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Screen Australia backs 22 new projects Wed 16/12/2009
By Brendan Swift
Screen Australia will invest $13 million across 22 new productions, including its first 3D feature film, Bait.
The investment in four feature films, four television dramas and 14 documentaries is expected to trigger production valued at over $65 million.
Screen Australia chief executive Ruth Harley said 2009 has been a strong year for the Australian industry.
"A record number of films have achieved theatrical release, the Australian share of the box office looks set to exceed the five-year average, and television drama and documentary continue to draw strong audiences,” she said in a statement.
Total Australian box office revenue currently stands at about $995 million for the year, up 12 per cent on a strong 2008, with demand for 3D films bolstering attendances.
Three of the top seven feature films at the local box office over the year to date were 3D animations: Ice Age 3 ($30 million), UP ($28 million) and Monsters vs. Aliens ($21 million).
Bait 3D, written and directed by Russell Mulcahy (Razorback, Highlander), received strong support at the recent American Film Market.
It tells the story of a Gold Coast town hit by a tsunami, trapping dozens of local shoppers and tourists in a flooded underground supermarket and car park, where they are pursued by tiger sharks.
Screen Australia will also invest in writer-director Jonathan Teplitzky's drama Burning Man. It tells the story of a father and son’s struggle to deal with the unimaginable. Teplitzky has been directing television and commercials since his last feature Gettin’ Square in 2003.
The other two feature films are Blame, by writer-director Michael Henry, and Red Hill, by writer-director-producer Patrick Hughes.
Among television drama, Screen Australia will invest in a third season of the SBS crime series East West 101 and new mini-series Like a Virgin, about a woman whose sexual history catches up with her.
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