Gay drama to be developed as TV pilot

Hit queer online drama The Horizon will produce a TV pilot directed by Stephan Elliott (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert).

The series, which has 5 seasons on YouTube and 22 million views, has received funding from Screen Australia as a multiplatform drama project.

Performers Jordan Raskopoulos and Ben Nicholas are amongst TV faces to also receive project funding.

ScreenWest and SBS are also backing Top Knot Detective, which tells the story of a cult TV show, a star who couldn’t act, aliens, monsters, robots and the occasional go-go dancer..

Good Game‘s Bajo and Steam Punk‘s Paul Verhoeven will feature in Trip for Biscuits, with the support of ABC3.

 

BRUCE
Web series
Jason Byrne Productions Pty Ltd
Producers Jason Byrne, Tony Rogers
Director Tony Rogers
Writers Mat Blackwell, Warwick Holt
Synopsis Bruce is a gritty black comedy set in an ordinary Aussie share house that just happens to be a prison tent in Sydney Cove, 1788. Bruce Williamson, a thoroughly modern 18th century convict is stuck in a tent with irrepressible bogan, Garry, who claims to be Bruce’s ‘best mate’ and great with the chicks, and Mick, a well-read, philosophically sensitive monolith of a man who is also a serial killer. Or so we suspect.

FOOTBALLER WANTS A WIFE
Web series
Crankyfish Pty Ltd
Producers Julian Vincent Costanzo, Jonathon Dutton
Director Jo O’Shaughnessy
Writers Ben Nicholas, Carl J Sorheim
Creator Ben Nicholas
Synopsis Footballer Wants a Wife is a parody reality show that follows three young football stars on their modern-day quest for love. Our three footballers, drawn from three different codes, are matched up against 14 women who will stop at nothing to become a WAG. Footballer Wants a Wife is a simple, accessible comedy that plays on the one ironic truth at the heart of reality TV: it’s completely fabricated – particularly when it comes to ‘love, loss and celebrity’.

THE HORIZON
Web episode
Cobbstar Productions Pty Ltd
Producer Brian Cobb
Co-producers Jacob Inglis, Patrick James
Director Stephan Elliott
Writer Boaz Stark
Synopsis Queer as Folk meets Sydney’s very own Oxford Street in this edgy drama exploring the unexplored gay community within. Now in its 5th season, The Horizon is both Australia’s most viewed online drama series and the most-watched gay web series in the world, with over 37 million views and 99,000 subscribers on YouTube. This episode will be a remake of the first two seasons using the committed cast that was finally settled in Season 3, and will also be produced as a pilot for TV.

INSERT COIN
Multiplatform, Web series
Press Start Productions Pty Ltd
Producer Lee Naimo
Director Jordan Raskopoulos
Synopsis Insert Coin is a weekly sketch comedy show on YouTube and insert-coin.com. The content will be custom made by established and up-and-coming Australian creatives. Each episode will focus on a particular facet of the gaming industry, with particular episodes being released to time in with big game releases throughout the year.

MOVEMENT
Web series
Sweetheart Films Pty Ltd
Producer Lucy Hayes
Director Jessica Barclay Lawton
Writer Maria Angelico
Synopsis Movement is a seven-part comedy web series about dance therapy. We follow Sophia, a self-confessed try-hard, as she battles her demons with the help of her dance therapist. Each week, Sophia uses a ‘healing mantra’ to deal with a tangled love life and failing acting career.

TOP KNOT DETECTIVE
Web series
Blue Forest Media Pty Ltd
Producer Lauren Brunswick
Writer/Directors Aaron McCann, Dominic Pearce
Synopsis In the early 1990s, a little-known Japanese Samurai/Detective series was syndicated to public access TV in Australia and became a cult success. In Japan, it was titled Ronin Suiri Tentai (roughly translating to Deductive Reasoning Ronin), but soon came to be known in the West as Top Knot Detective. Takashi couldn’t act. He couldn’t fight. He had no idea how to write a TV show. But through various underworld connections, he had the money to make himself into a star… or so he thought. Top Knot Detective is the documentary that digs into the deeper truths of what REALLY happened…

TRIP FOR BISCUITS
Web series
Robot Panther Pty Ltd
Producer Timothy Powell
Executive Producer Colin South
Writer/Director Dave Cartel
Synopsis Sci-fi fanboy Bajo has finally landed a job as an Intergalactic PI and the job is awesome! Except that his boss seems to work both sides of the law, his partner, Tosh, prefers social media to snooping and his weapons’ specialist, Amy, is the boss’ hot-headed 17-year-old daughter. Bajo’s misfit crew seem to lack the life skills required to deal with everyday situations – let alone deal with the highly unusual phenomena they are investigating.

UNTITLED WOOLSHED PROJECT
Web series
The Woolshed Company
Creators Richard Hughes, Caspar Mazzotti, Dave Christison
Synopsis Seven-part, adventure themed web series.