Funding Approvals
IN THE ARCHIVE
2019-2020 TELEVISION development 

GENERATE

MY FRIEND ANXIETY
Robot Army Productions Pty Ltd
Genre Comedy, Drama
Writer/Director Ryan Chamley
Producers Madison Chamley, Stu Ross, Mario Biancacci
Synopsis MY FRIEND ANXIETY is a comedy about a man's attempt to reason and live with his mental health, which he has manifested into pyhisial characters he can see and interact with.

COLOURFUL FACES
Media Farm 
Genre Comedy
Writers Bjorn Stewart, Rami Fischler
Producers Rami Fischler, Amanda Reedy, Bjorn Stewart
Synopsis Talent. Drive. Skill. Who needs it when you have colourful faces!

THE C WORD
Continuance Pictures
Genre Comedy, Drama
Writers Sian Laycock, Joel Stephen Fleming
Producers Julie Eckersley, Tristan Barr, Sian Laycock, Joel Stephen Fleming
Synopsis Siobhan is a 20-something, single, aspiring poet, who is searching for her place in the world. In her desperate quest for transformation she tells a terrible lie that will change her life forever.    

DIRTY THIRTIES
John Kassab
Genre Comedy, Drama
Creators Khaled Abdulwahab, John Kassab
Directors John Kassab, Craig Irvin
Writers John Kassab, Jane Allen, Craig Irvin, Candy Bowers
Producer John Kassab
Executive Producer Michael McMahon
Synopsis A group of newly single African/Middle Eastern Australian friends navigate the ups and downs of modern dating.

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL 
Ludo Studio & Since1788 Productions
Genre Comedy, Drama
Writer/Director Dylan River
Producer Tanith Glynn-Maloney
Development Producer Lauren Brown
Executive Producers Daley Pearson, Charlie Aspinwall
Synopsis After finding out a dark family secret. Robyn (17) a young Aboriginal delinquent, goes on a journey from her small desert community to the city in search of answers, learning some much needed moral values along the way.

AUSTRALIA DAY (WORKING TITLE)
Revlover Films Pty Ltd
Genre Drama
Writers Alison Bell, Niki Aken
Producers Martha Coleman, Lauren Edwards
Synopsis A six-part television series adapted from the stunning, award-winning collection of short stories by Melanie Cheng, this series weaves together narratives of the diverse Australian experience in a gripping drama. It’s the story of contemporary loneliness, community and the power of connection. 

DEAD HORSE WELL
December Media
Genre Mystery, Science fiction
Writers Eloise Healey, Jessica Brookman, Dylan Coleman
Producer Tony Wright
Development Producer Marie Maroun
Synopsis Dead Horse Well is a supernatural sci-fi anthology that explores fear of the unknown. Season one follows corporate scientist Belinda Hardy to the subterranean mining town of Coober Pedy where every belief she’s ever held is challenged as she tries to discover the truth behind a series of increasingly malevolent events.

FOREIGN SOIL
Film Camp Pty Ltd
Genre Drama
Writer Maxine Beneba Clarke
Producers Philippa Campey, Samantha Dinning
Synopsis Based on the multi award-winning debut fiction collection by Maxine Beneba Clarke, Foreign Soil traverses six thematically linked stories in which the marginalised and othered collide with their environment, as they search for empowerment and belonging.

GOLDEN BOY (WORKING TITLE)
Spaceboy Pty Ltd
Genre Comedy
Directors Steve Anthopoulos, Mansoor Noor
Writers Steve Anthopoulos, Sami Shah, Vidya Rajan, Mansoor Noor, Luke Davidson
Producers Yingna Lu, Steve Anthopoulos, Neal Downward
Synopsis Hassan, a charming young imam, shoots to national headlines when he saves Christmas carolling teenagers from a burning bus. However, he soon learns that the only thing Australia loves more than celebrating a hero, is tearing one down.

LOG
Pirate Size Productions
Genre Comedy, Animation
Producer Bryony McLachlan
Writers Dan Nixon, Nick Watson
Synopsis A log drifts into the lives of people in need and somehow always manages to help.

