Screen Australia has announced $2 million of production funding for nine online projects, including series two of hit ABC children’s animation Ginger & the Vegesaurs and season four of popular TikTok rom-com The Formal.
Also receiving funding are comedy documentary No Offence, about First Nations ‘bad’ words presented by YouTube sensation Gabriel Willie aka Bush Tucker Bunjie; and the documentary Wonderful Waste, exploring sustainable home and furniture design.
Screen Australia’s head of online Lee Naimo said, “There’s no denying we’re seeing a golden age of online content production in Australia and local creators capitalising on opportunities to reach new audiences.
“We are excited to fund such a variety of projects with boundary-pushing documentaries, smart and original dramas and comedies as well as a children’s animated series. We’d like to see even more children’s content coming through for online as it’s becoming more and more an important medium to reach young viewers.”
“It’s great to see alumni from our Skip Ahead initiative with Google further expanding their careers and creating distinctive content, with Gabriel Willie moving into documentary on No Offence and the team behind Small Footprint now producing Wonderful Waste.
“We’re also pleased to support returning series of The Formal and Flunk, as we have been impressed to see both teams build highly engaged fanbases with their authentic Australian LGBTQI+ stories,” he added.
In 2021/22 Screen Australia provided over $8 million of funding to online creators, and has supplied over $20 million over the past four years.
Some of the Funded Projects include:
Flunk Season 5: A 40 x 8-min teen drama for YouTube. Picking up from earlier seasons which have amassed 90 million views to date, season 5 explores identity, peer pressure and bullying in an outer Melbourne high school.
Ginger & the Vegesaurs Season 2: A 20 x 5-min series for ABC Kids and ABC iview, that takes viewers back through the mists of time to an era dominated by the juiciest and crunchiest creatures ever to rule the planet – the mighty Vegesaurs.
Growing Pains: A 20 x 1-min documentary series for TikTok that follows four young Australians living in Brisbane, all from migrant and culturally diverse backgrounds, as they navigate challenges that arise in their early twenties. With influence from their African, Middle Eastern, and Pacific backgrounds, their stories highlight how growth and inner strength come from facing life’s challenges as they find joy, purpose and meaning.
The full list of funding approvals is available here.