Minister for Fair Trading Virginia Judge MP Minister for the Arts

EMBARGOED 5 August 2010

NSW GOVERNMENT INVESTS IN FILM AND TELEVISION

NSW is set for a boom in film and television production with the Keneally Government investing more than $4.2 million funding to bring 23 screen projects to the state, Arts Minister Virginia Judge today announced.

Ms Judge said the NSW Government funding, through the Screen NSW production fund, will generate direct production expenditure in the State of more than $62 million.

The projects include five Australian feature films - including one starring top Australian actor Guy Pearce and another with acclaimed US actor Willem Dafoe - four television series, one telemovie, 12 documentaries and one cross platform project.

“The NSW Government is determined that NSW will remain the number one location in the country for screen production,” Ms Judge said.

“Earlier this year we announced an extra $25 million to attract both domestic and international production to the state.

“The great news is that we’re seeing immediate results with the Australian producers of these 23 projects wanting to shoot and/or post produce in NSW.

“These new productions involve some of the top creative talent in NSW and will create hundreds of highly skilled and high value jobs in production and post production.

“This will further consolidate NSW’s reputation as the home of high quality drama and factual production.”

One of the projects to receive funding this year is Mei Mei, directed by acclaimed Australian director Pauline Chan (Traps). Mei Mei is a story about a Chinese orphan Mei Mei (Zhu Lin) who arrives in Sydney to find her Australian sponsor Dean Randall (Guy Pearce) behind bars for manslaughter.

Ms Judge welcomed Guy Pearce to NSW when she visited the set of Mei Mei today:

“It’s thrilling to have an actor of Guy’s calibre making his new film in Sydney,” she said.

“Mei Mei is an important film for our industry. It’s the first official co-production between Australia and China to be filmed in our city and there is real enthusiasm from both countries to develop stronger ties between our film industries.

“Portal Pictures Pty Ltd, the Sydney based film company behind Mei Mei, has pioneered a path into China that will have huge benefits for NSW filmmakers and post production houses.”

Media contact: Georgie Klug 9228 5900 / 0427 066 616 Lesley Stevens, who is producing Mei Mei with Penny Carl, welcomed the ongoing support from the NSW Government.

“The NSW Government, through Screen NSW, has supported us over the years from the initial script development to filming,” she said.

“The enthusiasm and advice from Screen NSW representatives has played an important role in bringing Mei Mei to life.

“It's not for the faint-hearted but the opportunities that come with co-production open up a much wider market for Australian filmmakers."

The film is currently being shot in and around Sydney in locations such as Long Bay Correctional facility, Yasmah Juvenile Detention Centre, Gladesville Hospital, Warriewood, North Head Artillery Base, Ryde Hospital, South Sydney Hospital and the Conservatorium of Music.

Some of the other top NSW creatives who will bring productions to the screen include producer Penny Chapman (My Place, RAN), director Peter Andrikidis (The Kings of Mykonos, Underbelly), writer Louis Nowra (First Australians, Cosi) and director Cate Shortland (Somersault).

SCREEN PRODUCTIONS TO RECEIVE FUNDING ARE:

THE TALL MAN Factual - Single Production Company: Blackfella Films Finance: $80,000 Writer: Tony Krawitz Producer: Darren Dale Executive Producer: Rachel Perkins Director: Tony Krawitz Synopsis: On 19 Nov 2004 an Aboriginal man swore at a policeman and 45 minutes later lay dead in a cell. This is the story of that event and its aftermath.

MEI-MEI Feature Production Company: Portal Pictures Finance: $200,000 Writers: Martin Edmond, Pauline Chan, Philip Dalkin. Producers: Penny Carl-Nelson, Pauline Chan, Lesley Stevens, Zhijiang Lui Director: Pauline Chan Synopsis: "Sometimes the past comes back to thank you". Chinese orphan Mei Mei (16) arrives in Sydney to find her Australian sponsor Dean Randall (40) behind bars for manslaughter. Mismatched and disconnected, the unlikely duo help each other to grasp their chance at life over a roller-coaster ride of 3 weeks.

