EXCLUSIVE: Impact Australia, the entertainment accelerator launched down under by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Tyler Mitchell’s Imagine Impact back in February, has named 10 projects that will take part in its debut talent program.
The eight-week initiative, run in collaboration with Gentle Giant Media Group and Screen Australia, was originally slated to take place in Melbourne but will now pivot to a virtual form due to ongoing coronavirus disruption.
A total of 14 creators will receive online mentorship ahead of a pitch day, which is aiming to take place physically in the fall, with the ultimate goal of taking the projects, which are primarily TV but include two features, to market.
Mentors will include: True History Of The Kelly Gang writer Shaun Grant, Carnival Row executive producer Kai Wu, Lucky Number Slevin writer Jason Smilovic, Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl director Stuart Beattie, and Girls writer Sarah Heyward.
Here are the 14 participants and 10 projects:
- Creator: Carrie Anderson (NSW) – Bound (TV Hour)
- Creators: Luke Goodall (VIC) + Marc Gallagher (VIC) – Robots Inc. (TV Half Hour)
- Creators: Sukhjit Khalsa (WA) + Perun Bonser (WA) – One of the Good Ones (TV Half Hour)
- Creator: Catherine Kelleher (NSW) – Iron Mountain (TV Hour)
- Creators: Megan Palinkas (VIC) + Sam Barrett (VIC) – Terminus (TV Hour)
- Creator: Emma Dockery (VIC) – The Party Line (TV Half Hour)
- Creator: Lucy Coleman (NSW) – Exposure (TV Half Hour)
- Creator: Henry Boffin (VIC) – Before The Dying Light (Feature Film)
- Creator: Jessica Harris (VIC) – The Bloomers (TV Half Hour)
- Creators: Brendan Fletcher (NSW) + Devi Telfer (QLD) – Taronga (Feature Film)
“Our proprietary system has curated an amazingly talented group of creatives with compelling scripts,” said Tyler Mitchell, Head of Imagine Impact. “Through collaboration and guidance provided by our experienced group of ‘Shapers,’ we expect some incredible film and television projects to be ready for Pitch Day. Australia is revealing quite a high calibre of writers – it’s exciting!”
Impact Australia is financed by Screen Australia, along with principal partner, Film Victoria. The program is also supported by Screen NSW, Screen Queensland, Screenwest, South Australian Film Corporation, Screen Territory, Screen Canberra and Screen Tasmania.