First Nations Feature Production Fund

Applicants and their projects must meet the general eligibility requirements set out in Screen Australia’s Terms of Trade in addition to the following:

• Applicants
  • The application must come from a producer, on behalf of team including a First Nations Australian writer, director, and any co-directors, or an Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander writer/director
  • The writer and director must be First Nations Australian and must have at least three ‘eligible drama credits’ in their respective roles
  • In the case of co-writing teams, made up of Indigenous and non- Indigenous writers, the original concept must come from the First Nations Australian writer. This must be shown in the application
  • The producer must be either:
    • an ‘experienced producer’, or
    • a producer who has at least three ‘eligible drama credits’, or
    • an emerging producer applying in conjunction with an ‘experienced producer’.
• Projects
  • The project must have an acceptable offer to theatrically distribute the project in Australia (with sufficiently detailed core commercial terms) from an appropriate domestic distributor.
  • Other than in exceptional circumstances, preference will be given to projects that, at the time of application, are no further than six months from the start of pre-production.

Outstanding applicants or projects that emerge through the First Nations Department’s Special Initiatives or Sector Development programs may be invited to apply to this program. This provides the opportunity for Indigenous practitioners to access development funds even where minimum credit requirements are not satisfied.

For full eligibility information, including definitions of an ‘eligible drama credit’ and an ‘eligible producer’, please refer to the attached guideline documents.

Applications are by invitation only. Contact a First Nations Investment Manager to discuss your project or the Program Operations team if you are unsure who to speak with: 1 800 507 901 or [email protected]. If you are invited to apply you will be asked to submit your application using the Application Portal.

Turnaround time from complete applications is approximately eight weeks.

Funding decisions will be made against the following equally weighted criteria:

• Script or rough cut: In relation to: (i) the quality of the writing or filmmaking and cinematic storytelling; (ii) the strength and distinctiveness of the idea or film within its own genre; (iii) the reader’s or viewer’s emotional engagement with the story and characters; (iv) [unless the application is for completion/post-production funding], the readiness of the script to move into production.
• Creative team: The producer and director according to: (i) skills, relevant experience and achievements which demonstrate either a successful track record or an exciting new talent; and (ii) their demonstrated creative, technical and managerial capacity to deliver the completed film; (iii) the director’s vision for the film or final cut.
• Market strength: The project’s market value according to: (i) the strength of the domestic distributor’s strategy for the film; (ii) the track record of the distributor and its suitability to the project.
• Project: The project’s potential in relation to: (i) the team’s demonstrated understanding of the film’s intended audience; (ii) the quality of any proposed or attached cast, or the calibre of the performances in the cut; (iii) the quality of any proposed heads of department or the strength of the production values as evidenced by the work by the heads of the department; (iv) the potential for the film to be selected for an A-list festival; (v) the potential for the film to appeal to a significant audience in Australia.
• Viability: The likelihood that the project can be realised with reference to (i) its budget size relative to its intentions; (ii) its budget size relative to its potential audience; (iii) the strength and quality of the deals proposed in the finance plan; (iv) the proposed recoupment position for equity investors.