Approvals
Enterprise Funding 2015-2016

December 2015

ARCLIGHT FILMS INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD
Arclight is a well-known international sales agent and production company which intends to utilise its solid contacts, experience and networks established by its Asian arm, Easternlight, to co-develop, co-finance and co-produce Australian- Chinese feature films under a new division, Chinalight.

This initiative comes at a good time, given the rise of China on the international scene and the massive increase in Chinese box office. Further, Arclight’s recent signing of a $300,000,000 deal with Huace means matched funding for Chinalight, as well as an impressive foundation for working in and with China.

The Chinalight experience will have broader-reaching impact as they involve and share feedback and intelligence to the local industry.  Chinalight development workshops will include introductions of key Chinese talent to the Australian industry and will work with new and emerging Australian writers.

BRINDLE FILMS PTY LTD
Brindle Films is an Alice Springs-based film and television production company led by principals Rachel Clements and Trisha Morton-Thomas. The company’s most recent success was with the first ABC Indigenous narrative comedy,  8 MMM Aboriginal Radio, produced in collaboration with Princess Pictures.

Their business plan aims to make their company ‘Top Dog in the Territory’ through developing market-ready scripts for film, television and online delivery and mentoring emerging NT producers, writers and directors, including employing an emerging producer. The company will develop its slate and increase its domestic and international networks and collaborations.

CJZ
CJZ is a well-established, Australian-owned company with a strong track record in comedy and web production. They are proposing a targeted development initiative that has a strong focus on building talent and audiences through online delivery. 

CJZ has a talent incubator aiming to cast and mentor new talent to create content that will attract, entertain and build loyal audiences on digital platforms as well as a mentorship program that seeks to attract the best work from Australia’s most accredited writers, while fostering bright new talent, with a view to taking scripts to market both locally and internationally.

DINOSAUR PTY LTD
Dinosaur is the South Australian team who first broke out with the online sensation Italian Spiderman and successfully translated their bizarre sense of humour to broadcast TV with the action/comedy series Danger 5.

The Dinosaur team, Dario Russo and David Ashby, have considerable talent, entrepreneurial ambition and creative content suited to the marketplace.

Dinosaur will develop their slate and business and will engage in international markets. Their slate will include a diverse range of comedy projects across multiple platforms including television, online and SVOD. They will continue to develop creative relationships, partnerships and collaborations and to maximise the benefits of their current international representation.

GUERILLA FILMS PTY LTD
Following recent international interest in the company after the success of zombie film Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead, Guerilla Films will work with domestic and internationally based companies to grow their business and their genre slate. The talented and innovative Roche-Turner brothers who are behind Guerilla will continue to build and engage with their broad online audience base and to use their existing online portal for proof of concept and digital content.

LUDO STUDIO PTY LTD
Ludo Studio is an International EMMY® Award-winning creative studio that specialises in producing original stories and innovative formats across all platforms. Its founders created the comedy drama The Strange Calls (ABC TV, Hulu) Beached Az (ABC TV) The Bondi Hipsters (ABC TV) and the EMMY® winning, #7DaysLater (ABC TV).

Ludo will expand their business, build on international alliances and extend a multiplatform development initiative called The Social Circle. The Social Circle is an initiative that enables Ludo to work with established and emerging creatives to answer broadcaster or platform briefs and deliver a diverse range of market ready IP for international TV, Film, online, branded and VOD platforms. Screen Australia funding will also this company to grow and to further its footprint domestically and internationally.

MEDIA STOCKADE PTY LTD
Media Stockade is an independent documentary production company established in 2012. While production is their core business they are now looking to expand their business and diversify their revenue streams with additional distribution initiatives through a new non-theatrical distribution arm called The Doco Club. The Doco Club aims to offer alternative distribution avenues to independent documentary makers, return revenue to producers, and create a documentary viewing community beyond broadcast and theatrical screenings.

Media Stockade will also develop an impact and outreach consultancy, increasing staff with the appointment of an impact producer and a Business Affairs manager.

POZIBLE PTY LTD
Pozible is an existing and successful Australian crowd funding portal. The site will introduce ScreenConnect which will facilitate and incentivise the distribution of crowd-funded films through an embeddable button on the Pozible site, the filmmaker’s site or on fans websites. Once sales are made, via use of the button, the web host will receive a commission. This will be a boost for smaller independent films and online content, which may not be screened at the cinema or on other platforms, and for content where rights have reverted to the producer who then wants to manage and maximise their revenue. Pozible China will further views of Australian content in one of the largest markets in the world.

PRINCESS PICTURES PTY LTD
A company driven by creative female principals with a strong track record in comedy development, Princess Pictures will undertake a targeted development initiative to develop emerging Australian comedic talent. The proposal is to develop a Comedy Incubator to source and identify concepts with the strongest market potential and the talent with the best development opportunities and creative merit. The strength comes in the parallel development of content and talent with the market requirements always in mind. Development will happen through mentoring and a series of workshops.

ROUGH DIAMOND ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD
SERIESpropagation is a proposal submitted by long-term industry professional John Edwards (Love My Way, Tangle, The Secret Life of Us) centring on a return to the development of the long-running television series. Historically, these series provided a solid training ground for new talent with names such as Rowan Woods, Tony McNamara, Louise Fox, Alice Bell and Mimi Butler graduating from that environment. With the demise of the long running series there is also a reduction in the emergence of new talent. SERIESpropagation will contribute to addressing development of new talent in television drama.

SMITH & NASHT PTY LTD
Smith and Nasht are a well-established company with respected entrepreneurial principals. With privately matched funding, they are seeking to provide a one-stop-shop service for filmmakers to find financing and develop audiences. Screen Impact is their new feature documentary distribution company established to respond to shifting audience behaviours and increase the overall market for documentary through digital distribution.

Screen Impact distributes documentaries for impact using four walling, Live event, touring and Cinema on Demand platforms.  It also offers a rights management serviceand strategic impact consulting in collaboration with digital agency woody.tv and will ​guide filmmakers through the entire value chain of financing, marketing and distribution.

XYCLO MEDIA
Khoa Do is an experienced and innovative practitioner who champions cultural diversity on screen and mentors and develops talent from diverse backgrounds. Khoa and Xyclo Media will develop a slate of projects, including new material, working with established and emerging writers through workshops and writers rooms. The company will work with key influencers and run script workshops to promote diversity on Australian screens.