Screen Australia Allocates $4.6M in Enterprise Funding

Screen Australia is pleased to announce over $4.6 million in funding for 18 Enterprise People opportunities and 15 Enterprise Business proposals.

Among the recipients for Enterprise Business are production companies Blacksand Pictures (The Ninth Tower, Salma's Season); Closer Productions (Aftertaste, 52 Tuesdays, Animals, In My Blood It Runs); SAM Content (Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles); Unless Pictures (Retrograde, Finding Jedda); and First Nations businesses Blackfella Films (The Australian Wars, Total Control and Redfern Now); GARUWA (Power to Country and Through the Fire); Oombarra Productions (The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson); and Pink Lake Creative.

Amongst the recipients of Enterprise People are Larissa Behrendt (After the Apology, The First Inventors) who will undergo a placement at Eleven Film (Sex Education); Mohini Herse (Appetite) who will be placed at Merman (Bad Sisters, Catastrophe); Rob Innes (Phenomena, Housemates) who will be placed at Arrow Media; Jessica Magro (Fez, The Alexander Ball) who will be placed at Stampede Ventures (K-POPS, Prince of Port Au Prince); Alexandra Keddie (The Housemate) who will be placed at Celeste Barber's Nondescript Productions (Wellmania); and Huna Amweero (Blaze, Krystal Klairvoyant) who will be placed at Stephen and Hunter Page's Djali House.

Each Enterprise recipient has been paired with a personalised creative and strategic business mentor to provide dedicated highly-specialised advice that will further support their unique goals and growth. Additionally, all recipients will receive exclusive access to a comprehensive 12-month education program facilitated by industry stakeholders, including 113 Partners, Screen Producers Australia (SPA), Australian Directors Guild (ADG), Australian Writers' Guild (AWG) and Australians in Film (AiF). 113 Partners is engaged as Screen Australia's Industry Partner, and, in addition to providing analysis of Business applications, is involved in the co-design and co-facilitation of the business development support for the applicants.

Screen Australia's CEO Graeme Mason said, "We are absolutely thrilled to announce over $4.6 million in Enterprise funding that will create meaningful career pathways and offer businesses significant opportunities for growth. This diverse slate of recipients showcases the extraordinary potential and ingenuity of Australian practitioners and businesses in our local screen ecosystem, and will support them to continue to build their businesses into the future."

"From trailblazing production companies, emerging talent and those looking to expand locally and globally, these Enterprise recipients are well-placed to shape the future of Australian storytelling at home and on a global stage," said Mason.

Enterprise Business recipients:

• Archipelago Productions: A boutique production company based in Lutruwita/Tasmania that has been operating since 2019 and most recently completed Bay of Fires series 1 for the ABC. Partners Marta Dusseldorp and Ben Winspear are the creative and business drivers of the company - producing, directing, writing, developing and performing across all projects in varying capacities. The company is a structure for artists and audiences in Tasmania to connect, tell stories of place, and to bring the unique characteristics of the state to national and international audiences. Enterprise will support Archipelago Productions to build a strong slate of projects to underpin the company's longer-term sustainability. Funding will also be allocated to a number of key positions and activities, including the development of new intellectual property and a targeted international engagement.
• Blackfella Films: A 100% First Nations owned production company operating for over twenty years that has produced a number of award-winning drama and factual projects including The Australian Wars, Total Control and Redfern Now. With a strong commitment to take its scripted projects to the world, Enterprise will support Blackfella Films to compete more effectively on an international scale, continue to develop writers, directors, actors and crew in the First Nations screen industry and amplify its commitment to diversity, inclusion and representation on and off screen. With this funding, Blackfella Films looks to expand and diversify its slate, create new positions and improve its company structure and business for a better position in more competitive global market.
• Blacksand Pictures: A new production company founded by filmmaker and producer Kauthar Abdulalim, who produced short narrative productions including The Ninth Tower, #MATCHED and Salma's Season and are currently taking the leap into long-form productions. Blacksand Pictures' mission is to tell stories that humanise the Muslim experience and contribute towards the diversity of representation within the Australian screen landscape. Blacksand Pictures looks to grow with Enterprise support by creating an international business strategy and building key international partnerships specifically in the MENA region, with the goal of telling authentic stories of Muslims and catering to a Muslim audience of over 2 billion followers, globally.
• Causeway Films: Founded by producing-duo Kristina Ceyton and Samantha Jennings, Causeway Films focuses on the development and production of entertaining and socially relevant stories that allow diverse voices to achieve international success. Causeway launched with the globally acclaimed The Babadook that premiered at Sundance 2014, produced Goran Stolevski's award-winning films You Won't be Alone and Of An Age and the current RackaRacka horror hit Talk To Me. The core activities Causeway Films will implement with the Enterprise funding include the expansion of its company business structure to include a key strategic position to help sustain growth off the back of its continued success, a targeted international strategy to increase sustainability including slate diversity into new platforms and an increased output of the Causeway Films slate.
• Closer Productions: A multi-award-winning screen production company based on Kaurna Land in South Australia with credits including Aftertaste, The Hunting, Animals, In My Blood It Runs. Enterprise will support Closer Productions in expanding its capacity and to undertake marketing that will give it the greatest opportunity to make this transition. Over the next two years, it plans to work with aligned production and finance partners on a range of content, and actively increase its scripted television presence and the scale and ambition of its feature slate.
• Deerstalker Pictures: A YouTube channel known for their gaming and fantasy comedy web series (including the hugely successful 1 For All