Nearly 50 projects will benefit from $1.2 million through Screen Australia’s Premium and Generate Funds, including new work from Class of 07 creator Kacie Anning and multi-hyphenate Leah Purcell.
A total of 29 feature films, 13 television dramas, and four online projects will be supported as part of the story development funding, with 28 coming under Generate and 19 backed by Premium.
Among the titles receiving funding are six projects that came through Screen Australia and Australians in Film’s 2022 Untapped initiative. The announcement also includes the remainder of projects funded in the 2022/23 financial year, during which Screen Australia supplied over $3.1 million of story development funding to 97 projects.
Screen Australia’s development head Bobby Romia said the latest cohort represented a vast selection of dynamic and diverse voices, which showcased the strength and capability of the talent in our screen industry.
“It is an exciting time for filmmakers and storytellers in Australia and we are thrilled to be supporting so many exciting projects at the beginning of their journey,” he said.
Features
Premium
Koa Kid
Oombarra Productions PTY Ltd
Genre: Action-adventure, Family
Writer/Director: Leah Purcell
Producers: Bain Stewart, Leah Purcell
Synopsis: Set a task of ‘dinosauric’ proportions by ancient forces, our two pre-teen heroes, Gidgee and Tim, realise they are capable of anything they put their minds and hearts to.
45 and 47 Stella Street
Tough Crowd Pictures
Genre: Comedy, Family
Writers: Vidya Rajan, Alistair Baldwin
Producer: Bron Belcher
Executive Producers: Charlotte Nicdao, Lital Spitzer
Synopsis: When the horrible Mr and Mrs Phoney move into Number 45 and start ruining everything, the adventurous kids of Stella Street must band together to defend their community and discover exactly what their wealthy new neighbours are up to. Based on the bestselling novel by Elizabeth Honey.
Swept
Dreaming Tree Productions
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller, War
Writer: Yolanda Ramke
Synopsis: In a desperate bid to spare her childhood friend from certain death on the Western Front, a young woman strikes a dark bargain with The Sidhe, a race of otherworldly beings who dwell beneath her Irish village. Though her wish is granted, it comes with a perverse twist: Bronagh awakens in a trench, trapped inside Oran’s body instead of her own. In turn, Oran is returned to the home front in possession of Bronagh’s body, and must carry their unborn child.
The Good People
Aquarius Films Pty Ltd
Genre: Dark Fairytale
Writer: Hannah Kent
Producers: Angie Fielder, Polly Staniford, Martina Niland
Synopsis: 19th century Ireland: as the Catholic church wages war against pagan beliefs, three women conspire to banish a changeling.
The Golden Age
The Golden Age Rights Holding Pty Ltd
Genre: Drama
Director: Elissa Down
Writers: Sue Smith, Cathryn Strickland
Producers: Tristram Miall, Renee Kennedy
Executive Producer: Geoffrey London
Synopsis: In an act of defiance, two thirteen-year-olds in a polio rehab ward determine they won’t let their dreams and lives be defined by their condition, and poignantly fall in love.
The Golden Galah
Monsoon Pictures Australia PTY LTD
Genre: Comedy, Family, Heist
Writer: Adam Dolman
Producer: Adam Dolman
Synopsis: An alienated boy and his twin sister, desperate to keep their ex-con dad out of prison, assemble a motley crew of kids in an attempt to return the valuable statue their dad stole to its near-impenetrable museum exhibit in a daring reverse-heist.
Jiling
Darlene Johnson
Genre: Drama, Coming of Age
Writer/Director: Darlene Johnson
Producers: Darlene Johnson, Tania Chambers
Synopsis: Jiling, an angry young woman trapped in a life of self-destruction and violence, meets a tough mentor who could change everything. A timeless story of courage, self-discovery and survival.
Ascent
Truant Pictures & Southern Light Films
Genre: Survival Thriller
Director: Jennifer Peedom
Writer: Becca Johnstone
Producers: Zareh Nalbandian, Toby Nalbandian, Gregory Schmidt, Timothy White
Synopsis: On a remote mountain wall, a fearless free solo climber out on her most ambitious climb must help a stranded amateur ascend to safety without ropes or equipment, all the while the natural elements and their own personal demons conspire to keep them from reaching the top.
