Screenrights Announces $213k Funding For Five Projects Supported By 2022 Cultural Fund

Screenrights has announced five projects - including two from Aotearoa New Zealand - will be supported by the 2022 round of its annual Cultural Fund, to total $213,083 in funding for this year’s focus of ‘New Opportunities’. Celebrating its fifth year, the Screenrights Cultural Fund has now supported Australian and New Zealand initiatives with over $1 million in grant funding since it was established in 2018.

“This year’s New Opportunities focus inspired many fantastic applications, which made a tough job for our assessors. The five funded initiatives showcase a diverse range of project aims and will benefit a variety of participants,” said Screenrights Board Director and Cultural Fund Working Group Chair Geoffrey Atherden. “We’re excited to see the outcomes of these initiatives, and know that they will help break down barriers for under-represented storytellers to the benefit of our screen industry and audiences.”

For the first time, in 2022 Screenrights provided an Expression of Interest process to assist less experienced applicants who might benefit from extra support during the application stage. Indicative of the success of this approach, two out of the five successful grant recipients had engaged with this process.

The two New Zealand initiatives are among the projects funded by the 2022 Screenrights Cultural Fund are:

Pacific Kids' Learning will receive $50K for two-day stop motion workshops provided to 40 year six Pasifika primary school students through the ‘Young Pasifika Animators’ program, which is designed to teach practical skills that will open up young minds to the possibilities of animation and screen industry careers.

The Pacific Kids’ Learning team said: “We are humbled to receive this funding from Screenrights, which will support young Pasifika creatives to learn about telling their stories using stop motion animation. In addition to seeing how their culture can be an integral part of their success in the workplace, Pasifika youth can see how their innate love of drawing and art can be turned into a career in digital screen production and animation. We have seen from a business perspective how hard it is to find qualified Pasifika animators in our industry, and we want to inspire the next generation of Pasifika to see the screen industry as a viable career path that is within their reach.”

‘See Them: Be Them’ is a series of three workshops from POW Studios. Aimed at 14-18 year olds, the recipients will receive $29,100 for the project which aims to demystify the world of post production for marginalised young people in Aotearoa.

Marie Silberstein, POW Studios Head Of Development & Production said: “Building inclusive content begins with the team creating it. I think it's vital for our young people to see themselves reflected in post-production roles. Thanks to Screenrights for supporting this vision, it's a real privilege.

Other initiatives funded in this year’s Cultural Fund include:
Arts & Cultural Exchange which will receive $49,983 for ‘Screen Trades’, a training scheme addressing shortages in the areas of VFX, Production Accounting and Assistant Camera roles for diverse practitioners by providing industry-focused craft development and professional employment pathways for early career screen practitioners from First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) communities. Goolarri Media Enterprises will receive $50K for the ‘Goolarri Writers Program’ series of tutorials, masterclasses and mentoring opportunities that supports emerging Indigenous performance writers in the Kimberley; and ‘TV Pilot Initiative’ is an Indigenous-led program delivered by Channel 44 in partnership with SAFC First Nations that will receive $34,000 in funding to help move South Australian First Nations participant filmmakers out of the emerging sector where many have found themselves languishing for over a decade.

Applications were assessed by a panel of professionals with both local and international expertise in screen, media and education.

https://www.screenrights.org/cultural-fund

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