Screen Australia Provides Three Female Producers With Business Backing

SYDNEY – The producers of three recent Australian features — The Babadook, 52 Tuesdays and The Rocket  — have received Feature Enterprise funding from agency Screen Australia to help build their production businesses over the next two years .

SA will give a total of $343,236 (AUS$380,000) to Kristina Ceyton of Causeway Film, Sophie Hyde at Closer Productions and Sylvia Wilczynski’s Red Lamp Pty Ltd. to develop their slates.

“We are delighted to be supporting these three filmmakers — they have proven their exceptional capability with the international success of their last feature projects, all of which have performed exceptionally well at key festivals. Kristina Ceyton’s The Babadook, Sophie Hyde’s 52 Tuesdays and Sylvia Wilczynski’s The Rocket have gained impressive worldwide interest and sales. These funds will further build their businesses and offer an immediate boost to the development of their slate of projects,” said Graeme Mason, CEO of Screen Australia.

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The Feature Enterprise program recognizes new feature film producers who have recently received substantial critical or financial success in the marketplace. The funding is a working capital grant over two years to support them in the creation of their next Australian feature projects.

Ceyton, who produced The Babadook, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year, has joined forces with developer and producer Samantha Jennings to pursue a varied slate in genre and scale via their Causeway Films shingle. The funds will strengthen Causeway’s move to diversify into TV collaboration with other producers, while bringing development support to outstanding Australian young talent.

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Enterprise funding will allow Sophie Hyde to focus on feature film development and to strengthen connections with the marketplace, capitalizing on the success of 52 Tuesdays. Hyde and her producing partner Rebecca Summerton will have the potential to produce screen dramas that “employ innovative storytelling, emergent ideas and strong audience engagement,” the agency said.

Wilczynski will use her funding to build infrastructure and personnel support for Red Lamp projects, following the successful festival and theatrical release of The Rocket in 2013. The Laotian language film was Australia’s official entrant into the foreign language feature category at this year’s Academy Awards.

The Screen Australia Enterprise Program has been running since 2009, providing millions of dollars in support to Australian film, TV and new media businesses. The program is currently under review with a new program of guidelines expected to be released later this year.