Canary Highway
Lumila Films
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Writer/Director: Allanah Zitserman
Co-Writer: Felicity Price
Producers: Allanah Zitserman, Alexandra Taussig
Executive Producers: Bruno Charlesworth, Michael Helfand
Synopsis: In 1976, a young Sydney mother fed up with her confined existence breaks out of the suburbs for one liberating night on the town with her girlfriends.
Nest
Mushroom Studios Pty Ltd
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Writer/Director: Guy Edmonds
Producers: Bethany Jones, Marie Maroun
Executive Producer: Joe Weatherstone
Synopsis: Isolated in a new suburban house with his newborn daughter, a reluctant stay-at-home dad unearths an equally protective parent – a massive, predatory spider. It’s kill or be killed as this father must do whatever it takes to protect his family and their home.
Tinglewood
Lonely Astronaut Pty Ltd
Genre: Action-adventure, Horror, Thriller
Writer/Director: Antony Webb
Producer: Jaclyn Hewer
Executive Producer: Tim White
Synopsis: When a PhD student with a traumatic past investigates the healing properties of the ancient Tinglewood forest, she finds herself embroiled in a horrific world that will test her moral fibres, forcing her to overcome her past or die trying.
The Last Days of Lee McQueen
Harvey House Productions Australia Pty Ltd
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Writer/Directors: Spencer Harvey, Lloyd Harvey
Synopsis: A chronicling of the tumultuous final days of celebrated fashion designer Alexander McQueen, as he tries to complete his last runway show.
Generate
Three Moon Hunt
Photoplay Films
Genre: Comedy, Supernatural, Crime, Mystery
Director: Tony Rogers
Co-Director: Maurial Spearim
Writers: Anthony Vercoe, Nicole Dade, Gillian Moody
Executive Producer: Oliver Lawrance
Producers: Linda Micsko, Karen Radzyner, Gillian Moody
Synopsis: Two female detectives hunt their escaped murder suspect, discovering the Outback town of Ruby’s End holds a monstrous secret – and they are at its heart. Some legends are born. Others bite!
Alice
Cookie-wise Pty Ltd
Genre: Drama
Writer: Matthew Cormack
Synopsis: While holidaying in a small rural town surrounded by vast farmland and wilderness, Sally and Henry, an older unmarried and childless couple of twenty years, lose their dog Alice. Over the next few months they tirelessly search for Alice, walking a thousand kilometres through a struggling rural community, quitting their jobs, spending their small savings, as the quiet crisis of their relationship and future is laid bare by the sacrifices they make and the encountered community’s capacity to help.
Eurovisionary
Sestra Films Pty Ltd
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Coming of age
Writer/Director: Jeneffa Soldatić
Producers: Jeneffa Soldatić, Petra Lovrenčić
Synopsis: Sydney, 1983: 10-year-old Croatian-Australian Julie is ostracized by her schoolmates, who accuse her of being connected to the notorious “Croatian Six” terrorist scandal. When Julie travels to Yugoslavia for a family holiday and her namesake song “Džuli” is performed at Eurovision, the village kids welcome her unconditionally. Returning to Australia, she’s determined to introduce Eurovision to her school. Will Eurovision have the same power to unite her school, so that she can belong again?
Brilliant Monkey
Confidante Pictures
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Road Movie
Director: Warwick Young
Writers: Warwick Young, Alan Dukes
Producer: Belinda Dean
Executive Producers: Timothy White, Josh Pomeranz
Synopsis: On the death of their mother, two estranged brothers; an ageing punk rocker and a brain injured soldier, begrudgingly hit the road together to meet the deadline for her funeral and lay claim to their share of the estate.
Panos, Pannos and George
Damien Strouthos
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Crime
Director: Peter Andrikidis
Writer: Damien Strouthos
Producer: Indiana Kwong
Creative Developer: Danielle Stamoulos
Script Editor: Kris Wyld
Synopsis: Max’s road-trip to Melbourne and reconciliation with his estranged father is hijacked by three peculiar Athenians who are secretly on the run from the law.
