2 September 2010 Intergalactic teens, a fight for women’s rights and a Frank Woodley comedy

2 September 2010

Film Victoria has announced a commitment of more than $1.3 million to eight projects in this bumper round of Production Investment funding, the first for the 2010/11 financial year.

Of the two features, three documentaries and three television series receiving support, CEO Sandra Sdraulig said Film Victoria was delighted to fund such engaging projects from talented practitioners and screen businesses.

“2009/10 was an outstanding year for Victorian screen industry, with more than $230 million spent in the state by 88 film, television and digital media projects. Film productions we supported spent an estimated $179 million and television productions we supported contributed $87 million to the state’s economy.”

“These diverse and exciting projects will certainly build on the success of the previous financial year,” Ms Sdraulig said. The successful projects receiving a share of $1,389,871 in Production Investment support are:

WOODLEY, Bucket Tree: Simon Wright and Andy Walker, Producers; Frank Woodley, Writer/Producer. A visual comedy mini-series about a hapless 40-year-old divorcee who shares custody of his eight-year-old daughter and is still in love with his ex-wife.

TWENTYSOMETHING, High Wire Films: Nicole Minchin, Producer; Jess Harris, Writer; Paul Currie, Director. This fiction mini-series looks at what happens when a pair that never went to uni, never had a clear talent and never had the drive to grow up, suddenly get the urge to conform and search for their big break.

MOONSURFERS, Mumbo Jumbo Animation: Cecile Blackman, Producer; Philip Dalkin, Writer; Peter Viska, Director. Combining a unique retrofuturistic style with hip surf music, this children’s television series follows a group of diverse, interplanetary teens who live on Moonport, a lunar stopover for intergalactic travellers.

KAPYONG, Kapyong Pty Ltd: Dennis Smith, Writer/Director. A documentary about a forgotten battle in the forgotten war, in which a small band of Australians, Canadians and New Zealanders in Korea stopped the Chinese Army in its tracks.

MAD AS HELL: THE PETER FINCH STORY, Lowlands Media: Robert de Young, Producer/Writer/Director.This documentary maps the life and work of Australian actor Peter Finch as seen through the eyes of actors, managers, producers, and his family; and the relationship between Australia and Britain in the 1940s and 1950s through the lens of Finch's career.

UTOPIA GIRLS, Renegade Films: Lucy Maclaren, Producer; Alex West, Writer/Producer; Jasmin Tarasin, Director. Historian Clare Wright investigates how and why Australian women fought successfully to become the first in the world to attain equal political rights.

HAIL, Flood Projects: Michael Cody, Producer; Amiel Courtin-Wilson, Producer/Writer/Director. This hybrid factual/fiction feature explores the darkness that befalls a man who has the love of his life ripped away from him.

LAST DANCE, FG Film Productions: Antony I Ginnane, Producer; Terence Hammond, Writer; David Pulbrook, Director. Past and present collide in this fiction feature, when holocaust survivor Ulah Lippmann is held hostage by Sadiq Mohammed, a Palestinian terrorist on the run after a Melbourne bombing.

Film Victoria provided more than $5 million in Production Investment funding in 2009/10 and continues to invest in local talent.

Stay informed of funding deadlines, opportunities and announcements via www.film.vic.gov.au, e-news or twitter (twitter.com/filmvictoria).