Screen Australia has revealed $20.4 million of production and development funding, including the first projects of its new Short Film Production Funding Program.
The funding will be shared among 91 narrative projects, including a new season of the award-winning children’s series “Little J & Big Cuz,” an untitled official Australian/Canadian co-production feature film marking Cody Fern’s directorial debut, animated mystery musical direct-to-audience series “The Art of Murder” for YouTube, and family film “Silver Beach” (working title).
Also set to receive funding is six-part series “The Funeral Singer,” created by Lucy Durack, horror film “Asian Girls,” and debuts from S. Shakthidharan with “The Laugh of Lakshmi” and Kuba Dorabialski with “Agata the Writer”.
Screen Australia’s Director of Narrative Content, Louise Gough, said: “The range of these 91 projects showcases the depth, diversity and bold creativity of local storytellers, shaped with Australia’s unique blend of humour, style and perspective.”
“Sundowner,” “The Novelty,” “Inferno” and “Lazy Love (Lasagne 365)” are the first short films to receive production funding through Screen Australia’s new program, marking the agency’s return to direct investment in the format and reaffirming its vital role in the careers of future feature filmmakers.
Alongside this support, participating teams will receive professional mentorship from a cohort of industry directors whose insight will help strengthen skills, elevate projects and support pathways to extended narrative production.
From Western Australian First Nations filmmakers, “Sundowner” is a romantic comedy based in a First Nations cultural awareness training organisation. The team will be mentored by director Beck Cole (“High Country,” “Deadloch”).
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“The Novelty”, set in the rural town of Dalby, Queensland. is driven by a female-led creative team. Per the synopsis: “In the heat of a summer’s eve outside a hairdressing salon, innocence curdles with cruelty as a young girl’s silence breaks with an irreversible act.” The creative team will be mentored by director Noora Niasari (“Shayda”).
A haunting coming-of-age story, “Inferno” follows a group of teenagers who plot a cruel prank on an alienated boy, before unwittingly awakening a quiet force in him. The team will be supported by director and screenwriter Goran Stolevski (“Of an Age”).
Finally, “Lazy Love (Lasagne 365)” is an adult animation from duo Haein Kim (director) and Paul Rhodes (writer, director). It follows Apple, out to avenge an insult against so‑called ‘stinky Asian food,’ and Toby, whose mission is to track down the best lasagne in Western Sydney. The team will be mentored by directors, screenwriters and animators Isobel Knowles and Van Sowerwine (“The World Came Flooding In,” “Passenger”).
“We’re particularly lucky to have industry figures of such calibre to mentor the four directors of our Short Film Program, guiding them to hone their unique, imaginative shorts for cinema and festival audiences,” Gough said.
“No doubt this experience will help the short film teams to grow their craft, build recognition and eventually move toward long‑form storytelling.”
Screen Australia also funded recently announced series “The Airport Chaplain” and “Separated at Birth,” with support for further major narrative content projects to be announced in coming months. See the full list here.