Screen Australia funds 29 new local film and TV projects

Screen Australia has announced 23 feature films and six television dramas that will share in over $810,000 of story development funding.

Among the funded projects is Willy, the latest animation series from Ludo Studio, the production company behind Bluey; family feature film The Last Tiger, and horror/comedy feature The Black Talons written by Maria Lewis and directed by Shari Sebbens.

For the full list of funded screen projects, keep scrolling.

‘We’re absolutely thrilled to be supporting such a diverse array of TV drama and feature film projects in this latest development slate,’ said Screen Australia Head of Development Bobby Romia.

‘All of these projects are driven by teams deeply connected to the content they’re creating, opening up new avenues for creative expression whilst championing new voices to tell their unique stories. Screen Australia will be following each of their development journeys closely.’

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Newly funded features:

Desert Fish

Reverse

Hindi-Vindi

The Yarrabah Brass Band

The Other War

Kindness

This Suburban Life

The Last Tiger

THE MATI

Counting Cards with My Father

TWO NATIONS

Lightning Ridge

NEST

Saccharine

7 1/2

One Hundred Days

Langton

The Black Talons

Sophie Next Door

Stunners

LOVE IS, LOVE IS

Agrippina

The White Girl

Newly funded TV series:

ARE WE GOOD?

The Golden Ass

WILLY

Half a Man

Die And Let Live

Going Troppo

All projects funded: Series

WILLY

• 10 x 24 mins
• Ludo Holdings Pty Ltd
• Genre Comedy, Drama, Animation
• Creators Samuel Leighton-Dore, Bradley Tennant
• Writer/Director Samuel Leighton-Dore
• Producer Liam Heyen
• Development Producer Chloe Hume
• Executive Producers Daley Pearson, Charlie Aspinwall
• Synopsis Willy is a 10-part coming-of-age animated series. It’s 2003 and 15-year-old Willy is on the cusp of a sexual awakening, which would be great if he wasn’t stuck in the rural sugarcane farming town of Toee. Willy’s only salvation is his colourful imagination and the cast of fantastical friends who inhabit it, including razor-tongued rescue cat Beverley and a scornful op-shop portrait of the Virgin Mary. But soon the arrival of hot new neighbour Jack threatens to bust Willy’s carefully constructed inner-world wide open, changing the lives of Toee locals forever.

SENESCENCE

• 8 x 60 mins
• Mess Productions
• Genre Drama, Science fiction
• Director Madeleine Parry
• Writers Madeleine Parry, Maddison Connaughton 
• Producers Madeleine Parry, Peter Hanlon
• Synopsis Ambitious 26-year-old dropout Mia gets caught in a corporate battle whilst trying to save her mother from a degenerative illness.

THE NIGHT WHISTLER

• 6 x 60 mins
• Perpetual Entertainment
• Genre Drama, Thriller, Crime, Mystery
• Writers Greg Woodland, Pip Karmel, Shane Salvador
• Producer Lisa Duff
• Synopsis 1967 small-town bigoted NSW, a 12-year-old crime buff joins forces with an Aboriginal girl and a fallen detective to stop the mysterious animal-killer and psychopath who’s terrorizing his family.

THE SERVIENT

• 8 x 45 mins
• Aquarius Films Pty Ltd
• Genre Neo-noir Action Thriller
• Creators Stella Ha Vi Do, Shiyan Zheng
• Writer Shiyan Zheng
• Producers Polly Staniford, Angie Fielder
• Executive Producer Stella Ha Vi Do
• Synopsis When a rising management consultant learns that her Vietnamese Tiger Mum has clawed her way to the top of Western Sydney’s underworld and is now under attack from rival gangs, she must do the one thing she swore she’d never do… help her mum.

THE OUTER DARK

• 8 x 60 mins
• Rhapsody Films Pty Ltd
• Genre Drama, Thriller, Crime
• Director Rhys Graham
• Writers Rhys Graham, Marieke Hardy, Thomas Wilson-White, Penelope Chai
• Producer Alice Willison
• Synopsis In 1993, four friends in their final year of high school find their destinies forever changed by one of Australia’s most notorious serial killer cases.

