Funding Approvals
2025-2026 Documentary Development
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dOCUMENTARY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
THE LONG ROAD HOME
75 mins
Thomas Conrad Anthony de Souza
Genre Adventure, Culture
Writer/Director Tom de Souza
Producer Nick Calpakdjian
Executive Producer Adam Shand
Synopsis Tom de Souza — former BBC foreign correspondent and reformed teenage ice addict — embarks on a transformative motorcycle journey through Indonesia, seeking freedom but discovering something far deeper: family, faith, and ultimately, the courage to return home.
UNTITLED IN-FILMS PRODUCTION
4 x 60 mins
In Films
Genre Documentary
Director Anthony 'Tony' Jones
Writers Anthony ‘Tony’ Jones, Cheyne Leigh Anderson, Paddy Manning
Producer Ivan O'Mahoney
Synopsis The story of a media company, as told by the men and women who were in the room.
WHO REALLY INVENTED WIFI?
90 mins
Rodeo Royale (Positive Ape) PTY LTD
Genre Documentary
Writer Leo Faber
Producers Jason Byrne, Leo Faber
Synopsis The untold story of how Australia helped invent the technology that connects billions of devices worldwide. Told with humour, energy and high stakes, it follows the scientists behind Wi-Fi as they take on the world’s biggest tech companies—and finally claim the recognition they deserve.
THIS IS AMY TAYLOR
90 mins
6 Seasons Productions Pty Ltd
Genre Documentary
Writer/Director Eddie Martin
Producer Shannon Swan
Executive Producer Cody Greenwood
Synopsis A portrait of Amy Taylor mid-leap, refining her force as her world grows louder.
DOGS TO THE RESCUE (WT)
6 x 45 mins
The Purpose Connector Pty Ltd
Genre Documentary
Director Mandy Lake
Writers Mandy Lake, Lara Van Ahlefeldt
Producer Lara von Ahlefeldt
Executive Producer Simon Nasht
Synopsis Dogs to the Rescue (WT) follows a remarkable team of "rescued" dogs turned elite wildlife detection agents, leading a cutting-edge, all female conservation team in their efforts to save koalas and Australia's endangered species from extinction.
SAVING TUVALU
90 mins
Media Stockade Two Pty Ltd
Genre Documentary
Directors Kate Blackmore, Amelia Tovey, Bernard ‘Kato’ Ewekia
Writers Kate Blackmore, Amelia Tovey
Producers Chris Kamen, Anna-Luise Dietzel
Executive Producers Rebecca Barry, Michael Gotenhoff
Synopsis As Tuvalu sinks beneath rising seas, young people begin transferring their land and culture online - but can a digital nation save what the ocean will erase?
UNTITLED WILDBEAR TV PROJECT
90 mins
WildBear Entertainment
Genre Documentary
Writer/Director Serge Ou
Producer Bettina Dalton
Executive Producer Michael Tear
Synopsis Rock gods, missing money, mafia, kidnappings and mysterious deaths. And we haven’t got to the chorus yet.
THE CENTENARY TEST
2 x 58 mins
All Access Productions Pty Ltd
Genre Documentary
Director Michael Venables & Graham Watson
Writers Andrew Anastasios, Gideon Haigh
Executive Producers Luke Tunnecliffe, Cos Cardone, Eddie McGuire
Synopsis It was the end of cricket as we knew it, and the start of cricket as we now know it.
THE THIRD ACT
4 x 57 mins
Racing Pulse Productions Pty Ltd
Genre Documentary
Director Ros Horin
Writer Ros Horin
Producers Jeff Daniels, Ros Horin
Executive Producer Bettina Dalton
Synopsis Can creative participation rewire our brain and renew our bodies and spirits, in our third act? A series revealing how the Creative Arts positively impacts the ageing process; for both professional artists and newcomers engaging in community arts.
CHASING FAIRYTALES
3 x 60 mins
Five Storey Films
Genre Documentary
Writer/Director Anna Jeffries
Producer Jenine Olliver, Rebecca McElroy, Emma Sargent, Anna Jeffries
Executive Producer Ivan O'Mahoney
Synopsis Royal Bridesmaid Amber Petty tracks down the Canadian conwoman who elaborately scammed a bunch of Australian and Canadian media personalities nearly 20 years ago. Amber is determined to stop the career conwoman, who is now manipulating far more vulnerable people.
MOONSHOT
90 mins
Media Stockade
Genre Documentary
Writer/Director Anna Broinowski
Producers Anna Broinowski, Madeleine Hetherton-Miau, Rebecca Barry
Executive Producer Tim White
Synopsis Set in 2033, this innovative, cli-fi, hybrid documentary feature uses expert interviews, eye-witness testimonies and hard scientific evidence to investigate the possibility the super-rich are building a luxury colony on the dark side of the Moon.
