By Travis Johnson
Screen Australia today announced that $8.8 million in funding has been allocated to 11 new screen projects, including new TV dramas for SBS and Network Ten, plus a new film from Clayton and Shane Jacobson, the brothers behind the smash hit comedy, Kenny.
Sally Caplan, Head of Production at Screen Australia, observed, “We are witnessing a huge demand for high quality Australian television dramas in our funding rounds, including this one which was dominated by television and resulted in a diverse slate of projects for the ABC, SBS, Nine Network, Network Ten and Stan. We are particularly pleased to see several prominent female protagonists and producers such as Imogen Banks, Nicole O’Donohue and Ellie Beaumont – as well as a new film from the ever-charismatic Jacobson brothers!”
The projects announced so far are:
The SBS thriller Dead Lucky from Subtext Pictures. The series follows an experienced female detective Grace Gibbs who is partnered with a trainee on a homicide case. David Caesar will direct from a script by Ellie Beaumont (Newton’s Law, House Husbands) and Drew Proffitt.
Network Ten drama Sisters, in which a woman discovers her IVF pioneer father secretly used his own sperm for anonymous donations, leading her to find out she has two sisters. Maria Angelico, Antonia Prebble, Lucy Durack and comedienne Magda Szubanski star, with Emma Freeman directing from Jonathan Gavin’s script.
Another Network Ten series, The Wrong Girl, starring 2017 Best Actress Logie winner Jessica Marais, will return for a second season.
The Jacobsons’ feature film Sibling Rivalry tells the story of two brothers who, with their mother dying, go to the mat to insure their family inheritance, with deadly results. The black comedy is directed by Clayton, with a script from screenwriter Jamie Browne (The Mule, Secret Daughter, Please Like Me).
Four more television and three feature film projects will be announced in the near future.
