FILM – SAFC invests in four new South Australian produced projects

The South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) today announced $610,000 in investment in a feature film, a three-part art series, a half hour documentary and a transmedia children’s fantasy, representing more than $12.5 million in production for South Australian production companies over the next twelve months. The estimated total combined spend in South Australia for these projects is $5.4 million.

The projects include feature film Tracks adapted from the best selling book by Robyn Davidson; a three part TV series, Hannah Gadsby’s Oz; a half hour TV documentary, Disassembly Line; and Time Tremors, a Canadian/Australian transmedia co-production.

SAFC Chair Cheryl Bart said, “We are thrilled to be supporting such a diverse and exciting slate of South Australian projects. The local industry has been kicking serious goals lately, both commercially as well as creatively, and the fact that so many of our local production companies are getting their films and television projects financed is the best signal of the momentum that we have right now.”

Tracks is produced by Emile Sherman, Iain Canning of See-Saw Films and Julie Ryan of South Australia’s Cyan Films (producer of Red Dog) and directed by John Curran. It is based on the true story of Robyn Davidson’s journey through the Australian desert.

The three part ABC Artscape series, Hannah Gadsby’s Oz follows comedian Hannah Gadsby, a self-described closet art scholar armed with a rapier wit and a desire to discover Australia’s cultural identity. The series is directed by Matthew Bate, and produced by Rebecca Summerton of Closer Productions.

Disassembly Line is a half hour documentary co-commissioned by ABC TV and Screen Australia, written and directed by Madeleine Parry. The film follows Parry as she enlists at her local abattoir to reveal the hidden experience of the men who kill what we eat.  The film is produced by Daniel Joyce of Projector Films.

The People’s Republic of Animation has teamed up with Canada’s Xenophile Media to create Time Tremors. This transmedia children’s fantasy is a Canadian and Australian Broadcasting Corporation co-production. It is produced by Patrick Crowe (Xenophile Media) and Sam White (People’s Republic of Animation).

The Babadook, produced by Kristina Ceyton (Causeway Films) and Kristian Moliere (Smoking Gun Productions) which is written and will be directed by Jennifer Kent, was also approved to receive a $780,000 cashflow loan from the SAFC’s Revolving Film Fund in addition to $250,000 in SAFC investment funding approved in March.