CODEPENDENT

• 8 x 30 mins
• Nondescript Productions
• Genre Comedy, Drama
• Writers Celeste Barber, Belinda King
• Producers Celeste Barber, Alexandra Keddie
• Synopsis Marriage counsellor, Darcy, is forced to face her own relationship demons when her husband of 15 years leaves her for someone new.

ARE WE GOOD?

• 8 x 30 mins
• Makes You Think Pty Ltd
• Genre Comedy, Drama
• Writers Ben Manusama (aka Ben Abraham), Liam Maguire
• Producers Ben Manusama (aka Ben Abraham), Liam Maguire
• Executive Producer Debs Paterson
• Synopsis Inspired by real events, Are We Good? is a dramedy about a young Christian leader who, on the eve of being announced as a new pastor at his parents’ church, confesses to his fiancée that he cheated on her with a man off craigslist. What follows is the messy, heartening, darkly-funny story of a man trying to reconcile the person he is with the religion he’s devoted his life to.

THE GOLDEN ASS

• 6 x 40 mins
• Goalpost Television
• Genre Family Drama, Comedy
• Writer Lâle Teoman
• Executive Producers Rosemary Blight, Kylie du Fresne
• Development Producer Polly Rowe
• Synopsis A mixed-Cypriot family descends into chaos when patriarch, Mazhar, has a spectacular meltdown in the Fruit and Vegetable section of the local supermarket. The resulting notoriety lures his adult children home but, instead of dealing with the mess, they are drawn into a desperate plan: to create a viral cooking show with Mazhar and his delinquent pet donkey as the stars. Can they reach 1 million followers or will death and dysfunction stand in their way?

HALF A MAN

• 8 x 30 mins
• Christopher Squadrito
• Genre Comedy, Drama
• Writer/Producer Chris Squadrito
• Script Editor Blake Ayshford
• Synopsis After outing himself as bisexual, 30-year-old personal trainer Max Morello strives to keep his engagement afloat and his sense of masculinity intact – only to find his newfound evolution shifting the very nature of his relationship, his family, and his group of all-too Australian mates.

DIE AND LET LIVE

• 8 x 30 mins
• Chemical Media Pty Ltd
• Genre Black comedy, Drama
• Creators Beth Knights, Tony Jackson
• Writer Beth Knights
• Producers Tony Jackson, Lucy Maclaren
• Executive Producer David Collins
• Synopsis When newly pregnant Olivia fakes her own death to escape a dangerous marriage to a criminal in Ireland, she re-surfaces with a new identity as a single mum in the suburbs of Perth – the most remote city on earth. Resourceful, ambitious, and not entirely averse to illicit activity, Olivia soon realises she can earn a decent living helping all sorts of desperate people fake their deaths too. While her black-market business is booming, Olivia’s hard-won new life is about to unravel with disastrous consequences.

GOING TROPPO

• 8 x 30 mins
• Sanity Productions
• Genre Comedy Drama 
• Writer Kate Wyvill 
• Producer Kate Wyvill
• Script Consultant Katherine Thomson
• Story Consultant Kamahi D’Jordon King
• First Nations Consultant Nadine Lee
• Synopsis An on-the-run, greed-is-good tax avoidance accountant flees Sydney and jail for anonymity in the sweltering madness of 1980s Darwin, the home of her long-lost apparently wealthy father.  Discovering that her father is actually a destitute tempestuous drag queen and unimpressed by her sudden arrival, is as good a liar as herself, and as emotionally immature, she embarks on a turbulent mission to win his admiration and turn his bankrupt gay bar into a spectacular success. Amidst Darwin’s tropical insanity where rules and conduct are bent as far as the humid heat will allow, she does her best to keep her head above water, reinvent herself and find a common ground with her infuriating father. Or dare she say it, love.

WISHES

• 26 x 7 mins
• Karu-Karu
• Genre Family, Adventure, Fantasy
• Director Ana Maria Mendez Salgado
• Producer Carlos Manrique Clavijo
• Executive Producer Colin South
• Synopsis Wishes is an animated series about a five-year-old girl, Lucy, and her young Guardian-creature Kino. Whenever Lucy feels the struggles of others and wishes she could do something to help, Kino materialises into Lucy’s world of magical solutions, helping her shape them into selfless acts of kindness.

