http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/news_and_events/2012/ia_120424_featureglineconsult.aspx
– Will any production funding be considered at the May 2013 board meeting? The announcement specifically rules out only television.
May 2013 was always a television-only round
– The announcement refers to the pressure at the December 14 board meeting. Were the decisions made at this meeting announced at the Dec 17 release (http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/news_and_events/2012/mr_121217_funding.aspx) $11.4 million in investment?
YES
This didn't seem to be overly high. The funding announcement in December 2011 was for a higher amount – almost $17 million – http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/news_and_events/2011/mr_111205_funding.aspx. In 11/12 there were only 2 rounds before the December round— this year there were 3 as we have been trialling the concept of 7 production funding rounds a year.
Or were the upcoming decisions for February also made and that filled up the total of $42 million. The total commitment approved by the board up to and including the December meeting is $42m which is the total drama allocation for the year. The funds available for the February round are funds returning to Screen Australia as a result of a lapsed project from an earlier year Whilst we can not speculate on the outcome of the February round and the decisions the Board will make, the pressure remains high and we anticipate that all funds available for the round will be allocated As a result we took the view that alerting the industry was the appropriate measure.
– Are the projects funded from the $42 million seen in the Screen Australia announcements from July 1, 2011 (WE FIGURE THIS SHOULD READ 2012) up until this time (and including the upcoming Feb 2013 announcement)? ie. I want to be sure to allocate the correct productions that have been announced to this annual allocation of $42 million.
As per above, the total commitment approved by the board for THIS CURRENT financial year, up to and including the December meeting, is $42m which is the total drama allocation for the year.
Also, from Ross Matthews:
“This situation reflects the current strength of the Australian film industry, rather than Screen Australia's fiscal management. It is always hard to predict when film and television projects will have the funding jigsaw in place and be ready to go. The process of putting a film together is not only about a finance plan but also, critically, a matter of timing – such as artist availability and seasonal considerations. Putting a 'production ready' project back a couple of rounds in order to keep money in the pot for future rounds can be detrimental to the quality of the projects as they may lose artists, financiers, locations etc. The fact is that Screen Australia was called on to fund considerably more 'production ready' quality projects in the first half of the financial year than we had anticipated.
Last year there were four funding rounds only, with the last round held in March. This year we decided to trial a 7-round production investment cycle in at attempt to reduce timing pressures on producers. We are now reviewing the number of rounds as it has proved impossible to quarantine sufficient funds for the latter half of the cycle when so many finance ready and quality productions are coming through the door.”
Best
Tracey
DEC 17, 2012
FEATURES
CUT SNAKE (Screen Australia funded December 17, 2012)
Matchbox Pictures
Producers Michael McMahon, Trevor Blainey
Writer Blake Ayshford
Director Tony Ayres
International Sales eOne Entertainment
Australian Distributor Hopscotch eOne Films
Synopsis ‘Sparra’ Farrell has left his secret prison past behind, with a new fiancée and a new life. But he finds it’s a door that is never closed when his newly released cell mate turns up with other ideas.
FELL – EMAILED BRIDGET JAN 5 (Screen Australia funded December 17, 2012)
Felix Media Pty Ltd
Producers John Maynard, Mary Minas
Executive Producer Bridget Ikin
Story by Kasimir Burgess, Natasha Pincus
Writer Natasha Pincus
Director Kasimir Burgess
International Sales Maze Film Sales, The Yellow Affair
Australian Distributor Footprint Films
Synopsis Set in the primal darkness of the forest, Fell is a fable of revenge, redemption and renewal.
KILL ME THREE TIMES – RING KRIV STENDERS (Screen Australia funded December 17, 2012)
KM3T Pty Ltd
Producers Tania Chambers, Laurence Malkin, Share Stallings
Executive Producer Jack Drewe
Writer James McFarland
Director Kriv Stenders
International Sales Cargo Entertainment Ltd, William Morris Endeavor (WME)
Australian Distributor Hopscotch eOne Films
Synopsis In a sun-drenched Australian surfing town, a young woman is the thread that binds three tales of murder, blackmail and revenge.