KINKY HISTORY: COMES ALIVE
3 x 20 mins
James Edu-Tainment
Genre Documentary
Writer/Director Dr Esme James, Connor Fantasia-Serve
Producers Dr Susan James, Dr Esme James
Synopsis History gets hot, hilarious, and highly theatrical in this camp comedy series that brings the wildest stories of sex and sexuality to life.
THE UGG PROJECT
3 x 50 mins
MOFA Pty Ltd
Genre Documentary
Directors Joseph Nizeti, Leilani Croucher
Writer Joseph Nizeti
Producers Gal Greenspan, Anu Hasbold
Executive Producer Llew Griffiths
Synopsis Ugg boots are the trend we just can’t quit - they survived the 80s surfer scene, Y2K cringe, and an explosion of popularity in the 2020s. The Ugg Project follows the underdog story of sheepskin boots, from the Australian outback to a billion-dollar brand. In their unlikely 50-year journey to pop culture stardom, uggs hook everyone – from surfer entrepreneurs to lawyers, even terrorists. Uggs inspire rivalries, counterfeiting, and legal wars. But who will win the rat race and come out on top? This is the wild true story of the making of an icon.
YASUKO WAS HERE
90 mins
Caravan Pictures / Untamed Stories Pty Ltd
Genre Mystery/ Society/ True Crime
Director Ben Lawrence
Writers Shoko Plambeck, Ben Lawrence
Producers Julia Berg, Kirrilly Brentnall, Ben Lawrence
Synopsis Yasuko Was Here traces the journey of a Japanese woman who left Tokyo for Australia in the 1970s and moved through spiritual movements before becoming connected to Aum Shinrikyo and a remote site in the Western Australian outback. Beginning as a true-crime mystery, the film opens into a wider inquiry into reinvention, belief, isolation, betrayal, and the longing to disappear.
THE VENETIAN WEDDING (WORKING TITLE)
90 mins
Orange Entertainment Co.
Genre Documentary
Director Mark Joffe
Writer Francine Finnane
Producers Paulo Vivan, Meg O’Connell, Dani Hayek, Mark Joffe
Executive Producers Diya Eid, Dan Lake, Georgia Woodward
Synopsis The Venetian Wedding (Working Title) explores Australia’s most notorious society scandal: the 1990 would-be wedding of “Prince” Lorenzo Montesini to Primrose “Pitty Pat” Dunlop. Accused of faking titles and fleeing with his best man, Lorenzo now shares his own account - an intimate story of love, class, scandal, and control.
PRIMARY SCHOOL
80 mins
Primary School SPV Pty Ltd
Genre Documentary
Director Sue Thomson
Writers Sue Thomson, Adam Farrington-Williams
Producers Lola Nankervis, Sue Thomson, Adam Farrington-Williams
Executive Producers Deanne Weir, Keryn Nossal, Shaun Miller, Tony Nagle
Synopsis Heartfelt and unflinchingly real, Primary School is a story of public education that follows the staff and students of St Kilda Primary.
IF/THEN
90 mins
Chloe Louise Taylor
Genre Documentary
Director Chloe Taylor
Writers/Producers Chloe Taylor, Diana Ward
Synopsis Can a single technological advancement continue to transform our understanding of reproduction, time, and human potential? Egg freezing pioneer Dr. Debra Gook faces retirement as women using her technology navigate questions of legacy, choice, and expectations in contemporary society.
REASONABLE EXCUSE
85 mins
Contact Films
Genre Documentary
Writer/Director Bentley Dean
Producers Martin Butler, Bentley Dean
Synopsis How far are you willing to go to protect this life?
ROAD TO VENICE
90 mins
Illuminate Films
Genre Documentary
Director Jan Fran, Yaara Bou Melhem
Producer Jan Fran
Synopsis When his selection for the most prestigious art exhibition in the world is spectacularly revoked, Khaled Sabsabi undertakes the fight of his life and a history-making artwork on his Road to Venice.
CROSSING THE TIDELINE
80 mins
Regen Studios Pty Ltd
Genre Documentary
Director Andrew Kaineder
Writers Damon Gameau, Brett Burcher, Andrew Kaineder
Producers Anna Kaplan, Andrew Kaineder
Executive Producers Damon Gameau, Brett Burcher
Synopsis After surviving a Great White Shark attack a former pro-surfer’s lifelong bond with the ocean is severed and his identity fractured, forcing him to navigate personal trauma and collective fear as he struggles to rebuild trust in the ocean and renegotiate his relationship with risk.
UNTITLED WALKING FISH PROJECT
90 mins
Walking Fish Rights Pty Ltd
Genre Documentary
Writer/Director Claire Smith
Producers David Elliot-Jones, Naomi Ball
Synopsis The untold story of one of the world’s first wellness influencers, whose life illuminates how digital culture changed the way we pursue health.