Victorian Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business Louise Asher has recently announced that six screen projects (two for film and four for television) have received a total of $1.8 million in funding through Film Victoria’s Production Investment program. Ms Asher explained that the Investment Program aims to support local filmmakers in maintaining Victoria’s reputation for screen excellence.
“These six new projects each show a ‘slice of Australian life’ – celebrating our cultural diversity, our history and recognising the importance of respecting and protecting our natural environment,” Ms Asher said.
Ms Asher explained that since December 2010, the Victorian government has supported more than 120 film and television projects, which are expected to generate more than $500 million in production expenditure, she added that the six projects being awarded funding today are expected to generate an estimated $23 million in production expenditure and create jobs for around 1,100 Victorians

The six new projects being supported through Film Victoria’s Production Investment program are:

• A 13 part children’s television series, The Adventures of Figaro Pho – series two, which continues the journey of Figaro Pho and his trusty companion, Rivet, as they learn about life;
• The Secret River, also made for television, tells the story of William Thornhill, an English convict who in 1806 is sentenced to the colonies for life;
• The popular ABC TV series, Upper Middle Bogan, is back for series two with eight new hilarious episodes;
• Oddball, a family feature film based on a true Victorian story, to be filmed in Warrnambool. It centres on an eccentric chicken farmer who saves a colony of penguins by putting his sheepdog on their island;
• Ten years in the planning, Putuparri is a two-part, feature length television documentary about an Aboriginal man’s struggles to maintain his cultural heritage in a modern world; and,
• Neon is a feature documentary film that celebrates the colour and vibrant history of the neon sign in a world that will soon replace it with L.E.D. signage.