Screen NSW funding approvals

NSW Minister for the Arts, George Souris, announced new funding decisions at the opening of the Sydney Film Festival.

The 20 projects included seven feature films, two television series, two children’s animated television series and eight documentary programs/series, including productions by Academy Award winners Jane Campion and Emile Sherman.

“The Government’s investment of $4.2 million in these 20 projects will result in production expenditure of $66 million in NSW. The productions will generate hundreds of jobs and see some of our top film and television creators, cast and crew working in NSW,” he said.

They include several series already announced by networks:

TOP OF THE LAKE
TV Series
Production Company: See-Saw (TOTL) Holdings
Finance: $500,000
Writer: Jane Campion, Gerard Lee
Producer: Emile Sherman
Director: Jane Campion
Broadcaster: ABC, BBC and TV3
Synopsis: A twelve-year-old girl is found chest deep in the freezing waters of a South Island lake in New Zealand. She’s five months pregnant and when asked who the father is, she insists: ‘No one’. Then she disappears. Detective Robin Griffin’s obsessive search for Tui unravels both Robin and the compromised town of Laketop.

WILD BOYS
TV Series
Production Company: Southern Star Entertainment
Finance: $350,000
Writer: Jeff Truman
Producer: Julie McGauran, Sarah Smith
Broadcaster: Seven Network
Synopsis: Wild Boys follows a gang of bushrangers as they stage hold-ups, evade the police and sometimes even fall in love – all set against the backdrop of 1850s gold rush Australia.

CHILDREN’S TELEVISION – ANIMATION SERIES

THE WOODLIES
Childrens TV – Animation
Production Company: The Woodlies
Finance: $275,000
Writer: Gina Roncoli, David Evans, Kym Goldsworthy, Philip Dalkin, Peter Neale, Sam Carroll, Rob George, Alexa Moses, Cleon Prineas, John Armstrong, Suzie Wicks, Lisa Hoppe, Robert Greenberg, Maureen Sherlock
Producer: Avrill Stark
Executive Producer: Robert James Ballantine
Director: Alexis Stadermann, Animation director: Alex Weight
Broadcaster: Seven Network and Wavery/Studio 100
Synopsis:
The Woodlies are furry forest creatures not much bigger than a possum. They are mischievous yet have always managed to live right under human noses without ever being seen. But when their forest home is destroyed to make room for a high-speed motorway, NineEyes, Firehead and SevenPoints are forced to flee to nearby woods.

THE ADVENTURES OF FIGARO PHO
Children’s TV – Animation
Production Company: The Chocolate Liberation Front
Finance: $230,000
Producer: Dan Fill, Michael Boughen, Frank Verheggen
Director: Luke Jurevicius, Animation Director: David Webster
Broadcaster: ABC
Synopsis:
Figaro Pho is a warm-hearted, adorable, quirky, mischievous character… who just happens to be afflicted with a multitude of debilitating phobias. Based on the AFI and Kidscreen award winning series of shorts by Luke Jurevicius, the long form series offers an intimate experience with the loveable tragic character of Figaro Pho.

FACTUAL SINGLE

SHARK HARBOUR
Production Company: Ultramarine Films
Finance: $20,000
Writer/Director: Michael Lynch
Producer: Edward Radford, Michael Lynch
Broadcaster: ABC and National Geographic US
Synopsis:
The world’s leading marine biologists seek to answer why sharks attack humans by undertaking the biggest ever shark research project in Sydney Harbour.

OCHRE & INK
Factual – Single
Production Company: Nirvana Films
Finance: $14,000
Writer/Director: James Bradley
Producer: James Bradley, Rachel Clements
Broadcaster: ABC
Synopsis:
An extraordinary 20-year collaboration between a Chinese artist and Aboriginal artists culminates in a remarkable and inspiring exhibition in Beijing.

FACTUAL SERIES:

THE YEARS THAT MADE US: AUSTRALIA BETWEEN THE WARS
Factual – Series
Production Company: Beyond Screen Productions
Finance: $95,000
Writer: Chris Masters
Producer: Renee Kennedy
Executive Producer: Mark Hamlyn
Director: Stuart Goodman
Broadcaster: ABC
Synopsis:
The dramatic story of how Australia rebuilt after the devastation of World War One, only to be changed again by the great depression and a new war more terrible than the last.

COUNTRY TOWN RESCUE
Factual – Series
Production Company: Zapruder’s Other Films
Finance: $130,000
Writer: Debbie Cuell
Producer: Anita Jacoby
Director: Debbie Cuell
Broadcaster: ABC
Synopsis:
Country Town Rescue documents the inspiring story of the people of Trundle, a small community of 485 in Central Western NSW, who plan to save their town from dying by giving families Australia wide, the chance to build a new life in the country by living in an abandoned local farm house for just One Dollar A Week! It’s a story about how these newcomers will build new lives and friendships in this small community and how the old traditional country community will come to accept these new families into their town.

AUSSIEWOOD
Factual – Series
Production Company: Matchbox Pictures Pty Ltd
Finance: $60,000
Writer:
Producer: Cecilia Ritchie, Michael McMahon
Director: Gary Doust
Broadcaster: ABC
Synopsis:
Aussiewood is a behind-the-scenes look at Tinsel town told through the eyes of a group of young actors. It’s about the making of dreams, the breaking of hearts and the opportunity of a lifetime.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN CABRAMATTA
Factual – Series
Production Company: Fredbird CDK Pty Ltd trading as Fredbird Entertainment
Finance: $55,000
Producer: Craig Graham, Sue Clothier
Director: Mike Bluett
Broadcaster: SBS
Synopsis:
Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta is the inside story of a critical period in the Vietnamese community’s history: the epic tale of how crime, political dysfunctional social breakdown threatened to destroy the community and how they fought back to build successful lives for themselves in modern Australia.

WILD AUSTRALIA
Factual – Series
Production Company: Wild Fury
Finance: $80,000
Writer: Stefan Moore
Producer: Bettina Dalton
Director: Rory McGuinness
Broadcaster: National Geographic Australia, ZDF, NDR
Synopsis:
A celebration of Australia’s wild places and its unique wildlife in an epic four-part journey through its most spectacular national parks.