NOW ADD HONEY – EMAILED FOR UPDATE JAN 4 (Screen Australia funded December 17, 2012)
Gristmill Pty Ltd
Producers Wayne Hope, Robyn Butler, Louisa Kors
Executive Producers Greg Sitch, Geoff Porz, Robyn Butler, Wayne Hope
Writer Robyn Butler
Director Wayne Hope
International Sales Lightning Entertainment Group
Australian Distributor Roadshow Films
Synopsis Normal life implodes for a suburban family when their popstar cousin comes to stay.
INDIGENOUS FEATURE
THE DARKSIDE – EMAILED KATH SHELPER JAN 5 (Screen Australia funded December 17, 2012)
Scarlett Pictures
Producer Kath Shelper
Writer/Director Warwick Thornton
Australian Distributor Transmission Films
International Sales TBC
Broadcaster ABC1
Synopsis Aboriginal people live on the threshold of two worlds – one of everyday reality and the other of spirits, demons and entities. Although they might seem stoic and complacent, with the clash of these two worlds the reality is we should all be scared shitless. Director Warwick Thornton has assembled a collection of poignant, sad, funny and absurd ghost tales from across the country and will bring them to life with some of Australia’s most iconic actors being the storytellers. The Darkside gives a black perspective on the afterlife.
ADULT TELEVISION DRAMA
THE CODE – EMAILED JAN 5, ALSO FOR HOUSE HUSBANDS (Screen Australia funded December 17, 2012)
6 x 60 mins
Playmaker Media Pty Ltd
Producers David Maher, David Taylor, Shelley Birse
Writers Shelley Birse, Blake Ayshford, Justin Monjo
Director Shawn Seet
International Sales FremantleMedia Limited
Broadcaster ABC1
Synopsis The Code is a fictional thriller set between the remote Australian desert and the corridors of power in Canberra. A murder in the Outback thrusts two unlikely brothers into an international political conspiracy.
NEVER TEAR US APART (Screen Australia funded December 17, 2012)
Shine Australia
2 x 120 mins
Producers Rory Callaghan, Mark Fennessy
Director Daina Reid
Writers Justin Monjo, Dave Warner
International Sales Shine International
Broadcaster Seven Network
Synopsis Never Tear Us Apart tells the uncensored story of Australia’s most successful band, INXS. This big, brash and colourful TV drama will chart the rise of six Sydney boys who became the biggest band in the world. A story of mateship, a story of success and excess, talent and sheer bloody will, set to a pulsating soundtrack including all of INXS’s greatest hits.
POWER GAMES: THE PACKER-MURDOCH STORY (Screen Australia funded December 17, 2012)
Southern Star Entertainment
2 x 120 mins
Producers John Edwards, Mimi Butler
Writers David Caesar, Samantha Winston
Director David Caesar
International Sales Endemol Worldwide Distribution
Broadcaster Nine Network Australia
Synopsis Boy publisher Rupert Murdoch comes to Sydney to take on the Packers in a war for control of newspapers and television.
RETURN TO THE DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND – EMAILED HELEN BOWDEN JAN 5 (Screen Australia funded December 17, 2012)
Matchbox Pictures
6 x 47 mins
Producers Helen Bowden, Blake Ayshford
Executive Producers Penny Chapman, Simon Burke, Penny Win
Writers Blake Ayshford, Cate Shortland, Alice Addison, Tommy Murphy
Directors Rachel Ward, Tony Krawitz
International Sales NBCUniversal
Broadcaster FOXTEL
Synopsis 1988. Thirty-five years after Fred Schepisi’s film The Devil’s Playground, Tom Allen, now a psychiatrist, becomes a secular confessor to the Catholic clergy, and is soon embroiled in political and theological intrigue.
