Funding Approvals
IN THE ARCHIVE
2019-2020 Production funding

JUNE 2020

VESNA
Sweetshop & Green
Genre Drama
Writer/Director Sara Kern
Producers Gal Greenspan, Sharlene George
Distributor Umbrella Films
International Sales TBA
Synopsis After her mother’s sudden death, Nika (10) becomes the unexpected grown-up of her fragmented family, trying to bring her troubled older sister and distant father together.

WYRMWOOD APOCALYPSE
Guerilla Films Pty Ltd & Bronte Pictures Pty Ltd
Genre Action adventure, Horror
Director Kiah Roache-Turner
Writers Tristan Roache-Turner, Kiah Roache-Turner
Producers Tristan Roache-Turner, Blake Northfield
Distributor Studiocanal
International Sales Arclight
Synopsis A post-apocalyptic zombie film that follows soldier Rhys on an arc of redemption as he turns against his evil bosses to join forces with a group of rebel survivors to help save a little girl's mother from death at the hands of the military.

HERE OUT WEST
Co-Curious and Emerald Productions 
Genre Drama
Directors TBC
Writers Nisrine Amine, Bina Bhattacharya, Matias Bolla, Claire Cao, Arka Das, Dee Dogan, Vonne Patiag, Tien Tran
Producers Annabel Davis, Sheila Jayadev, Bree-Anne Sykes
Executive Producers Blake Ayshford, Lyn Norfor, S. Shakthidharan
Distributor Mind Blowing World
Synopsis A baby is kidnapped from hospital by a desperate grandmother. Her flight sets off a chain of events that bring together complete strangers over the course of one dramatic day.

APRIL 2020

TALK TO ME
Causeway Films HQ Pty Ltd
Genre Horror
Directors Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou
Writers Danny Philippou, Michael H Beck
Producers Samantha Jennings, Kristina Ceyton
Australian Distributor Umbrella Entertainment
International Sales Bankside Films
Synopsis Lonely teenager Mia gets hooked on the thrills of conjuring spirits through a ceramic hand, but when she is confronted by a soul claiming to be her dead mother, she unleashes a plague of supernatural forces, and struggles to decide who she can trust: the living or the dead.

February 2020

PUFF
Causeway Films HQ Pty Ltd
Genre Drama
Director Del Kathryn Barton
Writers Del Kathryn Barton, Huna Amweero
Producer Samantha Jennings
Executive Producer Kristina Ceyton
Australian Distributor Bonsai Films
International Sales MK2
Synopsis After accidentally witnessing a woman being brutally raped, a teenaged girl is left catatonic with shock, and struggles to make sense of what she saw, ultimately finding renewal in the inestimable world of her own imagination.

THE UNKNOWN MAN
See-Saw Productions Pty Ltd
Genre Crime, Thriller
Writer/Director Thomas M. Wright
Producers Joel Edgerton, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning,Rachel Gardner, Kim Hodgert, Kerry Roberts
Synopsis A tautly compelling and atmospheric crime thriller inspired by true events in the vein of Animal Kingdom and Insomnia, The Unknown Man marks the emergence of a bold new filmmaker on the international film landscape.
Australian Distributor Transmission Films
International Sales Rocket Science, Cross City Films

NOVEMBER 2019

NUDE TUESDAY
Good Things Productions, Firefly Films
Genre Romantic Comedy, Drama
Director Armagan Ballantyne
Writer Jackie van Beek
Producers Virginia Whitwell, Nick Batzias, Emma Slade
Australian Distributor Madman Entertainment
International Sales To be announced soon
Synopsis An absurd dramedy about a suburban couple who spends a week at a new-age retreat in a bid to save their marriage.

