Funding Approvals
in the archive
2010-2011 production funding

BIG MAMMA’S BOY
Valarc Films
Producers Matteo Bruno, Frank Lotito
Writer Frank Lotito
Director Franco Di Chiera
Australian Distributor Madman
Synopsis A comedy about life, love and lasagna.

DEAD EUROPE
See Saw Films Pty Ltd
Producers Emile Sherman, Iain Canning
Writer Louise Fox
Director Tony Krawitz
Australian Distributor Transmission Films
International Sales Cross City Sales
Synopsis Isaac, a late 20s Greek Australian, spirals out of control when he’s forced to confront his own family’s cursed legacy on his first trip to Europe – with the continent’s haunted past and troubled present pressing in on him.

DRIFT
World-Wide-Mind Films Pty Ltd
Producer Michele Bennett, Tim Duffy, Myles Pollard
Executive Producer Joan Peters
Writer Morgan O’Neill
Co-directors Morgan O’Neill, Ben Nott
International Sales TF1
Distributor Hopscotch
Synopsis It’s 1972 and after escaping their brutal past, the Fisher brothers start a new life in a remote Australian coastal town. Now they must battle suspicious locals, killer waves and ruthless bikers as they struggle to kick-start a business from their greatest passion – surfing.

THE EYE OF THE STORM
Paper Bark Films EOS Pty Ltd
Executive Producers Jonathan Shteinman, Edward Simpson, Bob Marcs, James Vernon
Producers Antony Waddington, Gregory Read, Fred Schepisi
Co-producer Sally Ayre-Smith
Writer Judy Morris (adaptation from novel)
Director Fred Schepisi
Sales & Distribution The Little Film Company, Transmission
Synopsis Based on the novel by Nobel Prize–winning author, Patrick White, The Eye of the Storm is a savage exploration of family relationships – and the sharp undercurrents of love and hate, comedy and tragedy, which define them.

HAIL
Flood Projects
Producer Michael Cody
Executive Producer Richard Lowenstein
Writer/director Amiel Courtin-Wilson
Australian Distributor Madmen Entertainment Pty Ltd
International Sales Celluloid Dreams
Synopsis Dan is in love with Leanne. They were born on the same day - 19th June 1960. They eat together. They live together. They steal together. When Dan's love is suddenly ripped away from him, he is reduced to savagery. The past is not a dead thing, but may return, like a hunter to follow us for a time.

THE HUNTER
Porchlight Films
Producer Vincent Sheehan
Writer Alice Addison
Director Daniel Nettheim
Sales & Distribution E1, Madman
One man's search for the last Tasmanian Tiger becomes a deeper journey into the core of his own existence. Based on the acclaimed Australian book by Julia Leigh.

KATH & KIMDERELLA (formerly THE KATH AND KIM FILUM)
Riley Turner Productions Pty Ltd
Producers Rick McKenna, Jane Turner, Gina Riley
Writers Jane Turner, Gina Riley
Director Ted Emery
International Sales Royalty & Distribution Services
Australian Distributor Royalty & Distribution Services/Roadshow
Synopsis A Fountain Lakes Fairytale. Kath and Kim’s whirlwind trip OS becomes a vajazzling tale of love, lust and revolution… What’s not to like?

THE KING IS DEAD!
Vertigo Productions Pty Ltd
Producers Rolf de Heer, Nils Erik Nielsen
Writer/Director Rolf de Heer
Sales and Distribution Fandango Portobello, Pinnacle
Synopsis An unsuspecting couple buy a house in what appears to be a quiet street... a dark comedy about neighbours, ice and baseball bats.

LORE
Porchlight Films
Producers Liz Watts, Karsten Stöter, Benny Drechsel, Paul Welsh, Gabriele Kranzelbinder
Writers Cate Shortland, Robin Mukherjee
Director Cate Shortland
Sales & Distribution Memento Films International (Sales), Haut et Court (France), Transmission (ANZ)
Synopsis In spring 1945, the German army collapses. As the Allied forces sweep across the Motherland, five children embark on a journey which will challenge every notion we have of family, love and friendship.

