New drama ‘The Newsreader’ and comedy ‘Entitled’ to come to ABC following Screen Australia funding round

A new ABC drama series, that will follow “the unlikely bond between a young TV reporter and a ‘difficult’ female newsreader”, has attracted funding from Screen Australia.

‘The Newsreader’ has been created by Michael Lucas, the creator of Five Bedrooms, and will be produced by Lucas and Joanna Werner of Werner Film Productions. It will be directed by Emma Freeman.

The Newsreader is one of ten projects that have received a combined $8.5m from Screen Australia.

A new wave of programs will come to free to air TV following Screen Australia’s latest funding round

A project from comedian Kitty Flanagan, which will explore the messy world of inheritance and probate through the lens of a suburban law firm, has also attracted funding.

Flanagan’s co-creator, Vincent Sheehan, of Porchlight Films, will produce the series, called ‘Entitled’.  Flanagan will co-write the series with Penny Flanagan and co-direct with  Tom Peterson. Executive producers include Greg Sitch, Liz Watts and Anita Sheehan.

Both Entitled and The Newsreader are financed with support from Film Victoria.

Coming to Nine will be a family drama about the staff of a maternity ward in a major metropolitan hospital. Under the working title of ‘The Midwife’, the series is being made by Playmaker Media and written by Jonathan Gavin, Ainslie Clouston and Sarah Smith. Smith will also executive produce alongside David Maher and David Taylor.

A four-part drama has been funded for SBS, which will follow a workforce of migrant women joining forces with the wealthy women they work for, to engineer a jewellery heist. ‘The Unusual Suspects’ is financed with support of SBS, Screen NSW and Cutting Edge. It will be produced by Aquarius Films’ Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford, and written by Jessica Redenbach, Roger Monk and Vonne Patiag.

Addition project that have have been funded by Screen Australia include season two of children’s animated series, ‘The Strange Chores’, which comes from the same production company as Bluey, Ludo Studio, season two of online series ‘Meta Runner’, and social media-led mockumentary ‘The Power of the Dream’.

Feature film projects that have been granted funding are crime thriller, ‘The Unknown Man’ and the first feature film from visual artist Del Kathryn Barton, Puff.

Puff follows a young girl who enters a catatonic state after witnessing a violent sexual assault, and retreats into her imagination to make sense of what she saw.

Screen Australia’s head of content, Sally Caplan, said: “We’re blown away by the projects in this slate and it’s great to see such a wide range of genres. I am particularly delighted to support Puff, the directorial debut of renowned artist Del Kathryn Barton, who has co-written with Huna Amweero one of the most distinctive, moving scripts I have read for a long while. We’re also thrilled to support so many high quality television productions coming through.

“Screen Australia is very much open for business and will continue to fund great ideas. This challenging time for the sector will pass, and when it does we can’t wait to see these projects come to fruition.”