THE STRAITS

Media contact: Georgie Klug 9228 5900 / 0427 066 616 TV - Series Production Company: Pixa House Finance: $200,000 Writers: Nick Parsons, Blake Ayshford, Jamie Browne, Louis Nowra Producers: Helen Panckhurst, Penny Chapman Director: Peter Andrikidis Synopsis: The Straits is an exotic, darkly humorous crime drama. It follows the fortunes of a family who happen to be on the wrong side of the law. Their turf is Far North Queensland and the complex network of islands that form Australia's Northern frontier: the Torres Straits.

DICK SMITH'S POPULATION PUZZLE Factual - Single Production Company: Population Productions Finance: $60,000 Writer: Simon Nasht Producers: Anna Cater, Simon Nasht Director: Simon Nasht Synopsis: The film follows Dick Smith's six-month campaign against rapid population growth. The unashamedly polemical film tests the propositions, one by one, put forward in favour of a Big Australia. Can this popular entrepreneur persuade the nation to change its mind?

PAUL COX - A LIFE Factual - Single Production Company: Frontline Films Finance: $40,000 Writer: David Bradbury Producer: David Bradbury Executive Producer: Jeni McMahon Director: David Bradbury Synopsis: Auteur filmmaker Paul Cox contemplates his own mortality and his life's work as he waits for a life saving liver transplant.

FOOTBALL UNITED Factual - Single Production Company: North One TV Australia Finance: $20,000 Writers: Dan Goldberg, George Negus Producer: Dan Goldberg Director: Adam Kay Synopsis: War and political turmoil tore the lives of eight refugee kids apart, causing them to flee to Australia. Football United is giving them the chance to dream of a better life. This is the powerful story of renewed hope, as the kids compete for Australia at the Football for Hope Festival in South Africa.

MACQUARIE: THE FATHER OF AUSTRALIA Factual - Single Production Company: Intomedia

Media contact: Georgie Klug 9228 5900 / 0427 066 616 Finance: $30,000 Writers: Stuart Scowcroft, Lez Wilson Producers: Stuart Scowcroft, Seona Robertson Director: Les Wilson Synopsis: The story of Lachlan Macquarie and his wife Elizabeth who arrived in Sydney when it was goal and left it ten years later, a colony on the way to becoming a nation. He was called the Father of Australia.

ROCKET COMPULSION Factual - Single Production Company: Firelight Production Finance: $50,000 Writer: Simon Nasht Producers: Marcus Gillezeau, Ellenor Cox Director: Gregory Read Synopsis: Tenacious Aussie jet pilot David Mayman grasps for his childhood dream to build and fly his own rocket belt.

THE GRAMMAR OF HAPPINESS Factual - Single Production Company: Essential Media and Entertainment Finance: $55,000 Producer: Chris Hilton Executive Producer: Chris Hilton Directors: Randall Wood, Chris Thorburn Synopsis: Amongst perhaps the only truly happy people on earth, maverick linguist Daniel Everett sets out to discover if the language we speak defines the way we think.

MT (WORKING TITLE) Factual - Single Production Company: Evershine Finance: $60,000 Writer: Hugh Piper Producer: Helen Barrow Director: Hugh Piper Synopsis: An observational documentary about print journalism, freedom of speech and publishing in SE Asia.

COOL SCHOOL – LOCATIONS: ANTARCTICA, POST PRODUCTION: SYDNEY, NSW Factual - Single Production Company: Angels Television Finance: $25,000 Writer: Gregory Miller, Liz Courtney Producer: Gregory Miller, Liz Courtney Director: Gregory Miller, Liz Courtney Synopsis:

Media contact: Georgie Klug 9228 5900 / 0427 066 616 The coolest school on the Planet is about to open in Antarctica. Cool School is an event based feature documentary filmed in Antarctica. It is a chance to explore sustainable development and climate change within a travel/adventure format in one of the places most affected by climate change.

HARDLINERS Factual - Series Production Company: Cordell Jigsaw Productions Finance: $110,000 Producers: Steve Bibb, Nick Murray Synopsis: Hardliners follows a remarkable group of Australian long-line fishermen chasing the lucrative Southern Blue Fin Tuna in the treacherous waters off the Australian east coast. Dodging storms, sharks, and container ships, these men provide a fascinating insight into human endurance and bravery. But what price do they pay?

