Sydney Film Festival and the Australian International Movie Convention (AIMC) are among the events recently supported by the Federal Government’s Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund.
The $200 million fund, given out as competitive grants, is to assist arts businesses and organisations in putting on activities such as festivals, concerts, tours, productions and events.
A COVID-19 support measure, the fund initially stood at $75 million, but was topped up last week with an additional $125 million. Funds are available until the end of this year.
The second batch of funding for cultural institutions and events in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia was announced this morning. The Victorian second round was announced on Tuesday, and other states are expected to follow in the coming days.
The 68th iteration of the Sydney Film Festival, which has been moved from June to August for 2021 only, has received $533,282, with the expectation the event create around 260 jobs.
The funding announcement hints that the 2021 festival will take place both physically and online, with the money to support: “A hybrid in-person/virtual festival of expertly-curated and cutting-edge films which enhance accessibility and restore a crucial link in the fractured Australian screen sector.”
Last year’s Sydney Film Festival was initially cancelled outright, before organisers pivoted to a smaller, online-only line-up of 33 films.
The National Association of Cinema Operators – Australasia (NACO) will receive $250,000 to present AIMC. Typically held in October on the Gold Coast, last year’s event was cancelled outright.
One of the other screen sector recipients is Coffs Harbour’s Screenwave International Film Festival, which receives $345,000 to host a series of outdoor events during and after the festival later this month.
The second round funding recipients per state, as announced so far:
NSW
| Organisation | Project Name | Funding | Description |
| The Trustee for Boogie Unit Trust | Boogie Festival – Edition 14 (2021) and 15 (2022) | $180,000 | The festival will bring Australian performing artists to its stages. |
| ShawCandy | Independent Regional Producer House Services for 3 Independent Regional development projects | $60,060 | The project will provide independent regional artists with access to producer services through an independent regional Producer hub. |
| Fairgrounds Festival Pty Ltd | Fairgrounds Festival | $325,000 | A family-friendly music festival, offering world-class bands and a range of children’s entertainment. |
| Precarious Inc t/as Circus Monoxide | Circus Monoxide – Reignition | $231,173 | A presentation of shows that will employ professional artists and respond to COVID safe measures. |
| Sydney Film Festival | 68th Sydney Film Festival 2021: Hybrid Expansions | $533,282 | A hybrid in-person/virtual festival of expertly-curated and cutting-edge films which enhance accessibility and restore a crucial link in the fractured Australian screen sector. |
| Bangarra Dance Theatre | Waru – Life of the Little Turtle (working title) | $229,868 | Waru will be developed as the first of an ongoing new audience offering, showcasing the stories and culture of the Torres Strait, led by critically acclaimed Bangarra artist Elma Kris. |
| Synergy & Taikoz Ltd | BOOM! International Festival of Percussion | $80,000 | The festival will see large public concerts framing a series of performances, talks, masterclasses and workshops. |
| The Eleanor Dark Foundation | Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival Reboot | $76,349 | A four-day writers’ festival through which Australian writers will receive creative opportunities to present to a local and out-of-region audience. |
| Hayes Theatre Co Ltd | Pacific Overtures | $137,173 | Mixing elements of Kabuki theatre with the conventions of the Broadway musical, Pacific Overtures is an original, inventive, powerful and humorous theatrical experience. |
| The Sydney Fringe Inc | The Sydney Fringe Festival 2021 | $371,323 | Presents the work of 2500 independent artists in 1600 individual public performances for local, inter-city and interstate audiences. |
| Australian Publishers Association | BookNetAustralia and Australia Reads | $566,000 | Industry-wide collaborations between BookNetAustralia and Australia Reads that will transform industry business practices nationwide, boost sales of Australian books, and promote reading. |
| The Woodland Production Company Pty Ltd | Ballet Revolucion | $285,000 | Leading Australian choreographers blend contemporary moves with classical/contemporary ballet and salsa to produce a unique dance fusion. |
| Musica Viva Australia | Musica Viva National Digital and Regional Engagement Program | $310,448 | An integrated program of regional residencies and digital touchpoints will expand and deepen Musica Viva’s engagement into regional communities across Australia. |
| Monkey Baa Theatre Company | Yong: A Chinese Australian Story | $285,602 | Employing artists to develop and tour a new theatre production based on real incidents of the 1850s. |
| King Street Carnival | Deliver King Street Carnival Sydney | $340,000 | A multi-sensory journey into Sydney’s Inner West through the acclaimed King Street Crawl. |
| Performing Lines Ltd | Local Giants | $400,000 | To deliver new artist, community and presenter participation models to unlock the cultural ambition of regional Australia. |
| River Sounds Pty Ltd | River Sounds | $60,000 | Two day music festival in Bellingen with a diverse line up of high profile, emerging and First Nation artists. |
| Screenwave Australia Pty Ltd | SWIFF Expansion Project | $345,000 | A series of outdoor events hosted during and after the Screenwave International Film Festival. |
Queensland:
| Organisation | Project Name | Funding | Description |
| Crossroad Arts Inc | Breathe In- creative development | $80,000 | A multimedia contemporary performance piece that uses alternative forms of communication including braille and hand signing. |
| National Association of Cinema Operators – Australasia | Australian International Movie Convention | $250,000 | A movie convention that brings together exhibitors, distributors, producers and allied trades in one place. |
