The South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) has launched a new grant to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander filmmakers.
The SAFC has also released program deadlines for four other funding initiatives as well as an ABC Comedy Internship.
The new Aboriginal Project Development Grant will see up to $15,000 per project made available to filmmakers for the development of long form drama and factual projects for cinema and television.
Recipients of the new grant can also still apply for other South Australian Film Corporation funding through initiatives such as production investment, project development, professional development and production attraction.
The new grant is part of the SAFC’s renewed focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander filmmaking which was highlighted as a key priority for new chief executive, Annabelle Sheehan, on her appointment to the role in January 2015.
It also follows SAFC’s funding of five SA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander filmmakers to make Micro-Documentaries.
These were screened on National Indigenous Television earlier in the month for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee
(NAIDOC) Week.
South Australian Film Corporation chief executive, Annabelle Sheehan, said the new Aboriginal Project Development Grant was part of a broader SAFC strategy to foster Aboriginal filmmaking in the State.
“We’ve focussed on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander filmmaking with a specific grant because their stories are under-represented in cinemas and on television, and look forward to supporting and celebrating First Nations stories from South Australian Aboriginal communities,” she said.
“The grant provides the flexibility for applicants to receive funding at any stage of a project’s development, including draft screenplay or treatment stage.”
The deadline for applications for the new Aboriginal Project Development Grant is September, 21.
SAFC will also partner with the ABC on a new initiative that will identify and support a South Australian comedy writer.
This scheme provides an exceptional opportunity for one South Australian writer to take part in a writers’ room for an upcoming ABC Entertainment comedy production.
Recent projects from ABC Entertainment include: Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, The Gruen Transfer, The Weekly with Charlie Pickering, The Checkout, The Chaser’s Media Circus and many more.
The scheme will be funded as a minimum four-week internship and will take place in either Sydney or Melbourne 2015.