MENTAL
Story Bridge Films Pty Ltd and Zucker Productions
Producers Todd Fellman, Jocelyn Moorhouse, Jerry Zucker, Janet Zucker
Writer PJ Hogan
Director PJ Hogan
Cast Toni Collette
International Sales Arclight
Distribution Universal (Australia, New Zealand and UK)
Synopsis When local politician Barry Moochmore commits his wife to a mental hospital he suddenly finds himself alone and with five teenage daughters that he barely knows. Desperate, he impulsively picks up a hitchhiker named Shaz and installs her as the nanny in their home. Shaz is charismatic, hot-tempered, inspiring and completely crazy… and the best thing that’s ever happened to the Moochmore family.

NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN (formerly THE 20-SOMETHING SURVIVAL GUIDE)
Eddie Wong Films Pty Ltd
Producer Jodi Matterson
Executive Producers Bruna Papandrea, Simon Bosanquet, Mark Huffam
Writer Michael Lucas
Director Peter Templeman
International Sales Marble Hill/SC Films International
Australian Distributor Icon
Synopsis A freewheeling 20-something guy learns he will be infertile in a month, so he has to find someone to conceive with before it's too late.

THE SAPPHIRES
Goalpost Pictures
Producers Rosemary Blight, Kylie du Fresne
Executive Producers Ben Grant, Tristan Whalley
Writers Tony Briggs, Keith Thompson
Director Wayne Blair
Sales and Distribution Goalpost Film/Quickfire Film, Hopscotch Films
Synopsis Gail, Cynthia, Julie and Kay are sexy, black, young and talented – and they’ve never set foot outside Australia. Until, in the chaos of 1968, they’re plucked from the obscurity of a remote Aboriginal mission, branded as Australia’s answer to The Supremes, and – grasping the chance of a lifetime – dropped into the jungles of Vietnam to entertain the troops. Inspired by the hit stage-play of the same name.

SATELLITE BOY
Satellite Pictures Pty Ltd
Producers David Jowsey, Sue Seeary
Writer/Director Catriona McKenzie
International Sales Celluloid Dreams
Distributors Hopscotch, ABC TV
Synopsis Satellite Boy is a film about a small boy, Pete, who tries to save his home from developers. It's a story about courage and friendship that reveals how powerful a dream can be… if you don’t understand it's meant to be impossible.

SUMMER CODA
Revival Film Company
Producers Richard Gray, Marc Goldenfein, John Finemore
Writer Richard Gray
Director Richard Gray
Sales and Distribution Sharmill Films/Jump Street Films
Synopsis Having grown up with her mother in Nevada, Heidi hasn't spoken to her father since she was seven. Now a young woman, haunted by his memory, she returns to Australia seeking closure. Travelling to her hometown, Heidi is forced to busk for cash and her melancholic violin score catches the attention of handsome orange picker Michael, who offers Heidi a ride. Both are initially guarded, but an unexpected connection soon blossoms.

VENICE
Dragonet Films Pty Ltd
Producers Karen Radzyner, Michael Wrenn
Writer Miro Bilbrough
Director Miro Bilbrough
Sales and Distribution Wide Film Sales, Curious Distribution
Synopsis When Venice’s ex-hippy dad comes to stay in her tiny Sydney apartment primal emotions are stirred. At 40, the pain of childhood rejection is rekindled. How old is too old to be your father's daughter? Until Venice asks the right person the right question, she is condemned to ask it of all who cross her path.

WISH YOU WERE HERE (formerly SAY NOTHING)
Aquarius Films in association with Blue Tongue Films
Producer Angie Fielder
Writers Kieran Darcy-Smith, Felicity Price
Director Kieran Darcy-Smith
Sales & Distribution LevelK, Hopscotch
Synopsis Four friends lose themselves in a carefree South-East Asian holiday. Only three come back. Dave and Alice return home to their young family desperate for answers about Jeremy’s mysterious disappearance. When Alice’s sister Steph returns not long after, a nasty secret is revealed about the night her boyfriend went missing. But it is only the first of many. Who amongst them knows what happened on that fateful night when they were dancing under a full moon in Cambodia?