Renewed: First Day

ABC ME series First Day is getting a second season, in funding announcements today from Screen Australia.

Created by writer / director Julie Kalceff and produced by Epic Films / Kojo Entertainment, the series which centred on transgender student Hannah Bradford (Evie Macdonald) has been awarded by 2020 Kidscreen Awards, Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, Rose d’Or Festival and GLAAD Media Awards.

A 20-part children’s animated series Ginger & the Vegesaurs for ABC iview and YouTube is also amongst the $1.3 million funding for five online projects. Also included are Sunset Paradise and comedy series The Emu War both for YouTube and ReCancelled for Facebook.

Screen Australia’s Senior Online Investment Manager Lee Naimo said, “We’re excited to support these projects which showcase engaging storytelling across a mix of genres including children’s, comedy, animation and a relationship drama. We are always looking for projects that have solid pathways to audience and we are very impressed by the range shown in this slate, whether it’s via platforms such as ABC iview or targeting significant existing fan bases like Glitch Productions’ Sunset Paradise on YouTube and Luke Eve’s ReCancelled on Facebook.”

First Day series 2:
A four-part second series of the award-winning children’s drama for ABC iview, centred on transgender student Hannah Bradford (played by Evie Macdonald). This series follows Hannah in her second year at Hillview High as she sets out to change the culture at the school, and finds it’s only through working together that meaningful change can be achieved. Returning for series 2 are writer/director Julie Kalceff and producers Kirsty Stark and Kate Butler. They are joined by writers Eloise Brook and Martine Delaney (The Village). This project is financed with support from the South Australian Film Corporation.

Ginger & the Vegesaurs:
A 20-part children’s animated series for ABC iview and YouTube set in a world dominated by Vegesaurs, the freshest and most delicious creatures ever to rule the planet. Ginger, a young plucky Tricarrotops, and her three baby Pea-Rex pals share adventures in a valley populated by a host of other Vegesaurs – some friendly, some not so much. Created by Gary Eck and Nick O’Sullivan whose credits include Happy Feet 2, the series was developed and will be produced by Cheeky Little Media. Eck and Sam Carroll (Grace Beside Me) lead the writing team and the series will be produced by Celine Goetz and executive produced by Patrick Egerton and David Webster who previously collaborated on Kangaroo Beach.