Screenrights has announced six projects that share $299,750 from the 2025 Cultural Fund focusing on this year’s “creative intelligence.”
The project covers a wide range of initiatives aimed at promoting the creation and viewing of screen content from both Australia and New Zealand.
Among the winners this year, First Nations will launch an Indigenous incubator and a 12-month incubator to support First Nations documentary makers.
“Galwa is deeply committed to cultivating this next wave of documentary filmmakers, and with the support of Screalite, we can build incubators that meet the projects they are in, strengthening the ecosystem where the First Nations voice shapes stories of justice, healing and change.”
Other recipients include Jessie Hughes-led masterclasses designed to expand female screen practitioners with AI tools. A 20-week program offering accessible, professional, screen-based training for individuals with diverse experiences in the Milk Crate Theater. and a six-month Indigenous-led pilot program designed to support the health and well-being of NZ’s Jack Media’s Maori and Indigenous screen practitioners.
Cinespace will also develop a three-phase capacity building initiative to support culturally diverse countries and indigenous screen producers, while the Te Tari Tuhi Kupu A Whakaahua script will run a script development workshop for hearing impaired, disabled, and Neuro Diverse Creative.
Since 2018, the Cultural Fund has provided approximately $2 million in funding. The application was evaluated by a panel of experts with local and international expertise in screen, media and education.
“We were once again very impressed with the caliber of the application and the range of potential positive impacts for both Aotearoa-NZ and Australian screen sectors,” says Rachel Antony, director of Screep’s Board and chairman of the Cultural Fund Working Group.
Complete list of recipients:
Ngaluwi: Documentary Storytelling Incubator
Ngaluwi is a 12-month initiative by Garuwa, an indigenously owned producer, Garuwa is designed to support First Nations documentary practitioners. This program provides customized mentorship and strategic guidance for projects at various stages (development, production, or impact design) and prioritizes the values of cultural safety, creative sovereignty and First Nations. It aims to support Indigenous storytellers and actively promote environmental and political change. The incubator will select three Indigenously-led documentary projects via national callouts and provide up to nine hours of custom support per team from a network of producers and impact experts. The initiative seeks to build a replicable model for a sustainable and culturally safe ecosystem for First Nations Impact Storytelling.
Location: Online across Australia
Funding amount: $49,750
MCT ScreenLab: Discover new voices for your screen
MCT ScreenLab aims to provide accessible, specialized, screen-based training to individuals with a diverse range of experience, including those experiencing homelessness, disabilities, and mental health challenges. This 20-week program will expand Milk Crate Theater’s Community Art and Cultural Development (CACD) practices to film and digital storytelling. It includes intensive learning led by professional screen artists covering story development, concept planning, production, post-production and fundraising, followed by a hands-on, creative production phase in which participants create original screen content. Offered in Sydney’s accessible community space, the initiative seeks to unearth new talent, defend diverse narratives, and build a pathway into the screen sector for Australia’s underrepresented voices.
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Funding amount: $50,000
Te Piringa: Screen Storytelling Program for Indigenous Happiness
Activity: A six-month Indigenous-led pilot program designed to support the health and well-being of both on-screen participants and crew members Maori and Indigenous screen practitioners. The programme addresses the possibility of retaliation involved in emotional labor, cultural responsibility, and indigenous storytelling, particularly on topics of colonization and intergenerational trauma. Te Piringa offers culturally grounded Wananga, treatment and peer support, and trauma-based practice. It also develops Indigenous-led resources such as mana-enhancing talent agreements, guidelines for handling sensitive material, interviews, consent, and trauma-led protocols for aftercare of participants. These tools aim to embed Indigenous well-being and safety in the screen sector, which serves as templates for other Indigenous cultures and minority groups. The pilot will directly support 10-15 participants through Wananga and online resource hubs in three regions, and will provide assessments informing future scalability and systematic changes within the screen industry.
Location: Regional and online throughout New Zealand
Funding amount: $50,000
Residency + Production Skills Program
Activity: The Residency+Produce Skills Program is a capacity building initiative designed to develop screen producers from culturally diverse countries and indigenous peoples. It focuses on strategic planning, pitching, market access and business development, addressing specific gaps in project development, funding, marketing and distribution skills for emerging creatives. The Footcray, Victoria-based program will run in three phases in 2026. Packaging and pitching. Production management; and marketing and distribution. It aims to foster diverse leadership, create sustainable pathways for underrated creatives, and secure projects that are strategically positioned in the Australian screen industry.
Location: Melbourne, Vic, Australia
Funding amount: $50,000
AI for women on screen
Activity: Designed to enhance female screen practitioners with AI tools, generative AI masterclasses enable creative teams to lead through technological transformation in the screen industry. The program, offered in collaboration with screen producer Australia, employs a “trainer” model, equipped with participants to create AI-enhanced visual treatments and offer similar workshops to others across Australia. The program will be offered as a two-day in-person masterclass for 30 selected women and as a one-day online masterclass for over 50 national participants. The initiative, led by awarded creative technologist and screenwriter Jesse Hughes, aims to increase the visibility and value of women in the industry by adding graduates to a national database of historic AI Reterate Screen Practitioners and addressing the underestimation of women in the AI field. This project is designed for scalability and long-term impact through continuous resource sharing and future program iteration.
Location: Online throughout Sydney, NSW and Australia
Funding amount: $50,000
Script development workshop for deaf, disabled people, neuro-diverse creatives
A program designed to enhance hearing impaired, disabled and Neuro Diverse (DDN) Creative with innovative screen storytelling. Co-created with DDN artists and organizations, the program supports participants who leverage their unique perspectives in story development, aiming to break the barriers to progress in the New Zealand screen sector. The programme presents the Emerging DDN Creative script development workshops held at various centers in NZ. These workshops cover the fundamentals of screen storytelling, including character development, conflict creation, scripting, dialogue writing, and genre exploration, and are open to those developing short films, television, digital series, and feature films (except documentaries). The key objective is to reduce barriers in the final online pitch session, and final online pitch session, to invite decision-makers in the New Zealand screen industry. As a script to screen graduates, participants also receive continuous support through the STS AWHI program.
Funding amount: $50,000
