Special initiatives
Screen Australia can allocate Documentary funds to special initiatives. These initiatives leverage finance from third parties in order to grow the funding pool available to practitioners, or to otherwise advance digital storytelling activities and talent escalation.
Current initiativeS
A joint initiative with the ABC, Art Bites is an initiative that develops web series that will be an accessible, engaging and entertaining insight into an aspect of Arts in Australia. Proposals will be assessed against the channel’s vision statement ‘Where Life and Culture Collide’. The web series should be designed to appeal to younger audiences, 18–35 years.
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Doco180 aims to fund up to six documentary shorts, each with a maximum 3 minute duration. The films will premiere on whimn.com.au and its associated social channels and be made exclusively with a digital audience and medium in mind.
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RECENT initiatives
Who: Filmmakers pitching to win a commission for a short documentary project.
Eligibility: Quick view
What: $30,000 from Screen Australia, $20,000 from VICE Australia.
Guidelines: Go to page
An Initiative will commissioning up to three short documentaries of 15 to 30 minutes in length, directed and produced by teams with at least a director and a producer, one of whom has at least one screen credit in their respective role on a project that has been broadcast and/or screened at a recognised film festival or distributed on a significant curated online platform.
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Love Bites will be a series of 10 x 5 min documentary short films made by filmmakers from the LGBTIQ community across Australia. The films will premiere on the ABC Arts channel on iview which aims to present smart, quality and shareable arts content.
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Past initiatives
A joint initiative with ABC TV Documentaries, Opening Shot 4 aims to give voice to a younger point of view on contemporary Australian life and to advance the careers of a new generation of program makers. The stories and treatments will be compelling and promotable and will use a range of storytelling devices.
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