Counting Cards With My Father
Lydia Rui Huang
Genre: Drama, Crime
Writer/Director: Lydia Rui
Synopsis: Introverted Lisa (16, she/they) has just moved into residential care and befriends Morgan (21, she/they), aspiring DJ and nightclub hostess. However, Lisa knows they’re not staying long: they’re going to find their poker playing, Chinese cowboy of a father, Sammy (59, he/him), and get the hell out of there. But life is a gamble, and you’re not always going to like the hand you’re dealt — especially if you lose yourself in the process.
Umuzimu (Spirit)
Arenamedia Pty ltd
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Magic Realism
Writer/Director: Santilla Chingaipe
Producer: Robert Connolly
Synopsis: A grieving mother learns to parent her daughter in the afterlife.
Deluge
The Luscri-Surgenor Film Company
Genre: Drama, Psychological
Director: Melissa Anastasi
Writers: Melissa Anastasi, Ayeshah Zakiya Rose
Producers: Chris Luscri, Hayley Surgenor
Synopsis: A Muslim contemporary dancer, on the cusp of a career breakthrough, is struck down by mysterious seizures that force her to face her past.
The Child
Brooke Goldfinch
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Mystery, Science fiction, Coming of Age
Writer/Director: Brooke Goldfinch
Synopsis: Shy teen, Rhea Reid, develops an intense relationship with a charismatic young mother who claims to be her daughter from the future.
Three Cows
Sara Kern
Genre Drama, Horror, Mystery
Writer/Director: Sara Kern
Script Editor: Angeli Macfarlane
Synopsis: A 13-year-old with an uncanny resemblance to her immigrant grandmother becomes a conduit for the severed past.
Revelations
Dark Before Dawn Productions
Genre: Horror, Psychological
Writer: Travis Akbar
Producer: Travis Akbar
Executive Producer: Silvio Salom
Synopsis: After a brutal storm forces them to take shelter in a church, parents-to-be Matthew and Elizabeth must face the church’s archaic Priest, who believes Elizabeth’s soon-to-be born child is the anti-Christ and will stop at nothing to destroy it.
Unravel
Michael Hudson (Third Impact Films)
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Psychological
Writer/Director: Michael Hudson
Producer: Michael Hudson
Synopsis: The lives of an Aboriginal family slowly start to unravel after a single father is involved in a serious accident. In the days following, his only child will learn that guilt isn’t the only thing Dad has brought home.
Baby Face
AP Pobjoy
Genre: Romantic comedy
Writer/Director: AP Pobjoy
Synopsis: After their estranged sister dies, Bly, a millennial mid gender transition, is suddenly responsible for their troubled fourteen-year-old nephew, Michael. But on the cusp of going through puberty for the second time, Bly must now become the most adult thing in the world: a parent.
Playtime
Causeway Films
Genre: Psychological Drama
Writer/Director: Alex Wu
Producers: Kristina Ceyton, Samantha Jennings
Synopsis: Returning to China, a psychologist starts working at a treatment facility for internet-addicted teenagers. Her desire to help one young man sparks an unexpected yearning for connection inside them both.
Calm
Golden Moss Films
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Writer/Directors: Michael Leonard, Jamie Helmer
Producers: Michael Leonard, Justin Pechberty, Susan Schmidt
Synopsis: Forced to move her family to the dilapidated farmhouse of her childhood, Helen is unsettled by a strange presence in the house, while her son grows dangerously out of control.
Television Series
Premium
Thirteen Days
3 x 60 mins
Curio Pictures Pty Ltd
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Historical
Writer: Andrew Bovell
Executive Producers: Jo Porter, Rachel Gardner, Marian Macgowan, Andrew Bovell
Synopsis: The revisionist history of a forgotten woman at the forefront of our political landscape.
The Housemate
6 x 60 mins
Lingo Pictures Pty Ltd
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Mystery
Writer: Liz Doran
Executive Producers: Helen Bowden, Jason Stephens
Synopsis: Three Melbourne housemates. One dead, one missing and one accused of murder. It’s a mystery that has baffled Australians, including investigative reporter Oli Groves, for nearly a decade… Until the missing housemate returns. Together with millennial podcaster Cooper Ng, Oli uncovers a dangerous web of secrets that threatens to engulf her personal life too. How far will she go before she loses herself – or endangers the ones she loves?
