Screen Australia is committed to making 5 originals online; ACTF welcomes the federal budget commitment

Il Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) has secured the Commonwealth government's commitment to the federal budget for its ongoing operational funding for the next four years, in the amount of AU $ 11,9 million (~ $ 9,2 million ).

"This recognizes the significant value of Australian children's screen content and provides us with certainty, allowing us to invest every dollar of the additional $ 20 million over two years previously announced in new content," commented ACTF CEO Jenny Buckland. "We can't wait to announce the first batch of new shows that will be supported with that funding next month. We have some great drama, animation, and concrete content for kids in development with independent producers across the country and are working with. Screen Australia, ABC, NITV, state and territorial agencies, Netflix, Stan and other platforms to offer Australian children and their families a wide range of quality content. We expect that content to continue to entertain children around the planet. " .

Learn more at https://actf.com.au.

Screen Australia announced AUS $ 1,3 million (~ $ 1 million) online production funding for five projects, including children's animated series Sunset Paradise (from the makers of YouTube hit Meta Runners) to Ginger & the Vegesaurs, as well as comic series War of the Emus, Second season of the award-winning live-action series for kids The first day e Canceled again, the sequel to Luke Eve's drama in 2020 Canceled.

"We are thrilled to support these projects which showcase compelling storytelling across a mix of genres including children, comedy, animation and relationship drama," said Lee Naimo, Screen Australia's Senior Online Investment Manager. "We are always looking for projects that have solid paths to reach audiences and are very impressed with the range shown on this list, whether it is via platforms like ABC iview or targeting major existing fan bases like Glitch Productions." Sunset Paradise on YouTube and Luke Eve's Canceled again on Facebook."

• 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 to ever rule the planet. Ginger, a brave young "Tricarrotops", and her three little friends "Pea-Rex" share adventures in a valley populated by a myriad of other Vegesauri - some friendly, some not so much. Created by Gary Eck and Nick O'Sullivan, credits of which 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 produced by Patrick Egerton and David Webster who previously collaborated on Kangaroo beach.

• Sunset Paradise: A 10-part animated series for YouTube from Glitch productions, the team behind the hit series Meta Runners. This adventure comedy series follows a young woman named Meggy, who arrives on a tropical island for a vacation only to discover a criminal conspiracy that threatens the safety of the island. It is up to Meggy to save the island from harm and save her vacation plans. The pilot episode launched in March has already amassed over 1 million views. Sunset Paradise is written by Jasmine Yang and Jasper Marlow, directed by Luke Lerdwichagul and produced by Kevin Lerdwichagul.

The second iteration of Screen Australia and SBS's Digital Originals initiative is also underway, with 12 teams selected to participate in the development workshops.

"It's also great to work with the next Digital Originals creator group, who attended the workshops last week," added Naimo. "The teams took the time to develop their projects and to listen to the workshop guests, including Nisha Ganatra (Deep night), Warwick Thornton (Sweet country), Ryan O'Connell (Analysis), Anna Dokoza (Lady Dynamite), Corrie Chen (Homecoming Queens), Richie Mehta (Delhi Crime), Vanessa Gayy (Eden) and Ronny Chieng (Ronny Chieng: international student). The 12 projects are all so different - from dramas to thrillers, from comedies to horror - they are an incredibly strong group and we can't wait for the selected teams to go into further development on their projects for SBS OnDemand. "

The projects are:

• Appetite - Mohini Herse (writer / director / producer), Neilesh Verma (writer), Neil Sharma (director), Sleena Wilson (executive producer)
• CEEBS - Betiel Beyin (writer / performer), Leigh Lule (writer / performer), Amie Batalibasi (producer), Nikki Tran (producer)
• Divinity - Taofia Pelesasa (writer / director), Eliorah Malifa (producer), Nicole Coventry (producer)
• rubbish - Hunter Page-Lochard (writer / director / producer), Luke Bouchier (writer / director / producer), Kobie Duncan (writer)
• Let me help - Emma Myers (writer / producer), Angus Thompson (writer / producer), Nina Oyama (writer / director)
• Mother tongue - Katrina Irawati Graham (writer / director), Ljudan Michaelis-Thorpe (writer), Ana Tiwary (producer)
• Night Bloomers - Andrew Lee (writer / director / producer), Ashlea Ritchie (producer), Michael McMahon (executive producer), Barry Gamba (executive producer)
• SHADOW - Enoch Mailangi (writer), Wendy Mocke (writer), Alana Hicks (director)
• Sonny - Danny Aumua (writer / director), Jason Dewhurst (writer), Jessica Magro (producer)
• The matriarch - Ivy Mak (writer / producer), Jayden Rathsam Hua (writer / director)
• Transferred - Chloe Black (writer), Paul Moran (producer), Adele Vuko (director)
• Unicorn hunters - Rachel Perks (writer), Jean Tong (writer), Tessa Mansfield-Hung (producer)

An evolution of SBS's Short-Form Content Initiative, the Digital Originals initiative aims to support professionals and projects that reflect gender equity and / or the diversity of people and experiences across Australia. This includes those who identify as Australians of the First Nations; they come from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD); those living with a disability; are women or trans / of different gender; identify yourself as LGBTQIA +; and those located in regional and remote areas.

Learn more at screenaustralia.gov.au.