Screen Australia backs projects including Kath and Kim film

The fourth project is a documentary about the plight of the great apes, and is intended for release on IMAX.

Like the series, the creative drivers behind the The Kath And Kim Filum are performer/writers Jane Turner and Gina Riley, who play a mother and daughter ensconced in the suburbs.

They are producing alongside Riley’s husband Rick McKenna and another long-term collaborator, Ted Emery, will direct.

The story will see the on-screen pair heading overseas, adding scale and broadening their reach beyond the Australian domestic market.

Roadshow will distribute locally in conjunction with Royalty & Distribution Service, which is also handling international sales.

The other two comedies include two debuts, Franco di Chiera’s Big Mamma’s Boy, to be distributed by Madman; and Peter Templeman’s The 20-Something Guide To Survival, which has Icon attached.

Templeman’s short films have earned many awards and acknowledgements, including the Slamdance Grand Jury Award for best short in 2005 for Splintered and again in 2006 with The Saviour, which was subsequently nominated for an Academy Award.

Screen Australia has also announced that it will back a range of documentaries and a couple of television projects. Its total investment of A$9m in 15 titles will trigger A$29m in production expenditure.

The federal government agency has also provided development funds to 23 features including new projects by Stephan Elliott, Gillian Armstrong, Rachel Ward, Robert Connolly, Kriv Stenders and Josh Lawson.