Applications open for [Black Space] Web Series Initiative
Screen Australia's Indigenous Department is calling on Indigenous filmmakers, online content creators and vloggers from across Australia to apply for the second round of the [Black Space] Web Series Initiative, which will fund creative teams to produce their own online series.
Nakkiah Lui and Elaine Crombie in Kiki and Kitty / Photo supplied by Porchlight Films Pty Ltd
In the same vein as successful web series, such as comedy Kiki and Kitty and documentary Black As, Screen Australia are on the hunt for dynamic proposals for online series with refreshing voices, bold stories, courageous characters or even a couple of oddballs!
The program is aimed at Indigenous talent with ideas at a production-ready stage to create a series of three to five episodes of 4-10 minutes, which could be a comedy, drama, mockumentary, factual and/or any other relevant genre.
Two successful creative teams will be funded up to $200,000 each to produce their concepts, to be made entirely for online publication on platforms such as YouTube and/or Facebook.
Screen Australia’s Head of Indigenous Penny Smallacombe said, “We received an overwhelming volume of applications when we launched this initiative in 2017, and it is exciting to see so many distinctive, diverse and daring Indigenous stories coming through to us via this initiative. I look forward to giving more Indigenous creatives a chance to bring their ideas to life with this new round of applications. We are looking for web series both scripted and factual with strong Indigenous characters that can speak to younger online audiences.”
The recipients of this funding in 2017 were an animated series by Jonathon Saunders and a romantic comedy-come-musical series written and starring Steven Oliver of Black Comedy fame.
Applications must be submitted by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australian writers, writer/directors or presenters, or writer and director teams, however the team’s core creative must be Indigenous for the project to be eligible. Project producers must have at least one eligible short drama or documentary credit.
All applicants should be able to commit to production by August 2018, for delivery and launch by December 2018.
Applications close 11 May. More details about eligibility and how to apply can be found here
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