ROUGH
Noble Savage Pictures Pty Ltd
Genre Comedy, Drama
Producers Hayley B Johnson, Majhid Heath
Director Catriona McKenzie
Writers Kodie Bedford, Rae Earl
Synopsis Needing money to pay for her mother’s funeral, a young woman in a small town turns to the world’s oldest profession in a misguided quest for independence.

V
LateNite Films
Genre Dark comedy, Science fiction
Writers Nicolette Minster, Jacklyn Bassanelli, Nick Musgrove, Anna Barnes
Producers Nicolette Minster, Nicholas Colla
Synopsis A forgettable introvert discovers that a popular augmented reality game, in her hands, can kill people. Charged with the power to help women in trouble, she reluctantly reinvents herself as a vigilante.

BLOOD SISTERS
Mad Dan Productions Pty Ltd
Director Madeleine Dyer
Writers Madeleine Dyer, Daniel Mulvihill, Kodie Bedford
Producers Madeleine Dyer, Daniel Mulvihill, Rosie Lourde
Executive Producers Stephen Corvini, Enzo Tedeschi
Genre Action adventure, Drama, Thriller, Western
Synopsis Three teenage girls flee into the North Queensland outback, after an assault by a “local hero”. On the run, they struggle to unite, survive and find their way back to themselves and the truth.

DOG BOX
Magpie Pictures
Genre Drama, Thriller, Crime, Mystery
Creator Rebecca Ingram
Writers Kodie Bedford, David Caesar
Story Consultant Crystal Clyne
Producers Lois Randall, Rebecca Ingram
Synopsis Mahlee Smith, a fourteen-year old girl from the bush, and Jazzie Fazzah, an idealistic youth worker fresh from London, arrive on the same day at Longley Juvenile Justice Centre in the Western suburbs of Sydney. Mahlee must learn the rules hard and fast to survive not just the institution, but the other teenage inmates. Jazzie thinks she can save the girls with her music program, but finds herself facing a bigger test – can she save herself?

ENGINEERING CONSCIOUSNESS
Bunya Entertainment
Genre Science, Art
Writer/Director Lynette Wallworth
Producers Greer Simpkin, Sophia Zachariou
Synopsis How a childhood ‘Near Death Experience’ (NDE) paved the way for the future.

SCIENCE+
Town by the Sea Productions Pty Ltd and Spaceboy Pty Ltd
Genre Comedy, Science fiction
Writer Seaton Kay-Smith
Director Leela Varghese
Producers Seaton Kay-Smith, Yingna Lu
Synopsis When salt-of-the-Earth handyman and Youtuber, Matt, scores a contract making ‘How to’ videos for ‘sci-fi-esque’ consumer goods, it seems like the perfect fit, until things inevitably go wrong, turning his dream job into an emotionally exhausting, psychologically tormenting, physically dangerous nightmare.

UNWELL
Clever Rabbit Productions Pty Ltd
Genre Comedy, Drama
Writers Monica Zanetti, Vanessa Alexander, Erica Harrison, Nick Coyle, Gemma Bird Matheson,  Clare Cavanagh
Director Monica Zanetti
Producers Monica Zanetti, Geraldine Hakewill
Synopsis Believing her partner is experiencing suicidal ideation, Carey panics and fakes a terminal illness in an attempt to keep her alive via distraction.

PREMIUM

BUTTERFLY ON A PIN
Arenamedia Pty Ltd, Fremantle
Genre Comedy, Drama
Director Gillian Armstrong
Writer Katherine Thomson
Producers Robert Connolly, Gillian Armstrong
Synopsis A north-western Tassie girl with impossible aspirations in a toxic, wildly funny battle with her five pack a day imploding star Mum. A television series based on Alannah Hill’s Butterfly on a Pin. 

DNA DAD (Working Title)
Northern Pictures Pty Ltd
Genre Comedy
Director Darren Ashton
Writers Darren Ashton, Ben Miller
Creative Consultant Cian O’Clery
Producers Ben Miller, Joanne Weatherstone
Executive Producer Catherine Nebauer
Synopsis When a neurologically diverse young man discovers his biological father is UK actor Ben Miller, he heads to London to meet him. But Ben barely has time for his young family, let alone a grown-up son.

