Screen Australia funding dramas but denies Cloudstreet

Screen Australia has agreed funding for a slew of scripted projects, but refused to back upcoming Australian miniseries Cloudstreet.

The show has reportedly been denied funding from Screen Australia, the government agency tasked with supporting the country’s TV and film businesses, over concerns about the amount that pay TV network Showtime is paying for the show. Daily newspaper The Australian reports that Screen Australia denied Cloudstreet funding because of the low license fee that Showtime is paying for the series.

Cloudstreet is being made for Showtime, which is a four-way joint venture between Fox, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony Pictures, by Screentime, the producer of hit crime series Underbelly. The miniseries is based on the 1992 novel of the same name, by Australian author Tim Winton. It chronicles the lives of two Australian families over two decades starting in the early 1940s.

Last week Screen Australia approved federal funding for numerous scripted TV projects. These included  included Playmaker-produced,  ITV Global-distributed drama Credence, The Film Company-produced, ABC-distributed Bob Hawke biopic Hawke, Preicle Film-produced DCD and ABC-distributed WWII series Sisters of War and Slide Films-produced, FremantleMedia-distributed teen drama Slide.

It also agreed funding for several documentaries and the second series of Jonathon M Schiff’s kids series Elephant Princess.