Immersion
8 x 60 mins
I Am That Pty Limited
Genre: Crime, Science fiction
Director: Garth Davis
Writer: Matt Vesely
Producer: Samantha Lang
Executive Producers: Garth Davis, Emile Sherman
Synopsis: When an investigation into his daughter’s illness leads to signs of a shadowy government Agency experimenting with the subconscious, a police detective becomes trapped in an immersive reality.
Forget Me Not
8 x 30 mins
Kacie Anning
Genre: Comedy
Writer/Director: Kacie Anning
Producer: Kacie Anning
Synopsis: Famous as a child for her parents’ notorious prank-filled online channel, Sally (27) is still reckoning with her unwanted fame when an unforgivable stunt by her parents sets Sally on a crusade to wipe her own existence from the internet. Together with two other internet-famous-kids and a documentarian hoping to expose ‘sharenting’ culture, Sally will take on internet giants, trolls and hackers, but most importantly, her parents, in a bid to have her Right to Be Forgotten granted.
House of Kwa
8 x 60 mins
Wooden Horse Pty Ltd
Genre: Drama
Creator: Corrie Chen
Writer/Director: Corrie Chen
Writers’ Room Collaborators: Penelope Chai, Niki Aken, Liselle Mei, Kim Ho
Producers: Jude Troy, Richard Finlayson
Executive Producers: Jude Troy, Richard Finlayson, Elizabeth Bradley, Corrie Chen
Synopsis: When high-profile journalist Mimi Kwa’s father sues her over his beloved sister’s will, she faces a battle with the ghosts and misdeeds of her family’s dynastic past.
Unsettled
8 x 60 mins
Tilt Media & Entertainment Pty Ltd
Genre: Family Drama, Mystery, Indigenous Realism
Creators: Nicole Sullivan, Melissa Lucashenko
Writers: Melissa Lucashenko, Stuart Page
Producer: Diane Robertson
Co-producer: Nicole Sullivan
Executive Producers: Chris Hilton, Rhoda Roberts, Simonne Overend
Synopsis: In an Australian seaside town newly arrived French teenager, Sasha, discovers the body of an Indigenous child which has been mysteriously preserved for 150 years forcing two prominent families to face unsettling secrets and triggers a battle over coveted ancestral land.
Undercurrent
6 x 60 mins
Sweet Shop Green Pty Ltd
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime, Mystery
Creators: Rebecca Ingram, Stuart Page
Writers: Stuart Page, Rebecca Ingram, Jock Serong
Producer: Gal Greenspan
Executive Producers: Ayelet Waldman, Sharlene George
SSG Head of Scripted: Rachael Turk
Synopsis: When a mainland police officer is murdered on idyllic Norfolk Island, an islander finds herself caught between the fiercely independent community she loves, the much-maligned Island Administrator tasked with investigating the crime, and her own desperate need for a smoke.
Generate
A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing
6 x 60 mins
Thumper Pictures Pty Ltd
Genre: Drama
Writer: Jessie Tu
Script Editor: John Collee
Producer: Morgan Hind
Synopsis: Jena is a Taiwanese-Australian woman and former child prodigy who is re-entering the white, male-dominated and privileged world of classical musicianship after a lengthy period out of the spotlight; in doing so she must grapple with her own understanding of her identity and power, which has been tied to this world and those that put her in it for as long as she can remember.
Unqualified
6 x 30 mins
Catherine Moore
Genre: Comedy
Director: Matthew Moore
Writers: Catherine Moore, Genevieve Hegney
Producers: Catherine Moore, Genevieve Hegney
Synopsis: The story of two women who are not just living a lie but lying for a living. Uptight, ambitious, Joanne Truebody and eternally optimistic, Felicity Bacon are over 45 and virtually skill-less. This odd couple team up to open a Temporary Employment Agency — but they’ll do ALL the jobs themselves. Jobs for which they are well and truly unqualified. Unqualified is for everyone who’s ever felt like an imposter in the workplace and anyone who actually is one.
