Screen Queensland has formed a new partnership with ABC TV to invest $500,000 in the ABC iview Queensland Originals: Factual Formats Initiative.
ABC iview Queensland Originals is an initiative that helps Queensland practitioners produce online factual and factual entertainment series to premiere on ABC iview.
The series have the potential to be broadcast on ABC2 – supporting the development and production of up to three digital series.
The program, announced at AIDC, will also take three Queensland producers to MIPTV 2017.
Screen Queensland chair Linda Apelt said she was thrilled to be joining with ABC TV to deliver the new program that focuses on engaging early to mid career Queensland factual producers to produce digital first factual formats capable of entertaining Australian audiences and being sold internationally.
"ABC iview Queensland Originals forms part of our early career screen program constructed to build meaningful career pathways for these practitioners and those industry seeking to develop and acquire new skills," she said.
"SQ and ABC TV will invest almost $500,000 in this initiative as we see it delivering real outcomes for those in our industry who work within the factual genre.
"This is an important program that will highlight our state’s talent and stories in the factual space and give practitioners the opportunity to work with the ABC."
ABC director of television, Richard Finlayson, said ABC TV was serious about breaking new ground in factual storytelling.
"We want to help Australian producers create innovative and compelling factual formats that sell to the rest of the world," he said.
"The ABC aims to spur creative and financial success for Queensland producers in factual storytelling."
ABC iview Queensland Originals is calling out for Queensland producers to send in ideas for factual formats suitable for production and distribution on the ABC iview platform, and with the potential for sale in the international marketplace.
The series should be targeted at digital audiences aged 18-35, and with broader appeal.
The series must have an episodic length of at least five minutes with a maximum total duration of three hours.
Three early to mid career Queensland producers/teams will then have the opportunity to develop a format based, high volume factual series, taking part in a development workshop in May, where they will receive input from an industry executive producer and the ABC factual team.
Each series will receive $7,500 in concept development investment from Screen Queensland.
After the development stage, one project will be selected for production and distribution on the ABC iview platform.
Screen Queensland and the ABC will fund the entire budget of the selected series to a maximum of $450,000.
The two remaining series will be supported to take their formats to market at MIPTV 2017.