Screen Australia announced on June 20 production investment of AU$446,000 in six short films through its Short Animation and Shorts Completion programmes.
Screen Australia’s Head of Production, Sally Caplan, said, “Out of many applications, we are delighted to have been able to support these six projects. The filmmakers are all talented teams from diverse backgrounds, and the projects are an eclectic mix with distinctive stories. We are very much looking forward to seeing the finished works.”
The Short Animation programme will support two projects. The first, My Little Sumo, is set to showcase the talents of South Australian animation directors Ana Maria Mendez Salgado and Carlos Manrique Clavijo, and writer Lee Sellers. Supported by writer/producer Marion Pilowsky, the film will charmingly visualise the story of Daisy, a little girl with a big dream: to become a champion sumo wrestler.
The former lead animator of UK smash Charlie and Lola, Joseph Brumm, will direct the quirky and satirical short Revolution, in which a group of tiny creatures makes an attempt at civilisation in the warmth of a massive lit cigarette. Laura DiMaio will produce.
Through the Shorts Completion programme four projects will be funded.
Writer/director Dave Edwardz and producer Peter Magdas will be enabled to complete the drama The Trophy Thief, a simple and moving tale of a young soccer player who takes matters into his own hands in order to regain what’s rightfully his.
Writer/director Brooke Goldfinch and producer Brietta Hague will undertake a detailed edit of their sumptuously shot Red Rover, an end-of-days drama in which two teens break away from their fundamentalist families and in so doing uncover their own final meaning.
Completion funds will also allow director Rudolf Fitzgerald-Leonard and producer John Tummino to find the best finished form for Coral, a piece that takes an oblique look at the conditions underpinning explosive male violence.
Finally, writer/director Leonie Savvides and producer Elise Annetts will complete Black Cat, a subtly provocative film that explores an adolescent girl’s fascination with black magic as a means of dealing with her repressive masculine household.
SHORT ANIMATION
My Little Sumo
Genre: Family
Directors: Ana Maria Mendez Salgado, Carlos Manrique Clavijo
Producer: Marion Pilowsky
Writers: Lee Sellers, Marion Pilowsky
Synopsis: Daisy is a little girl with a big dream, to become a champion sumo wrestler.
Revolution
Genre: Action/Adventure, Family
Writer/Director: Joseph Brumm
Producer: Laura DiMaio
Synopsis: A group of tiny creatures make an attempt at civilisation in the warmth of a massive lit cigarette.
SHORT COMPLETION
Black Cat
Genre: Drama
Writer/Director: Leonie Savvides
Producer: Elise Annetts
Synopsis: Teenage Aila explores black magic as an outlet for her growing sexuality and to find autonomy within a repressive masculine household.
Coral
Genre: Drama
Writer/Director: Rudolf Fitzgerald-Leonard
Producer: John Tummino
Synopsis: When the floodlights at his twilight soccer training fail to light his path, Kevin allows the surrounding darkness to consume him.
Red Rover
Genre: Drama
Director: Brooke Goldfinch
Producer: Brietta Hague
Executive Producer: Erin Wakelin
Synopsis: After being told by their parents that the end of the world is nigh, two teenagers from a rural religious community travel into town to discover what is really happening.
The Trophy Thief
Genre: Drama
Writer/Director: Dave Edwardz
Producer: Peter Magdas
Synopsis: Ben is a young soccer player who misses out on winning his team’s MVP (most valuable player) trophy and takes matters into his own hands in order to regain what’s rightfully his
