By Travis Johnson

A slew of new projects have been funded by Screen Australia it has announced today, including the directorial debuts of Guy Pearce and Rachel Griffiths. In total $7.4 million has been allocated across three feature films, four television series, and two online projects.

The funded features are:

Ride Like A Girl

Produced by Richard Keddie and Rachel Griffiths who will also direct, this biopic of Michelle Payne, the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup is written by Andrew Knight and Elise McCredie, and stars Teresa Palmer and Sam Neill. Production starts next month in Victoria.

Poor Boy

Directed by and starring Guy Pearce with a script by Matt Cameron and produced by Al Clark and Andrena Finlay, this paranormal mystery drama tells the story of a little boy who announces to his family on his seventh birthday that he is a stranger named Danny – a grown man who died seven years earlier. Carice van Houten, Frances O’Connor, Richard Roxburgh, Callan Mulvey, and Sarah Peirse co-star.

Undertow

A thriller from Emerald Films.

TV projects include:

How To Stay Married

An eight-part comedy drama for Network Ten, starring Logie award-winning actress Lisa McCune and comedian Peter Helliar, who has also co-written the script. It tells the story of Greg (Helliar) and Em (McCune) whose 13-year marriage is put to the test by a new job, an unexpected house guest, a redundancy and an experimental sex move.

Lambs of God

A two part thriller for Foxtel about three eccentric secluded nuns who live on a remote island, forgotten by time and the Church, until a priest unwittingly happens upon them. Produced by Jason Stephens, executive produced by Helen Bowden, directed by Jeffrey Walker and written by Sarah Lambert.

Orange is the New Brown

A six part comedy series for Channel Seven that will reflect contemporary Australian life using one-off sketches, original and recurring characters and TV parodies. Produced by Jack Kain, executive produced by Johnny Lowry, directed by Hayden Guppy and written by Nazeem Hussain, Joel Slack-Smith, Sophie Braham, Richard Thorp, Penny Greenhalgh and Heidi Regan.

The Ropes

A four part drama for SBS set in Sydney’s Western suburbs that follows a young Iraqi-Australian woman chasing her dream to become an elite boxing trainer. Produced by Helen Bowden and Courtney Wise, executive produced by Jason Stephens, directed by Shannon Murphy, and written by Tamara Asmar, Adam Todd and Ian Meadows.

The online projects are:

Awavena

Lynette Wallworth’s AR/VR project created in collaboration with the Yawanawa, an Indigenous Amazonian people. The project uses hybrid technology to allow the viewer to enter the spirit world as seen by the Yawanawa elder shaman Tata and his disciple Hushahu, their first female shaman. Written and directed by Wallworth who also produces alongside Nicole Newnham, it is co-produced by Tashka Yawanawa and Laura Yawanawa, and executive produced by Sandy Herz, Marcie Jastrow, Gigi Pritzker and Nico Daswani.

Skinford Chapter Two

A second season of Deadrock Media’s fantasy action thriller, focusing on a small town crook and an immortal woman who must cure the curse of her eternal life to end a violent turf war that threatens to destroy them both. Produced by Christopher Seeto and Tom Pope, executive produced by Enzo Tedeschi, Antoine Disle, Tess Meyer and George Kacevski, and written and directed by Nik Kacevski.

For more info, go to the Screen Australia website.

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