BLUEBACK
Arenamedia Pty Ltd
Genre Family, Drama
Writer/Director Robert Connolly
Producers Liz Kearney, James Grandison, Robert Connolly
Australian Distributor Roadshow
International Sales HanWay Films
Synopsis Based on the best-selling novel by Tim Winton, Blueback is Robert Connolly’s follow up to his award-winning family film Paper Planes. It is a timely tale about the ocean, a beautiful marine creature, and a young girl’s power to change the world.

September 2019

ALTERNATE
SLA Films & Lady A Pictures
Genre Drama, Science fiction 
Producers Anna Vincent, Ali Mueller, Anita Gou
Executive Producer Timothy White
Writer/Director Anthony Garland
Australian Distributor Rialto Distribution
International Sales TBA
Synopsis An overworked young executive goes back in time four hours to save his girlfriend from being killed.
Funding for this project was revoked in February 2021.

6 FESTIVALS
Hype Republic Pty Ltd & Invisible Republic
Genre Drama, Coming of Age
Producers Michael Wrenn, Blayke Hoffman, Shannon Wilson-McClinton, Jade van der Lei
Executive Producer Mark Fennessy
Writer/Director Macario De Souza
Australian Distributor Bonsai Films
International Sales Universal Music Australia
Synopsis Bucket-listing 6 music festivals over 6 months before they lose one of the crew to brain cancer, 3 young best friends are helped by an up-&-coming artist to face the reality from which they’re running.

POOR BOY
Aquarius Films Pty Ltd
Genre Drama, Mystery
Producers Angie Fielder, Polly Staniford
Director Guy Pearce
Writer Matt Cameron
Australian Distributor Umbrella Entertainment
International Sales GEI / CMG
Synopsis When a young boy wakes up in hospital claiming to be a man who passed away seven years earlier, two families are forced to confront hard truths as secrets emerge and lies are unearthed. Poor Boy is an evocative and intimate supernatural mystery drama that delves into the dark curiosities of life, death, and the spaces in between.

Note: Funding for this project was revoked in April 2021.

STREAMLINE
Bronte Pictures Pty Ltd
Genre Drama
Producers Blake Northfield, Nathan Walker
Executive Producers Jane Corden, Clement Dunn 
Writer/Director Tyson Johnston
Australian Distributor Umbrella Entertainment
International Sales Arclight Films
Synopsis A prodigious 15-year-old swimmer self-destructs after his father is released from prison.

YOU WON’T BE ALONE
Causeway Films HQ Pty Ltd
Genre Supernatural Witch Drama
Producers Samantha Jennings, Kristina Ceyton
Writer/Director Goran Stolevski
Australian Distributor Bonsai Films
International Sales Bankside Films
Synopsis In an isolated mountain village in 19th century Macedonia, a young witch is left to go feral in the woods. Curious about life as a human, she accidentally kills a peasant in the village, then takes her shape to see what life is like in her skin. This ignites her deep-seated curiosity to experience life inside the bodies of others.

COMPLETION FUNDING

JUNE AGAIN
Ticket to Ride Pty Ltd
Genre Drama, Comedy
Producers Jamie Hilton, Michael Pontin, Drew Bailey
Executive Producers Sonia Borella, Josh Pomeranz, Phil Hunt, Compton Ross
Writer/Director JJ Winlove
Australian Distributor Studio Canal
International Sales Ticket To Ride Distribution
Synopsis In the heartfelt comedy, June Again, a twist of fate gives family matriarch June the chance to bring together her estranged children, save the ailing family business and rekindle an old flame.

ELLIE & ABBIE (& ELLIE’S DEAD AUNT)
Cobbstar Productions 
Genre Drama, Romantic comedy
Writer/Director Monica Zanetti
Producers Mahveen Shahraki, Patrick James
Executive Producer Brian Cobb
Australian Distributor Arcadia
Synopsis School Captain Ellie is nervous about asking her classmate Abbie to the year 12 formal. Luckily her Aunt Tara, a lesbian who died in the late 80’s appears in the form of a ‘Fairy God Mother’ to help Ellie navigate her first love.