- Cook Government and Lotterywest invests $1 million to develop talented local filmmakers through a production grant
- West Coast Visionslaunches professional careersfor next generation of WA filmmakers
- Successful West Coast Visionsrecipients receive a total of up to $1.5 million
Two Western Australian women, Charmaine Murray and Yasmin Kassim, have been named recipients of the highly coveted 2025 West Coast Visions to produce debut feature film Prawn Curry Christmas.
Supported by the Cook Government, the Screenwest initiative - West Coast Visions - provides production funding to develop talented Western Australian filmmakers with distinctive visions for a debut feature film for theatrical release.
The Cook Government and Lotterywest investment includesproduction funding of $1 million while Screen Australia's pre-commitment in equity will provide an additional $500,000.
The filmmaking team will receive ongoing creative and strategic support from Screenwest and Screen Australia, giving them a strong start and a confident path to production and assist them to fulfill their professional potential.
Prawn Curry Christmas is a 90-minute comedy that follows two estranged sisters living abroad who rush home to WA for one last family Christmas.
Written by Yasmin Kassim and Menik Gooneratne, who will both also star in the film, Prawn Curry Christmas is directed by Charmaine Murray and produced by Yasmin Kassim, Menik Gooneratne, Leanne Tonkes, Melanie Russo and Mike Cowap.
Prawn Curry Christmasis set to be filmed in Perth and the South West.
As stated by Creative Industries Minister Simone McGurk:
"The Cook Government is proud to support this initiative which has inspired and developed talented filmmakers since its inception in 2005.
"West Coast Visions has supported Western Australian talent with distinctive visions by opening doors on an international scale for talented first-time feature film directors,writers, film crews and actors from WA.
"The West Coast Visions initiative has to date created more than 650 jobs and has injected more than $20 million into the State's economy.
"Continued investment in the local screen industry will not only help diversify the local economy, but will ensure our local, WA stories continue to be made here and are shared on screens locally, globally and internationally."