PICK UP

• 8 x 30 mins
• Kindling Pictures Holdings Pty Ltd
• Genre Drama
• Creator/Director Taylor Ferguson
• Writers Taylor Ferguson, Jessica Tuckwell, Enoch Mailangi
• Producer Emelyne Palmer
• Executive Producer Imogen Banks
• Synopsis Pick Up follows Koen, a musician on the cusp of fame, battling a chronic illness. Introduced to fecal transplants, he begins an intense daily poo pick up from strangers. As his life grows increasingly public, Koen struggles to maintain his donors’ expectations while navigating the bizarre world of bodily waste, upon which his health now depends. Pick Up is an eight-part series about the intricate dance of transaction and intimacy, the complexities of falling in love, and the daily demands of a chronic illness.

FRESH!

• 8 x 30 mins
• FremantleMedia Australia Pty Ltd
• Genre Comedy, Drama
• Writers Nikki Tran, Simon Trevorrow
• Development Producer Anna Curtis
• Synopsis A sharp-tongued, headstrong asylum seeker, Nesrine, bends the rules of a chaotic and insular Melbourne market to claw back her former standing in life.

SHARPENED KNIVES

• 8 x 30 mins
• Arenamedia Pty Limited
• Genre Comedy, Drama
• Writer Mararo Wangai
• Producer Kate Laurie
• Synopsis Kaka is an affluent Kenyan student living in Fremantle, attending a prestigious business school on family dime and barely passing. When his parent’s money inexplicably dries up, he is forced to work as a dishwasher in a volatile kitchen full of eclectic characters, each caught up in the labyrinthine Australian migration system that is built to keep them down.

BRAND-AIDS

• 8 x 30 mins
• Tin Pang
• Genre Dramedy
• Director Tin Pang
• Writers Tin Pang, Amy Stewart
• Producer Tin Pang
• Mentor/Executive Producer Linda Ujuk
• Synopsis A group of advertising misfits from the minority bench are transformed into Mad Men for the woke age when their white bread agency forces them to give makeovers to ads that have been #cancelled. But will their newfound influence contort them into the very overlords that have constantly oppressed them?

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All projects funded: Feature Films

DESERT FISH

• Liyan Films Pty Ltd
• Genre Comedy, Drama
• Director Wayne Blair
• Writers Victor Hunter, Melanie Hogan
• Producers Victor Hunter, Melanie Hogan, Lisa Scott 
• Executive Producer Mark Coles Smith
• Script Editors Mark Coles Smith, Keith Thompson  
• Synopsis Alfie Munns, a lost soul burdened by a turbulent past, seeks salvation in the remote Kimberley when he stumbles upon the visionary Frances Nerrima, a respected Elder determined to empower her people by building homes together. As they face setbacks, legal troubles, and bitter adversaries, Alfie must confront his demons and embrace his roots to bring hope, unity, and a sense of purpose to a community.

REVERSE

• Wee Beastie Productions Pty Ltd
• Genre Comedy, Drama, Road Movie
• Writers Dave Johnson, Lou Sanz, Sean Ellis
• Producers Christine Alderson, Kate Neylon
• Synopsis Reverse is a high concept contemporary comedy road movie, epic in setting, yet intimate in its portrayal of one woman’s struggle against gambling addiction.

THE YARRABAH BRASS BAND

• Yarrabah Films Pty. Ltd.
• Genre Comedy, Musical, Family
• Director Bjorn Stewart
• Writer Kodie Bedford
• Producers Mitchell Stanley, Tim Sanders
• Synopsis When a young Indigenous man returns to his divided home town, he transforms the community – and himself – through the magic of music by re-forming Australia’s first ever Aboriginal Brass Band. 

THE OTHER WAR

• Jessica de Gouw
• Genre Drama
• Director Emma Freeman 
• Writer Sarah L. Walker 
• Producer Martha Coleman
• Associate Producer Nicole La Bianca 
• Executive Producer Jessica de Gouw, Sarah L. Walker, Martha Coleman
• Synopsis When the Australian Women’s Land Army sends a misfit woman to fill in for a war-absent husband on a remote property in Western Australia, it ignites an epic forbidden love story. A sweeping wartime lesbian romance that explores the tragedy of historical gender and sexual inequality in 1940s rural Australia.

