Twenty New Film and TV Productions Slated for NSW

Twenty new Australian films and television programs have been secured for NSW. The projects
include seven feature films, two television series, two children’s animated television series and
eight documentary series, providing a range of employment opportunities across the industry.

Minister for the Arts, George Souris, announced the news at the opening of the Sydney Film Festival 2011 earlier in June. Among the new productions are projects by Academy Award winners Jane Campion and Emile Sherman. “The Government’s investment of $4.2 million in these 20 projects will result in production expenditure of $66 million in NSW. The productions will generate hundreds of jobs and see some of our top film and television creators, cast and crew working in NSW,” Mr Souris said. He also pointed out that the announcement coincided with screenings of films from NSW at the Festival. “Two films backed by the NSW Government through the Screen NSW production investment fund are competing at this year’s Sydney Film Festival – Ivan Sen’s ‘Toomelah’ and Julia Leigh’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’ - both of which have also been recognised at the Cannes International Film Festival,” Mr Souris said. “The other NSW films screening at the Festival include ‘33 Postcards’, the first official co-production between NSW and China, ‘I’m Not Dead Yet’, the story of country music legend Chad Morgan and the documentaries ‘Hungry Tide’, ‘Dancing With Dictators’, ‘Scarlet Road’ and ‘A Common Purpose’. “The latest funding by the NSW Government brings the total investment through the Screen NSW Production Investment Fund in the 2010/2011 financial year to $9.6 million across 48 film, television and cross-platform productions. The total expenditure in NSW across these projects will total $143 million, money injected directly into the NSW economy. “Through the Screen NSW Production Investment program, every dollar invested by the NSW Government may generate around $15 in direct production expenditure into the State,” Minister Souris said. “It’s fantastic that some of our State’s most creative talents are involved with these new film and television programs, including Academy-Award winners Emile Sherman and Jane Campion and Indigenous directors Wayne Blair and Catriona McKenzie, who will be making their feature film directorial debuts.”  Read the full list of projects on the Screen NSW website. www.screen.nsw.gov.au