Screen Australia Podcast

Want to apply for games funding through Screen Australia? With a second round of Games: Expansion Pack funding now open, Screen Australia's Head of Online Lee Naimo and Games Investment Manager Amelia Laughlan explain what they are and aren't looking for in applications and why you need to ensure your project has a clear pathway to audience. The announcement here   Guidelines and to apply here  

Director, writer and producer Jocelyn Moorhouse talks about directing six-episode ABC crime drama Savage River , working with cinematographer Don McAlpine ACS ASC, creating TV vs features such as The Dressmaker , getting the tone right in dark comedies, and general advice.

Director Dylan River talks about moving into longform TV with ABC TV series Mystery Road: Origin, while Macario De Souza makes the shift from documentary features like Bra Boys to his feature drama debut with 6 Festivals. Both filmmakers discuss making the leap and their latest projects.

SBS Head of Scripted Julie Eckersley on what SBS are and aren't looking for, how to pitch an idea to them, creating pathways for emerging talent, TV ratings, binge culture and more. SBS Scripted Pitch Deck Guide: https://www.sbs.com.au/aboutus/diversity-commissioning/assets/pdf/SBS-Scripted-Pitch-Deck-Guide.pdf

Kristin Voumard talks about the role of a Script Supervisor, film vs digital, how genres impact her work, advice, and career highlights including TV series Round the Twist and Rake , Aussie films such as Lantana , and studio movies like Mission: Impossible II and Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings .

Screen Australia's Head of First Nations Angela Bates talks through the challenges and achievements of projects including Sydney Film Festival opening night anthology feature We Are Still Here , and TV dramas Mystery Road: Origin and True Colours , as well as speaking to talent escalation, initiatives, pitching, and her thoughts on the screen sector. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-g...

Elvis writer/director/producer Baz Luhrmann, production designer/costume designer/producer Catherine Martin and director of photographer Mandy Walker ACS ASC break down their approach to filming the Warner Bros movie, which despite being set in 50s, 60s and 70s America was filmed on location in Queensland, Australia. The trio discuss how important pre-production was in creating a cohesive visual l...

The Screen Australia delegation to Cannes and local creatives share insights and takeaways from the prestigious festival and market, which was back in full force in 2022.

On the latest episode of the Screen Australia podcast, Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason and Michele McDonald, the Producer Offset and Co-Production Unit (POCU) Senior Manager, talk through changes to legislation governing the Producer Offset, the refundable tax rebate that Screen Australia administers on behalf of the Federal Government. They also discuss changes as well as the updated Screen Aus...

Ahead of the Australian Feature Film Summit, hear from Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason, producer Sue Maslin AO, marketing and distribution expert Courtney Botfield, Transmission Films' Andrew Mackie, director/producer Robert Connolly; and Madman Films' senior marketing manager Michael Matrenza, who talk about how data around audience, box office and sales informs their business and creative choi...

The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson writer, director, producer and star Leah Purcell talks about the journey of the feature film - a re-imagining of Henry Lawson's classic story, which she first adapted into an acclaimed play, followed by the film and a novel. Purcell talks about the challenges of adaptation, the importance of having a personal connection to her feature directorial debut...

Three experts on marketing explain what it is, why you should be thinking about it even before the cameras start rolling, and practical steps to identify your audience, know what assets you need and much more. Get marketing advice for putting together a Screen Australia application, hear insights from a distributor POV, and find out about the importance of key art. Guests include: Screen Australia...

River co-director and co-writer Jennifer Peedom from Stranger Than Fiction Films talks about the making of the "sequel" to Mountain in collaboration with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, how Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood became involved, plans to move into drama filmmaking and why doco and drama are more similar than people think.

Producer Naomi Cleaver talks about producing an enormous studio TV series like NBCUniversal's La Brea and the benefits of being able to do so in Victoria, as well as talking about the production department more generally – including the different roles she has worked across, from production coordinator, to production manager and then line producer on projects like Oddball and the Mystery Road TV s...

Screen Australia's outgoing Head of Content Sally Caplan reflects on her eight years at the agency, changes in the screen sector both here and globally, advice to applicants and more. Sally holds more than 25 years' of international experience across financing, development, acquisition, production and distribution, which has included roles such as MD of eOne International, head of the UK Film Coun...

Head of Content Tyler Bern talks through the strategy for Amazon Prime Video Australia, advice for anyone hoping to pitch to Amazon and what kind of ideas they are looking for. Bern also reveals the new hire who will be leading their scripted slate, and explains how upcoming TV adaptation The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart came to Amazon Prime Video.

Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason looks at the record-breaking numbers in the 2020/21 Drama Report, before executive producers Andrea Denholm of ABC series Fires and Catherine Nebauer from International Emmy-award winning kids' TV series Hardball and Paramount+ TV drama Spreadsheet give their insights into what production has been like on the ground. For more info, click here: https:// bit.ly/3owN...

Australian director of photography Greig Fraser ACS, ASC, talks about working on the epic new feature Dune , including collaborating with director Denis Villeneuve, shooting on IMAX, the switch from his Emmy-award winning work on The Mandalorian to a new sci-fi world, and how his lighting approach on Australian features Lion and Mary Magdalene helped with filming some of those big desert sequences...

Australian cinematographer Ari Wegner ACS talks about working with director Jane Campion on The Power of the Dog including spending a year in pre, shooting New Zealand as 1920s Montana, and what it was like switching to a handheld camera style for some scenes with the always-in-character Benedict Cumberbatch.

Nakkiah Lui on getting her start in the screen industry on Black Comedy , writing for stage and screen, staying on track during long development periods, and how a very real fascination with doomsday prepping led to co-creating, co-writing and starring in the new ABC half hour comedy Preppers .

For her first feature documentary Under the Volcano , Australian producer Cody Greenwood needed to licence music for 30 songs from the likes of Elton John, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, The Police, Duran Duran and more. She breaks down the ins and outs of music licensing and dealing with archival footage, as well as getting that first interview with Sting, working with director Gracie Otto,...

Screen composer Caitlin Yeo talks about her career writing music for film, television and documentary, and how she went about creating the score for the epic four-part SBS series New Gold Mountain – a murder mystery set in the Australian gold rush and told from a Chinese perspective – including working with director Corrie Chen, instrument choice, and breaking down the title music in detail.

Journalist, documentary-maker and presenter Marc Fennell talks about his latest work hosting ABC documentary series The School That Tried to End Racism and more broadly about his career to date, including interviewing techniques, his approach to research, why he always like to have at least two jobs on the go, and how he's navigated a constantly changing media and screen landscape.

Screenwriter Bevan Lee, who created such TV series as All Saints , Always Greener , Winners & Losers , A Place to Call Home and Packed to the Rafters , talks about creating Amazon Australia's First Scripted Original Series Back to the Rafters , working with streamers, the power of nostalgia, and his advice for writers.

Screenwriter Jon Bell discusses working on new Channel Seven drama series RFDS , creating a strong sense of place through characters, and his award-winning First Nations psychological horror short, The Moogai , which he wrote and directed and which he's developing into a feature with Causeway Films.