16 08 2023 - Media release

Screen Australia announces over $1.2 million of story development funding for 47 projects

Leah Purcell and Bain Stewart of Koa Kid

Screen Australia has announced 29 feature films, 13 television dramas, four online projects and one VR project that will share in over $1.2 million of story development funding. The projects include Forget Me Not, the latest series from Class of ’07 creator Kacie Anning; feature film Koa Kid from writer/director Leah Purcell of The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson; VR project The Place I Carry Within; and online project Adventuries of the Century, the third instalment of the series from Dylan Murphy and Molly Daniels of Celebration Nation and Wispy.

Included in this slate are 28 projects that have been supported through the Generate Fund and 19 through the Premium Fund.

Screen Australia’s Head of Development Bobby Romia said, “It is an exciting time for filmmakers and storytellers in Australia and we are thrilled to be supporting so many exciting projects at the beginning of their journey. This latest cohort represents a vast selection of dynamic and diverse voices, which showcases the strength and capability of the talent in our screen industry.”

Among the titles receiving funding are five projects that came through Screen Australia and Australians in Film’s Untapped initiative in 2022: Baby Face (previously The Kin), Custodians, Playtime, Revelations and Unravel. More information about these projects is available here. The successful practitioners and projects for Untapped 2023 will be announced in the coming months.

This announcement includes the remainder of projects funded in the 2022/23 financial year during which Screen Australia supplied over $3.1 million of story development funding to 97 projects.

The projects funded for development include:

