0/5

Screen NSW funds new drama, factual, kids series.

A portal discovered in a dishwasher, and teachers put to the test in new funding announcements today.

clpb

A new TV drama Remembering Agatha has been funded by Screen NSW in the latest round of funding announcements.

From the producers of Storm Surfers 3D, The Surgery Ship, Sleeping Beauty, Backtrack and The Gradual Demise of Phillipa Finch, the drama begins when a mother-of-two discovers a mysterious portal in her dishwasher.

A broadcaster has not yet been announced.

Amongst the television drama series and factual series are Wake in Fright, Here Come the Habibs, Let’s Talk About, Drop Dead Weird, Story of Australian Cinema and Testing Teachers.

Including film the funding represents a $2 million investment in productions which will create 1080 jobs and generate a direct production spend of almost $35 million in NSW.

Deputy Premier and Minister for the Arts Troy Grant said, “I am delighted that the television mini-series Wake In Fright, directed by Red Dog director Kriv Stenders, and shot in Broken Hill, is the first local production to be supported under the Government’s new Made in NSW Fund.”

“The other 15 productions are being supported through the Government’s Film Production Finance Fund which can now support many more local film and television productions because funds have been freed-up by the Made in NSW Fund.

“These productions are in addition to previously supported productions like Doctor Doctor which was filmed in Mudgee and is to premiere on Channel Nine next week.”

Minister for Skills John Barilaro said, “The buzz a film or television shoot brings to a town during a production is fantastic but it’s the lasting benefits of skilled workers, economic activity and tourism that matters most for regional NSW.”

Drama

Project: Remembering Agatha
Production Company: See Pictures Pty Limited
Producer: Ester Harding, Jamie Hilton
Writer: Emma Magenta
Director: Emma Magenta
Location: Bronte (Pre and Production), Medlow Bath (Pre and Production), Chippendale (Post-Production)
Synopsis: When Christmas triggers inexplicable sadness for mother-of-two Agatha, she discovers a mysterious portal in the dishwasher, where she finds the solution to her childhood grief and the key to saving her crumbling marriage.

Project: Wake in Fright
Production Company: Endemol Shine Australia Pty Ltd
Producer: Jason Stephens, Helen Bowden, Kristian Moliere
Writer: Stephen Irwin
Director: Kriv Stenders
NSW Drama Fund
Location: Broken Hill (Production) & Moore Park (Post Production) Synopsis: A young schoolteacher finds himself marooned in a small mining town where a dangerous series of events render him a broken and desperate man.

Project: Here Come The Habibs
Production Company: Jungle Co Pty Limited
Producer: Ben Davies, Jason Burrows, Chloe Rickard
Location: Darlinghurst, Fox Studios, North Sydney
Synopsis: Lebanese migrant family, ‘The Habibs’, continue to turn life in Australia’s poshest suburb, upside down.

Project: Let’s Talk About 2
Production Company: New Town Films Pty Ltd
Producer: Yingna Lu, Bryan Brown
Writer: Matilda Brown
Director: Matilda Brown, Matt Jenkin
Location: Whale Beach, Avalon, Pyrmont
Synopsis: Sometimes in life, we want to crawl under a rock and hide. But there’s no hiding for Ben and Claire. We shine a light on their relationship and see into the cracks and crevices.

Kid’s TV

Project: Drop Dead Weird
Production Company: Ambience Entertainment Pty Limited
Producer: Monica O’Brien, Sally Browning, Michael Boughen, Matthew Street, Paul Cummins, Christine O’Connor, Kylie Mascord, Keaton Stewart }
Writer: Stephen Abbott and Warren Coleman

Director: Grant Brown
Location: Sydney. A small amount of production will be in Galway Ireland. Post Production will be in Galway Ireland
Synopsis: For the Champ Clan, life in Tubbershandy can get pretty interesting… and weird… Drop Dead Weird!

Factual

Project: Life on the Line
Production Company: Screentime Pty Limited
Producer: Jennifer Collins, Rachel Hardie, Mick De Montignie, Niamh Linnie, Cathy Flannery
Director: Jeff Siberry
Regional Filming Fund
Location: Crows Nest
Synopsis: Life on the Line is a blue chip science documentary series which sees host Todd Sampson risk his own life to test the Laws of Physics.

Project: Literacy for Life
Production Company: Blackfella Films Pty. Limited
Producer: Darren Dale
Writer: Erica Glynn
Director: Erica Glynn
Regional Filming Fund
Location: Production – Brewarrina NSW
Post-production – Chippendale, Moore Park, Paddington NSW
Synopsis: Literacy for Life follows a bunch of Aboriginal adults as they take up a pen for the first time in their lives and learn to read and write.

Project: Story of Australian Cinema
Production Company: Stranger Than Fiction Films Pty Ltd
Producer: Jo-anne McGowan
Director: Sally Aitken
Location: Production: Sydney, London, LA, New York, Leura and Moore Park (post production).
Synopsis: This three-part series will chart the story of Australia’s cinema and its stars from the point of view of its most revered film critic, David Stratton.

Project: Testing Teachers
Production Company: Screentime Pty Limited
Producer: Jennifer Collins, Anita Jorgensen, Niamh Linnie
Director: Naomi Elkin Jones, Brendan Hutchens
Location: Crows Nest
Synopsis: Testing Teachers follows six first-time teachers, over twelve months and across three schools, as they confront Australia’s education gap head on, in what could be the most challenging year of their lives.

Project: The Kingdom of Fungi
Production Company: Smith & Nasht Pty Ltd
Producer: Susan MacKinnon, Simon Nasht, Anne Pick, Bill Spahic
Writer: Annamaria Talas
Director: Annamaria Talas
Location: Byron Bay, Cairns QLD, and Tasmania.
Synopsis: How the secret world of fungi is essential to life on Earth and holds the key to our future.

Project: We Don’t Need a Map
Production Company: Barefoot Communications Pty Limited Producer: Brendan Fletcher
Director: Warwick Thornton
Location: St Peters, Cronulla, Chippendale
Synopsis: An in-depth look at the rich and surprising history of one of Australia’s most iconic and contentious symbols – The Southern Cross.

Factual Web:

Project: The Glass Bedroom
Production Company: Felix Media Pty Ltd
Producer: Bethany Bruce, Bridget Ikin
Director: Kate Blackmore
Location: Moore Park
Synopsis: Online and offline: six Australian artists use Instagram to create art.

Leave a Reply