SECRETS AND LIES: THE TRACK – EMAILED GENERAL ADDRESS JAN 5 (Screen Australia funded December 17, 2012)
Hoodlum Active Pty Ltd
6 x 43 mins
Producers Tracey Robertson, Nathan Mayfield, Leigh McGrath
Writer Stephen Irwin
Director TBA
International Sales Cineflix
Broadcaster Network Ten
Synopsis Ben is an innocent man who becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a four-year-old boy. As his world falls apart, he desperately tries to find the real killer… at stake is his marriage, his kids, his reputation and his sanity.
CHILDREN’S TELEVISION DRAMA
TASHI – EMAILED GENERAL ADDRESS JAN 5 (Screen Australia funded December 17, 2012)
Buzz Studios
52 x 11 mins
Producers Jim Ballantine, Barbara Stephen
Writers Fin Edquist, David Evans, Cleon Prineas
Directors Serg Delfino, Marc Wasik
International Sales Wavery Productions BV
Broadcasters Seven Network (first run), ABC (shared runs)
Synopsis When young Jack is bundled off and sent to stay with distant relatives in a far off land, he has no idea quite how much his life is about to change.
NOV 12
ADULT TELEVISION DRAMA
REDFERN NOW SERIES 2 – CHECK WITH DARREN DALE (Screen Australia funded November 12, 2012)
Blackfella Films Pty Ltd
Producers Darren Dale, Miranda Dear
Story Producer Jimmy McGovern
Writers Steven McGregor, Adrian Wills, Jon Bell, Wayne Blair, Leah Purcell
Directors TBC
Broadcaster ABC1
International Sales ABC Commercial
Synopsis Redfern Now is a kaleidoscopic drama series that explores the inner-city suburb and the people who inhabit it. Over six stand-alone episodes, with interlinking secondary characters, we join the households of six ordinary families whose lives are changed by a seemingly insignificant incident.
FEATURES
MY MISTRESS – EMAILED LEANNE FOR UPDATE JAN 5 (Screen Australia funded November 12, 2012)
Mini Studios
Producer Leanne Tonkes
Executive Producer Robyn Kershaw
Writer Gerard Lee
Director Stephen Lance
Australian Distributor Transmission Films with RKPix
International Sales LevelK
Synopsis Suffering from grief after his father’s suicide, 16-year-old Charlie Boyd seeks out the help of a local French S&M mistress in an attempt to reconnect with his life.
SON OF A GUN – EMAILED JAN 5 (Screen Australia funded November 12, 2012)
Southern Light Films Pty Ltd
Producer Timothy White
Co-producer Janelle Landers
Executive Producers Aaron L Gilbert, John Collee, Bryce Menzies, Aidan O’Bryan
Writer/Director Julius Avery
Australian Distributor Hopscotch
International Sales Altitude Films, United Talent Agency (UTA)
Synopsis A young man is sent to prison where he becomes the apprentice to public enemy number one.
OCT 15
ADULT TV DRAMA (SHOOT OCT 8, 2012 – Dec 14, 2012) (Screen Australia funded October 15, 2012)
THE GODS OF WHEAT STREET
Every Cloud Productions
Producers Lois Randall, Jon Bell
Executive Producers Fiona Eagger, Deb Cox
Writer Jon Bell
Directors Catriona McKenzie, Adrian Wills, Wayne Blair
Broadcaster ABC1
Synopsis Filmed on location in Coraki, Casino and Lismore – Jon Bell’s home country – The Gods of Wheat Street tells of Odin Freeburn, head of the family, as he tries to keep the family together under the pesky spiritual guidance of his long-departed mother.
