After another great year for Tasmania's screen production industry, our Government is committed to further investment that will continue to develop Tasmanian storytelling and cement a pipeline of projects ready to go into production.
In line with this commitment, five projects will share in $78,700 through Screen Tasmania's latest round of project development funding, which will support creative diversity, emerging talent as well as established professionals.
Our Government is a strong supporter of our cultural and creative industries that provide thousands of jobs across our State and add millions to our economy. Our significant investment, especially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, has ensured the local sector's sustainability for the long term.
This latest funding round includes Bad Locals, Screen Tasmania's first investment in a project for TikTok. This series will shortly go into production, with a further commitment from Screen Australia.
We are also supporting live action puppet series Turbo, an exciting collaboration between two key Tasmanian producers - Terrapin Puppet Theatre and the newly established palawa company, kutikina Productions.
Turbo is aimed at pre-schoolers, and is conceived and written by Tasmanian Aboriginal writers Nathan Maynard and Adam Thompson, and tells the story of three chooks growing up and navigating life in a Tasmanian backyard.
Another new local venture, Turbo Chook, has received funding to develop an animated series for adults with the title After All from writer/animator Jess Murray, working with producer Paul Moran of animation powerhouse, Princess Bento.
And, Tasmania's established filmmakers have also been supported, with Sue Clothier and Marta Dusseldorp developing the dramatic feature film Sweet and Near; Luke McGregor navigates the world of robotics and artificial intelligence in Luke Builds a Robot; and Nick Hayward of Quoll Farm fame examines the mysterious mimicry of the lyrebird in the natural history documentary Secrets of the Lyrebird.
These new projects are further proof of our ongoing commitment to growing our screen industry, and I look forward to seeing them come to fruition, to further strengthen the sector into the future.