| Mirndiyan Gununa Aboriginal Corporation | Mornington Island Public Art and Celebration | $82,100 | Artists will create two large-scale public works that will raise the profile of Mornington Island Art. |
| Major Events Gold Coast Pty Ltd | Blues on Broadbeach | $200,000 | A reimagined COVID safe festival. |
| Playlab Theatre | Playlab Theatre – Accelerating Transformation and Sector Impact | $399,846 | Developing and producing a diverse performance season for presentation in 2022. |
| TWO Festivals Pty Ltd | Expansion of Wynnum Fringe 2021 | $236,020 | Expansion of Wynnum Fringe 2021: including new venues, more artists & creative works. |
| Of One Mind Limited | WOW Australia 2021 | $146,000 | A series of regional festival programs. |
| DeepBlue Orchestra Inc. | Song to the Earth | $77,855 | Reimagined orchestral installation for the opening of new major cultural precincts and a regional arts festival. |
| Aimon Scott Clark | Not On Your Rider | $55,680 | A live music trivia show in which audience members will play along and are involved in a series of mini-games. |
| Outer Space Artist Run Initiative Incorporated | Emerging Art in the Public Domain | $174,182 | An art-on-regional-billboards program commissioning emerging Queensland-based artists to develop new works. |
| Umbrella Studio Association Incorporated | Makerspace Business Innovation Project | $257,611 | To grow Makerspace, creating income for artists and artworkers. |
WA:
| Organisation | Project Name | Funding | Description |
| International Art Space Pty. Ltd | Spaced 4: Rural Utopias re-imagined | $198,500 | A re-inventing of International Art Space’s ongoing international program – SPACED. |
| Perth International Cabaret Festival Limited | Perth International Cabaret Festival 2021 | $150,000 | Perth International Cabaret Festival, Western Australia’s first dedicated cabaret festival. |
| Sculpture at Bathers Inc | Sculpture at Bathers 2022 | $288,984 | Free public visual arts event supporting the creation, exhibition and sale of sculpture. |
| FORM building a state of creativity, inc. | The Digital Eternal: Aboriginal Artists of the Pilbara and New Media Narratives | $189,000 | Developing Pilbara’s Aboriginal artists to engage with digital and audio-visual media. |
VIC:
| Organisation | Project Name | Funding | Description |
| Nicholas Clark Management Pty Ltd | Nicholas Clark Management 2021/2022 COVID-safe Touring Program. | $387,697 | Five productions of innovative work for families, touring to 38 regional and metropolitan venues in five states. |
| Peking Duk Touring Pty Ltd | Peking Duk Australian Regional Tour | $91,500 | Peking Duk Australian regional tour. |
| Stella Rose Productions | Tim Ferguson – A Fast Life On Wheels. Melbourne season 2021 | $25,000 | Tim Ferguson’s Multiple Sclerosis has put him in a wheelchair. But MS won’t stop Australia’s busiest comedian, screenwriter, movie-maker, author and comedy writing teacher. |
| Melbourne Jazz Limited | Melbourne International Jazz Festival 2021 | $177,755 | Australian artists performing in 120 events across 30 venues at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival 2021. |
| The Trustee for Agency Projects Trust | Addressing the digital divide for remote Indigenous Art Centres | $785,000 | Agency will partner with Indigenous Art Centres to transform their community collections and galleries into interactive and immersive experiences. |
| Kids Promotions Pty Ltd | KIDS LIFE – Live Interactive Family Entertainment | $411,679 | Innovative and reimagined offering of the annual calendar of LIVE touring concerts targeted to preschool children and their families. |
| Kadimah Jewish Cultural Centre and National Library | Kadimah Yiddish Theatre | $220,000 | The creative development and production of Australian theatre works. |
| Melbourne Writers Festival Inc | Melbourne Writers Festival 2021 – Hybrid and COVID-safe | $100,000 | Combines the large-scale, live festival events with the newly developed digital capabilities learned by the Festival in 2020. |
| A Thoughtful Spot | Lior & Domini Forster – Animal in Hiding | $191,950 | A collaboration between critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Lior, together with emerging artist, Domini Forster. |
| The Brickman Exhibitions (Aust) Pty Ltd | Brickman Jurassic World | $668,416 | A unique artistic exhibition — immersive scale re-creation of Jurassic World scenes in LEGO® bricks. |
| Photo Australia Ltd | PHOTO 2022 International Festival of Photography: Bringing art to the streets of Melbourne | $290,000 | Commissioning ten Australian artists to create site specific works to be presented at iconic locations in central Melbourne and regional Victoria. |
| Theatre Works Limited | Resurgence – Reactivating the independent sector | $290,000 | Resurgence Initiative offers three targeted programs to restart, invest in and sustain the independent sector. |
| Velodrome Events Pty Ltd | Reunion Park | $441,948 | A transformation of Melbourne’s iconic ‘Burnley Circus Site’ into Australia’s first COVID safe, bespoke, Winter friendly outdoor live music and performing arts venue. |
| Remix Summits PTY Ltd | REMIX Summit Sydney 2021 | $99,030 | REMIX will provide online summit access, develop year round online community support, including online courses and extending REMIX Academy. REMIX is located in Victoria and the Summit held in Sydney. |
| Good Life Music Festivals Pty Ltd | Lost City u18s Music Festival | $290,000 | Annual large-scale outdoor festival where teens are entertained with two stages of DJ’s and live music. |
| Victorian Opera | Victorian Opera Digital Outreach | $276,783 | An opera connecting regional, national, and international audiences with live performances, speaking to Australia’s First Nations heritage through operas both new and old. |
| Melbourne Street Eatz Pty Ltd | Melbourne Street Eatz Reloaded | $205,676 | A celebration of music, food, arts and entertainment uniting and inspiring local and surrounding communities. |
| Essential Theatre Incorporated | The Dream Laboratory | $91,722 | Immersive theatrical experience created for The Palais Theatre, inspired by Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. |