Fresh Start Fund

Why Are You Like This?

Overview

The ABC Fresh Start Fund is intended to stimulate the provision of Australian content, in both scripted and non-scripted content, and across all genres including entertainment, comedy, drama, science, arts and culture, music, children’s, factual, documentary, and religion.

As the industry deals with the impact of COVID-19, we are working quickly to provide critical support to independent producers and creatives and to safeguard local content and creativity. The Fresh Start Fund will help supercharge development so we can kick-start existing productions as soon as possible after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. The fund will also develop new original content that has potential for broadcast on ABC channels and online platforms and support emerging talent and new formats for the Australian market.

We are particularly looking to provide funding to support the development of ideas that will entertain, inform and excite audiences.

The content proposals submitted to the ABC for funding will be expected to reflect one or more of these values:

Reflect our Australian cultural identity To strengthen our cultural identity through Australian narrative or non-scripted stories.

Inform our understanding of the world To enlighten ourselves and others and to increase our understanding of the world around us through information and factual formats.

Stimulate our curiosity To inspire our interest in and knowledge of arts, science, history and other topics, through content that is accessible for broad audiences.

Represent diversity and alternative viewpoints To make us aware of different cultures and alternative viewpoints, through programmes that reflect the lives of under-represented groups and other communities, within Australia.

Ngarrindjeri Shorts

Love Bites

The Fund's Five Streams

The Fresh Start Fund will support the sustainability and growth of the Australian production industry and promote Australian stories for the future and is divided into five streams:

1. Enhanced Development & Production Fund Supports Australian production companiesthat have worked with the ABC or gained some industry recognition. The Enhanced Development & Production Fund has two opportunities:

a. Existing production: supercharges development to ensure existing but stalled production is ready to kick-start after COVID-19.

b. New concepts: backs new content ideas for theABC in any genre with Australian cultural themes at the heart, focusing on new formats that speak to the changing world.

2. Innovation FundSupports individual Australian creatives who may not have worked with the ABC before. This fund backs Australian talent with bold ideas that are innovative and targeted at under 55s. Successful proposals will be considered for digital innovation, especially short-form storytelling.

All God’s CreaturesABC Kids

The Fund's Five Streams

3. Arts Digital FundSupports Australian creatives with strategic content ideas across the arts. The Arts Digital Fund focuses on developing innovation in documentary storytelling across big resonant subject matters, with innovation in storytelling and talent at their heart – short-form preferred.

4. Children’s Content FundSupports excellence in children's content across two areas:

a. Scripted / Factual: Supporting production companies with current animation or live-action development or productions.

b. Music: Commissioning new pieces of music from talented and prolific children’s musicians working in the Australian Children’s Music industry for ABC KIDS Listen.

5. Australian Music FundSupports independent Australian artists and musicians across the ABC's music networks, including:

a. New music : Commissioning new works for ABC Classic and ABC Jazz.

b. Music scholarships : Supporting diverse emerging artists across multiple genres and themes, driven by triple j and triple j Unearthed.

Superwog ABC Kids

Sally & Erica, triple j

Quality Productions must aspire to meet the high-quality purposes and characteristics that are expected from the ABC and be accessible, engaging, informative, entertaining and exciting to the target audiences.

DiversityApplications to the Fund will be

expected to take into account the ABC’s diversity guidelines, which encourage inclusion in the screen industries and

tackle under-representation as to disability, gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic status and

geographical location.

InnovationThe Fund will support content that introduces new ideas, and innovative approaches to public service programming, both in terms of content and production methods. Merit will be given to applications that introduce fresh voices and new ideas to the public service landscape.

RepresentationMerit will be given to productions

that are representative and reflective of the cultural identity of Australia,

both on screen and off screen. We are keen to see applications from

regional, and indigenous producers.

Fund Priorities

Benjamin Law, Waltzing The Dragon

We will also assess applications against the Fund priorities below which reflect the ABC charter and guidelines:

Fund Conditions

We can accept proposals on a rolling basis during the funds period of operation – from 4 May to 12 June 2020.

The Australian Music Fund and other music commissioning funds range from projects accepting open submissions and commissions targeted to selected artists and will be administered under our standard terms.

For all other Funds, the types of costs that can be covered by the development funding include the development of treatments, pitch documents, series bibles, formats, scripts, animation tests and other materials required for pitching the concept. There is also the opportunity to supercharge existing development with production enhancements and pre-production activities and the Innovation Fund may extend to production of short form video for publication.

Provided that the conditions of funding are adhered to, the awards are non-recoupable (unless the project is commissioned) and can provide up to 100% of the development budget depending on the stage of development and purpose.

One of the purposes of the Enhanced Development and Production Fund is to encourage growth and sustainability in the Australian independent production, arts and creative community, so we will work with established companies, small and large. In terms of the Innovation Fund, we have opened the fund to individuals and we are relaxed about your existing track record.

All content supported by the Fund through to commission will need to be first shown exclusively on an ABC platform if commissioned. IP should remain Australian owned and controlled.

Much of the Fresh Start Fund aims to be as inclusive as possible and all applications will be assessed on a case by case basis against the Fund’s priorities to ensure a fair and competitive assessment process.

If your development project has been co-funded by, or has the intention of obtaining funding from, a Screen Agency please advise at time of submission.

Please note that this is a competitive fund and we will be unable to support every application.

To be eligible to apply to the ABC for development funding from the Fresh Start Fund, you must be an Australian production company or for individuals an Australian citizen.

Full details of the guidelines will be published prior to 4 May including details of eligibility, and terms and conditions, and how to apply.

ABC Editorial and Business Affairs policy requirements apply.

For more information please see our commissioning website or email: freshstart@abc.net.au