Screen Australia announces second batch of documentary investment in a week
Screen Australia has announced a second batch of documentary investment within a week.
The national screen agency today announced $2.6m investment in eight documentaries.
The investment is expected to result in over $8m in production.
Of the investment, Liz Stevens, Screen Australia’s documentary manager said: “The stories coming to our screens in this mix of science, history and social contemporary documentaries are incredibly exciting, reflecting the enormous talent and scope of the filmmakers.”
Last week Screen Australia invested in $1m in five documentaries.
Last week also saw Screen Australia invest $500,000 in feature script projects.
The various documentaries are scheduled to air on ABC, SBS, Stvdio and Foxtel.
NATIONAL DOCUMENTARY PROGRAM
A History of Mining
3 x 54 mins
Renegade Films
Producer/Writer: Alex West
Series Producer: Jacob Hickey
Directors: Sara Tiefenbrun, Jacob Hickey
Broadcaster SBS
I Can change your mind… about climate
60 mins
Smith & Nasht
Producer/Writer: Simon Nasht
Writer/Director: Max Bourke
Broadcaster: ABC TV
Synopsis: Two passionate and influential Australians try to change each other’s minds on the defining issue of our time: climate change. Liberal powerbroker, Nick Minchin, joins the founder of the Youth Climate Coalition, Anna Rose, on an international journey into the science, psychology and emotion of the climate change debate.
Jabbed
Genepool Productions
Producers: Nick Murray, Sonya Pemberton
Writer/Director: Sonya Pemberton
Broadcaster: SBS
Sales: Cordell Jigsaw Distribution
Synopsis: Jabbed follows powerful personal stories of families whose lives are irreversibly altered by the politics of immunisation.
GENERAL DOCUMENTARY PROGRAM
ABBA: Bang-a-boomerang
57 mins
Gulliver Media Australia
Producer: Larry Zetlin
Producer/Writer/Directors: Rebecca McElroy, Matthew Crocker
Broadcaster: ABC TV
Synopsis: The inside story of Australia’s role in the rise and reinvention of Swedish Supergroup ABBA.
Holy Switch
3 x 27 mins
Roar Film
Producers: Steve Thomas, Kath Symmons
Writer/Director: Varcha Sidwell
Broadcaster: ABC TV
Synopsis: When young people from observant religious families switch lives with their opposite counterparts, beliefs and values will collide.
Show me the Magic
90 mins / 52 mins
Virgo Productions
Producer/Director: Cathy Henkel
Producer: Trish Lake
Writer: Charlie de Salis
Broadcaster: Stvdio
Sales: Films Transit
Synopsis: Show Me the Magic takes us on an enthralling journey into the life and work of legendary Australian cinematographer Don McAlpine.
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY PROGRAM
Desert Rats
2 x 57 mins
Electric Pictures
Producer: Andrew Ogilvie
Writer/Director: Steve Westh
Co-writers: Phil Craig, Greg Colgan
Broadcasters: ABC TV, Channel 5
Sales: BBC Worldwide
Synopsis: For the 70th anniversary of the Battles of El Alamein in 2012, Desert Rats is an exciting, insightful and subtly revisionist account of one of the most celebrated campaigns of World War II.
Outlaws: The Story of Australia’s Bushrangers
2 x 52 mins
The Full Box
Producers: Bryan Cockerill, Geraldine Coy
Writer/Director: Laurence Coy
Broadcaster: FOXTEL
Sales: AETN International
Synopsis: An exploration of the political, legal and social conditions that prompted dozens of men – and the occasional woman – to become bushrangers, shining a light on their skills, living conditions and relationships.
