Three emerging filmmaking teams on the fast-track to the big screen

Three filmmaking teams will have the opportunity to take the next steps in their careers to bring their ideas to life on screen after receiving funding through a new program aimed at supporting and nurturing emerging film talent in NSW.

The three teams selected through Screen NSW’s Short to Feature Fast-Track Initiative will receive funding to support the production costs for a short film or proof of concept and script development for a feature film, to help accelerate their project towards the big screen.

Each team will receive total funding of $75,000 for short film production and feature film development, with Screen NSW facilitating the attachments of experienced Executive Producers to work with each team and support their projects.

Applications for the Short to Feature Fast-Track Initiative were reviewed by Screen NSW and market expert, Marc Wooldridge of Maslow Entertainment, with teams judged on their distinctive and compelling short-film and feature scripts, with market at the forefront.

Head of Screen NSW, Kyas Hepworth said the Screen NSW Short to Feature Fast-Track initiative will support the next generation of filmmakers to take the next step in their careers.

“Congratulations to the three teams selected for their strength of their exciting projects. I am confident this initiative will support them on their filmmaking journeys and help them build their networks and relationships with experienced industry professionals along the way.

“Screen NSW is committed to strengthening our position as the leading state for screen practitioners and production, which is why we’re committed to developing programs and initiatives that support the best of our locally grown talent.

“NSW is the home for creative innovation, and programs like this ensure we continue to nurture the best of our emerging talent and support employment opportunities for NSW storytellers and crews,” said Ms Hepworth.

Marc Wooldridge said programs like Screen NSW’s Short to Feature Fast-Track initiative are critical to support emerging talent and the development of more local content.

“I was delighted to be involved in this exciting and valuable new initiative from Screen NSW. Making the jump from short film to debut feature is simply massive, which means development programs like this are vital to support the State’s most promising emerging creative talent and encourage more local films on our screens.

“The quality of the short-listed submissions was very high in this inaugural round, and now I will be tracking the progress of the three projects that received this crucial funding with much interest and truly hope they can all deliver on their promise of three very different and engaging Australian stories with genuine audience appeal,” said Mr Wooldridge.

The 2023 Short to Feature Fast-Track initiative projects are below and images can be accessed here.

Souvenir / Keep Walking

Short Film: SOUVENIR

Synopsis: When her girlfriend takes non-consensual photos of her during sex on vacation, sixteen year old Keira is left shaken and battles with how to confront the unnerving hold her lover has over her.

Feature Film: KEEP WALKING

Synopsis: When an Australian teenager is sexually assaulted by a teenage boy while on family vacation on a Fijian resort, she struggles for normalcy as she’s stuck on the island for another week with her family, best holiday friend, her attacker and his girlfriend.

Genre: Drama

Team Members: Yingna Lu (Producer) and Renée Petropoulos (Writer/Director)

Executive Producer: Liz Watts (See-Saw Films)

Homo / Adjustments

Short Film: HOMO

Synopsis: Two best friends on a road trip are detoured by a strange encounter with an artist that reveals the cracks in their relationship.

Feature Film: ADJUSTMENTS

Synopsis: After years apart, best friends Mark and Rem reunite for a road trip but find life has pulled them further away from each other than expected.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Team Members: Maren Smith (Producer) and Vonne Patiag (Writer/Director)

Executive Producer: Kylie du Fresne (Goalpost Pictures)

Luna & the Brain Tuna / Luna

Short Film: LUNA & THE BRAIN TUNA

Synopsis: Leo’s got something important to discuss with his 8-year-old daughter - he’s got a brain tumour. But when Luna hears ‘brain tuna’ her big imagination takes them both on a fantastical detour. Leo must embrace Luna’s kaleidoscopic worlds and use them to communicate, if not to make her understand entirely, at least to find strength in the face of his diagnosis.

Feature Film: LUNA

Synopsis: Luna, an 8-year-old with a vivid imagination, learns that her Dad has a brain tuna swimming around inside his head. As her Dad’s tuna grows and the gravity of his illness becomes clearer, Luna must use her unique perspective to enter his hallucinatory world in order to save him, or else make sense of a world without him.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Team Members: Jayden Rathsam Hua, Hugo Koehne, Henry Koehne, Richard Harris & Rebecca Summerton (Producers), Mark Rogers (Writer), Aaron Lucas (Writer/Director)

Executive Producer: Timothy White (Southern Light Films)

Photo: Short to Feature Fast Track initiative recipients with Head of Screen NSW Kyas Hepworth.