THE LAST TIGER

• Moving Floor Entertainment
• Genre Family
• Writer Leigh McGrath
• Producers Leigh McGrath, Stephen M. Irwin
• Script Editor Stephen M. Irwin
• Synopsis Set in the breathtaking wilds of Tasmania, The Last Tiger tells the story of a remarkable friendship between twelve-year-old Pippa and an injured thylacine pup, which she rescues from near-death and decides to raise in secret. But when Pippa’s discovery is exposed, forces beyond her control threaten to take her beloved tiger away… unless she can find a way to stop them and reunite the pup with its family.

TWO NATIONS

• Jungle Entertainment Pty ltd
• Genre Comedy, Drama
• Writer/Director Trent O’Donnell
• Producer Bridget Callow-Wright
• Executive Producer Jason Burrows
• Synopsis The true story of one of journalism’s most audacious undercover stings – when Australian man Rodger Muller went undercover for three years to infiltrate the NRA on behalf of Al Jazeera, only to find himself at the very centre of a $20 million scandal.

SACCHARINE

• Carver Films Pty Ltd
• Genre Psychological Horror
• Writer/Director Natalie Erika James
• Producers Anna McLeish, Sarah Shaw, Natalie Erika James
• Synopsis A lovelorn medical student becomes terrorized by a hungry ghost after taking part in an obscure weight-loss craze: eating human ashes.

7 1/2

• Daybreak Films Pty Ltd
• Genre Drama
• Director Rhys Graham
• Writers Christos Tsiolkas, Rhys Graham
• First Nations Consultant Leroy Parsons
• Synopsis In a remote coastal town, a provocative writer who has retreated into isolation to write about an aging pornstar, is overwhelmed with his memories as a migrant child experiencing beauty, desire and love for the first time.

Agrippina

• Blackfella Films Pty Ltd
• Genre Drama
• Writer/Director Amanda Blue
• Producer Darren Dale
• Synopsis A curious teenage girl escapes the restrictive confines of her migrant suburban community to discover love, her sexuality and acceptance in 1980s queer Sydney.

BABY CAT

• Bus Stop Films Ltd
• Genre Comedy, Drama, Musical
• Writer/Director Genevieve Clay-Smith
• Producer Eleanor Winkler         
• Executive Producers Nathan Basha, Deanne Weir, Tracey Corbin-Matchett
• Executive Producer and Contributing Writer Mandela Mathia
• Producer’s Attachment Chanel Bowen
• Synopsis After her mother dies, a dance-obsessed woman with trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) must prove to her estranged grandmother that she can live independently or risk losing her family home and her freedom.

BONEGILLA

• Ultrafilms Investments & Productions Pty Ltd and Realworld Pictures Pty Ltd 
• Genre Action adventure, Drama, Thriller
• Director Franco Di Chiera
• Writers Jason Agius, Franco Di Chiera
• Script Consultant Stephen Cleary
• Producers Yvonne Collins, Sabella Sugar, Franco Di Chiera
• Synopsis When the Cold War migrated to Australia; set in 1952, an Italo-Australian cop is hired by ASIO to root out communists at the Bonegilla Migrant Camp. He soon finds things are not what they seem when he discovers a murder.

ONCE MORE WITH FEELING

• Enjoy Entertainment
• Genre Romantic dramedy
• Writer Laurie Stiller
• Director Mark Lamprell
• Producers Phillip Bowman, David Parfitt
• Synopsis Arthur and Roberta are facing the end of life’s journey but unexpectedly find each other, and a chance for love and a glorious new beginning. Once More With Feeling is from the novel By Ceridwen Dovey.

DUST

• Bunya Productions
• Genre Drama, Family
• Director John Sheedy
• Writer Suzie Miller
• Producers Greer Simpkin, David Jowsey, Jenny Cooney
• Synopsis An environmental crisis triggers a massive wakeup call forcing a group of individuals to look in new directions, grappling with the core of what matters most.

CANARY HIGHWAY

• Lumila Films
• Genre Comedy, Drama
• Director Allanah Zitserman
• Writers Allanah Zitserman, 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.

