Screen Queensland’s $3 million Business Enterprise fund to boost the state’s expanding local screen sector

• Screen Queensland’s new Business Enterprise fund will support the sustainable growth of Queensland screen businesses and build capacity for local screen Intellectual Property.
• This new fund will also support the sharing of Queensland based screen stories.
• Business Enterprise is a three-year funding program that will provide grants of up to $150,000 per year for emerging and established Queensland screen businesses.

The Miles Government through Screen Queensland is launching a $3 million, three-year Business Enterprise fund to help Queensland screen businesses attract talent, develop and expand, as part of the agency’s commitment to supporting the creation and retention of local Intellectual Property.

The Business Enterprise fund will provide grants of up to $150,000 per year for emerging and established businesses and is designed to provide broad ranging local screen sector support including strategies for employing more staff, engaging consultants, investing in innovation, pursuing domestic and international expansion, or securing new financing and partnership opportunities.

Applications for Business Enterprise are now open on the Screen Queensland website and close on Friday 22 March. An introductory webinar will be held on Thursday 15 February for screen practitioners interested in applying.

Practitioners from diverse backgrounds, including Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, are encouraged to apply.

Quotes attributable to the Minister for the Arts Leeanne Enoch:

“Queensland has seen enormous growth in the number of screen businesses in the state, more than doubling between 2016 and 2022.

“The Business Enterprise grants will support the sector to focus on scalable expansion over the next three years, creating additional employment opportunities and increased economic outcomes for the state’s economy.

“Screen Queensland’s Business Enterprise program is a key new element in the Miles Government’s commitment to growing a diverse, inclusive and viable local screen industry which will continue to support local productions just like the world wide hit adaptation of Boy Swallows Universe.”

Quotes attributable to Screen Queensland CEO Jacqui Feeney:

“Business Enterprise will provide vital support for the sustainable growth of Queensland screen businesses, supporting local production while building the development and retention of Queensland Intellectual Property,” Ms Feeney said.

“Queensland is rich with stories yet to be told and through Business Enterprise, Screen Queensland is proudly investing in our state’s screen businesses so that they can lead the sector’s future - creating more homegrown screen stories from broader perspectives, to engage audiences locally and internationally.”

Explainer/fast fact and or further information:

According to a 2023 report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Queensland screen businesses generated more than $484 million in 2021–22, which is an increase of 129 per cent since 2015–16, while employment across the state’s screen sector grew by more than 226 per cent in that time.

In the 2022–23 financial year, Screen Queensland supported 19 local productions with Screen Finance funding, with a further 39 projects receiving Development support.

More than 90 per cent of total projects supported by Screen Queensland were locally-led, including productions and digital games supported through Screen Finance, Initiatives, Development, Post Digital and Visual Effects, and Market and Travel funding programs.

About Screen Queensland

Screen Queensland is the state government-owned agency investing in locally made films, series, and games, and attracting international and interstate production and post-production. The agency runs career-building initiatives for practitioners around the state and supports film festivals and industry events such as Screen Forever, Asia Pacific Screen Awards and from 2024, the AACTA Awards.

Recently supported productions include Boy Swallows Universe, Bluey, Apples Never Fall, Mortal Kombat 2, Eden, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Land of Bad, Nautilus, Elvis, Thirteen Lives, Ticket to Paradise, The Portable Door, Audrey, How to Make Gravy, Darby and Joan, Black Snow, Love is in the Air, In Limbo, ScaryGirl, Strait to the Plate, True Spirit, In Our Blood and digital games Unpacking, My Little Pony: Mane Merge, Mowing Mazes and Cities: Skylines – Remastered. Screen Queensland also operates Screen Queensland Studios, Brisbane, with a Cairns facility set to open in early 2024.

ENDS

Media contact – Tim Auguston 0427 090 563