SEPT 6
CHARLIE’S COUNTRY (Screen Australia funded September 6, 2012)
Vertigo Productions Pty Ltd
Producers Nils Erik Nielsen, Peter Djigirr
Writer/Director Rolf de Heer
International Sales Fandango Portobello
Australian Distributor Hopscotch
Cast David Gulpilil
Synopsis Rolf de Heer and David Gulpilil collaborate to create a tragi-comic portrait of Charlie’s struggle to understand how he should define himself as an Aboriginal in modern Australia.
PREDESTINATION – EMAILED MICHAEL ON JAN 5
Wolfhound Pictures/Blacklab Entertainment
Producers Paddy McDonald, Tim McGahan
Writer/Directors Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
International Sales Arclight Films
Australian Distributor Pinnacle Films
Synopsis Chronicles the life of a temporal agent who on his final assignment must recruit his younger self, while pursuing the one criminal that has eluded him throughout time.
WOLF CREEK 2
Emu Creek Pictures Pty Ltd
Producer/Writer/Director Greg McLean
Producers Helen Leake, Steve Topic
Writer Aaron Sterns
International Sales Arclight Films
Australian Distributor Roadshow Films
Synopsis The outback once again becomes a place of mind-bending horror, action and suspense as another unwitting backpacker becomes prey for crazed, serial-killing pig-shooter, Mick Taylor.
JULY 26
FEATURES
AIM HIGH IN CREATION – EMAILED JAN 5
Unicorn Films
Producer Lizzette Atkins
Writer/Director Anna Broinowski
International Sales High Point Media Group
Australian Distributor Antidote Films
Synopsis A revolutionary film about the cinematic genius of Kim Jong-il with a groundbreaking experiment at its heart: the making of a film-within-a-film, based on the rules of his manifesto The Cinema and Directing. No Western filmmaker has ever done this before – for good reason!
FELONY
Goalpost Pictures Australia and Blue Tongue Films
Producers Rosemary Blight, Joel Edgerton
Writer Joel Edgerton
Director Matthew Saville
International Sales The Solution
Australian Distributor Roadshow Films
Synopsis Three male detectives become embroiled in a tense struggle after a tragic accident which leaves a small child in a coma. One is guilty; one will try to cover it, and the other attempt to expose it. The crime sends the three men on a thrilling ride where they discover that the road to forgiveness is longer and more complex than that of a simple social justice.
HEALING – EMAILED FOR UPDATE ON JAN 5
Pointblank Pictures Pty Ltd
Producers Craig Monahan, Tait Brady
Writers Craig Monahan, Alison Nisselle
Director Craig Monahan
International Sales Lightning/Richard Guardian
Australian Distributor Pinnacle
Synopsis Healing is a moving story of redemption, the discovery of hope and its healing of the spirit – in the most unlikely place, for the most unique men, through the most unusual catalyst.
THE ROVER
Porchlight Films Pty Ltd in association with Lava Bear Films LLC
Producers Liz Watts, David Linde, David Michôd
Writer/Director David Michôd
International Sales FilmNation
Australian Distributor Village Roadshow
Synopsis The Australian desert in a dangerous and damaged near future. Eric has left everything, everyone and every semblance of human kindness behind him. And then he has his last possession stolen by a gang of dangerous criminals. Eric sets off on a ruthless mission to track them down, forced along the way to enlist the help of Rey, the naïve and injured junior member of the gang, who was left behind in the bloody chaos of the gang’s most recent robbery.
TELEVISION DRAMA
BETTER MAN
FremantleMedia Australia in association with Bravado Productions
Producer Stephen Corvini
Executive Producer Jason Stephens
Writer/Director Khoa Do
Broadcaster SBS
International Sales SBS International
Synopsis Exactly how much risk would you take to save your brother? For Van Nguyen the answer was whatever it takes, and the devastating consequence of his attempt to traffic heroin from Cambodia to Australia via a change of planes in Singapore was that the 396 grams of drugs that he was discovered carrying was enough to incur the death penalty – 26 times over.
