An all-female puppet band from Australia is getting their first big break thanks to a funding injection from Screen Australia and YouTube.
Rainbow Bop, a YouTube channel that reimagines classic nursery rhymes to make them more contemporary and inclusive, is one of four projects selected to receive $97,500 in production funding from Screen Australia’s Skip Ahead initiative. One of them.
Brisbane-based creators Amy Parry and Sarah Tagaode will use the funding to create a six-part, five-minute live-action series called The Rainbow Bop Show, launching on YouTube and the YouTube Kids app. We are planning to develop it. In each episode, band members Stella, Sunny, Luna, and Claudia glide down a rainbow to Earth to cheer up kids who are having a tough day with the joy of music. Written and directed by Parry, produced by Tagaode, with musical direction and songwriting by Australian musician and performer Emma Dean.
Now in its ninth year, Skip Ahead is committed to supporting at least one project aimed at younger children. Since Skip Ahead launched in 2014, the majority of its selections are targeted at an older Gen Z audience.
Previous children’s projects supported by the foundation include Crafty Kingdom, an animated fantasy series created by Like a Photon Creative and based on Charli and Ashley Kelley’s popular YouTube baking show Charli’s Crafty Kitchen; Only science YouTuber Toby Hendy’s “Finding X: A Mathematical Short Film.” .
Mr Parry and Mr Tagaode are currently taking part in a workshop in Sydney with three other Skip Ahead 2024 winners, including acclaimed director George Miller (Mad Max films) and comedian The project is being developed with support from industry leaders such as Jordan Raskopoulos (Ronnie Jones Half-Hour). , screenwriter Claire Atkins (Nona & Me) and former Skip Ahead winner Leanna Care (Life of Care).
Skip Ahead’s goal is to help online creators with an existing YouTube audience improve their storytelling abilities and create projects with higher production values. To be eligible, you must have a channel with at least 25,000 subscribers or a YouTube video with at least 1 million views.
Skip Ahead submissions will be evaluated based on creativity, audience potential, viability, and team/industry skill development.
To date, the program has provided more than US$3 million in funding to creators including Danny Philippou and Mikael Philippou of Racka Rakka fame (Talk to Me) and Auntie Donna (1999). Ta.