FIND ME
Closer Screens Pty Ltd
Genre Drama, Science fiction
Writer Matthew Cormack
Producer Rebecca Summerton
Executive Producer Matthew Cormack
Synopsis Based on the novel by Laura van den Berg, Find Me is a science-fiction drama series about a young woman, Joy - an unreliable narrator who’s repressed her traumatic past - who finds herself immune to a sickness sweeping the country which causes sufferers to forget (everything) and decides that she is key to finding the cure to the pandemic.

FRAMED
Princess Pictures Holdings Pty Ltd
Genre Drama, Thriller, Crime
Director Anna Dokoza
Writer David Chidlow
Producer Laura Waters
Executive Producer Emma Fitzsimons
Synopsis Based on true events, 40 years after the fact, a young woman battles to clear the name of a relative wrongfully convicted of an attempted terrorism attack. Along the way she uncovers systematic abuse and violence, espionage and some really, really dodgy cops.

GOLD DIGGERS
Kojo Productions Pty Ltd
Genre Comedy
Director Shannon Murphy
Writer Jack Yabsley
Script Producer Trudi-Ann Tierney
Co-Producer Kate Butler
Producer Muffy Potter
Executive Producers Linda Ujuk, JP Sarni, Greg Silverman, Michael Horrocks
Synopsis Desperate for money, love and freedom, sisters Gert and Marigold Brewer move to the gold rush to hustle their way to success.

MAGIC BEACH
Arenamedia Pty Ltd
Genre Family, Animation
Creator Robert Connolly
Writers/Directors Susan Danta, Pierce Davison, Jake Duczynski, Emma Kelly, Anthony Lucas, Simon Rippingale, Marieka Walsh, Eddie White, Lee Whitmore, Kathy Sarpi
Producers Robert Connolly, Liz Kearney
Synopsis Based on Alison Lester’s much-loved illustrated children’s book, Magic Beach is reimagined as an innovative screen production (episodic short-form and companion feature film), with a unique mix of live action entwined with extraordinary animated stories from 10 leading Australian animators.

MIRRORBALL
Easy Tiger Productions Pty Ltd
Genre YA Drama
Writer/Director Hannah Lehmann
Producer Rob Gibson, Ian Collie
Synopsis Following a freak accident, Cyd (17) is diagnosed with retrograde amnesia and hallucinates a counter reality in the future. Convinced she is dreaming, Cyd focuses on recovery and returning to her highschool life - until she is confronted with the possibility that her counter reality might be the real one.

NEW ANIMAL
Lingo Pictures Pty Ltd
Genre Drama
Writer Marieke Hardy
Producers Jason Stephens, Helen Bowden
Synopsis After the sudden death of her mother, a 28-year-old woman who works as a cosmetician at a family funeral parlour is drawn into the local BDSM community to process her grief.

OVER AND OUT
Midwinter Films, Easy Tiger, 33 Films
Genre Comedy
Writers Adele Vuko, Christiaan Van Vuuren
Producers Bridget Callow-Wright, Rob Gibson
Executive Producer Ian Collie
Synopsis Two parents, Lewis and Freya, are struggling to survive the trials and tribulations of raising toddlers... Whilst being smack bang in the middle of the post-apocalypse.

THE STRANGER (WORKING TITLE)
Werner Film Productions Pty Ltd
Genre Drama
Creator Angela Betzien
Writers Angela Betzien, Jada Alberts and Kylie Needham
Producer Joanna Werner
Synopsis A television adaptation of a classic Australian novel.

A TOP END WEDDING STORY
Goalpost Television Pty Ltd
Genre Drama, Romantic comedy
Writers Miranda Tapsell, Joshua Tyler
Producers Rosemary Blight, Kylie du Fresne
Co-Producers Miranda Tapsell, Joshua Tyler
Synopsis A one-hour comedy drama based on the Australian hit film TOP END WEDDING.

SHAKESPEARE NOW
Hoodlum Entertainment, LuckyChap Entertainment
Genre Drama
Creative teams Anya Beyersdorf, Corrie Chen, Lucy Coleman, Elissa Down, Anchuli Felicia King, Michelle Law, Claire McCarthy, Elise McCredie, Leah Purcell, Amelia Roper, Sarah Scheller, Nadine von Cohen, Vivienne Walshe, Rachel Ward
Executive Producers Sally Riley, Margot Robbie, Brett Hedblom, Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara, Tracey Robertson, Nathan Mayfield, Kerrin McNeil
Synopsis Shakespeare Now is a bold anthology series led by all-female creative teams. Adaptations of Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, MacBeth, Love's Labour's Lost, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard III, The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night, will be re-imagined, afresh, for television.  