WIDE OPEN ROAD Factual - Series Production Company: Bombora Film and Music Co. Finance: $101,539 Writers: Paul Clarke, Nick Carrol with Graeme Davison Producer: Paul Clarke Executive Producer: Penny Robins Director: Paul Clarke Synopsis: An Australian social history of the Twentieth Century- viewed through the windscreen of the cars that we so cherished.

SEX: AN UNNATURAL HISTORY Factual - Series Production Company: Matchbox Pictures Finance: $135,000 Writer: Mark O'Toole Producer: Michaela Perske Executive Producer: Penny Chapman Broadcaster: SBS Synopsis: Fifty years since the pill went on sale in Australia, Julia Zemiro presents a series that takes an enlightening and humorous look at sex in the modern age.

THE HUNTER Feature Production Company: Porchlight Films Finance: $400,000 Writer: Alice Addison Producer: Vincent Sheehan Director: Daniel Nettheim Synopsis:

Media contact: Georgie Klug 9228 5900 / 0427 066 616 One man's search for the last Tasmanian Tiger becomes a deeper journey into the core of his own existence. Starring high-profile international actor, Willem Dafoe. Based on the acclaimed novel, The Hunter, by Julia Leigh.

SAY NOTHING Feature Production Company: Vivid Films Finance: $310,000 Writers: Kieran Darcy-Smith, Felicity Price Producer: Angie Fielder Director: Kieran Darcy-Smith Synopsis: Four friends lose themselves in a carefree South East Asian holiday. Only three come back. Who amongst them knows what happened on that fateful night when they were dancing under a full moon in Cambodia?

LORE Feature Production Company: Porchlight Films Finance: $275,000 Writers: Cate Shortland, Robin Mukherjees Producers: Liz Watts, Paul Walsh, Karsten Stoter, Gabriele Kranzelbinder Director: Cate Shortland Synopsis: Spring 1945 and the German resistance collapses. As the Allied forces sweep across the Motherland, five children embark on a journey which will challenge every notion we have of family, love and friendship.

DANCE ACADEMY SERIES 2 Childrens TV Series Production Company: Werner Film Productions Finance: $500,000 Writers: Samantha Strauss, Liz Doran, Greg Waters and Sam Carrol confirmed Producer: Joanna Werner Line Producer: Ally Henville Directors: Cherie Nowlan confirmed Broadcaster: ABC Synopsis: Tara returns to the Academy with her sights set firmly on representing the country at the world's most prestigious ballet competition. But she should be more focused on just surviving second year where, having climbed to the top over the last twelve months - in dance, life and love - she now has a very long way to fall.

THE GRADUAL DEMISE OF PHILLIPA FINCH Cross Platform Production Company: Hopscotch Productions Finance: $35,000 Writer: Emma Magenta Producer: Rachel Okine Director: Emma Magenta

Media contact: Georgie Klug 9228 5900 / 0427 066 616 Synopsis: The Gradual Demise of Phillipa Finch is a cross-platform 2D animated project incorporating interactive web components, which brings acclaimed Australian artist Emma Magenta's newest character, Phillipa Finch to life.

CLEO Adult TV Drama Production Company: Finance: $300,000 Writer: Christopher Lee Producers: John Edwards, Imogen Banks Director: Emma Freeman Broadcaster: ABC Synopsis: The Whitlams era as seen through the eyes of Cleo magazine and its young Editor, Ita Buttrose.

BLOOD BROTHER Telemovie Production Company: Playmaker Media Finance: $250,000 Writer: John Misto Producers: David Taylor, David Maher Broadcaster: Channel 9 Synopsis: Jeffrey Gilham had a perfect life. He lived on a river in the heart of Sydney's affluent Shire district. He was handsome, educated, a champion athlete, and a model son from a perfect family. So why, on a freezing morning in 1993 did this model son butcher his parents and brother? Or did he?

Media contact: Georgie Klug 9228 5900 / 0427 066 616