he was 10.
HALFWAY MOTEL
Genre Psychological Drama
Producer Lyn Norfor
Writer/Director Miranda Nation
I AM JACK
Genre Drama
Producer Stephan Wellink
Executive Producer David Whealy
Writer Susanne Gervay
Director Nadia Tass
Synopsis Jack's a great guy, but school bullying is insidious, taking Jack and everyone around him to the edge.
LONG TAN
Genre Drama
Producers Charles Hannah, Martin Walsh
Executive Producers Meyer Shwarzstein, Peter Wetherell
Writers Jack Brislee, James Nicholas, Karel Segers, Paul Sullivan
Director Kriv Stenders
Synopsis Major Harry Smith and his company of 108 young and mostly inexperienced Australian and New Zealand soldiers hold off an overwhelming enemy force of 2,500 battle-hardened Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers in the Battle of Long Tan.
LOS ALAMOS
Genre Thriller
Producers Iain Canning, Emile Sherman
Writer Luke Davies
Synopsis Michael Connolly, a disgraced intelligence operative, enters a labyrinth of secrets and espionage when he arrives at the high-security military base of Los Alamos in Spring, 1945. Sent to investigate a seemingly open-and-shut murder case, Connolly is thrown into the heart of the Manhattan Project and must navigate a path through military protocol, political intrigue and personal agendas in order to uncover the truth in the most secretive place in the world.
MICHAEL
Genre Biopic
Producers Richard Lowenstein, Sue Murray
Executive Producer Domenico Procacci
Writer/Director Richard Lowenstein
Synopsis At the height of his internationally renowned career, a sudden blow to the head robs the famously sensual rock star of two of his most cherished senses. A series of personal battles follows, ending tragically with his death at the age of 37, the night before embarking on a world tour.
MULAN
Genre Action Adventure
Producer Emile Sherman
Writer Jan Sardi
ONE CROWDED HOUR
Genre Biopic
Producer Todd Fellman
Writer Andy Cox
Director Lance Kelleher
Synopsis Legendary combat cameraman Neil Davis spent over 20 years from the early 60s risking his life on the frontlines of Indo-China to capture some of the most powerful and influential images of war in an effort to save the people and culture he had grown to love.
SOUNDTRACK
Genre Musical
Executive Producer Michael Birnbaum
Writer Stephen Chamberlin
TALENT ESCALATOR PROGRAMS: INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOPS
JULIETTA BOSCOLO – CATCHING SIGHT – BINGER DIRECTOR LAB
Genre Drama/Comedy
Producer Linda Micsko
Writer/Director Julietta Boscolo
Synopsis A 30-year-old blind woman regains her sight; but will she be able to accept the flaws she sees in her past and find love?
CRIS JONES – BYZANTIUM – BINGER DIRECTOR LAB
Genre Drama
Producers Melanie Coombs, Mish Armstrong, Alicia Brown
Writer/Director Cris Jones
Synopsis After a road accident on the highway, a young man finds himself trapped in a strange, remote town, where nothing – and no one – is as it seems.
VICKI SUGARS – U-TURN – BINGER DIRECTOR LAB
Genre Drama
Producers Julie Byrne, Vicki Sugars
Director Vicki Sugars
Synopsis Fifteen-year-old Babe learns how to turn her family's grief around when her sister is killed in a car accident.
TALENT ESCALATOR PROGRAMS: INDUSTRY INTERNSHIPS
RAQUELLE DAVID INTERNSHIP
Producer Raquelle David will spend six months in Toronto, Canada, working directly with producer Niv Fichman across the development and production slate at Rhombus Media (Blindness, The Red Violin, Antiviral).
NATALIE LINDWALL INTERNSHIP
Natalie Lindwall will spend six months as a Development Producer across film and television with the award-winning London-based company, Ecosse Films (Diana, Wuthering Heights).
ALEX MURAWSKI INTERNSHIP
Writer/director Alex Murawski will spend three months in Los Angeles working with director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Black Robe, Mao's Last Dancer) on his new production of Bonnie & Clyde.