Good Eggs
6 x 30 mins
3rd Gen Productions Pty Ltd
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Writer: Melanie Tait
Producer; Cecilia Ritchie
Synopsis: Nicola is 39 and wants a family, Sarah is 40 and she’s losing her family, Zoya is 39 and she hasn’t got any family left. They haven’t seen the nuclear family work for anyone. Can a baby or two help these three friends make a family together?
My Sister Ellie
Jessie Mangum
6 x 60 mins
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Director: Laura Scrivano
Writers: Samantha Collins, Laura Scrivano
Producer: Jessie Mangum
Synopsis: Jen and her husband Paul land in wintery London determined to find Jen’s sister Ellie, the surrogate carrying their child, who has fled Australia and vanished. Desperate, they discover Ellie has lied about her former life in London, fuelling their fears and triggering Jen’s memories of the childhood death of Ellie’s twin Marianne. As their search continues Jen discovers how deep the lies run – are those closest to her hiding a terrible secret?
Honeymoon
8 x 30 mins
Gina Song
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Writers: Gina Song, Liên Ta
Synopsis: In a near future with increasing global warming and decreasing fertility rates, a romantic optimist, Thea Lim, joins ‘The Honeymoon’ – a program designed to pair young people with their potential life partners. Her happily-ever-after is complicated when she begins to fall in love with her matched partner’s cynical sister, Haru.
Custodians
8 x 30 mins
Natasha Henry
Genre: Comedy
Writer: Natasha Henry
Synopsis: A Pasifika creative lucks her way into a high stakes public relations role at a public art museum, just as the state government threatens to close it down. To keep her job and the museum open, she must singlehandedly transform their eccentric director into a woke media darling and push her moral and cultural compass to its limits.
Online
Adventuries of the Century
42 x 1 mins
Molly Daniels
Genre: Comedy
Director: Molly Daniels
Writers/Producers: Molly Daniels, Dylan Murphy
Synopsis: Dylan and Molly are two cousins who are regularly thrust into high-stakes escapades by their Grandma Catherine. In Adventuries of the Century, her demands will see the duo get to the bottom of an adoption scandal, rob City Hall, go on trial for their crimes, break out of prison, salvage a doomed wedding, and save Christmas!
I’d Rather Eat Cake
6 x 8 mins
Blackwood River Films Pty Ltd
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director: Mimi Helm
Writer: Tahlia Norrish
Producer: Sophia Armstrong
Synopsis: Twenty-three-year-old Cobie assumed her sexual awakening would eventually arrive. But upon discovering she’s potentially asexual, Cobie takes matters into her own hands… I’d Rather Eat Cake is a comedy/drama based on truth that chronicles a young female’s journey towards radical self-acceptance.
Let’s Break Up
6 x 5 mins
Kiosk Film
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Creator: Anisa Nandaula
Writers: Anisa Nandaula, Gemma Bird-Matheson
Producers: Tilly Towler, Sara Taghaode
Synopsis: When Anisa, a seemingly conservative young Muslim woman, is rushed to hospital with a mystery illness, she must make a decision – will she come clean about her secret life of dating and stand-up comedy, knowing that her confession will radically change her closest relationships? Time is running out and her honesty seems to be the only way to figure out what is going on with her body.
Scrunt Hunt
15 x 5 mins
Jordan Raskopoulos
Genre: Comedy, Mystery, Fantasy
Writer/Director: Jordan Raskopoulos
Producer: Jordan Raskopoulos
Synopsis: It’s Blues Clues meets Twin Peaks as Jordan and her son Scrunt; a yellow lizard boy powered by A.I. character technology, embark on adventures and solve mysteries in their animated neighbourhood.
The Place I Carry Within
1 x 20 mins
Enoet Râz Pty Ltd
Genre: Action adventure, Family, Fantasy, Game
Writer/Directors: Enoet Râz, Ahnat Râz
Producer: Enoet Râz
Synopsis: Mina has requested to see you; she needs your help. With the passage of time, her most cherished childhood memories have faded away, destined to vanish forever. There is only one way to stop this from happening; you must go back in time, to the land she had to flee as a child, and relive her memories all over again. Will you agree to embark on this journey?