THE GREAT DINOSAUR RESCUE

• FNB Productions
• Genre Family
• Writers Belinda Bradley, Franz Docherty
• Producers Belinda Bradley, Franz Docherty
• Synopsis For twelve years a pack of animatronic dinosaurs toured the world bringing joy to millions of people while celebrating their ancestors. Where are those rock star dinosaurs now? Scattered around Melbourne, gathering dust in shipping containers, waiting to be destroyed. Every tick of the clock bringing them closer to extinction again. Until ten-year-old Spike hears about it. She grew up with those dinosaurs. They’re family. Spike’s determination will not only save the dinosaurs but find them a home!

TELL ME I’M HERE

• Causeway Creations Pty Ltd
• Genre Drama
• Writer Veronica Gleeson
• Producers Kristina Ceyton, Samantha Jennings
• Synopsis When a charming teenager becomes a tormented young adult his mother must face the reality of having a child living with schizophrenia. This is the true story of journalist Anne Deveson’s quest to save her son and shatter the stigma of mental illness.

HINDI-VINDI

• ANA Productions Pty Ltd (24Six Films)
• Genre Drama, Musical, Young Adult
• Director Ali Sayed
• Writers Jayant Sharma
• Additional Writers Swarnima Singh, Arka Das
• Story Consultant Bina Bhattacharya
• Producer Aniket Deshkar
• Synopsis A mixed-race teenage musician discovers his cultural identity as he must race against time to create a rap song in a language he doesn’t speak to honour his dying grandmother.

KINDNESS

• Matthew Whittet
• Genre Drama
• Writer Matthew Whittet
• Synopsis The kindness of friends is never forgotten. For 20-year-old Lucas, his friends are his world. But his older brother Oliver is his solar system. And when a life changing event takes place, Lucas starts to slide. Only the gentle, unwavering love of his friends can lift him again. With luminous, intimate, piss-taking kindness.

THIS SUBURBAN LIFE

• Pancake Originals
• Genre Coming of Age, Drama
• Director Gabriel Carrubba
• Writers Gabriel Carrubba, Luke J. Morgan
• Producers Gabriel Carrubba, Luke J. Morgan, Zane Borg 
• Synopsis The outer suburbs of Melbourne 2007. Two teenage boys, Matteo and Andre, inseparable friends from contrasting socioeconomic backgrounds, spend every moment of their waking lives together. However, when the growing pains of Matteo’s mother’s financial struggles become too much, and Andre stumbles upon the indiscretions of his father, the boys run away, embarking on a journey into the bustling city. This Suburban Life is a story of self-discovery, friendship, identity, and seeing the world outside of your suburb for the first time.

THE MATI

• Panayioti Peter Ninos
• Genre Horror
• Writer/Director Peter Ninos
• Synopsis In the shadow of his brother Stavros, Niko grapples with his self-acceptance as a gay man in a traditional Greek family. Living with the weight of his truth, Niko is preyed upon by a malevolent force known as the Mati, the evil eye, which feeds on his jealousy. This ancient curse offers Niko the chance of a better life, Stavros’ life, he accepts it. Soon, with their fortunes reversed, Niko realizes the price he will pay for invoking the Mati will consume him, destroy his brother and bring an end to his family under the deadly shadow of the Mati.

COUNTING CARDS WITH MY FATHER

• Lydia Rui Huang
• Genre Drama, Crime
• Writer/Director Lydia Rui
• Producer Rachael Fung
• Synopsis Sick of bouncing around from home to home, a misfit teen tracks down their absent father hoping to rebuild their relationship through poker.

LIGHTNING RIDGE

• Never Sleep Pictures Pty Ltd
• Genre Thriller, Crime
• Director Nathan Lewis
• Writer Tara June Winch
• Producer Kate Glover
• Synopsis There are places we go to disappear… other places disappear ourselves. 1992, Lightning Ridge, population unknown. Marlee, young Aboriginal woman, with daughter, Lily, in tow, arrives to solve the mystery of her sister’s disappearance. Serg, a migrant dreams of leaving. Marlee’s hunt for revenge and Serg’s quest for a ticket out, entangle them in a criminal underworld of opal mining, where a gemstone is worth more than morals. For both to escape, they must pay debts neither know they owe.