SICKOS
Werner Film Productions Pty Ltd
Genre Action adventure, Comedy, Mystery, Science fiction
Creator Keir Wilkins
Writers Keir Wilkins, Mithila Gupta, Michele Lee
Producer Joanna Werner
Synopsis When six chronically ill teens discover they are the only people immune to the alien virus sweeping across Australia, they must bust out of the Undiagnosable Diseases Unit they call home and kick some serious alien patootie in a battle to save humanity.

THE LOST FLOWERS OF ALICE HART (Working Title)
Made Up Stories
Genre Drama, Mystery
Writers Sarah Lambert, Kirsty Fisher, Kim Wilson
Producers Bruna Papandrea, Jodi Matterson, Steve Hutensky
Executive Producers Bruna Papandrea, Jodi Matterson, Steve Hutensky, Sarah Lambert
Synopsis THE LOST FLOWERS OF ALICE HART is about a girl whose violent childhood casts a dark shadow over her adult life.

THE MAYOR OF NOTHING
Easy Tiger Productions Pty Ltd
Genre Comedy, Drama, Family
Directors David Michod, Mirrah Foulkes
Writers Andrew Knight, Mirrah Foulkes
Producers Rob Gibson, Ian Collie, Richard Roxburgh
Synopsis Carl, a usually cautious and sensible insurance broker, does something truly unexpected: in a grief-induced act of insanity, he buys a rundown village in rural Italy and drags his three daughters on an ill-conceived restoration mission.

THE SAPPHIRES ANIMATION
Goalpost Television Pty Ltd
Genre Comedy, Musical, Family
Writer Kodie Bedford
Producers Rosemary Blight, Tony Briggs, Kylie du Fresne
Synopsis A celebration of sisterhood, sass and sweet, sweet grooves. Inspired by the much-loved film The Sapphires animated series reimagines the four girls growing up in today’s world, as they follow their musical dreams, and in the process learn about life, love, and who they are.

UNRAVEL 
Lingo Pictures Pty Ltd
Genre Drama
Writers Sarah Walker
Producer Helen Bowden
Executive Producer Jason Stephens
Synopsis A mysterious young woman will upend the lives of two women in a story about infidelity, forced adoption, and many, many secrets.

THE SISTERS ANTIPODES
Endemol Shine Banks
Genre Drama
Writers Fiona Seres, Rebecca Rigg
Producers Imogen Banks, Asher Keddie
Synopsis In 1965, two families collide. Affairs ignite, couples switch and the scandal pushes the realigned families to opposite sides of the world. Reeling, two little girls are given each other’s fathers. The Sisters Antipodes is the ensuing story of the lifelong competition between them and the tragedy that ends it.

THE WHITE ROOM
Goalpost Television Pty Ltd
Genre Thriller, Crime
Writer Josh Whiteman
Story Consultant Dr Jane Park
Script Editor Jane Allen
Producers Kylie du Fresne, Rosemary Blight, Les Hill
Synopsis After undergoing illegal stem cell surgery in Korea, a brilliant Australian Paediatric Surgeon experiences horrific visions of a mysterious young girl and becomes convinced that her donor was murdered. Meanwhile in Seoul, Detective Park Young uncovers a crime scene with links to a fabled organ-trafficking organisation known as ‘The Dosan’.

DALHOUSIE
Film Depot Pty Limited
Genre Drama, Comedy 
Writer Melina Marchetta
Creators Melina Marchetta, Louise Smith
Producer Louise Smith
Executive Producer Louise Smith
Synopsis Since the tragic death of her husband, Martha has done a great job of avoiding her old life, until her 21 year old step-daughter Rosie arrives on her doorstep with a baby, demanding to take back her father’s house.

