Funding Approvals
In the archives
2016-2017 Enterprise industry funding

AUSTRALIAN WRITERS’ GUILD LTD (AWG)

Early in 2016, industry body AWG partnered with the highly experienced writer/producer Shane Brennan (executive producer of NCIS, creator and showrunner of NCIS: Los Angeles) to create Scripted Ink., an initiative designed to incubate and accelerate writers and their projects.

The Writer’s Room Project will extend Scripted Ink., offering a series of writers’ rooms for up to 20 experienced and emerging writers over a two-year period. Both the participants and the projects they will brainstorm and develop will be selected from AWG’s acclaimed Pathways Program.

The AWG’s reach and understanding of the industry coupled with the experience of Scripted Ink.’s board including Shane Brennan and leading Australian writers Jan Sardi and Katherine Thomson, along with Head of Development Tim Pye, will ensure the successful participants are given the best opportunity to develop their skills. The television projects developed in these writers’ rooms will also be given the greatest possible chance for market attachment with domestic and international market producers and broadcasters. 

FELIX MEDIA
Established producers John Maynard (Coral Rekindling Venus, Balibo, Jirga) and Bridget Ikin (Sherpa, Art + Soul, Look Both Ways, My Year without Sex), created Felix Media to enable them, amongst other things, to collaborate on exceptional screen-based works by artists, via the Felix Media Art + Film initiative.This initiative is a talent development project that will harness Bridget and John’s extensive producing expertise, together with their successful history of developing strong cultural voices, by investing in a new generation of talent. With Enterprise funding they will extend the reach of their activities, collaborating with four very talented artists transitioning into film, as well as mentoring the recipients of the second season of Art Bites – an initiative between ABC Arts and Screen Australia, for emerging filmmakers.

HUBMAKERS
Hubmakers was co-founded by Karen Dewey, a leading television producer with 30 years’ experience and one of the first in Australia to work on a reality program that required 24-hour turnaround times. She has worked with Nine Network, Channel 7, ITV Studios, Southern Star, Channel 10, Shine, Fremantle Media Australia and CJZ, and her credits include Keeping Australia Alive, My Restaurant Rules and Big Brother. The proposal from Hubmakers is for the development of their cloud-based program Lumi which has the potential to revolutionise the production process for the screen sector. It was created to improve efficiencies in communication and collaboration at all stages of production by bringing together the disparate elements using a unified visual approach. 

LIKE A PHOTON CREATIVE PTY LTD (LAPC)
LAPC is a Brisbane-based children’s content production company helmed by Kristen Souvlis (H20: Just Add Water, Mako Mermaids, Toasted TV) and Nadine Bates (Sesame Street, Handball Heroes). Since their inception in 2012, LAPC has grown considerably and produced content for high profile entities such as Sesame Street USA and Disney Australia. LAPC are developing solid relationships with broadcasters, domestic and international partners and financiers. They have developed significant momentum and are ready to take the next step in their development as a company.

LAPC’s enterprise proposal is to run a series of writers’ rooms in order to develop content targeting the difficult tween market, creating a longer term market strategy, and enhancing their team.

LINGO PICTURES PTY LTD
Lingo Pictures is a Sydney based production company headed up by highly experienced content creators Helen Bowden (The Slap, Devil’s Playground, Underground: The Julian Assange Story) and Jason Stephens (Better Man, Mr & Mrs Murder, Devil’s Dust). 

Lingo’s Changing the Conversation proposal will position the company to tap into the burgeoning international TV drama market. It will focus on creating IP from the ground up that will be commissioned by Australian networks but also attract international pre-sales, co-production and non-traditional equity investment.  It will construct a process by which ideas and financing can be developed together to meet the challenges of the rapidly changing environment.

MADMAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD
Madman Entertainment is one of Australia’s leading independent theatrical, home entertainment distribution and production companies, founded by Tim Anderson and Paul Wiegard. In 2015 Madman launched the incredibly successful SVoD platform AnimeLab, delivering premium Japanese anime content express to consumers in Australia and New Zealand via a tiered pricing model.

Using a similar model Madman will launch Docplay, a VoD service dedicated to streaming the world’s best documentaries and factual series. The service will engage with Australian filmmakers on a revenue-share model and will have a focus on curation, bringing audiences documentaries from categories including Art & Culture, Music, Science & Nature and Sports

Enterprise Industry funding will assist Madman in the acquisition, curation and profiling of quality independent Australian documentaries on the platform. Docplay will offer a destination hub for both new and older Australian documentary content, and will enable a broader audience reach and an additional revenue stream for Australian documentary producers.

REVLOVER FILMS PTY LTD
Revlover is a film and television production company formed by Martha Coleman, Michael Ritchie and Steve Rogers, and a sister company to internationally award-winning television commercials production company Revolver. The relationship between these two companies, and the experience and relationships of the principals, offers a unique opportunity for Revlover to investigate and pursue the potential brand association and funding of content being developed on their slate.

Bridging the gap between brands and film and television production represents an acknowledged opportunity to demonstrate the unlocking of new capital for the screen industry.

STRANGER THAN FICTION FILMS PTY LTD (STFF)
BAFTA-nominated documentary filmmaker Jennifer Peedom (Sherpa, Solo, Living the End) has teamed up with Jo-anne McGowan (Art + Soul, David Stratton’s Stories of Australian Cinema) to focus on making giant screen cinema and feature documentaries for the world market. Following on from the international success of Sherpa, STFF has established solid international partnerships and potential financing for future projects. With the scheduled release of Mountain in June in Australia, with live accompaniment by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, STFF is well placed to investigate the capacity of the growing international market for giant screen and feature docs as well as developing their slate and business.