NEST

• Catherine Smyth-McMullen
• Genre Horror, Mystery
• Writer Catherine Smyth-McMullen
• Producer Catherine Smyth-McMullen
• Synopsis An ambitious real estate developer must convince an eccentric homeowner to sell his bizarre property – a house that has been completely transformed into a giant ants’ nest. But as she learns more about this strange house and its tragic secrets, she starts to feel a kinship with the tiny ant inhabitants. As reality starts to slip away and the nest closes in, she’ll eventually have to choose – her sanity or her freedom.

ONE HUNDRED DAYS

• Michelle Law
• Genre Drama, Psychological
• Director Corrie Chen
• Writer Michelle Law
• Synopsis Based on the critically acclaimed novel by Alice Pung, One Hundred Days is a psychological drama about motherhood, autonomy, and the frightening singlemindedness of those desperate to protect their loved ones… at any cost.

LANGTON

• Far From Everything Films Pty. Ltd.
• Genre Horror, Thriller
• Director Rachele Wiggins
• Writer Jennifer van Gessel
• Synopsis A bored young misfit attempts to impress girls at a house party by summoning the Goddess Aphrodite to make them fall in love with her, but feels she has instead summoned a demon as hell is unleashed upon them.

THE BLACK TALONS

• Maria Lewis
• Genre Comedy, Horror
• Director Shari Sebbens
• Writer Maria Lewis
• Synopsis A 90-minute horror/comedy feature that follows a teen-girls netball team forced to fight for their lives in a public housing tower as reptilian monsters emerge during a flash flood.

SOPHIE NEXT DOOR

• Contra Stories
• Genre Drama, Mystery, Science fiction, Psychological thriller
• Writer/Director Clare Sladden
• Producers Danielle Redford, Clare Sladden
• Synopsis When a woman finds herself living next door to her 12-year-old self, she takes on the persona of a mysterious stranger from her childhood in order to change the past. But as past and present collide in real-time with devastating consequences, she must make new choices in order to escape a tragic fate.

STUNNERS

• Lake Martin Films
• Genre Action, Horror, Comedy
• Writer/Director Nicole Delprado
• Producer Kate Separovich
• Synopsis A frustrated gymnast and her overbearing stuntperson mother are hired for a feature film. Arriving at a remote location they’re pulled into a strange building where all the fights are real and they must be the last ones standing to win a bizarre battle royale style reality show.

LOVE IS, LOVE IS

• Gemma Bird Matheson
• Genre Comedy, Horror
• Writer Gemma Bird Matheson
• Synopsis A camping trip goes awry when soon to be parents Clare and Dana encounter a group of threatening homophobic men. Isolated and with no reception, a game of cat and mouse ensues… but our protagonists may not be the lesbian damsels in distress we first thought them to be.

THE WHITE GIRL

• Typecast Pty Ltd
• Genre Thriller
• Director Tony Briggs
• Writer Dallas Winmar
• Producers Maggie Miles, Damienne Pradier
• Synopsis Odette Brown, desperate to protect her light-skinned granddaughter from the Aborigines Welfare Board, hatches a defiant plan to outsmart newly appointed Sergeant Lowe. The White Girl is a co-production with Savage Films.

METAL FISH FALLING SNOW

• Catherine Moore
• Genre Drama, Magic Realism
• Director Olivia Peniston-Bird
• Writer Cath Moore
• Producers Cath Moore, Olivia Peniston-Bird
• Synopsis When her adored mother dies suddenly, neuro-diverse Dylan (12) is driven across the Australian outback by her mother’s boyfriend Pat to live with her Grandfather William, who she has never met. Struggling with what it means to be of colour, Dylan must confront her fears and falsehoods about the skin she is in.

M.A.M (WORKING TITLE)

• Ned Lander Media
• Genre Musical, Action
• Director Mrs Ruby C Challenger
• Writer Gerard Dewhurst
• Producers Mrs Ruby C Challenger, Ned Lander
• Synopsis Kate has two jobs that never stop: international spy and devoted mother to her five-year-old son. But when Kate is benched after a routine mission turns fatal, she will jeopardise her dream job, her closest friendship and her family’s safety to stop an evil tech giant’s plot to vegetate the world’s children.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT ME

• Amplify Live Pty Ltd
• Genre Drama, Romantic Comedy, Young Adult
• Writer Jenna Guillaume
• Producers Hayley Adams, Michelle Melky
• Executive Producers Alex Reid, Tom Maynard
• Script Editor Erica Harrison
• Synopsis As if finding something to like about herself wasn’t already hard enough, sixteen-year-old Maisie Martin’s summer is turned upside down when her best friend starts dating her childhood crush. But as plus-sized Maisie pushes herself out of her comfort zone and into the limelight of the local beauty pageant, Maisie realises the things she loves about herself have been there all along.

