West Coast Visions projects (clockwise from top left): Blame, Last Train to Freo, Wasted on the Young, 1%, Hounds of Love, He Ain’t Heavy, These Final Hours, Sweet As, How to Please a Woman, Below.
Kicking off its increased local investment, Screenwest is pleased to announce its highly coveted West Coast Visions initiative is now a $1.5 million initiative, thanks to an increase of $250,000 production funding.
West Coast Visions is a special initiative designed to uncover talented Western Australian filmmaking teams with a distinctive vision, supporting them to produce their debut theatrically released feature film.
Historically, successful teams have received a $750,000 production grant from Screenwest and then go on to raise the remainder of their production budget via a distributor’s advance, Screen Australia investment and the 40% Producer Offset, and private investment.
As of 2025, Screenwest’s West Coast Visions funding will increase to $1 million, thanks to ongoing support from Lotterywest and the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.
Together with Screen Australia’s pre-commitment of $500,000 in equity (since 2023), West Coast Visions recipients will receive a total of $1.5 million production funding.
“West Coast Visions is our anchor talent development program, and we are excited to invest a million dollars each year in the next generation of WA filmmakers and their stories. From its inception to now, the program has shown remarkable results and we look forward to it continuing to do so into the future!” said Rikki Lea Bestall, Screenwest CEO.
Since its inception in 2005, twelve West Coast Visions film have been produced in WA, with many being distributed to audiences globally and receiving critical acclaim.
The initiative has not only launched the professional careers of many Western Australian creatives and crew but has also showcased Western Australian talent and stories to the world, helping build the local screen industry’s strong reputation.
To date, Screenwest has invested $10 million in the West Coast Visions initiative, creating over 650 jobs and injecting over $20 million into the State’s economy.
As the scripted production pipeline in the State continues to grow, so does Screenwest’s support for locally generated Western Australian talent and productions.
Alongside West Coast Visions, Screenwest has also recently rolled out the following programs for Western Australian filmmakers:
First Nations Truth-Telling VR Documentary Initiative – will support up to three Western Australian First Nations teams to produce a short VR documentary.
Producer Talent Accelerator – year long skills development program for an early to mid-career Western Australian producer.
Bill Warnock Talent Accelerator – year long skills development program for an early to mid-career Western Australian screenwriter.
Elevate 2024 – skills development initiative for early to mid-career Western Australian filmmakers. The initiative will support up to six teams to produce a scripted short film, animation or series.
Tele-Navigator 2024 – development initiative for local writers, directors and/or producers with scripted TV concepts that can be made in Western Australia.
Western Australian talent have helmed record levels of local production over the past 24 months with projects including We Bury the Dead, Runt, Invisible Boys, He Ain’t Heavy, Proclivitas and Birthright.
To ensure Western Australia remains competitive in an extremely competitive environment, Screenwest has also announced updates to its Scripted Production Fund guidelines this week. The updates increase funding available to Western Australian producers and provides producers access to additional project development support.
WA’s local documentary sector continues to produce high quality content and reach audiences far and wide. Some of the incredible documentaries in various stages of production in WA include Hard As Puck, Maggie Beer’s Big Mission, West Coast Cops and season two of Shipwreck Hunters Australia.
To support the documentary sector, Screenwest has today launched its Workforce Capacity Program – Documentary. This program will support WA documentary production companies to provide paid on the job training opportunities to local screen practitioners.
With the support of its valued partners Lotterywest and the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, Screenwest will continue to invest in the capacity and capability of the Western Australian screen industry to drive the local sector forward.
In addition to what has been announced today, several other workforce capacity initiatives will be rolled out for local screen industry over the coming months.
Continued investment in the local screen industry will ensure Western Australian stories continue to be made here and are shared on screens locally, globally and internationally.