Screen Australia has just unveiled which local companies and projects will be sharing more than US$3 million in funding for business and story development. 

The allocation breaks down like this: US$2.9 million in enterprise funding, to support business growth, and US$771,000 for story development work. A small number of kids content producers have been granted access to both pots. 

For the enterprise funding, Screen Australia has chosen to support SAM Content, Unless Pictures and Oombarra Productions (pictured above is Oombarra producers Leah Purcell and Bain Stewart). While these studios primarily produce content for adults, they all have recent experience in the realm of kids entertainment. 

SAM Content is behind upcoming Amazon documentary Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles (which launches in October), while Unless Pictures’ family-friendly film Wind Catcher has been backed by Aussie streamer Stan and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation. 

Oombarra, interestingly, also received story development funding for its family-friendly adventure film Koa Kid, about two pre-teens who are transported to a land of dinosaurs. Oombarra is using its enterprise funding to commercialize IPs and generate more revenue from scripted TV production. 

Screen Australia’s business development support can go to both prodcos and individuals. It’s valued at around US$128,000 per recipient for one year, along with access to resources like mentoring and a 12-month training course run by industry orgs such as the Screen Producers Australia and Australian Directors Guild.

On the story development side of SA’s initiative, a handful of kids projects have been blessed, including series such as Big Serious Studios’ toon Combatoms (super-powered kids fighting creatures), Orange Entertainment’s live-actioner Summer of Evil (a gang of kids have to save adults from a supernatural threat) and Tilt Media & Entertainment’s YA-skewing mystery Unsettled (eight x 60 minutes), about a French teen who’s new to Australia and ends up in the middle of a battle over ancestral land. 

Family-friendly films tapping into the funding include Tough Crowd Pictures’ 45 and 47 Stella Street (about kids trying to oust terrible new neighbors from their street), Studio B Animation’s Laser Beak Man (about a superhero who must gather crystals to save his city) and Southern Light Global Entertainment’s animated feature Skippy (featuring a kangaroo who acts as a tour guide to a Korean band). A complete list of approved studios and projects is available on Screen Australia’s website. 

Story development funding covers development costs for treatments, bibles and the production of proof-of-concept trailers or sizzles, and there’s no cap on the amount. Applications for the program are open all year on Screen Australia’s site. 

The funding for projects comes at a good time for Australian kids content producers, who are struggling because local free-to-air channels are airing less children’s content. Earlier this month, regional media watchdog ACMA found that free-to-air channels down under aired 84% less in programming last year compared to 2019, and only 25 kids shows went into production between 2019 and 2022.