MATRIARCH

• Monkey and Pig Productions
• Genre Horror
• Director Jayden Rathsam Hua
• Writers Ivy Mak, Jayden Rathsam Hua
• Producer Ivy Mak
• Synopsis When pregnant newlywed Connie moves in with her traditionalist Chinese in-laws, she becomes ensnared in a demented ritual to immortalise the family legacy.

CRIME CASTERS

• Haven’t You Done Well Productions
• Genre Action adventure, Comedy
• Director Max Miller
• Writer Scott Limbrick
• Producer Nicole Minchin
• Executive Producers Georgia Mappin, Tessa Mansfield-Hung, Alexandros Ouzas
• Synopsis An ambitious young journalist’s scheme to produce a lightweight true crime podcast takes a dangerous turn when she witnesses a policeman dumping a body. Thrown into a bizarre world of conspiracies and cover-ups, she must risk everything to expose the truth – all while managing a perfectionist audio engineer.

THE COCONUT CHILDREN

• Caravan Pictures Pty Ltd
• Genre Comedy, Drama, Coming of Age
• Director Ben Lawrence
• Writers Vivian Pham, Kim Pham
• Producer Paula Jensen
• Synopsis A dutiful, teenage daydreamer is inspired to write a romance novel about a delinquent neighbourhood boy, and discovers that her literary ambitions unlock a gateway to the boy’s heart, their lost childhood and the hidden underworld of her troubled community, until she is confronted with a heart-aching choice – to grow up or just give up.

OVER THE EDGE

• Deadhouse Films Pty Ltd
• Genre Drama, Horror, Thriller
• Director Enzo Tedeschi
• Writers Barbara Bingham, Enzo Tedeschi
• Synopsis When an acclaimed film composer past her prime has trouble finding inspiration, she embarks on a self-destructive hedonistic spiral on a desperate and deadly mission to rediscover and unleash her muse.

SONG OF SONGS

• Jump Street Films Pty Ltd
• Genre Drama, Romance
• Writer/Director Anita Lester
• Producer Jamie Bialkower
• Executive Producer Shekhar Kapur
• Synopsis Over the seven days of mourning following her grandmother’s death, Miriam forms a forbidden connection with a young Rabbi that sets in motion the unravelling of a complex family reckoning with their identities. As she navigates the dynamics of those left behind, and the truth about their matriarch’s controversial past, Miriam’s unexpected feelings for the Rabbi lead her towards a profound personal and spiritual transformation.

WILDFLOWERS

• Thomas Wilson-White
• Genre Drama, Romantic Comedy
• Writer/Director Thomas Wilson-White
• Synopsis Will Beckett, an out of work dancer, takes a job as an assistant on an international period film shooting in Tasmania and falls into a love affair with the famous male lead. Losing themselves in a gentle and profound romance, the lines between fact and fiction blur and both men are confronted with reality when their time together abruptly comes to an end.

DIAL-UP

• Imogen McCluskey
• Genre Comedy, Coming-of-age
• Writer/Director Imogen McCluskey
• Synopsis Set in 2000 at a run-down rural boarding school, a precocious teenager with blinding ambition hatches an idea that captures the attention of the dot.com fever sweeping the tech world, promising her millions of dollars at the cost of her best friends who built their success.

THE INTERLOPER

• Luke Ryan
• Genre Comedy, Drama
• Director Ben Chessell
• Writer Luke Ryan
• Synopsis A downtrodden library clerk trades places with his doppelgänger, starring in a theatre production that delivers him adulation and a renewed sense of potency, yet confounds his sense of identity that endangers almost all that he has.

Stay tuned for further updates on when these projects move into production, confirm release dates, and more.