GALLIPOLI
Southern Star Entertainment Pty Ltd
Producers John Edwards, Imogen Banks, Robert Connolly
Writer Christopher Lee (based on the book by Les Carlyon)
Director TBC
Broadcaster Nine Network
International Sales Endemol Worldwide
Synopsis The greatest invasion in the history of warfare was to become a diabolical failure – an eight-month siege where the bravery of Anzac troops was squandered. But in doing so a legend, and a nation, were born.
MISS FISHER’S MURDER MYSTERIES SERIES 2 – CHECKED VIA EMAIL
Production Company: Every Cloud Productions
Producer Fiona Eagger
Script Producer Deb Cox
Head Writers Deb Cox, John Banas, Kristen Dunphy, Chris Corbett, Ysabelle Dean, Michelle Offen
Directors Tony Tilse
Broadcaster ABC
International Sales All3Media International
Domestic Sales ABC Commercial
Synopsis Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries series 2 is a 13 x 1-hour murder mystery series based on the novels of Australian author Kerry Greenwood.
Start Shoot: 18th February, 2013 Wrap Shoot: 9th August, 2013
Location: Melbourne
PARER’S WAR
Pericles Film Productions Pty Ltd
Producer Andrew Wiseman
Writer Alison Nisselle
Director Matthew Saville
Broadcaster ABC
Domestic Sales Transmission
Synopsis Parer’s War is the story of World War II frontline cameraman Damien Parer and his desperate efforts to reveal the savage truth of battle and the brutal truth of the heart.
WENTWORTH
FremantleMedia Australia Pty Ltd
Executive Producer Jo Porter
Producer Amanda Crittenden
Script Producer Lara Radulovich
Director Kevin Carlin
International Sales FremantleMedia
Broadcaster FOXTEL
Synopsis We all know Bea Smith ruled Wentworth Detention Centre. She was gutsy and fearless. But who was Bea Smith before prison? How did a wife and mother from the suburbs become a top dog without rival? Where did the confidence and fortitude come from that enabled her to get there, and what injustices and misadventures fuelled her determination to do it? Wentworth is a dynamic, often confronting, drama series that begins with Bea’s early days in prison. Set in the present day, it’s a modern re-imagination of Prisoner.
CHILDREN’S TELEVISION
THE LOST BOYS
Matchbox Productions Pty Ltd
Producers Michael McMahon, Tony Ayres
Writers Craig Irvin, Rhys Graham, Roger Monk, Elise McCredie, Polly Staniford, Shanti Gudgeon
Directors Peter Carstairs, Robert Connolly
Broadcaster ABC
International Sales NBCUniversal
Domestic Sales ACTF
Synopsis Four boys get lost in the forest, and discover, when they return home, that they have returned to an alternate world identical to theirs except for one startling difference – they were never born.
SAM FOX: EXTREME ADVENTURES
SLR Productions Pty Ltd
Producer/Executive Producer Suzanne Ryan
Writer Keith Thompson
Broadcaster Network Ten
International Sales ZDFE
Synopsis Sam Fox: Extreme Adventures is an action-packed adventure series about teenage ‘danger magnet’ Sam Fox as he braves the wilds from open ocean to deepest jungle, coming face to face with killer sharks, man-eating leopards, raging tornadoes, erupting volcanoes, deadly scorpions, giant anacondas and much, much more.
THE WORST YEAR OF MY LIFE – AGAIN!
Worst Year Productions Pty Ltd
Producers Ross Allsop, Bernadette O’Mahony
Writers Mark Brotherhood, Brendan Luno, Sam Carroll (and others)
Directors Pino Amenta (and others)
Broadcasters ABC, CBBC (UK)
International Sales ACTF
Synopsis When Alex King goes to bed on the eve of his 15th birthday, he’s relieved that the last disastrous year is finally over. But when he wakes up, time has reset itself and he’s going to have to relive the worst year of his life all over again.