• Adventuries of the Century: Following on from the success of Party of the Century and Funeral of the Century, this 42 x 1-minute online series continues the story of disaster-prone cousins Dylan and Molly who are regularly thrust into high-stakes escapades by their Grandma Catherine. In Adventuries of the Century, the cousins hurtle from a family reunion to a heist at the mayor’s house, are pitted against one another on trial and forced to bust out of a maximum prison, plan the greatest Christmas of all time and hopefully get married, although not to each other. The series is from writer/director/producer Molly Daniels (Celebration Nation, Wispy) and writer/producer Dylan Murphy (Feedback, Super Birthday).
• A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing: A six-part drama series about Taiwanese-Australian woman and former child prodigy, Jena, who is re-entering the privileged world of classical musicianship after a lengthy period out of the spotlight. In doing so, she must grapple with understanding her identity and power, which has been tied to this world for as long as she can remember, and also those that put her in it. A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing is written by novelist and journalist Jessie Tu, with Morgan Hind (Thea Goes to Town) producing and John Collee (Happy Feet) attached as script editor.
• Ascent: Set on a remote mountain wall, this survival thriller feature film tracks a fearless free solo climber out on her most ambitious climb who must help a stranded amateur ascend to safety without ropes or equipment, all the while the natural elements and their own personal demons conspire to keep them from reaching the top. Ascent is directed by Jennifer Peedom (Sherpa, River) and written by Becca Johnstone (Addition). Toby Nalbandian and Gregory Schmidt, (Phyllis, Silenced, Turn Me On), Timothy White (I Am Mother, The Furnace) and Zareh Nalbandian (Peter Rabbit, Peter Rabbit 2) are producing.
• EuroVisionary: This comedic coming-of-age drama feature film set in 1983 follows 10-year-old Julie Sumić who discovers the uniting power of the Eurovision Song Contest on a family trip to Yugoslavia. Upon her return to Australia, she introduces the contest to her town in the hopes to undo the damage caused to her family in the aftermath of the 'Croatian Six' terrorist scandal - Australia's first convicted terrorists. EuroVisionary is written, directed and produced by Jeneffa Soldatić (The Honey Makers) and produced by Petra Lovrenčić (Halal Gurls), and will be their first project for Sestra Films Pty Ltd.
• Forget Me Not: An eight-part comedy series about 27-year-old Sally who rose to fame as a child because of her parents’ notorious prank-filled online channel. As she reckons with her unwanted fame, an unforgivable stunt by her parents sets Sally on a crusade to wipe her own existence from the internet. Together with two other internet-famous-kids and a documentarian hoping to expose ‘sharenting’ culture, Sally will take on internet giants, trolls and hackers, but most importantly, her parents, in a bid to have her right to be forgotten granted. Forget Me Not is from writer/director/producer Kacie Anning whose credits include The Other Guy and Class of ’07.
• Good Eggs: This six-part comedic drama series follows a trio of women, Nicola, Sarah and Zoya, on their individual yet shared journey to parenthood. Nicola’s never been able to get the attention of men, Sarah’s completely over them and Zoya’s never been into them, and so they decide to try and raise their kids together. Forging their own paths, Good Eggs sees Nicola, Sarah and Zoya build a new family paradigm – taking refuge from society’s expectations of ‘family’. The series is written by Melanie Tait, whose credits include The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race, and produced by Cecilia Ritchie.
• House of Kwa: From Wooden Horse, House of Kwa is an eight-part drama about the extraordinary true story of the Kwa family, spanning four generations and several decades, from 19th century China to wartime Hong Kong and modern Western Australia. When high-profile journalist Mimi Kwa’s father sues her over his beloved sister’s will, she faces a battle with the ghosts and misdeeds of her family’s dynastic past – exposing the cultural legacies that brought them head-to-head in an Australian courtroom. House of Kwa is adapted for the screen from Mimi Kwa’s memoir of the same name by creator, writer and director Corrie Chen (Bad Behaviour) alongside collaborators Penelope Chai (Troppo), Niki Aken (Upright season 2), Liselle Mei (Love Opera) and Kim Ho (The Newsreader). Producing is Jude Troy and Richard Finlayson (The Clearing, Mother & Son, The Cape), who are also executive producing alongside Elizabeth Bradley and Corrie Chen.
• Koa Kid: An action-adventure family feature film following two pre-teen heroes. After heading back to her family’s traditional lands in outback Queensland, where the most extensive collection of dinosaur fossils are found, Gidgee forms an unlikely friendship with Tim before they are propelled into another world by ancient forces. Along the way, Gidgee and Tim are tested as they try to right their wrongs - learning they are capable of anything they put their minds and hearts to. Koa Kid is from writer/director/producer Leah Purcell and producer Bain Stewart, whose credits include The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.
• The Last Days of Lee McQueen: From writer/director sibling duo Spencer and Lloyd Harvey (The Gift), The Last Days of Lee McQueen is a dramatic thriller feature film about the final days of celebrated fashion designer, Alexander McQueen. Focusing on the last six months of his life, the film follows McQueen as he tries to complete his last runway show, all while being haunted by something otherworldly – highlighting the story of a creative genius who had a lot of love to give, was loved by many in return and was lost far too soon.
• The Place I Carry Within: This 20-minute VR project asks audiences to follow Mina on her journey to preserve her most cherished childhood memories which, with the passage of time, have faded away - destined to vanish forever. With only one way to stop this from happening, audiences travel back in time with Mina, to the land she had to flee as a child, and accompany her as she relives her memories all over again to save them from disappearing. The Place I Carry Within is from writer/director/producer Enoet Râz and writer/director Ahnat Râz.
• Umuzimu (Spirit): This magic realist dramatic feature film follows Mariam, a single mother and a newly arrived Zambian migrant to Melbourne. She’s preparing for the arrival of her only child, Joy, when tragedy strikes and she has to learn to parent from a distance. Umuzimu (Spirit) is written and directed by Santilla Chingaipe (Our African Roots) and produced by Robert Connolly (Blueback).

For the complete list of development funding approvals refer to television, online and feature film breakdowns.

ABOUT STORY DEVELOPMENT FUNDING

Teams with scripted projects for TV and film platforms can apply for development funding from two program strands – the Generate Fund and the Premium Fund.

The Generate Fund is for lower budget projects with an emphasis on new and emerging talent, or experienced talent wanting to take creative risks. The Premium Fund is for higher budget projects of ambition and scale from successful screen content makers.

Online projects can receive support through the online development fund, which supports emerging screen creatives in developing the creative materials of their scripted or documentary projects.

Corrie Chen (House of Kwa), Kacie Anning (Forget Me Not) and Melanie Tait (Good Eggs)

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