HEROINE
Goalpost Television Pty Ltd
Genre Fantasy drama
Writer Matthew Whittet
Producers Kylie du Fresne, Rosemary Blight
Consultant Kate Erickson
Synopsis Annie’s normal student life is abruptly upended when a dramatic encounter brings back missing memories, sending her on the run to save her supernatural Shadow Twin, Celeste – but their time is running out, and powerful destructive forces are hot on their heels.

THE MESSENGER
Lingo Pictures Pty Ltd
Genre Drama
Writers Sarah Lambert, Kirsty Fisher, Leon Ford
Producer Jason Stephens, Helen Bowden
Synopsis Ed Kennedy is a young, directionless man. His life is one of peaceful routine until a playing card inscribed with cryptic messages arrives in the mail. Chosen to care, Ed makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?

RED HOT
Lucky Country Productions Pty Ltd
Genre Drama, Thriller, Mystery
Director Rachel Ward
Writers Alexa Wyatt, Sarah Smith
Producer Bill Leimbach
Executive Producer Leonie Alldis
Synopsis A taut thriller, set in the 1960s, about a woman’s battle to save her family and town from a serial arsonist. Fear and paranoia grows as she realises the fires are lit by a local, exposing everyone’s secrets including her own.

VELVET EMPIRE
Beyond Entertainment Pty Ltd
Genre Drama, Music, Crime
Creator Timothy Lee
Writers Timothy Lee, Jane Allen, Christopher Lee
Producers TBA, Melinda Wearne
Executive Producer David Ogilvy
Synopsis Sydney 1968, legendary outliers Dawn O’Donnell and Roger-Claude Teyssedre make a Faustian pact with notorious gangster Abe Saffron, exploiting his hold over corrupt police and politicians to build an extraordinary empire; but what begins as a burning ambition for power and influence is riven by violence and tragedy and becomes an unstoppable force to deliver change. Inspired by the book The Ghost of Ludwig Gertsch by S D Harvey.

UNBEWEAVABLE
Endemol Shine Australia Pty Ltd
Genre Comedy, Drama, Musical
Director Corrie Chen
Writers Lucy Durack, Maria Angelico
Producer Imogen Banks
Associate Producer Emelyne Palmer
Synopsis When a Christian whose life-defining, prophetic visions are waning and a hairdresser in denial of her dead grandmother’s visitations meet, they discover that when they touch, they share electrifying, psychic visions in the form of choreographed musical numbers.

LUCY’S CANNON
Blue Rocket Beyond Pty Ltd
Genre Children’s, Comedy, Animation
Director David Gurney
Writers Clare Madsen, Wendy Hanna
Producer Alicia Rackett
Co-producer Paul Moran
Executive Producers Alicia Rackett, Jenny O’Shea, David Gurney
Synopsis Lucy and Randall explore the world - by cannon!

LEYLAND BROTHERS: MONSTER HUNTERS
Werner Film Productions
Genre Action adventure, Comedy, Drama
Director Daina Reid
Writers Daina Reid, Christiaan Van Vuuren, Connor Van Vuuren, Kirsty Fisher, Kodie Bedford
Producers Joanna Werner
Synopsis You know the name, but do you know the real story behind The Leyland Brother's adventures across Australia?

LUCKY LEE
Easy Tiger Productions
Genre Comedy, Mystery
Writers Niki Aken, Melissa Lee Speyer, Lawrence Leung, Tristram Baumber
Producers Rob Gibson, Ian Collie
Synopsis A Chinese mystery. A girl without a clue. A detective without manners.

TALES FROM THE UNITED NONSENSE
Emerald Films Pty Ltd
Genre Action adventure, Comedy, Drama
Writers Tamara Asmar, Penny Greenhalgh, Sami Shah
Story Consultant Sarah Lambert
Producers Sally Browning, Katey Grusovin
Executive Producers Sally Browning, Katey Grusovin, Monica O'Brien
Synopsis Tales from the United Nonsense is an 8 part series that follows the adrenalin fuelled dramatic tragi-comic adventures of the free spirited Janey Resnik, a 39-year-old Australian woman with an undiagnosed white saviour hero complex who - at a tipping point in her life – realises her life-long dream when she is posted to South Asia as a communication consultant for the UN in the politically charged years following 9/11.

PREMIUM PLUS